Tank Update and Torch Coral Question

[vio]

Hello everyone. Havent posted in a while but believe me i still read everything. My current 55 now has several new inhabitants and some old ones as follows: 2 oscellaris, 1 sailfin tang ( dont yell at me i am a responsible tang owner), Branching Hammer coral, Purple torch coral with green tips ( dont know the exact name), Green BTA ( this one survived),silver star polyps, xenia, some purple mushrooms and new today is an acan lord(). Most everything is doing well and i will post pictures tomorrow when i get some time away from studying for finals but for now i have a question.

My torch coral recently started to recede from its skeleton and its tentacles got very short. It was like this for about 2 days then i did a 20 percent water change last tuesday and he is no longer receding and his skeletal ridges are not as apparent around the edges but he is not what he used to be. any ideas what could have caused this. As of now Nitrates are around 4ppm, phosphates zero, calcium 430 alkalinity is around 110 (not carbonate hardness). would feeding him some mysis help him out? i never have any luck with my hammer or the torch when he was well taking meaty food. it just falls off their tentacles. also he is in a moderate/high flow area.

and a little poll. who feeds their lps meaty foods. my hammer reproduces liek crazy without every feeding him. i will of course feed the acan as they are great.

thanks for any help or comments.

[rluix]

Hello everyone. Havent posted in a while but believe me i still read everything. My current 55 now has several new inhabitants and some old ones as follows: 2 oscellaris, 1 sailfin tang ( dont yell at me i am a responsible tang owner), Branching Hammer coral, Purple torch coral with green tips ( dont know the exact name), Green BTA ( this one survived),silver star polyps, xenia, some purple mushrooms and new today is an acan lord(). Most everything is doing well and i will post pictures tomorrow when i get some time away from studying for finals but for now i have a question.

My torch coral recently started to recede from its skeleton and its tentacles got very short. It was like this for about 2 days then i did a 20 percent water change last tuesday and he is no longer receding and his skeletal ridges are not as apparent around the edges but he is not what he used to be. any ideas what could have caused this. As of now Nitrates are around 4ppm, phosphates zero, calcium 430 alkalinity is around 110 (not carbonate hardness). would feeding him some mysis help him out? i never have any luck with my hammer or the torch when he was well taking meaty food. it just falls off their tentacles. also he is in a moderate/high flow area.

and a little poll. who feeds their lps meaty foods. my hammer reproduces liek crazy without every feeding him. i will of course feed the acan as they are great.

thanks for any help or comments.

i hope you have a better tank ready for the tang, because they get huge, and are very active, they can start making rocks fall, nip at other fish ,etc.

About your coral, could you show the nitrite and ammonia results? and what type of lightds do you have? skimmer?

[vio]

i hope you have a better tank ready for the tang, because they get huge, and are very active, they can start making rocks fall, nip at other fish ,etc.

About your coral, could you show the nitrite and ammonia results? and what type of lightds do you have? skimmer?

rluix did you not hear me say i am a responsible tang owner. that means when he gets to large i trade him in and get a new one. hes just a little guy now. when he gets larger i assure the tang police that he will be properly housed.


nitrite is zero and ammonia is zero. lights are 260 watts pc. skimmer is aquarium systems 150 i think. cheap skimmer but i love it. easy to adjust and pulls a full cup of some dark dark tea out of my tank about every 2 days.

all other corals are in excellent shape. The anemone is lovin life, the hammer is is huge, shrroms doin what they do and spreading everywhere. the star polyps are reproducing like crazy. just this one head of torch is in bad shape.

[rluix]

rluix did you not hear me say i am a responsible tang owner. that means when he gets to large i trade him in and get a new one. hes just a little guy now. when he gets larger i assure the tang police that he will be properly housed.


nitrite is zero and ammonia is zero. lights are 260 watts pc. skimmer is aquarium systems 150 i think. cheap skimmer but i love it. easy to adjust and pulls a full cup of some dark dark tea out of my tank about every 2 days.

all other corals are in excellent shape. The anemone is lovin life, the hammer is is huge, shrroms doin what they do and spreading everywhere. the star polyps are reproducing like crazy. just this one head of torch is in bad shape.

How is trading a tang wen he gets big being responsible? The way you say it makes me think you don't care about its health, a responsible tang owner would make the tang's life as good as he could offer. Not just change it wen he gets big and get a new one, fish are not clothes that you change wen they get too small or too big.
Here let me quote some text that Leebca posted in the Marine fish health sub-forum - "Tangs and large Angelfish are prime examples. Middle-sized and larger tangs can travel over 25 miles a day in the ocean. If that fish is placed into a short, narrow aquarium, even when it is a 'baby,' that fish becomes space stressed."

[vio]

How is trading a tang wen he gets big being responsible? The way you say it makes me think you don't care about its health, a responsible tang owner would make the tang's life as good as he could offer. Not just change it wen he gets big and get a new one, fish are not clothes that you change wen they get too small or too big.
Here let me quote some text that Leebca posted in the Marine fish health sub-forum - "Tangs and large Angelfish are prime examples. Middle-sized and larger tangs can travel over 25 miles a day in the ocean. If that fish is placed into a short, narrow aquarium, even when it is a 'baby,' that fish becomes space stressed."

guarantee my 2" sailfin isnt swimming 25 miles anywhere. maybe when he is 15 or lets say even 5 or 6 but i can see you are too hung up on the tang to offer me any help in saving the creature that may currently be dying.

anyone got some real help instead of ridiculing me on my "irresponsible tang ownership".


my new acan opened up fully today and looks great. should i feed him at night?? or does it not matter?

[vio]

picturessss!! the purple torch with green tips is the sick one. believe it or not he is looking much better but i dont know what to do to help him along. anemone was expelling waste when i took these. ill put him up in a little.

[Steve McKay]

my new acan opened up fully today and looks great. should i feed him at night?? or does it not matter?

Vio, I have a couple Acans now. A purple Acanthastrea,echinata and a red & tan Acanthastrea,lordhowensis that I've had for about five months now. You probably have a lordhowensis, you don't need to feed it but it will grow faster and look better if you do. Once or twice a week is fine. There feeding tentacles only come out at night, my lordhowensis tentacles come out immediately after the lights go out. They will eat anything even a stray shrimp or fish but that is most unlikely. They like bigger food items like mysis, chunks of squid, clam and krill. I can't help you with the torch I have no experience with them, check you Mg level though. Here's a couple photos of my lordhowensis, one during the day and one with it's feeding tentacles out at night.


About the tang, Yell, Yell, Yell.

[vio]

steve that acan is awesome looking. i just fed mine tonight he responded well but i had to fight the hermit crabs off him and took a few painful bites from the clowns. for such a cute little fish they are mean as hell. are your acans australian? or where are they from. I'm trying to figure out where mine is from to no avail but i know it isnt australia.

fed the torch tonight. cant really tell if he took it or not. it was in his tentacles for a while but not sure if he ate it. im just hoping he continues his recovery.

anemone is now on the move from his spot in the back of the tank to the front. Ill post pics of him tomorrow when he settles into wherever it is he is planning on going.

[Steve McKay]

steve that acan is awesome looking. i just fed mine tonight he responded well but i had to fight the hermit crabs off him and took a few painful bites from the clowns. for such a cute little fish they are mean as hell. are your acans australian? or where are they from. I'm trying to figure out where mine is from to no avail but i know it isnt australia.

First thanks. If it's feeding tentacles are out you shouldn't have to fight them off, they are very aggressive even my cleaner shrimp tries to steal food but he backs away as if he was stung. Nothing seems to bother it except the new Peppermint shrimp I bought. Don't know where it came from they live on most reefs to a depth of about twenty meters. Here's some more info on it. This info also backs up my claim that they can and will eat fish.

Acanthastrea Lordhowensis (Acanthastrea sp.)

Type: Large Polyp Stony
Family: Mussidae
Origin: Indo Pacific

Aquarium Needs:

Lighting: Acanthastrea Lordhowensis are a hermatypic/photosynthetic coral. They require moderate to high lighting. Power compact lighting may be used but ideally T-5 & Metal Halide fixtures will prove more beneficial.
Water Quality: Acanthastrea Lordhowensis are more tolerant of changes water quality making them an excellent coral for beginners. Though they are more tolerant, a stable environment is obviously better for the prolonged health & well being of these creatures. Due to the heavy feeding requirements, a strong protein skimmer is recommended. Activated carbon as well as items such as ozone generators can help as well.
Current: Acanthastrea Lordhowensis require medium to strong water movement. Excessive flow on the animal can cause polyp retraction or in worst-case polyp bailout (polyps actually detach from their skeleton).
Temperature: 74 – 82 degrees Fahrenheit
Temperament: Acanthastrea Lordhowensis are a more aggressive species. They may be kept close to other Acanthastrea Lordhowensis, but give plenty of room to other corals.
Supplemental Feeding: Acanthastrea Lordhowensis will readily accept feedings of minced meaty foods such as shrimp, mysis and squid. Though not regularly required, these feeding will also help growth. These animals also seem to react better to higher levels of magnesium 1250-1350ppm. Please test prior to the addition of any chemicals.
Frag Difficulty: The propagation of Acanthastrea Lordhowensis is very easy. They simply love to be cut. Wet tile saws, band saws and dremel tools may be used to make appropriate cuts. Simple agitation of the coral will cause the polyps to retract. At this point you may cut out the desired amount of polyps. The only concern is that depending on the cut, you don’t go to shallow and actually cut into the corallites. Once the frag is made, it can be left as is in the sand bed where it will grow its own calcium skeleton or affixed to a piece of live rock where it will encrust over the rock. The preferred and more desirable method due to accelerated growth is to attach the frag to live rock and let it encrust over.

Personal Observations -

Each of these corals are unique. Some like high flow some like low. Some color up better under metal halides while some like it in the shade. You have to watch them and learn what to look for. I’ve found that the Indonesian species seem to handle the warmer waters 79-80 degrees while others seem to prefer the colder temps, 76-77. Acan lords love to eat. They actually seem to eat better than I do. A varied diet a couple of times a week will help them remain happy and healthy as well as promote faster growth. A friend of mine woke up the other morning to one of his lords swallowing his pipefish. They are a hardy coral with amazing coloration. They are my personal favorite.

[vio]

here is my anemone in his newly aquired spot right in the front of my tank . the picture is taken w/ my cell so the colors dont look exact. but i think its still a pretty good picture.

[Steve McKay]

here is my anemone in his newly aquired spot right in the front of my tank . the picture is taken w/ my cell so the colors dont look exact. but i think its still a pretty good picture.

Looks good Vio.

[vio]

man my sand looks really bad in those pictures. I have been fighting a light coating of cyano on my sand bed for 6 months now. nothing seems to get rid of it. and it is nowhere besides my sand.

any good creatures that stir the sand bed real well that im looking over?

chemicals are not an option. i use tap water. just kidding . i use ro water but not rodi and top off with distilled from time to time if im out of ro. could this be doing it??

[Steve McKay]

man my sand looks really bad in those pictures. I have been fighting a light coating of cyano on my sand bed for 6 months now. nothing seems to get rid of it. and it is nowhere besides my sand.

any good creatures that stir the sand bed real well that im looking over?

chemicals are not an option. i use tap water. just kidding . i use ro water but not rodi and top off with distilled from time to time if im out of ro. could this be doing it??

Cerith and Nassarius snails are about the best type of snails for stirring the sand bed. Scarlet and red leg hermits will also help and so far they seem about the safest hermits to have. I would make sure your ro water is good by testing it and check the membrane and replace if necessary. Distilled water wouldn't cause it, it is the cleanest water there is. I distill my own water.

[vio]

ive checked the water, no nitrate no phosphate must be something else causing it. the nassarius or as i call them zombies do an ok job ill have to get some ceriths.


cool pic of my anemone under actinics all bubbled up.

[vio]

whats your production like out of your distiller and how much do those run?

[Steve McKay]

whats your production like out of your distiller and how much do those run?

Mine is a small one it makes one gallon in six hours and shuts off automatically. It is quite safe you can start it and not worry about it. Cost $160. I can easily make all the water I need for my 50g by making one or two gallons a day, sometimes not even that. Distilling is better than ro/di because it takes out everything period. The only thing you have to do is clean it about every 6-8 gallons by putting enough distilled white vinegar to cover the bottom and let it sit about 6 hours then rinse it out. I do plan on upgrading to a 125g or 180g in the near future and might buy another one so I don't have to be in a rush to make water. I wouldn't be without my distiller, it's the size of a coffee maker and does a great job. Here's a link. Megahome Corporation Inquiry Form You don't need to use the carbon filters that come with it, I don't.