Corals

[Redandluvenit]

My green hammer coral disappeared.. any clues

 

[blaxsun]

"It's dead Jim".

 

[Redandluvenit]

"It's dead Jim".

 

[mdb_talon]

Unfortunately i dont think people can make reasonable guesses as to likely causes without a lot more info.

Could be pests(ie polyclad flatworms or others), bacterial infection, water parameters, fish picking at it, lighting, flow, etc.

 

[Sharkbait19]

Either a polyp bailout or brown jelly disease. I’d expect bjd to still leave to coral in a mess of brown, though there does appear to be some slime left.
If it was bjd, all your stony corals are at risk.

 

[Redandluvenit]

Unfortunately i dont think people can make reasonable guesses as to likely causes without a lot more info.

Could be pests(ie polyclad flatworms or others), bacterial infection, water parameters, fish picking at it, lighting, flow, etc.

My ph is 8.0. alkalinity is 15 and calcium is 460. Magnesium is 1470

 

[Redandluvenit]

Either a polyp bailout or brown jelly disease. I’d expect bjd to still leave to coral in a mess of brown, though there does appear to be some slime left.
If it was bjd, all your stony corals are at risk.

What do I do

 

[mdb_talon]

My ph is 8.0. alkalinity is 15 and calcium is 460. Magnesium is 1470

If alk is really 15 that is way too high and will kill corals.

 

[Redandluvenit]

If alk is really 15 that is way too high and will kill corals.

How do I get it down

 

[hunterallen40]

My ph is 8.0. alkalinity is 15 and calcium is 460. Magnesium is 1470

That alkalinity is very high. Generally, you should aim to stabilize DKH in the 7-12 range. The key word there is stabilize. Try your best to keep it from changing too much over the course of a single day, and aim to keep it constant.

15 is extremely high. You can reduce it with vinegar, but this should be done very slowly. A pH of 8 and an alkalinity of 15 just doesn't add up to me, however. Are you dosing anything? Does your alkalinity usually sit at this number? What are your phosphate / nitrate readings? How old is this system?

That could very well be a factor here, but as stated by people above, it usually will "disappear" as the result of brown jelly disease. There's really not a well-defined cure for it, but there's some anecdotal evidence that cipro can treat it (see here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...ic-treatments-for-brown-jelly-disease.782438/).

 

[davidcalgary29]

You could also do a big water change and test it with a high-quality kit. Crappy kits will make you chase your parameters when there's nothing fundamentally wrong with your numbers.

A decent refractometer is a must. I once raised my tank to 47ppt by using the wrong type...

 

[Redandluvenit]

That alkalinity is very high. Generally, you should aim to stabilize DKH in the 7-12 range. The key word there is stabilize. Try your best to keep it from changing too much over the course of a single day, and aim to keep it constant.

15 is extremely high. You can reduce it with vinegar, but this should be done very slowly. A pH of 8 and an alkalinity of 15 just doesn't add up to me, however. Are you dosing anything? Does your alkalinity usually sit at this number? What are your phosphate / nitrate readings? How old is this system?

That could very well be a factor here, but as stated by people above, it usually will "disappear" as the result of brown jelly disease. There's really not a well-defined cure for it, but there's some anecdotal evidence that cipro can treat it (see here https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/e...ic-treatments-for-brown-jelly-disease.782438/).

No I don't dose anything. Phosphate is about .10

 

[mdb_talon]

How do I get it down

I would first doublecheck your numbers including salinity. Your mg is high also. Calc is on high side of normal. Alk is skyhigh and at dangerous levels. Seems unusual to be able to have that mixture of parameters without getting a lot of precip.

If all your numbers are accurately at those levels then salinity issue is my bet. It is important to be very confident in the accuracy of your test numbers before doing anything

 

[Sharkbait19]

Cipro and chemiclean have been known to stop brown jelly.
Otherwise all you can do is remove affected corals to keep it from spreading. When a coral gets it, it almost always dies. It also helps to dip new corals to minimize chances of its spread.
Brown jelly disease is caused by a bacteria that attacks corals weakened by stress. A high alk can certainly cause this.

 

[Redandluvenit]

I would first doublecheck your numbers including salinity. Your mg is high also. Calc is on high side of normal. Alk is skyhigh and at dangerous levels. Seems unusual to be able to have that mixture of parameters without getting a lot of precip.

If all your numbers are accurately at those levels then salinity issue is my bet. It is important to be very confident in the accuracy of your test numbers before doing anything

My salinity is at 1.026.. my tank is a year old

 

[hunterallen40]

No I don't dose anything. Phosphate is about .10

Okay, so I would really check your alkalinity test. Which one are you using?

 

[Redandluvenit]

Okay, so I would really check your alkalinity test. Which one are you using?

Salifert

 

[mdb_talon]

My salinity is at 1.026.. my tank is a year old

What are you using to check salinity? If a refractometer have you calibrated recently?

 

[Redandluvenit]

What are you using to check salinity? If a refractometer have you calibrated recently?

Hydrometer

 

[vetteguy53081]

My green hammer coral disappeared.. any clues

Polyp Bailout.
Three things usually cause this with hammer coral

My salinity is at 1.026.. my tank is a year old

What you want without targeting quickly or chasing numbers:

Temp 77-79
ph 8.1-8.3
salinity 1.025
nitrate < .5
phos < .04
Ammonia < .03
mG 1300
Alk 8-10
CA 440