Red polyps dying

[I<3Reefer]

So I recently started my first reef aquarium. I bought a couple corals, a small bed of green star polyps, a coral that looks like a small brain (but is not a brain coral? Can't remember what type this is), and a candy cane/trumpet coral that had a few red/maroon "star like" polyps on it. Well after a few weeks, those red polyps grew in numbers and were complete surround the candy can coral, I talked with someone at my lfs and they said it should be fine, but i may want to cut some of them off so they don't choke out the candy cane.... 5 days since then they're suddenly turning brown and dissapearring.... The only thing I changed was the direction of my powerhead, it's a 240 GPH in a 5 gallon tank, so I directed it towards the glass, this changed those red polyps from being blown like crazy to barely moving, this morning after noticing I changed it to the medium of the two.

Any insight on this? Oh, 1 other thing my nitrates were apparently 20ppm AFTER my last water change, which I thought was strange (that was saturday) I haven't changed the water since or tested....are my nitrate levels too high? I feed my 2 clown fish babies and my 2 LPS brine shrimp once a day, I tend to use about 1/6th of one of those SF bay cubes per feeding, so say a cube a week....

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Nitrates after the water change can usually be sourced to the water you used for the water change. Do you use tap water or RODI water to mix your saltwater, if you mix, or do you buy pre-made from your LFS?

What are your other parameters like currently?

 

[I<3Reefer]

Nitrates after the water change can usually be sourced to the water you used for the water change. Do you use tap water or RODI water to mix your saltwater, if you mix, or do you buy pre-made from your LFS?

What are your other parameters like currently?

I use water straight from the most reputable LFS in my area, they use reef crystals. My PH is 7.9 (this did drop from 8.2 to 7.9 between getting my water tested 2 weeks apart I ran out of the saltwater at the lfs and decided to use just the R/O water I had from them and some fluval instant ocean I had lying around, when i told the people at my lfs this they said that was likely the cause and to keep to the reef crystals) Calcium is 440/450 ppm, salinity is 1.025, I can't remember the alkalinity but I remember they said it was good. Also, my last water change, my temp dropped from 78 to 69..... I had been keeping the water jug in my basement and had not thought about it, I'm guessing I should but a heater in there prior to a change?

 

[I<3Reefer]

Also, I use a hydrometer to test salinity, and it kind of sucks... For instance when I was cycling mine said 1.022, took it to the lfs and they tested my water with a refractometer and it said 1.019. So I bumped it up to where the hydrometer read 1.027, and had them test it again and they said it was 1.024.... So now I've kept it where it reads 1.028, I'm assuming that means it's 1,025... kind of annoying but the 3 point difference has been consistent...

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Sounds like there's been a few quick changes to a couple of different parameters, that can usually stress corals out and in some cases to the extent that they may melt or die off some. Consistency is super important in this hobby so I would always try to make sure the incoming water matches the tank water pretty well before adding it.

 

[I<3Reefer]

Here's a picture of the candy cane coral just a week after I got it. The white circle is the red polyps, the white x's is where more red polyps sprouted within a week of the photo being taken, but now it's been 2 weeks since this photo's been taken, and they're dying....

ALSO, in that red circle, WHAT is that claw? It comes out of the candy cane coral (pops in and out and in and out, like 20 times a minute)

 

[I<3Reefer]

Sounds like there's been a few quick changes to a couple of different parameters, that can usually stress corals out and in some cases to the extent that they may melt or die off some. Consistency is super important in this hobby so I would always try to make sure the incoming water matches the tank water pretty well before adding it.

This is what I figured, especially the water temp. I'm going to heat it up with a heater for a few hours prior to changes so the temp gap is more like a degree or 2 instead of 9.

 

[I<3Reefer]

Also, should I be vacumming my substrate? I have live sand and was told not to.... But I feel like that's the best way to get nitrates down.... Or should I take the filter sponge out and rinse it in saltwater? Or is that bad too since it can host beneficial bacteria?...

 

[Animal Chin]

The red circle thing is a little feather duster, harmless hitchiker that feeds off food in the water column.

Your candy cane coral has stingers that come out at night, most if not all LPS coral do. The polyps you have almost touching them may be getting stung and thats why they're dying off. Thats a possiblity. Your nitrates being high enough to kill coral would probably kill the candy cane first, those polyps are really hardy coral and I doubt nitrate at 20 would kill them, I've had and most of us have had nitrates higher that that. You'll get algae and your coral wont grow very well but they shouldn't dye.

Let your tank sit for a while, let things even out. See if they recover. If you want to change water, do a gallon at a time to keep parameters stable, big changes can make every parameter go out of wack in a small tank...

 

[I<3Reefer]

The red circle thing is a little feather duster, harmless hitchiker that feeds off food in the water column.

Your candy cane coral has stingers that come out at night, most if not all LPS coral do. The polyps you have almost touching them may be getting stung and thats why they're dying off. Thats a possiblity. Your nitrates being high enough to kill coral would probably kill the candy cane first, those polyps are really hardy coral and I doubt nitrate at 20 would kill them, I've had and most of us have had nitrates higher that that. You'll get algae and your coral wont grow very well but they shouldn't dye.

Let your tank sit for a while, let things even out. See if they recover. If you want to change water, do a gallon at a time to keep parameters stable, big changes can make every parameter go out of wack in a small tank...

Thanks for the info! I did have a pretty big algae bloom right before my last water change.... It was really hard to spot feed my coral so I think shrimp got all over the place, and with no clean up crew yet, it probably caused the higher nitrate levels. My turbo snails knocked out every inch of alage within 2 days, it was nuts. Even the coraline on the side wall got eaten. I think I may do a couple 25% changes this week instead of 1 big 50-60%.

So should I not vacuum the sand?