Unhappy softies

[Mattie H.]

The zoas in my tank are always wide open, happy and large. About four days ago, some of them started partially shrinking and/or closing up, and haven't opened back up since. At about the same time, all of my anthelia and xenia totally crashed, both have completely melted away. I also have a toadstool which is typically very expanded and bright yellow, but has been darker and somewhat contracted over the same time period. On the other hand, my mushrooms and star polyps still look great. It's a mixed tank also with SPS and LPS, all of the other coral is status quo. Fish, inverts, clam - all fine, no unusual activity.

Tank is very stable, params are always very steady. No params have changed. I test fairly regularly, and params this week are exactly how they always are. Trace PO4, virtually no NO3 (can't get NO3 up no matter how hard I try). Nothing at all seems to be out of the ordinary, except for this sudden issue with certain soft corals.

Don't know where to go from here, but I sure don't want to lose any of those zoas. Any ideas?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Your system sound like it has no nutrients.

You might want to look into dosing in the sort term.


Are you running a gac in a reactor ? Gfo. ?

 

[Mattie H.]

Your system sound like it has no nutrients.

You might want to look into dosing in the sort term.


Are you running a gac in a reactor ? Gfo. ?

I'm regularly dosing Seachem Reef Trace and Reef Plus, and Iodide, per instructions. (I do test iodine levels.) Should I be doing something different?

I do run GFO and carbon on and off, using a BRS dual reactor. Right now it's on. Without the GFO my PO4 gets too high and I start getting cyano and more algae than I'd like. I do try to keep algae growing in the tank, just don't want it running wild. I also have been overfeeding to try to build up a bit of NO3, but I can't seem to get any detectable amount of NO3 no matter how hard I try.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Are you turning the reactors on an off and leaving them fillled?


You may consider using less carbon for s time. A lot of organics can be removed that mat help you.

You May want to look into nitrate dosing , change skimming , skipping Wcs.

Any organic carbon or nopox vibrant ?
My Po4 is through the roof and I don't have cyano.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No additions of new media of any kind in the last month?

 

[dkb2005]

I'm regularly dosing Seachem Reef Trace and Reef Plus, and Iodide, per instructions. (I do test iodine levels.) Should I be doing something different?

I do run GFO and carbon on and off, using a BRS dual reactor. Right now it's on. Without the GFO my PO4 gets too high and I start getting cyano and more algae than I'd like. I do try to keep algae growing in the tank, just don't want it running wild. I also have been overfeeding to try to build up a bit of NO3, but I can't seem to get any detectable amount of NO3 no matter how hard I try.

I feel your pain mate,I’m going through the same thing at the moment.
Had lovely healthy Xenia,leather coral and zoas a couple of months ago now its all going wrong.
Out of about 30 different types of zoas only a few are now open,not melting just closed(at the moment)
Test results are all good!
My lfs has come to the conclusion that I may have been starving the tank with under stocking and under feeding.
Dosing some Red Sea reef energy,A elements and K elements,and going to start feeding reef roids.
I hope you get a solution soon[emoji1303]

 

[dkb2005]

I'm regularly dosing Seachem Reef Trace and Reef Plus, and Iodide, per instructions. (I do test iodine levels.) Should I be doing something different?

I do run GFO and carbon on and off, using a BRS dual reactor. Right now it's on. Without the GFO my PO4 gets too high and I start getting cyano and more algae than I'd like. I do try to keep algae growing in the tank, just don't want it running wild. I also have been overfeeding to try to build up a bit of NO3, but I can't seem to get any detectable amount of NO3 no matter how hard I try.

I feel your pain mate,I’m going through the same thing at the moment.
Had lovely healthy Xenia,leather coral and zoas a couple of months ago now its all going wrong.
Out of about 30 different types of zoas only a few are now open,not melting just closed(at the moment)
Test results are all good!
My lfs has come to the conclusion that I may have been starving the tank with under stocking and under feeding.
Dosing some Red Sea reef energy,A elements and K elements,and going to start feeding reef roids.
I hope you get a solution soon[emoji1303]

 

[Mattie H.]

Are you turning the reactors on an off and leaving them fillled?

Yes.

Any organic carbon or nopox vibrant ? ?

Nope.

You May want to look into nitrate dosing , change skimming , skipping Wcs.

What's the best way to dose nitrates?

 

[Mattie H.]

No additions of new media of any kind in the last month?

Nope.

 

[Mattie H.]

I feel your pain mate,I’m going through the same thing at the moment...

My lfs has come to the conclusion that I may have been starving the tank with under stocking and under feeding...

I hope you get a solution soon[emoji1303]

Thanks! I have been told the same thing over and over again... I'm now overfeeding by a lot, which is probably why the cyano is popping up. Yet still my softies look very annoyed, and my anthelia and xenia are gone. Sigh...

 

[taj0930]

Anything sprayed near tank? (Air freshener etc)?
If you are certain no contamination is in tank (also no rusting pumps, magnets, etc has tainted the water then low nutrients definitely could b an issue)
Maybe run some poly- filter (the actual brand that removes contamination-not just the pillow stuffing) for a few days. See if it changes color to indicate something.
->Do some big water changes, & then start feeding heavier to increase nutrients. I personally wouldn’t remove the carbon/chemical media. If you have some contamination then that will help. Just feed heavier to compensate to add nutrients to increase the nitrate & phosphate.

 

[Mattie H.]

Anything sprayed near tank? (Air freshener etc)?
If you are certain no contamination is in tank (also no rusting pumps, magnets, etc has tainted the water then low nutrients definitely could b an issue)
Maybe run some poly- filter (the actual brand that removes contamination-not just the pillow stuffing) for a few days. See if it changes color to indicate something.
->Do some big water changes, & then start feeding heavier to increase nutrients. I personally wouldn’t remove the carbon/chemical media. If you have some contamination then that will help. Just feed heavier to compensate to add nutrients to increase the nitrate & phosphate.

I'm certain nothing was sprayed near the tank, and there's nothing visible that would cause contamination, but I do have a sneaking suspicion that there is some sort of contaminant causing this. Thanks for the Poly Filter idea, I'm ordering a pack of it now.

The strange thing is that I've always had ultra low NO3 and PO4 and have never had an issue like this. If it's not a contaminant, then nutrients must have dripped off a cliff. I have a Hanna for PO4 but just chemical test for NO3, so I have no way to know if the NO3 dropped lower than usual... the chemical test always reads 0. Maybe time to buy a Hanna for NO3.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Yes.

?

Reactors on and off.
You may be dumping ammoina and worse into the tank by letting water stagnant in the reactors.

 

[Mattie H.]

Reactors on and off.
You may be dumping ammoina and worse into the tank by letting water stagnant in the reactors.

Perhaps, but it doesn't affect my test results to any significant degree. I don't leave them off for too long, a few days at the most. I don't think that's what's causing the current issue, as it's a practice I've always done.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Perhaps, but it doesn't affect my test results to any significant degree. I don't leave them off for too long, a few days at the most. I don't think that's what's causing the current issue, as it's a practice I've always done.

True. Just pointing that out because I've come across more than few reactors dumping hydrogen sulphide into a tank because the bacteria has gone Anerobic over the last few years here.

 

[Mattie H.]

True. Just pointing that out because I've come across more than few reactors dumping hydrogen sulphide into a tank because the bacteria has gone Anerobic over the last few years here.

Good lord! There's so much to worry about in a reef tank! I need a Xanax!

 

[dkb2005]

Sorry to hijack your thread mate,but is there any test kit to buy that would test for any contamination?
Also,where would you place the poly filter for best results in a reefer 350
Thanks.

 

[taj0930]

Sorry to hijack your thread mate,but is there any test kit to buy that would test for any contamination?
Also,where would you place the poly filter for best results in a reefer 350
Thanks.

Poly filter can go anywhere w flow. Preferably something like a media rack, media reactor, etc. somewhere where the tank is being cycled through
When I had issues I ran it, did 25% water changes daily for about a week, then every other the following week.
Then stopped chasing the #’s, feeding based off what I saw. Now I only test occasionally for those for reference.

 

[taj0930]

I'm certain nothing was sprayed near the tank, and there's nothing visible that would cause contamination, but I do have a sneaking suspicion that there is some sort of contaminant causing this. Thanks for the Poly Filter idea, I'm ordering a pack of it now.

The strange thing is that I've always had ultra low NO3 and PO4 and have never had an issue like this. If it's not a contaminant, then nutrients must have dripped off a cliff. I have a Hanna for PO4 but just chemical test for NO3, so I have no way to know if the NO3 dropped lower than usual... the chemical test always reads 0. Maybe time to buy a Hanna for NO3.

Not a bad idea to test. Just remember that softies are supposed to be easier if done right. Don’t get too caught up in chasing the #’s constantly.
I’d do 25% water changes daily or as big you can for a week, then every other day for the following, while running the poly.
Then feed based off what you are seeing in the tank for reactions. This would accomplish 2 things, reduce whatever contamination may be in tank and directly feed the softies. basically a reset of sorts.

 

[Mattie H.]

I’d do 25% water changes daily or as big you can for a week, then every other day for the following, while running the poly.
Then feed based off what you are seeing in the tank for reactions. This would accomplish 2 things, reduce whatever contamination may be in tank and directly feed the softies. basically a reset of sorts.

Thanks for the advice. I just got the Poly into the tank, big water change tomorrow. The affected softies are looking even a bit worse since I started this thread. (Not all were affected - the leather and zoa are looking pretty bad and xenia/anthelia are wiped out, but all the different mushrooms and star polyps are still looking quite fine.) I have my fingers crossed that something works...

Will update this thread with any new news.