Yellow leather coral  - 03/13/2006
I have recently purchased a yellow Fuji
<Mount?>
leather coral when it was place in the tank it appeared healthy but has since appeared to be declining I have it in a 120gal reek system with several other soft corals that are doing very well I have the leather place high in the tank with moderate to strong water flow the lighting is a 260 watt compact fluorescent that I have on a timer for about 15 hr per day the water quality is good but it does not appear to be improving any suggestion I have lost a xenia but all of the corals appear healthy including a colt coral that is thriving please help.
dale Berkley
<... this may be a Sarcophyton elegans... not easily kept. Use the Google search tool on WWM... see elsewhere re. Might even be an artificially dyed specimen (lucky you!). Bob Fenner>
 

Yellow Leather turning green color... Cnidarian allelopathy, classic  2/22/06
Help!!!
By the way, hello all!
My yellow leather has a large green patch and looks deflated. Can this be due to the recent upgrade to halides.
<... yes... if done/switched on too much, too soon...>
This is a 50g tank, 18" tall, and the new halide bulbs (two at 150w each, 14,000K) sit about 7" from the tank.
Halides are an upgrade from power compacts, 260w. I acclimated by placing the bulbs about 12" from the surface of the water and later brought it
closer and placed a screen (the same screen from a screen door) over the bulb.
<Good techniques>
This was there for about a week and the screen was removed. The first day was fine, but the second and third, the yellow leather began to deflate
and change colors. I have since put back the screen. Water parameters are as follows:
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10 to 20 (been decreasing since I removed the Bio Wheel from the
Tidepool sump)
Phosphate - .5 (I know, should be zero)
Calcium - 350 (a little low?)
<Yes, but acceptable>
Alkalinity - about 13
pH - 8.2
Salinity - 1.025 to 1.026
Any ideas? Other tank inhabitants include Pipe Organ (not opening much), Crocea clam (doing great and growing), various mushrooms, Pineapple Coral,
Pulsing Xenia and Bubble Coral.
<... likely a mal-reaction from these other cnidarians... too much chemical competition in too small a volume... You might try using activated carbon in your filter flow path>
Inverts - Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Emerald crab, Brittle Star,
Anemone (green neon-tipped, unsure of species),
<... This is the likely source...>
various snails and Feather Duster. Many inverts have died recently including a Blood shrimp, Peppermint Shrimp, Emerald Crab, Pistol Shrimp which I have attributed to the sudden
spike in Nitrate, all of a sudden from 0 to 10 to 20 to 40.
Thanks for all your help!
<Read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompfaqs.htm
and the linked files above. Bob Fenner>

Re: Yellow Leather turning green color   2/23/06
Thanks! That may make sense, the anemone just went in two days ago, the same day I removed the carbon fearing I would remove too much trace elements. So
you believe allelopathy is the issue here? If the carbon doesn't work, any additional advice?
<... A bigger tank, adding a refugium, DSB... Please see the referred, linked files... Bob Fenner>

Leather Corals comp., health, sys.    2/17/06
Hi there... Thank you for the wonderful insight into marine aquariums. I had a question about Leather Corals. I have a 55G tank set up primarily all for Sarcophytons, 12 total. My Ph is 8.0, ammonia .25,
<Should be zip>
Nitrate and Nitrite both 0 on an Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit. The tank has been set up for a year with a chiller keeping it at 78. My question is for the past two weeks All of the leather corals have closed up.
<See the ammonia?>
No new corals or fish have been introduced and my green star polyps, woods hole polyps, and anthelia have been fine.
<They're winning...>
I did a 10 Gallon water change, with R/O water. Specific Gravity is 1.023. After the water change two of the smaller leathers opened up. Should I be concerned of a toxin in the water or is this natural for leathers to all close at the same time.
  -Thank you for your response.
<I would be concerned... start using (continuously) activated carbon... and fix the root cause of the ammonia source... and all may live together for some time forward. Bob Fenner>

Sarcophyton becoming covered with algae  - 02/16/2006
To the WWM Crew
<Flávio>
The Sarcophyton is in my 500 litres tank about 2 months ago. In this period of adapting time it expands his head and only 1 or 2 mm of his polyps maybe every two or three days. All these times it produces the peculiar protective thin film.
<Yes, good>
Since about one week, it his always closed and the film is becoming yellow with diatoms and on some areas I could see thin filamentous algae.
<Not good>
Near the Sarcophyton (10 cm) I have a Hydnophora that is ok.
<Too close... I'd keep this and all other stony corals at least 15 cm. away...>
The lights are 6 NO fluorescent and 1 actinic.
Do you think that it is better to remove the coral to another position, far way from the Hydnophora ?
<Yes, ciertamente>
Too much light for the soft coral?
<No>
The NOs are 30 cm above it. Do you think it will help to gently remove the algae after the change of place if it were the case?
<I would wait... hopefully the Sarcophyton will shed this in time>
Thank you very much for your site and your precious help.
Flávio
<Welcome. Bob Fenner>

Colt Coral Health  2/14/06
Dear Crew <Larry>
I'm having trouble keeping "colt" coral.  I have one nice big specimen that is thriving, but can't seem to keep a second one around, no matter where the
placement. I'm on my fourth attempt.  Can only one specimen be kept per tank, or am I just having bad luck? <They are an aggressive coral but as long as they are placed far enough apart, shouldn't have any trouble keeping more than one.  Colt corals will sometimes secrete a mucus during shipping/bagging to protect itself.  Do rinse off good in seawater before placing in your tank. Are you dosing trace elements...strontium, iodine, etc?  How about flow rate, nitrate levels?>
thanks <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)>
L. Splitter

Re: Colt Coral  - 2/15/2006
James
I hate to generalize, but if one specimen (colt coral) is doing well, shouldn't
the other specimens (colt coral) do the same. <Understand you here but quite possible the one you have may have adapted or came from a system with similar water parameters to yours. There are many varieties of colt coral also.  Do you drip acclimate the coral before introduction?> I dose iodine, strontium and
do frequent water changes.  The nitrate level is between 10 and 20 ppm, sp
gravity is 1.023, <1.025 much better for corals.>  temp 77 F, dKH 12, ph 8.3 and they are placed an opposite ends of the tank. <Am at a loss for words as these corals are relatively easy to grow.  May want to try one from a source other than where you bought the previous colts.  Another suggestion is to propagate new ones from your present colt.  Here is a link showing you how.  http://search.isp.netscape.com/nsisp/boomframe.jsp?query=colt+coral&page=1&offset=0&result_url=redir%3Fsrc%3Dwebsearch%26requestId%3Dce25d7a9a126710f%26clickedItemRank%3D3%26userQuery%3Dcolt%2Bcoral%26clickedItemURN%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww.garf.org%252Ftrever%252Fcolt%252FCOLTmoves.html%26invocationType%3D-%26fromPage%3DNSISPBoom%26amp%3BampTest%3D1&remove_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.garf.org%2Ftrever%2Fcolt%2FCOLTmoves.html>
Thanks <You're welcome.  James (Salty Dog)>

Sarcophyton trouble and unreliable test results  12/10/05
Hello again crew,
<Hi Tom, Adam J with you today.>
Thank you in advance for reading this and sharing any ideas that might spring to mind.
<My pleasure.>
My question is about a Sarcophyton coral I've had for a couple months. It seemed happy in my tank for the first few weeks, but the last couple weeks I have noticed that, although the polyps extend, the ends don't open up fully.  Instead, the fingers at the ends of the polyps seem to form little globes.
<I've noticed this myself with Sarcophyton, could be a few things going on. One reason is it's about ready to shed, has it done this lately? Another reason is allelopathy from neighboring corals? Any new additions or drastic growths from neighboring animals. Also And the final reason I can think of at the moment is phosphate additives or sponges. Some of these have aluminum which has been known to irritate softies and leathers in general.>
I know that Sarcophyton do some kind of shedding thing from time to time. Could this be part of that process? 
<Possibly.>
Or could it be something else?
<See above.>
My tank is 30 gallons. Tank started in March. Used old live rock, pre-seeded Bio-Wheel, and occasional bit of shrimp to feed bacteria for first few months. Added some new live rock 8/27/05 (arrived in pretty good condition). First livestock (Sarcophyton, Fire Shrimp, and 30 small hermit crabs) added 10/5/05. Firefish added 10/25, and Yellow Clown Goby added 11/18. All but about 12 hermits have disappeared (probably I started with too many)
<Yes.>
but all the other creatures are doing well.
<No protein Skimmer.>
I tested water last night and got this:
pH 8.4 (7:20PM)
ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 0 (approx, certainly below 5 ppm by my test)
specific gravity 1.026
dKH 6.7 (low, see below)
<A little low but not drastically low. The 7 to 12 range is ideal.>
Tested alkalinity again this morning and got 7.4 (still low, see below)
calcium - no reading
I never got a color change on my calcium test sample using a Tropic Marine titration kit. Either this implies off-scale low calcium or a bad test (or bad kit - kit might be a couple years old). Earlier, on 11/25, I had dKH of 8.0, and still earlier, on 10/15, I had dKH 7.2 and calcium around 340-350. 
<Kits do have an expiration date please check this. It's also a good idea to verify the test with a local LFS, but get exact readings, do not just let them tell you "Good" - that's not helpful.>
I'm puzzled that I cannot seem to raise my alkalinity and calcium. I use RO/DI water for top off, and dose with B-Ionic almost every day. I started using 15 ml per day on 10/12, and raised that to 20 ml on 10/24. In a 30 gallon tank I would have thought this would raise dKH and calcium, even if there is approximately 40 lbs of live rock with a lot of coralline algae. The maximum recommended dosage in a 30 gallon would be 30 ml/day. My alkalinity test kit is a couple years old too, but it gives a plausible reading on new aged Instant Ocean, which tests 8.3. Probably I should get new test kits for alkalinity and calcium so I'm more confident of my readings.
<Yes I agree that you have a wacky test kit.>
For circulation, I've got an Aqua-C Remora,
<Oh you do have a skimmer, a very good one too.>
Penguin 170 (sans Bio-Wheel), two 175 gph powerheads, and one 127 gph powerhead.
<Consider another powerhead for some more turbulent motion.
For a few months, I've run a 96 watt 50/50 compact fluorescent 12 hours/day. The other bulb is a 96 watt actinic that I've experimented with, recently running it 7.5 hours/day, compared to daily 1 hour "dawn" and 1 hour "dusk" cycles for the previous several weeks.
<Lighting is good.>
I did feed DT's Marine Phytoplankton regularly for a few weeks in October until I ran out and the fish store was out of stock. I wasn't too anxious to get more since my son has a Sarcophyton in a different tank that has done fine for a year or two with no special feeding.
<Yes they can often get by on dissolved organics, waste from fish, etc..>
I know there's potentially a lot to consider here. Does anything jump out as a possible explanation for the Sarcophyton's malaise?
<I would address your test kit issue first and get some more accurate readings.>
Thanks,
Tom
<Welcome, Adam J.>

Re: Unhappy Sarcophyton, Chemistry to Blame?  12/26/05
Thanks, Adam.
<Quite Welcome.>
Since I didn't trust my test kits, I decided to order new ones (Salifert).
<Good move.>
It took forever to get them.  In the meantime, I decided to discontinue the
B-Ionic applications, and change 10 percent of the water about twice a week.
<B-Ionic is a reputable calcium/alk two part but yes you should not be adding it without the test kits for it.>
Test kits arrived, and I got dKH of 5 and Ca of 380, with pH of 8.4 at 5:00 PM.
<dKH is a bit low, should be between 7 and 12.>
That looks low on dKH, fine on Ca and pH.
<Yup.>
So here's the question:  Am I close enough to balance on Alk and Ca that I
should just go ahead with B-Ionic dosing at the low end of the recommended
range (1 ml per 4 gallons per day)?  Or more than that?
<Go with the recommended dose and test daily, or at least every other day to monitor the effects. The best way to stabilize these though is with keeping up on the regular water changes. If you don't like the two part additives look into ripping Kalkwasser.>
My uninformed instinct is that I should dose with the Alkalinity component
alone for a while to get the dKH more like 8, then resume dosing both.  Is
that crazy?
<Not completely, but I wouldn't do it. Your Calcium could be a little higher, 380ppm is not extremely high.>
Or do I have to do more water changes to get something closer to dKH of 10
and Ca of 400, then dose in equal amounts?
<Read here for a much better explanation than I can provide: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm.>
By the way, just today I found the recommendations to shake the B-Ionic
before application.
<That's the recommendation for most bottled items.>
The bottle does not say to do that, and I have not been
doing it.  Can that be part of the reason dosing did not seem to raise my
dKH?
<Should not be to much of an issue.>
Thanks,
Tom
<Welcome, Adam J.>
P.S. Sarcophyton is still not quite happy.
<Try correcting your chem. issues and then take it from there.>