Help please coral dying!!!

[RSlayer]

woke up to my corals look like they are dying, my feather duster lost half its feathers. I need to take my corals out of the tank... but I have no fresh saltwater, can I mix up new water let it sit and add the corals to new saltwater? I don't know what to do all my major parameters were fine last night! Anyone have any thoughts on how to save my tank? I'm lost!!! I posted this last night but no one replied.. PLEASE HELP.... I'm working on mixing new water and I've bypassed my sump and I'm about to check all parameters, below link will explain...

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2505939

[Kyle461]

Do you have current test parameters? I know you posted the ones yesterday on the linked thread, but they could have changed.

[Sk8r]

Get a filter sock on that to try to clean it up.
Meanwhile, prepare to get corals out.
Set up your qt.
Use Prime to treat tapwater if you have no ro/di (it's not worse than what's going on) or get ro from the grocery kiosk...make up salt water and stir it. Put the most potent pump you can to mixing it, or take up gallon pitchers of it and pour it back in again and again until the water is clear, which can usually take 12 hours, but you may be able to get it down to four by aggressive mixing.
Either that or run to your lfs with empty jugs or 5 gallon lidded buckets and buy water from them sufficient for the qt tank, which ---you'll risk ich, but not on corals. Just keep corals and fish separated for at least 72 days if you had to go this route. If they happen to be able to sell you some unused water, great, skip the 72 days.
This will not be easy, by any means.

[andrek787]

I have read about and been warned by my LFS about what your going through. If sufficient amount of the very fine silt component in Miracle mud gets suspended into the water column and gets carried into DT it can kill coral by clogging their pores.

Remove the corals from the DT into fresh saltwater ASAP. Dose Prime or ammo-guard. If you see necrosis start, remove that coral, the ammonia and toxins it would otherwise release like to kill other corals and inverts.

[youcallmenny]

Get your QT set up with prime and reef dip. Yikes, dirty about your luck.

[CuzzA]

Tough call. Removing all of your corals to a tank with nothing but freshly mixed saltwater may stress them even further. They closed up to protect themselves from whatever is wrong with your tank.

I had a similar incident when I first started reefing where I received a shipment of gorgonians, but the vendor did a horrible job packing them. They were still intact and appeared to be alive so I prepared them for my tank and put them in. The next morning they were losing tissue and I knew they were goners. My mistake was not turning off the powerheads when I pulled them out and they literally exploded and turned my tank into a deep purple gorgonian soup. I performed 3 back to back water changes, changed carbon out daily until my water was finally clear again. All of the corals remained closed for approximately 1 to 3 weeks. Surprisingly I didn't lose a single coral.

So with that said, I would just keep doing water changes, blasting rocks, changing filter bags, and replacing carbon. My guess is they'll bounce back once you get your water right again.

Also, in the future or for anyone else reading this, always keep enough RO/DI water on hand to make a fresh batch of saltwater. You never know when you're going to need a WC in a pinch.

[RSlayer]

here's my parameters, coral is getting worse... starting to bleach out... even my green star polyp is bleaching out. All Parameters I can test for are all within range. As follows, Salinity 1.025, Ammonia - 0, Nitrite 0.5 (red sea pro - could have been 0 too close), Nitrate - 1.5,dkh - 11.9, K - 380, Fe - 0, I -0, CA - 530, Mg - 1280....

I've also noticed the algae that has bloomed super fast! it looks kinda like diatom... I'm about to change out water... I was able to get 60 gallons of RO and DI water together. Unfortunately my tap water dkh is off the charts and I really don't want to go that route, and there is no LFS within 150miles.

I have a 200 micron and a 100 micron sock with a 50 micron felt in my canister.

I'm going to change out 50 gal and keep 10 gallons for coral. I have another tank I can utilize. I've bypassed the sump and fuge as well.

FYI - Walt from Fiji Mud has never seen anything like this... The fiji mud along with some new water is the only thing that has changed...

This sucks! I don't have a clue whats wrong other than some sort of contamination....

Thanks for your advice! I'll keep you updated!

Andrek - thanks, thats the only thing that makes any since.... Thanks

[RSlayer]

oh yeah phosphate is at 0.20. I changed out around 75% of my water I'll do another 40 gallons tomorrow... So upsetting not knowing the problem, I also find it wierd that I'm having and algae bloom of this dark brown reddish algae at the same time, It's growing way too fast, noticeable difference from this morning to evening. I have some stuff to help with that. I'll keep you posted..

As of know the only thing making since is andrek's comment on the silica dust..

So, with that said I don't recommend the miracle mud!!!

[andrek787]

Miracle Mud has iron oxide and aluminum oxide particles added to it, so what you could be seeing is actually the iron oxide settling out from the water column.

My first run in with miracle mud was with my previous FW tank. I had poorly designed the fuge and when I first turned on the return pump, the silt got really stirred up. It settled on the plants and ate through them in a couple of days. I distinctly remember the glass being covered in brown "sludge".

[andrek787]

I don't have any experience with Fiji mud, but I have never seen any mention of it "nuking" a tank. I believe ECO-SYSTEM's own website discusses this "Miracle Mud Nuked My Tank" phenomenon.

I added it to my reef tank's fuge a couple of months ago. I dripped (like acclimation) water from DT in to the fuge chamber through a 4" foam block just to avoid any chance of anything being suspended. My LFS told me to run the sump on itself for 48 hours, I got lucky and nothing got suspended into the water so I only ran it for 6 hours before reconnecting the sump to DT.

[BigCountry74]

you might just have to let it go and accept the loss. it happens. some stuff might pull though I dunno. setting up another tank with nothing but freshly mixed water is more than likely not going to help, it might make it worse.

[heathlindner25]

you have to hit the" reset button"...multiple large water changes,clean everything that's dirty.

[slapshot]

you have to hit the" reset button"...multiple large water changes,clean everything that's dirty.


+1

[RSlayer]

hey guys,

So with the water changes and sump bypass I'm seeing a small amount of improvement with some of my corals, all my fish and inverts (except feather duster, who dropped his crown last night) are fine.... I'm going to continue changing water out, also have my lights off trying to kill the brown algae bloom.

the necrosis of my corals happen right before my eyes while I was prepping for water changes. visible difference within a few hours, my Duncan and frogspawn closed up so to the point that I can see the skeleton around the edges of the polyps... I lost my red Monti for sure! bleached out in 6 hours and died. not sure about the others, they might bounce back....

I've contacted the manufacture for miracle mud (Caribsea not ecosystems), of course they tell me that they're product could not have caused this problem but it's the only thing that makes since as my water parameters are fine for the most part....

Once I actually get my sump and fuge back in line does anyone recommend a substrate? fiji mud and miracle mud are out the window!

This totally blows! so upsetting! Thank you for all your comments and help! I'll let you know if I find a definitive cause, but for now its the mud!

[tennesseebob]

I probably wont discount it yet, but ill make sure to let it settle and run the sump on itself till i get every little floaty out of there lol.

[andrek787]

Can you clarify which product did you use, ECO-SYSTEM's MIRACLE Mud OR Caribsea MINERAL Mud???

As far other substrate choices, it really depends on what you are trying to achieve. Nutrient export or to grow pods?

There are a few ways nutrient export is achieved in the fuge:

1. Consumption of nitrates and phosphates by macroalgae and its subsequent removal of the system.

2. Denitrification within anaerobic zones of the substrate.

3. Pods feeding on waste, multipling and then being skimmed out

4. Chemical absorption of phosphate into the substrate.

If this is your goal, do DSB + caulpera and as powerful of a light over the fuge as possible.


If on the other hand you are trying to grow pods to feed a mandarin, liverock rubble + cheato and lower powered light.

[tennesseebob]

If this is your goal, do DSB + caulpera and as powerful of a light over the fuge as possible.


If on the other hand you are trying to grow pods to feed a mandarin, liverock rubble + cheato and lower powered light.

Thanks, i was gonna put a rather powerful cheap LED i had lying around on there, but pods for an eventual mandarin are pretty important to me, so i have a AquaBeam 600 ill plop on there instead.

[RSlayer]

Caribsea miracle mud is the brand I used.

[andrek787]

Lol, check the container, Caribsea only makes a product called MINERAL Mud. If you were sold something called Caribsea MIRACLE mud, then I really don't know what to tell you....

[RSlayer]

that maybe right, sorry... I tossed the container...

[RSlayer]

quick update, after tearing out all my equipment, sump, media, etc. I put an old sump in to run the tank on and I tried Kent's clean equation and it seems to be helping. Fish are fine and have been fine. I'm not sure whats going to happen to the corals that still show signs of life, they're pretty damaged.... Time will tell.

I've done 3 water changes and have been cycling as much fresh seawater as I can in 30 gal containers. It appears I've got about 85% of the algae bloom taken care of. The rest should starve off pretty quick and my clean up crew will work on it.

I really wish I could figure out the exact problem, nothing is more irritating...

BTW, My reasons for a fuge are for the supplement and trace minerals, pods for 2 mandys, fresh greens for my tang, and the benefit of nitrate and phosphate reduction. I have a mix of pods, cheto and red and green gracillaria maybe I'll just go with sand from my tank LOL! I do have a 3" - 4" sand bed...