please advise... Induced reef prob.s... Cnid. incomp. mostly, coupled with crowding, poor suppl. use/mixing...  8/30/08
Hello wet web crew!
I have had a terrible week and a half with my reef aquarium. I am sure that some of the problems I have are self-inflicted (if not all), but I need to figure out what to do to get back on track. I will provide you with a little background of the system and the problems I have been having.
72-gallon bow front
15 gallons of water in my sump (total of 87 gallons)
Coralife super skimmer (in sump as well as heater)
Over 100 lbs of live rock
2 inches of live sand
3 power heads (2 high, 1 low in back behind live rock)
Also circulating with sump return (about 600 gallons per hour)
Coralife Aqualite Pro ( 2-250watt metal halide bulbs and florescent bulbs) on a timer (12 hours with all lights, florescent on for 14 hours)
Glass lids, about 1.5 inches from water level, lights are about 6 to 8 inches above that.
<I'd raise the MHs up to 12" above...>
Water changes 15 gallons every week with premixed stored water as well as top ups with treated water (cloram-x)
<I'd pre-mix and not use a water-treatment product...>
Fish... Mimic Tang, Tomini Tang, Scopas Tang, Flame Angel, Coral Beauty Angel (recently deceased), 2 black Clown fish, 2 Fire shrimp, 3 snails, 3 red starfish (with blue tips), Sand dwelling starfish, Handful of hermit crabs
Corals... Leather finger, Leather toadstool, 3 polyp clusters (one of them is quite a bit larger polyps), Torch coral, Hammer coral, Star polyp, 2 fuzzy green mushroom clusters, purple mushroom cluster, red mushroom cluster, green mushroom cluster, Plate coral, 3 xenia clusters, Flower pot (which my clown adores), blue cam (Tridacna i think).
<These corals are the likely source of poisoning... you have many "warring" types in too small a volume... see the citation below>
Water...
Spec. gravity= 1.025
Ph= 8.4
Alk= 2
Ammonia= 0
Nitrate= 0
Nitrite= 0.0-0.05
Calcium= 380-400
Temp 79-80.5 degrees F
Magnesium=900-1000
<Mg needs to be a bit higher... about 3X Ca conc.>
I supplement the water with Weiss Coral Boost daily,
<I'd skip this... scam>
Kent Marine Phytoplex 3 times per week, Weiss Bacter Boost after water changes Kent Marine liquid calcium every other day (as I am trying to increase calcium to 400+).
<Mmm, look into the SeaChem line...>
I am feeding daily 2 or 3 cubes of frozen foods (brine, krill, mysis etc) in the evenings as well as seaweed clips changed regularly in the morning and evening.
About 8 or 9 days ago I was frustrated with the appearance of my display, so I decided to pull the stock out and rearrange my tank.
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(A decision made in haste unfortunately). I thought it had gone well.
The coralline algae is taking off nicely. Everything seemed o.k. but since then, some of my soft corals have been looking kind of sad.
<Danger Will Robinson!>
My leather finger is closed up and seems to have algae growing on it. I placed it in a spot with more water flow to try and help this. My colt is looking better now, but not nearly as lush as it was before all this, my xenias have shriveled up terribly and still look terrible, but even worse, my coral beauty angel died. I had purchased him with my flame angel and introduced them together a week previously. They were thick as thieves
<Good metaphor>
until the day after i rearranged the tank, and by then, I was too late. I have been testing my water 2 times per day since to monitor in case of any other underlying problem, and other than the slight struggle with Alk and calcium that I had discovered and corrected, everything seems to be returning to normal. I think I caused that issue as well. I had recently tried alternating the Kent Marine calcium supplement with Seachem Reef Complete for raising calcium and magnesium, and once tried Aquavitro "Ions" to achieve this.
<Mmmmm>
After the negative reaction I seemed to get from my Xenia, I tested my water and noticed my alkalinity and ph were down (1.6 Alk and 8.2 ph). I stopped adding calcium etc and did a water change (15 gallons). After hours of reading, I think I am starting to understand the relationship between calcium and alkalinity... particularly the marbles in the jar example that I read in one of the articles on this site. Parameters went back to normal after that. This was about a week ago. I thought it was getting back to normal until tonight. It seems that my Tomini Tang (and possibly my Mimic Tang) have ich. I just yesterday purchased the book "The Conscientious Marine Aquarist" and I am horrified at some of the mistakes I have made this week. I am pretty sure I have caused this.
<I am certain>
So here come the questions.
1. Do I need to quarantine all the fish? I am planning on getting a hospital tank tomorrow.
<Mmm... If you had another set-up that was "ready to go", I would move the fishes... have time go by till the Cnidarians settle back down>
2. What size do I get for the number of fish I should quarantine?
What are the requirements for such a tank? (filtration etc)
<Posted... see WWM: http://wetwebmedia.com/mardisindex.htm
the first tray>
3. While I am quarantining fish, I would like to make a couple changes to the reef. I figure I am going to have to take it apart to catch the fish anyway.
<I'd try to avoid doing this... There are a few very likely "things" that went wrong, are going on here... One, as mentioned twice, is an incompatibility amongst the stinging-celled life in your system... Which was exacerbated with the use of some of the "additives" you were using, your moving this life about... Moving the non-fish life again, will only create more trouble>
I am still not satisfied with the way it's all sitting. After reading Mr. Fenner's book, there are so many things I want to do different. Is this a problem?
<Mmm, not if you take your time, have that other system to house the fish life (and maybe some of the "corals") as mentioned>
Is there a specific way to do this?
<A few... but basically moving the fishes elsewhere will save their lives... the Cnidarians? They need to "get used" to each other, with you doing your best to reduce the effects of their negative interactions...>
In particular, I want to change the way I have my live rock set up in a major way. I am confident I can do it in a few hours.
What precautions do I need to take?
<Move the fishes first... spiff up your skimmer, if you can... add an ozonizer... if not, as much carbon, Polyfilter as you can afford...>
4. If I am to do this, should I try and leave the corals in the display and work around them, or remove them to another tank? (Not the hospital tank of course. perhaps the sump?)
<I would try to leave all the "corals" as they are... for now...>
Sorry for the long email, i just really want this tank to be special and do well. I am very embarrassed. Please help me.
Thanks,
Sincerely, Jason
<No reason/need to be embarrassed... Do read here: http://wetwebmedia.com/cnidcompppt.htm
and the linked files above, taking down notes... until you understand the gist of what is and has gone on here... Do move the fish life... as soon as practical. Bob Fenner>

I have a problem with my Reef Aquarium..... induced   7/15/08
Hi ya guys. I do hope you can help me here..
<Me too>
Trigon 350
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Salinity 1.022 /23
<A bit low>
Nitrate 40 + ( Have R0 system set up now with minerals so this is coming down )
<Good>
PH 8.1 (Trying to raise this a little with buffer)
<Mmmm... see WWM re>
Tunze Comline Skimmer
Ultra Violet Steriliser
Eheim Pro 2
<And on WWM re canister filters, on marine systems>
Tunze Wavemaker
I have a reef aquarium set up and have recently lost my Volitans lion fish the other day as it has been unhappy for around 6 months now. It seemed to go off its food and just sulk for over 6 months. I have tried feeding different foods but to no avail.
<Mmm... a lack of oxygen, too much nitrate...>
My fox face seems a little black (annoyed?) but other than that my Box Fish , Lipstick Tank ,
<... these need more room than this>
Maroon Clowns ,Yellow Tang , Blue Damsel and Grouper as well as my Green Brittle starfish seem ok.
My soft corals seems a little weak and shrinking and my Anemone is shrinking also.
<... trouble... the anemone... read on WWM re this as well>
Also I have noticed that I have millions of little stringy worm like things coming out of the substrate about 1cm long and also over my live rock they seem to be feeding on any lose food at the bottom .? Would you know what this is ?
<All indicative... of nutrient accumulation, inadequate filtration, circulation, aeration>
About 6 months ago just when things started going down hill with the Lionfish all the Aiptasia that I was having problems with seemed to of shrunk and died.
<Ohhh>
I have been asking for help from both my LFS and on the net but no -one seems to be able to help me.
Please can you give me some advice on what to do please..
Thank you very much.
Phil.
<Where should we start? Can/will you use the search tool, indices on WWM to read the topics above? This would be best... if you have time, interest. You have nice gear, as listed, but this system/set-up is inadequate for the life you list... Do you want to discuss any aspect of this? Bob Fenner>