Things looking shaky...

[stevertr]

I'm having a problem....actually two problems...

First, my corals are very unhappy the past few days. Not fully extending, appearing to die back in some small sections. I've checked everything, including Phosphate and Ca, and everything seems pretty good. Nitrates were high (+-100) but I did a 33% water change the other day and they're down to 40 now. Any insights most welcome.

Second problem, My bristle worm population seems to have exploded the last few weeks. What used to be the occaisonal head sticking out of a rock during feedings has now become tons of them boldly coming out and crawling across the sand during feedings. Is this something I should be concerned about and treat? If so , how? If not, maybe this is a normal thing. Any inverts I can get that would consume them?

Regards

Steve

 

[nunofs]

Can you post the rest of the parameters?

Nitrates are still very, very high... 40ppm nitrates is way too high for a reef tank... ideally you'd want them to be undetectable, but I guess anything under 1 or 2 ppm would be reasonable.

Nuno

 

[~Flighty~]

Is there a thread here with picks and an explination of your setup? It is hard to start without basic info:
size, sump, substrate, filtration, flow, fuge, lighting, livestock, llamas...

 

[stevertr]

Is there a thread here with picks and an explination of your setup? It is hard to start without basic info:
size, sump, substrate, filtration, flow, fuge, lighting, livestock, llamas...

36Bowfront, Tons of LR, PC Compact with Actinics, Remora Skimmer, No sump or fuge yet, miscellaneous inverts, 2 small fish, lot's of zoos, and SFS's...

Regards

Steve

 

[Bidadari]

Steve, do some more water change daily and lots of carbon will help. Good luck.

 

[~Flighty~]

Any ideas on the source of your nitrates? anything died recently? Do you have crushed coral substrate? Sponges on your powerheads?

 

[synchiropi]

I think that you have two clues that you might be overfeeding:

1. VERY high nitrates.
2. Bristle worm population explosion (they have to be eating something, right?).

So, my humble guess is that your two problems have the same source.

I myself just battled a high nitrate problem during the past few weeks. I did suffer some stony coral loses too. My bad. I think the overfeeding also caused my alkalinity to drop, cyano to grow everywhere, etc. etc. What a pain! Anyways, I would look at overfeeding as a possible cause. I mean the nitrates have to come from somewhere, correct?

Just my two cents.

 

[Reef55]

My first question is are you using RO/DI water....

 

[NateHanson]

I agree with Itzcoatl above. You're probably overfeeding. Bristleworm explosions are often connected to overfeeding. Cut way back on feeding possibly to every other day, and only 1/2 as much per feeding, and continue with large water changes to get the nitrates down. Could you tell us what fish you have, and what type of food you're feeding, how often?

In the longer run, you might want to think about adding a refugium. Either HOB, or below the tank. Or you could add some chaetomorpha algae to a corner of your display tank. This will help lower nitrates (but not until you can get them down much lower by feeding less and changing water first).

Good luck, Nate