Frog Spawn Coral Dying?

[reefer403]

My tank has been up and running a couple months now. Everything seems to be flourishing. Today I noticed 1 of a 2 branch frog spawn coral was comp[leted retracted, and I could see the calcerous base. It seems that the coral has been releasing its own fleshy chunks. I used to have a colony of trumpet coral a while back in a other tank, and one of them died and it is the same "look" of calcium base. Parameters are good, nothing unusual.
I kept it at the bottom of the tank in a mid flow area. Anyone have experience and maybe could provide insight? I hate hate hate nopt knowing what I have done wrong as I would like to avoid in the future. All I know is everything seems good and it had flourished in this spot for 6 weeks. This was an overnight occurence.

Thanks,.

[Nano]

What are your water parameters?

[fishytime]

and your list of suspects (fish)?....

[reefer403]

Nitrates-0
Phosphate .25
Calcium is high @ 600 or more (New aragonite sand bed??)
Calcium carbonate is 8

no real suspects-
6 line wrasse
coral beauty
bicolor blenny
firefish
2 damsel

I noticed a small cyano outbreak in one corner, the branch was in this area- is this a possible culprit?

The frogspawn has literally "let go" of all its flesh on this branch

[reefwars]

i read your only other post and it says temp is getting high....how high???


parameters are out of whack also, explains the cyano could also explain the coral death.


what are you adding to your tank???

[fishytime]

the coral beauty could be a suspect but I would lean towards the sheer number of fish you have in a relatively brand new tank.....that is quite the bioload for a tank that is only a couple monthes old....

[reefwars]

high temp, super high calcium ....alk will prob be off a bit too same with ph....i would work on getting these at the levels they need to be at, if theres alot of evaporation be sure to top off as needed so salinity doesnt get to high .


i agree with doug you may have to much instability happening ,kinda has a snowball effect ,its usually your corals and fish that let you know.

[reefer403]

Temp is good, constant 26 degrees now that I have the A/C unit in my house.

Bioload is too big? tell me more? what is common practise? I have done my research and thought guidelines had been followed appropriately. Started with the 2 damsel. Then 3 weeks later added the blenny, firefish and coral beauty.

Just added the wrasse 4 days ago.

Only one new fish in last 5 weeks.....is this too much?

Thanks

[reefer403]

How do i lower calcium when none has been added? It is just from my aragonite sand bed I figured. Have not dosed with anything. Regular water change every 7 days with RO/DI
Top off fresh water to keep at 1.024 daily

[reefwars]

How do i lower calcium when none has been added? It is just from my aragonite sand bed I figured. Have not dosed with anything. Regular water change every 7 days with RO/DI
Top off fresh water to keep at 1.024 daily



how big is your tank??

[reefwars]

Temp is good, constant 26 degrees now that I have the A/C unit in my house.

Bioload is too big? tell me more? what is common practise? I have done my research and thought guidelines had been followed appropriately. Started with the 2 damsel. Then 3 weeks later added the blenny, firefish and coral beauty.

Just added the wrasse 4 days ago.

Only one new fish in last 5 weeks.....is this too much?

Thanks



im still thinking theres some water quality issues , theres new sand added to your tank just recently??

[reefwars]

How do i lower calcium when none has been added?


if your tank isnt too large a few hefty water changes will bring you back down:)

[reefer403]

70 gallons

[reefer403]

no the sand was part of the initial set up. I just know that I do not need to supplement anything based on the amount of naturally occuring calcium in the bed. Calcium is off the charts....is this the reason>? I have not dosed anything at all....

[fishytime]

did you start with live rock or dead rock?.....I wouldnt say that the fish you have is too many fish for a 70g, but you need to think of your tank like a balanced scale.....everything that you add to it in its early stages is going to tip the scales out of balance.....a young tank needs time to recover from these balance tips....I attempt to keep my fish additions weeks if not monthes apart

[reefwars]

70 gallons


ok , yeah some water changes will brng you back down it will just take time it should even out.


do you test alk and mag too??

how long is the set up running?? all live rock??




a pic could prob help but i doubt its the calcium itself more of what the whole system sits.

when calcum is too high it will affect your alk as well , the calcium itself is not so much a harm to the coral but when these parameters are off it tends to make things unstable especilly for corals.

ph is in relation to alk...alk is in relation to calcium...one affects the other.

[reefer403]

started with live rock, 55 lbs.
I have not tested the alk, I will do this now and provide an update. 20% change first thing in the AM.

Thanks guys!

[reefer403]

weird thing is all my other corals (bubble,open brain, zoa, trumpet, cauliflower, purple snowflake, sea pen)- look AMAZING today.....so strange to me.

[reefwars]

weird thing is all my other corals (bubble,open brain, zoa, trumpet, cauliflower, purple snowflake, sea pen)- look AMAZING today.....so strange to me.


thats a good sign, water change is def a good idea.


work on getting your alk and calcium to its target range, thing will grow faster :)

[reefer403]

My Ph is good
Calcium is high.

Soi you think alkalinity is off then?

[burgerchow]

what kind of lighting do you have? From my experience, my frogspawns like a lot of light. I keep mine 2/3 of the way up under 250 w MH. They grow like weeds and have great colors.

[reefer403]

Thanks man! You have been great help.
I will get some new test kits tomorrow....hopefully the one branch of frogspawn survives and eventually I will frag it.

Take care and talk soon!!

[reefwars]

My Ph is good
Calcium is high.

Soi you think alkalinity is off then?



more than likely is off.

frogspawn do well in both high and moderate lighting, moderate to low flow....and you can also feed them.

i feed my frogspawn daily and i frag it reguarily its still as big as the day i got it and ive fragged it several times:P


they also dont handle well as there flesh can tear on their shar skelaton