What is happening to my Colt Coral??

celacanthr

Active Member
it isn't very hard. you fill up a tub on monday with saltwater. Circulate the water for a week or 2 (depending on how clean you want your tank) then pump the water into your tank whichever monday you choose, and refill the container! that is actually the bulk of the work now that your tank is setup.
 

symon

Member
OMG what a nightmare! So sorry your having such issues, But as the old saying goes , if you want it done right do it yourself!
I'v only killed a couple of damsels so far

Hope things get worked out!
 

crazyzeus1

Member
Originally Posted by CELACANTHr
it isn't very hard. you fill up a tub on monday with saltwater. Circulate the water for a week or 2 (depending on how clean you want your tank) then pump the water into your tank whichever monday you choose, and refill the container! that is actually the bulk of the work now that your tank is setup.

OK...this shows how LITTLE I actually know about what our LFS service guys are doing...
When they come & do a water change, are they replacing that water with salt water? And when you refer to "tub", what do you mean? Like a bucket? And if so, what are you using to circulate the water? And by pumping it into the tank...could I just put it into the sump?
And am I making this saltwater with the marine-mix type salt you see on the websites?
 

celacanthr

Active Member
in order to your questions
trust me you had way less questions than I did! :joy:
1)well... if on tuesdya your water level is ____ high and then on sunday your water is _____ high then you would not want to replace it with saltwater because water evaporated from your tank this is called topping off you always want to make sure you top off periodically cause when the water evaporates it leaves behind the salt this raising the salinity. You will also want to do water changes which is where you take out 15%-20% of your water and replace it with an equal amount of new saltwater, this reduces poisonous things like nitrates.
2)basically any container that will hold the amount of water you need to change (in your case something like a 10-20 gallon storage container.)
3)just buy an extra powerhead ( online is the best place cause the LFS will RIP YOU OFF on powerheads
4)i would pump it into the tank by taking a piece of tubing and attaching it to your saltwater tubs powerhead. If you pump it into the sump the sump may overflow. :scared:
5) yep you just make the salt out of the stuff at you LFS or online vender but not like the grocery store salt.
 

ohiorn67

Member
JUST HAD TO POST TO THIS THREAD....
first of all, dump the store and figure out how to do all these changes and such on your own. Your first stop is to find a reef club in your area and some people that do these things for each other to learn. They will help you. It is not that hard and trust me I have been there. I started my tank last March and you gain confidence ONLY working on your tank. We have lost only 1 fish so far and that was because it was being badly bullied. I have a huge colt coral and a yellow fiji leather and both are EXTREMELY easy corals to keep. They do NOT require feedings, they can filter it through your water and also need the lights. They do not require the highest lighting but a fair amount. I have a 90 gallon tank. These corals already sounded sick. I occasionally once a month maybe pop in a little zooplex for food, but this is really not a necessity. I do not feed my leather corals at all straight anything. You need to watch the salinity but most important you need to check calcium which will help to keep your PH and ALK in tact which can have an effect. Truly it is much harder to hurt anything than they tell you, I always bought my water for months because was afraid to screw up on making my own. Then got a little tester and realized they were selling me RO water that was not much better than my tap water for a 1.25 a gallon ....insane...so now I do my own and things are fine....don't let them pick out all the goodies for the tank, you give them all the fun, it is most fun to pick stuff out and put it in!!
good luck!~! I'd come help you if you were closer!
 

aelene

Member
Originally Posted by crazyzeus1
Yes, I am in Dallas (Flower Mound).
Assuming it's not where you are going currently - have you ever gone to Dallas North Aquarium on Trinity Mills? It's my favorite... they will let you ask a million questions and I don't think I've ever really gotten an answer that doesn't coincide with what is said on this board.
 

crazyzeus1

Member
OK...I have answers to questions that I didn't know the answers to...
We have VHO Actinic lighting. The LFS service guy said that these should be great for the types of corals we have (Spaghetti leather, frogspawn, Xenia, Colt Coral, mushrooms), & polyps. They are both still puzzled why the yellow leather & the colt died (well, the LFS guy fragged the Colt Coral part that was still living & so far, so good--been a week now & it's puffy & blooming).
So...who knows. Thanks for all your help everyone though!
 

crazyzeus1

Member
I am starting to feel confident enough to do just that! I actually had the LFS service guy here for about 30minutes longer than normal because I had so many questions to ask...all of which I learned from reading things on this message board :)
I did learn (because I asked) that we have some cool hitchhikers--a teeny feather duster & a Pearl Bubble Coral (that's what the LFS guy said). The Pearl Bubble is just about the size of a penny, but still very, very pretty.
We're also going to get moon lights for the tank. Service Guy said that my corals would LOVE it...true?
He also said there was a water testing kit that is done with a monitor probe in the tank or sump...not the drop-in-the-tube kind. Said something about the brand being "Octopus" he thought. Anyone ever used one of these? You like it more/less than the other kind?
FWIW...his readings were as follows:
Nitrates 1-5ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Salinity 1.021
Ph 8.1-8.3
Does that sound OK? He said that was great...but I just don't know if I should trust him!
 

celacanthr

Active Member
You should probably raise the salinity... SLOWLY... to 1.025.
Also the corals don't really care about em. I love them and supposedly they induce spawning(???). Well i wish you the best of luck!
 

crazyzeus1

Member
Originally Posted by CELACANTHr
You should probably raise the salinity... SLOWLY... to 1.025.
Also the corals don't really care about em. I love them and supposedly they induce spawning(???). Well i wish you the best of luck!

The LFS service guy said I would want my salinity between 1.021-1.025. That being said, why would you choose the higher number? Just curious...I have no idea which is better!
 

crazyzeus1

Member
Thanks so much for your advice! When you say up the salinity slowly...how slowly is that? Like a little every day, every other day....more spread out than that?
 

celacanthr

Active Member
i Wouldn't go out of your way just every week when you make the water just make it about .001 more. What are you/they using to test salinity?
 

crazyzeus1

Member
:thinking: They have been using a hydromoter (sp?) when they come every other week, but our LFS store uses a refractometer. I thought I'd take the water to be tested tomorrow to see what they read...Our LFS service guy had to take 3 readings because he said they kept coming out different numbers.
FWIW, we have orderd a refractometer online
 

celacanthr

Active Member
oh good! i am so happy to here that you ordered one!
I have one and am so happy with it!
just so you know you will probably have to look thru it directly at a bulb to get a really clear view.
 

crazyzeus1

Member
Originally Posted by CELACANTHr
oh good! i am so happy to here that you ordered one!
I have one and am so happy with it!
just so you know you will probably have to look thru it directly at a bulb to get a really clear view.

I assumed I would do that, because that's what the LFS guy does :) I have no idea how to use one, but our service guy said it was super easy & a no-brainer.
He also mentioned something about a aquarium monitoring system. Said you put a probe in the sump & it records things such as nitrites, pH, etc. Has a display thing that gives you all your readings, all the time. Ever heard of something like that? Money is no issue...but is it worth it? The LFS service guys said he wished they had one.
 

celacanthr

Active Member
If money is not an issue then i would get one. It doesn't really seem that necessary, but if i had the money i would probably buy it!

If you do buy it please post on what you think!
:cheer:
 

crazyzeus1

Member
Originally Posted by CELACANTHr
If money is not an issue then i would get one. It doesn't really seem that necessary, but if i had the money i would probably buy it!

If you do buy it please post on what you think!
:cheer:
Do you know the brand so I can Google it? Our LFS guys said he thought one was "Octopus" but he wasn't sure. And is it called an "Aquarium Monitoring System?" He wasn't sure on that either...gee, thanks...
 
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