Everything was great and then.... Weirdness.

M

Morel

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Nov 29, 2002
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Quick stats - 46 Bow

KH - 9.5 dKH
Cal - 420 ppm
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Phos - 0
SG - 1.022
Ammonia - 0
Ph - 8.2

Everything was going wonderfully, But then last night my Kenya tree got extreamly unhappy and shriveled up, it's come back a little bit today, but now my two clown fish are in a corner and they're straight up and down next to each other! I'm starting to get some brown aglae growth (I need more flow, going out today to pick something up)

Nothing has changed at all, but the tank just has that "i'm not happy" vibe coming off it, if you know what I mean.. And idea why the fish would start doing this? I know kenya's have a habit of getting crouchy sometimes for no reason..

I'm worried I messed something up! :help:

Also, I keep getting 0 readings for ammonia, nitrites, and Nitrates... over and over.. I know i'm not that good, I don't see anyone who keeps having 0 on everything with every test.. Is this normal, or should I get another test? lol

Thanks!!
 
What brand is the test kit? Is it strips or liquid?

Is there any chance that some kind of outside contaminant got into the tank? Cleaning solution / spray or anything like that?
 
fsn77 said:
What brand is the test kit? Is it strips or liquid?

Is there any chance that some kind of outside contaminant got into the tank? Cleaning solution / spray or anything like that?
Click to expand...

Its the API Liquid tests.. I've done the tests over and over and the exact same color comes out.. I've even had other people look at the color/charts to verify I'm not losing my mind and they're reading 0.0 every single time. I'm going to take a sample to my LFS and see what they get..

As for some sort of contaminant, not that I know off. I had to take the lid off a few days ago cause the the tape that attaches the two halves was coming off. But nothing is stored around it...

One thing that has changed is that there are alot of tiny bubbles on the surface of the water.. I think they're coming from my canister filter. I turned the filter off (I run it for water flow and sometimes filtration) and the bubbles went away, but nothing else changed.. <sigh>

I'm just going to get rid of it, get a powerfilter for the occasional filtration and get a bigger Power Head... Maybe that will make things happier..

Hrmm.. Okaaay.. now the clown fish are acting like they're mateing (from various videos i've seen lol) Well well well... Still doesn't explain why mr Kenya Tree is hating life...

Added Before and after pics.

IMG_0774.jpg IMG_0776.jpg
 
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Well, the API liquid kits are generally pretty good. I use them quite a bit (just haven't broken down to spend the big bucks on Salifert kits). With the nitrate test, it is very important to make sure the second bottle is shaken very well, otherwise that can throw things off both now and for future tests.

Is it possible that the clowns may have tried to host in that coral? I've seen and heard of clowns try to host in a pretty wide variety of corals. If so, they may have just irritated it pretty heavily. Btw, to me, your kenya tree looks more like a colt coral.
 
Do you usually keep your salinity that low? Reef tanks should generally be round 1.025-1.026.

I know my tank doesn't like shifting parameters, and that's when things generally don't look very good.
 
What is the yellow stuff that is on the edge of the second picture but not the first? Do you have any other corals near this one?
 
clown-lover said:
What is the yellow stuff that is on the edge of the second picture but not the first? Do you have any other corals near this one?
Click to expand...


OH thats brown algae and the fact that I was in a rush and didn't take the time to white balance the camera before snapping the picture..

Well the good news is that it's not dead lol, I did some reworking of flow and cleaning some of the brown algae out, and getting rid of the canister filter, it shrinked up like it did before when I first got it..

As far as my clowns hosting it, I haven;t seen them do it.. In fact I watched it go from being totally fine to going limp.

The salinity is the same as the LFS I usually get all my stock. I figured the less shock the better.. I must have missed that most reef tanks are a bit higher (how thats humanly possible I'll never know. I've done so much reading my eyes hurt) I can raise it slowly over the next few days if you think that would help in the long run...

I did take a water sample to my LFS and they came up with the same readings I did, so at least I can rule out bad test kits.. As far as getting 0 on everything I guess I won't try to figure it out and just be thankful.. lol

I did notice that my skimmer has gone from having an 2 inches a night to 4 inches of fluid a day..

Hopefully things will work out.. I've messed with it enough tonight and I'll let things calm down.. Thanks for all the help and answering my questions.. After all the time, effort, and <sigh> money, I guess I'm being a paranoid :)

My poor Clowns.. At over 6 years old, it's rough on there poor hearts hahaha..
 
salty420 said:
i agree that your kenya tree looks to be a colt coral... these corals tend to look different day to day so hopefully it will perk up, maybe it's gonna shed..? i also agree that you should raise your SG up to at least 1.024 some stores keep it low to save $ on salt :(
Click to expand...

You know I missed that in FSN's post.. But you are right the first post I looked at it and said wow he looks just like my colt but really didn't post anything.. Other than his stalk is split all the way down to the base and mine isn't they really look alike.

I've haven't seen my colt shed, but then that doesn't mean Lenny hasn't rubbed it off since she is now hosting there..

I also agree that you should raise your SG..
 
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