Acan issues

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That's been my issue all along, trying to figure out what is causing my water issues and how to fix it. Also I dont have much room under my tank or even in my sump for that matter.

Yeah I'm understanding your situation. If I were in your shoes I would do
1 At least attempt to catch the coral beauty at night and put him in the sump for a short time home and see if the sick corals improve
2 add some sort of bacteria in a bottle to jump start your system: Don't know much about these products you should look into that maybe someone has a good recommendation
3Not add any more fish and watch how much you feed, make sure your not overfeeding your tank
4Consider carbon dosing or adding a media reactor to your tank to help export that nitrate
5 Sit back and just enjoy the tank and know that a lot of these ammonia and nitrite problems sort themselves out

Edit: Flippers said something about some media blocks containing aluminum, hes a smart guy so id keep that in mind as well

 

[Chaley88]

I dont have room in my sump for a fish.

The acans started looking like poo pretty much immediately once placed in the tank.

They kind of improve at night with no light.

I havent added any fish in like 4 months.
I have a media reactor with gfo in it, should I consider adding a carbon mix to it?

I add microbacter7 fairly regularly.

I do probably over feed.
Does adding clean up crew count as adding fish? If not I havent added any fish since maybe December, just coral,crabs and snails.
I rehomed a big foxface back in February thinking it was overstocked. Alot of the stock came with the tank.

I assumed a big problem was the sand cause we didnt replace it when we moved the tank. The sand never dried but I'm sure it had alot of junk in it. Now I dont know.

 

[Chaley88]

You should really have zero ammonia, and nitrite. Seems like your tank is stuck in the middle of the cycle. Not necessarily the problem, but definitely not helping. You could try something like Bio Spira to move things along.

Iv added bio spira a few times since set up as well as microbacter7

I've had the same issue with Acans, though. Some die back, and others do well. No rhyme or reason for it that I can identify, honestly.

 

[Chaley88]

What's your source water? RO/DI?

Do you dose anything?

When you say "Bio media block" what kind? Some of these leach aluminum into the water collum.

I personally run very high N03 in my system (40 ppm) and never any issues with Acans or Euphyllia. Yours is high and off the Red sea chart. Try a different N03 kit like API (Yes, API) to get a understanding of just how high it is.

I suspect possible contaminants.

I use a 4 stage rodi, we have well water.
Here's a picture of the bio media plate too.
I was adding prime to help keep things down but other then that just microbacter7. Got gfo in a media reactor and carbon in a mesh bag.

 

[eggplantparrot]

for what it's worth, my acans did the same when my doser started leaking either alk or cal into the tank. I heard these guys are a little sensitive to swings in parameters and will show it very visibly.

 

[Chaley88]

for what it's worth, my acans did the same when my doser started leaking either alk or cal into the tank. I heard these guys are a little sensitive to swings in parameters and will show it very visibly.

I heard the same thing about urchins and mines been fine. I just feel bad, my other corals are fine when those stupid little starfish pests arnt eating my pipe organ.

 

[Ulee]

Favias and Acans tend to bring 1 or two types of hitchhikers that eat the outer perimeter of the coral, or the rims, like in Favias. At times you get hitchhikers that eat the eyes of the Favias...best to pull them out of the water and inspect them under a light, have a small blade ready to scrape the buggers out, follow with a dip of ur choice.

 

[Flippers4pups]

@Chaley88, do you dip your corals before placing them in the DT?

 

[Retro Reefer]

Do you know your Alkalinity, calcium and Magnesium numbers ? Mine seem to do best at 8-8.5 and get angry if Alk drops much below 7.6 .. Do they ever show feeding tentacles? if you can feed them frequently it greatly improves their growth rate and overall health.

Picture of some of mine with feeding tentacles ready to grab any available food..

 

[hooligan76]

I would check your calc/alk/mag numbers to make sure they're all in line but like others have said, I would think the Coral Beauty angel may be irritating them, also, I've had emerald crabs go after my Acans before too.

 

[Chaley88]

@Chaley88, do you dip your corals before placing them in the DT?

Yes I do. But I cant even begin to imagine what's in there from the previous owner of the tank.

 

[Chaley88]

Do you know your Alkalinity, calcium and Magnesium numbers ? Mine seem to do best at 8-8.5 and get angry if Alk drops much below 7.6 .. Do they ever show feeding tentacles? if you can feed them frequently it greatly improves their growth rate and overall health.

Picture of some of mine with feeding tentacles ready to grab any available food..

I have hanna checkers and salifert for those, I'll check them this evening.

They do show feeders at night. I have reef roids I can feed them or would larger food be better?

 

[Retro Reefer]

I have hanna checkers and salifert for those, I'll check them this evening.

They do show feeders at night. I have reef roids I can feed them or would larger food be better?

I mix up a paste using frozen brine and Reef Roids then use a old 5ml syringe to give each head a small pea size dollop of the mixture. Turn your pumps off and let water calm down first for best results.

 

[Chaley88]

So my calcium,alk,mag and phosphates are....
Mag between 1350 and 1320 with salifert.

 

[Chaley88]

Phosphates. They have always been this way and no matter how many people and research no one can help me figure out how to get everything in order. The answer always was get a refugium.

 

[Retro Reefer]

If I’m calculating correctly looks like your Alk is low.. 113 ppm = 6.2 DKH

 

[Chaley88]

Yes, the question is I have a two part dose for calcium and alk, can I use the alk part only of the dose or do I need to purchase a separate alk booster?

 

[Auto-pilot]

Yes, the question is I have a two part dose for calcium and alk, can I use the alk part only of the dose or do I need to purchase a separate alk booster?

No you don't have to dose together. I dose calcium when needed and alkalinity when needed to get required levels I would raise it slowly to 140PPM or close

 

[Chaley88]

Ok, after that how do I get my ammonia and nitrite down? I'm looking to rehome two fish so hopefully lower bio load.

 

[Adamantium]

Ok, after that how do I get my ammonia and nitrite down? I'm looking to rehome two fish so hopefully lower bio load.

A bacteria like Bio-Spira should help. It sort of jumpstarts the nitrogen cycle.