dilema with the tank

[drewstaxplaya]

this is what's going on in my tank. Over the last three weeks or so, I've noticed a steady decline in about 50% of my corals. I have one hammer frag, two acan frag's, and the rest are zoas. I haven't added anything in the last three weeks or messed with the lights. The tank is a 29 bio cube. I had my water tested yesterday and all of my levels are on par to what they normally are. Yesterday I did a 10 gallon water change and changed the filter pad, which also has carbon in it. I just got 10 gallons of water from a new fish store in case I did a water change with some possibly bad water. nothing has really changed over the last three weeks, which is why I'm so concerned and puzzled about what is going on with my tank. Ill let you know if there is any improvement after this 10 gallon water change. any input would be greatly appreciated because im really confused as to what is going on.

 

[ahiggins]

I had a similar issue with my acans. I stopped running carbon and it all cleared up. Too much carbon will *** your corals up ime

 

[helen ann]

this is what's going on in my tank. Over the last three weeks or so, I've noticed a steady decline in about 50% of my corals. I have one hammer frag, two acan frag's, and the rest are zoas. I haven't added anything in the last three weeks or messed with the lights. The tank is a 29 bio cube. I had my water tested yesterday and all of my levels are on par to what they normally are. Yesterday I did a 10 gallon water change and changed the filter pad, which also has carbon in it. I just got 10 gallons of water from a new fish store in case I did a water change with some possibly bad water. nothing has really changed over the last three weeks, which is why I'm so concerned and puzzled about what is going on with my tank. Ill let you know if there is any improvement after this 10 gallon water change. any input would be greatly appreciated because im really confused as to what is going on.

All those corals like a tank that is a lil' dirty.
How often you doing water changes?
I have a BC29 and had same issue, I cut back to 5g water changes weekly and things are starting to come back.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

carbon has always been used in the stock biocube filter cartridges ahiggins. and yes helen ann, i usually do 5g water changes. i bought the tank established, but ive had it set up at my house for about 3-4 months. its my first sw tank, so im still learning but i believe im past the learners curve. the only thing that i can think that ive done is scrape a decent ammount of coraline algae off of my glass with a new razor blade from home depot. could that be it? btw i just did the water change and dipped most of my corals.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

alk 7.7
cal 450
mag 1250
salt 1.025
nitrate 20
phosphate .1-.25

params, as of 12/4. all those levels are normal for my tank. tbh the nitrates are lower than normal.

 

[Diesel]

What's your PH and temp.
If you have elevated # on No3 and Po4 you can raise your ALK a bit up to 8.5 or 9 slowly.
Can you post a few pictures for us from tank and effected corals?

 

[drewstaxplaya]

i have a chinese blackbox led, so its hard to get the pix to look less blue then they are but ill do my best. i do no dosing in my tank. the water from the lfs i use keeps my levels very similar to what they are now as long as im doing water changes. plus since its mostly a zoa tank, not much nutrients get used up.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

first pic is a colony thats 85% closed of king midas, 2nd pic is jf bloodshot that has one opened and one closed, 3rd pic is open sunny d's and closed no names, 4th pic is whats left of my wwc bounce, 5th is what he looked like 1 month ago so u can see how much he has deteriorated

 

[drewstaxplaya]

up

 

[ahiggins]

I realize that but Im just telling you my experience with carbon.
Also, whats your white ratio in the lights that youre running?
I know my zoas start to close for the night under only blue lighting.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

about 40% white 40% blue and about 10-15% green/uv/red

 

[ahiggins]

thats about what I run my AI. I have it 55% white and blue, 20% others.

Just curious, did you dip your coral before putting it in the tank?
I still think its the carbon. just because its "stock" doesnt mean its needed. Theres varying opinions on this, like everything else lol everyones tank is different.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

normally yes. could the issues stem from scraping a lot of coraline algae off of my glass? i used a razor from HD. could it have been coated with oil or something? thats the only thing ive done to the tank besides water changes recently.

 

[ahiggins]

Im not sure about home depot razors but usually the razors Ive seen come soaking in oil, you would have been able to tell...
Not to beat a dead horse, lol last thing Im going to say...I ran carbon for 8 months before I saw an issue and my corals started to show stress. I took it out when someone here suggested it, within a week they were back to normal.

 

[BrettMallette]

You should be fine with the razor blade from HD used them all the time. Id lean more towards the carbon use. I run no carbon at all unless something needs to be removed like corals fighting or urchin spawning. Overuse can irritate the hell out of coral and fish alike.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

what should i use as a substitute for the biocube filter pads then? they help eih noise reduction as well, and thats a bonus considering the tank is 4' from my bed

 

[Bunnee911]

There is very little carbon in the bc pad. Do you still have your bioballs in your tank?

If all else fails, try a dose of Chemiclean. That and more flow made mine happy in my BC29.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

ill try chemiclean. all my params are fine so im thinking it could possibly be a toxin. i know hammers are good indicators of water quality and hes only 1/2 way open. plus im really really worried about my wwc bounce shroom. hes so shrivelled and its making me really uneasy.

 

[drewstaxplaya]

3 weeks differnece... no to the bioballs as well

 

[ahiggins]

what should i use as a substitute for the biocube filter pads then? they help eih noise reduction as well, and thats a bonus considering the tank is 4' from my bed

you could use a filter block or pad. Thats what I use. I dont run any chemicals in any of my tanks. The 25 gal only has a nitrate reactor and a skimmer.

If you end up trying chemiclean, make sure to follow the directions to the T. Its strips oxygen out of the water column