Acan is dying!! (I think)

DRC Archive General Saltwater Discussion
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My acan isn’t doing so well. He still goes in at night and comes out in the day but his fleshy mantle-looking piece has not come out in full in over 2 months now. He used to be full coming out the way a normal acan does but recently he has been pulling himself back in and looking very “reserved.”

I have a 29 gallon with above 600 calcium because I dosed without testing for awhile (stupid I know) and a dKH of about 10.2 and a pH of about 8. i have about 100-110 watts of lighting but I have not replaced the bulbs in about 8 months, which I am replacing in a few days. my nitrates used to be around 30 ppm… but I have since brought them down to about 10 ppm. Nitrites and Ammonia are 0. The tank is not overstocked, with maybe 5 or 6 small corals, numerous mushrooms, and one LARGE mat of green stars. I usually feed one every two days, but I am cutting back the amount I feel because it is way to much. I never directly feed the Acan, but have been recently trying to keep him alive. when he started to go down hill, he was about 16" from the surface, so I moved him up onto the top of the rock structure and he is not maybe 7 or 8" from the surface. I have 2 ocellarius clowns as well.

please help! I love that coral and I don’t know what to do. I hope I can answer any question, because I gladly well if it gives you guys the information you need to help me save this guy!

I’ll have pictures in a minute.

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Before:

Right Now:

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what kinda lighting doyu have and welcome :Welcome) :Welcome)

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Hey, and welcome.

Unfortunately acans are VERY hardy animals, so if they aren’t doing well there is a good chance things are far out of balance. In the second image the water looks very cloudy, is it that way in person?

If you over dose something often the best way to resolve the issue is through dilution(IE water changes) Nitrates should be down to 0 if at all possible or at least below 5 on an accurate test kit. That being said what type of test kit are you using? Many hobby grade test kits will tell you the Nitrates are a lot lower then they actually are. Also what is the expiration date on your test kits.

You say the tank is not over stocked, but only talk about corals. Typically we refer to over stocking in terms of fish not coral. I wouldn’t try to feed the coral at this point, just the fish until things are a little more balanced.

How long has the tank been running.

Regardless of what you read online, watts does not matter and isn’t an accuracte measure of how much light your putting in your tank. What type of lighting is it? If it is PC or Power Compact then it is very inefficient and will use a lot of watts with out getting much PAR(Photosynthetic Active Radation, the stuff that really matters and helps the animals). Do you use glass between your light and water? How high they mounted. Regardless of all that Acans typically are collected from lower on the reefer where the light is dimmer and bluer then what many of our other corals are adapted to live in.

Moving the coral higher was probably not the best idea, but I also don’t know what sort of lighting you have yet.

I would be willing to bet that whatever is effecting your Acan is effecting the other animals as well and should be resolved for all of them. I would highly recommend not adding any more animals at this point.

What type of flow do you have in the tank?

Answer the questions above and ask us any other questions you might have. Really hope we can help in time. If you fix things soon I am sure it will eventually recover, just might take some time. Hang in there.

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What is the animal in the forground of the last image? Dendro? Anemone?

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Okay so I have t5 lighting, a simple corallife 2 bulb (24w 10,000k, 24w 420nm, no reflectors) and a Nova Extreme, two t5 HOs one 75.25 and a 420nm, but these both have very nice German reflectors in the top over each light.

Also I am using a salifert test kit and it expires in about 4 months, so its not that, did you say the results are really lower than what the test says? Its very hard to read the Salifert Nitrate Test kit.

why was it not a good idea to move him higher up? He still is doing pretty much the same I don’t believe I see anymore deterioration in his flesh, its pretty much the same.

The coral in the foreground is actually a Dendro, I refuse to have an anemone reeking havoc in my little tank ;).

the flow in the tank is fairly good, I’ve got one Koralia 2 blowing from the mid section to the top, I have my return jet from my canister, and i have a small Koralia mini in the back that really isn’t doing anything but annoying pushing my sand around =). Do they need high flow??

as for fish i only have two small clowns and I just recently purchased a small Yellow Watchman who is doing pretty good I think. This whole problem with my Acan has been going on for about a month and a half.

Thank you guys for actually responding. I posted on the Reef Central like two days ago, got one response and nothing else. =P

Cameron

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Double check the Salifert test instructions. Are you low enough now that you can do a low res double check? Saliferts are… ok.

How often do you do water changes with what brand and type of salt? How large are the water changes? If the levels are off from what you would prefer, and I personally think they are not where you want them to be, it wouldnt’ be a bad idea to do a 20% water change soon.

Moving corals that are already significantly stressed and aren’t in a bad spot in the tank isn’t a great idea. When moved from one set of flow and lighting conditions to another they need to readjust biologically to the different conditions. This is taxing on them energy wise.

Perfect flow isn’t critically important for Acanthastrea. I asked about it just to get a general idea of the tank conditions. If you said you only had a Maxi-Jet 400 in the tank we could advise more flow. What you have doesn’t seem too bad.

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Oh and it is very possible to have too much flow on fleshy LPS such as acans. Make sure a power head isn’t pointed directly at it.

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I’m not a coral guy, but I have heard that low magnesium can cause the corals to start to detach from the skeleton. It’s hard to see if that is what is happening in the pic, hope it gets better.

Joe

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Hey Sweeneyc welcome to the site.

Hard to tell with the pic, Joe was talking about mag and that needs to be in line as well with the other 2 cal and alk.

 The water flow plays a part as well, alot of direct water flow is not good for LPS it can rip the flesh from the skeleton.  With the tank being a 29 a good T5 light is all you need. The nitrate being at 10 isn't great but could be alot worse and don't think thats a substantial problem.
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Bringing up Mg actually is a very good point. There wasn’t any mention of it being tested. Very important to keep an eye on all three.

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yeah I actually have never tested mag. It was doing fantastically for the first month, and I do not dose with mag. so it could have depleted the source of it in my water? How much of that stuff is in the salt mixes?

Speaking of water changes… .Don’t yell at me but after I got back from college I kind of laxed on my water changes and it kind of was sporadic sometimes going two weeks before doing a 15 or 10% water change. Recently I have been doing an intensive water change doing about 15-20% every 4 days. Theoretically, I have changed about 60% of my water. I am planning on doing a water change actually tomorrow or Tuesday, and then get back into my normal swing of doing 20% water changes every Sunday. I used to only do 10% but that just isn’t cutting it anymore at keeping nitrates down.

So it could possible be my magnesium, and it could possibly be my nitrates? It isn’t the flow because the flow is angled pretty well to give it not too much flow but enough. I think it might be too little flow actually. I just really love this coral and would like to keep it alive so that I can get others, more brightly colored.

Also I should note that EVERYTHING else in the tank is doing fantastically. All of the corals including the dendro (who is extremely fat and happy) green star polyps, 4 ric., and a large branching hammerhead coral.

I have almost recently lost a duncan who was beautiful and huge and then all of a sudden… nothing. When I started doing water changes because I notice my nitrate levels were dangerously high even for freshwater (sorry corals) I did my intensive water changing period and now the duncan is starting to rebuild himself. Actually right after the second water change he came back out. Could it just be taking the Acanthastrea a little bit longer?

sorry one more point… But I am getting in two new bulbs (a 10,000k and a 75.25 from UVL) to replace my old lights because their life span is far beyond its point. What should I do when changing these bulbs? the Acan has been in his new place for about… 4 or 5 days now… should I not move him again when I put the lights in?

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http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm

:BEER

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And also… if Salifert’s are only okay… how should I test? I really want to bring this crap down but its kind of hard when I don’t know the exact levels I guess…

And which brand of Magnesium should I dose with? and for that matter test with?

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And I am using Oceanic salt. I love this stuff I do believe its good salt and plus… I can afford it. haha

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Sorry you guys CHUCKSMIT=SWEENEYC

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So I’ve been using Essential Elements by Kent, but sparingly as of late because of the problems in the tank…

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[quote=“Chucksmit, post:12, topic:3156”]
How much of that stuff is in the salt mixes?[/quote]

This is a big question. Many hobbyist would say you get what you pay for with salt and few would doubt there is major issues with cheap salt. This is the reason why I had asked what type of salt you were using. One of the best things you can do for your tank is get on a regular schedule of doing water changes that works for your system and using a good quality mix.

Nitrates could be the issue, but I would kind of lean towards it not being the major issue. 20ppm Nitrates is without question an issue in a reef tank. Many hobbyist, speakers, and authors will tell you 0 is the only expectable level. It is partially a matter of opinion, but I would advise anyone to go as low as they can.

[quote=“Chucksmit, post:12, topic:3156”]
I think it might be too little flow actually.[/quote] If you can stir a little bit a sand bed, and feed a little bit and then capture a video of the acan we might be able to give some feedback as to the flow. Just try not to move the camera around so much, just stick with the same coral and maybe give us two angels.

[quote=“Chucksmit, post:12, topic:3156”]
I have almost recently lost a duncan who was beautiful and huge and then all of a sudden… nothing.[/quote]
Duncans are also a fairly hardy LPS. Have you added LPS in the last month or two? There are some bacterial infections and other pests that can bother them. Also take a hard look for any flat worms on their flesh.

You talk about the Duncan recovering from something and the Acan maybe taking a bit longer. Again both of these are fairly hardy so if something ticked both of them off something was significantly off or there was an issue specific to LPS. You may want to look into a dip such as revive if you get the conditions dead on and it still isn’t opening up. That being said I am not sure the chemistry is dead on yet. Do a full batch of tests, let us know what the scoop is and be prepared for another water change soon(have salted RODI mixing soon)

Speaking of which you do use close to 0TDS RO water right?

[quote=“Chucksmit, post:12, topic:3156”]
sorry one more point…[/quote]
Don’t be sorry at all, the more info the more we can help.

[quote=“Chucksmit, post:12, topic:3156”]
But I am getting in two new bulbs (a 10,000k and a 75.25 from UVL) to replace my old lights because their life span is far beyond its point. What should I do when changing these bulbs? the Acan has been in his new place for about… 4 or 5 days now… should I not move him again when I put the lights in?[/quote]
Set on these bulbs already? Are they ordered? I’d recommend slightly different bulbs. All though these will be ok health wise for the corals, I personally don’t think it will give the tank the best appearance.

If it is possible when you add the new bulbs do so one at a time and raise the fixture up high to reduce any shock, then slowly lower it several days later.

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Shouldn’t dose Mg, until you test. Anything can be over dosed.

I personally like and use Elos test kits and you could look into scientific grade, but they are pricey. For time being though, less feeding if possible, more water changes, and possibly more filtration. Are you skimmer-less? Use carbon, phosphate remover, or any other media?

[quote=“Sweeneyc, post:17, topic:3156”]
So I’ve been using Essential Elements by Kent, but sparingly as of late because of the problems in the tank…[/quote]

I’d stop use for now and put that on the shelf. Very good general rule is not to dose unless you can test for it.

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Sounds good. And I use distilled water with the Oceanic salt mix. Like I said, everything in the tank is doing great now and even before, it was just those two LPS corals.

I checked for flatworms or other diseases… it doesn’t look like anything that I can see. I will try to get a video of that flow, but dont get your hopes up in the quality of the video.

Also lately I have been having some Red Slime break out pretty badly in various spots on my tank, and not just dead spots. I attributed it to the high nitrates and the fact that I hadnt changed my bulbs in 8 or 9 months. But even after the water changes the Slime is still there. its not too too terrible but its about half-palm sized spots in two spots on my tank and on a spot directly across from where my return jet spits water from the canister. And they are actually growing pretty quickly…

I do use carbon, two packets of it, that I just replaced two days ago.