Problems with coral

[Agnate]

So, I picked up some coral from Ray on Thursday (very nice ones, too), which were a head of Frogspawn, 2 finger leathers (I don't know if there's a special kind, but they're white-purple-ish - one was a normal-looking piece, the other looked like an arm that was being fragged), and a small mat of star polyps.

They seemed to be doing okay after they were put into my 75 gallon (4x 54 watt Tek light).  On the second day, the Frogspawn seemed like it was getting pushed around by water current a lot, so I moved it to a spot that had less flow (they little tentacle things only moved slightly).  At this point, my finger leather was slumped over sideways, but still looked fine (I expect them to feel crappy after a tank move).  On the third day, the frogspawn disappeared (it was removed from it's frag somehow), and was chewed up by my Koralia.  Shortly after (by the end of the day), my finger leather started looking REALLY terrible (one layer of skin went black and began shedding), and it was kinda "shriveled", so to speak.  I did a bit of reading, and read that they prefer more flow over less (especially if they're shedding skin), so I moved him near the Koralia's flow, hoping it would help.  Also, the star polyps have not opened up for 5 days now.

The finger leather shed most of it's black layer by this morning (with the help of my puffer picking at it, which could be part of the problem, I suspect), but the polyps are still closed.

Is any of this normal?  I spoke with a friend of mine in South Carolina (she keeps several reef tanks), but we couldn't really come up with anything that could be causing major problems.

Tank specs:
- 75 gallon (no sump)
- 1 - 1.5 inches of aragonite sand
- ~30 lbs of live rock (I need to get more, I know)
- 3 Maxi-jet 1200s (one modded)
- 1 Koralia 4
- Temperature:  79 - 81 (those are the lower and upper limits, but it changes throughout the week)
- Salinity:  1.024
- pH: 8.2-ish
- Total tank life: 6 weeks (or somewhere around there)
- CUC:  18-20 blue-leg hermits, 4 trochus snails (I need to get more CUC, I know)
- Inhabitants: 2 Ceylon Puffers (both are about 1.5 inches in length)

Dosing:
- Calcium (not the buffer, but the stuff for coral)
- Iodide

Other info:
- I don't have a skimmer yet (waiting for RedBelly to get some Octopus HOB skimmers in stock), but the puffers have only been in the tank for maybe 1.5 weeks.
- I dripped the corals for about 1.5 hours before placing them in my tank.
- Lights are only on for about 6 hours a day (4:00 pm - 10:00 pm), and I haven't been using both bays after the first day I got the coral (as I read it's best not to do that)
- I don't have a lot of test kits (just enough to check ammonia, nitrite, and pH)
- I have a HOB penguin biowheel running (without the biowheel and cartridge) that has a carbon pack in it (just put it in there yesterday).

The only problems we could think of are that:
- I don't have a skimmer
- There might be a rogue electrical current running through the water that's bothering the coral (ie. I'd need a grounding probe)
- Puffers are picking at the coral a lot (haven't really seem them do this, except for eating the black skin from the leather)



If anyone has any suggestions as to why the coral are acting like this, or can assure me that this is somewhat normal, it will be much appreciated. 

[328iGuy]

I can't comment on the others, however I had the exact same thing happen to my Frogspawn I got from Ray a couple of weeks back.  It had 4 heads on it, however I lost 3 of them, they literally fell off, although I ensured the current was not too much.

All others are thriving, I would love to know what the issue was as well as I Would like to get some more Frogspawn.

[RoxyDog]

Sometimes frogspawn and torch type corals just melt away.  I had a torch do it to me, but then the next one I tried is doing great.  Star polyps *can* stay closed for quite some time.  Leathers not being happy isn't unusual, but the "black" stuff makes me wonder.

If I were you, I'd not be dosing anything yet.  There's nothing in your tank that you need to be dosing for, that could certainly be your problem.  Do a decent waterchange and stop dosing.  Also, it still could've been the puffers. 

What are you measuring your salinity with?

[Agnate]

Refractometer, so it's spot-on. 

Thanks for the help!

[littlelil]

I woudln't worry about the finger leather. I got one from redbelly and it didn't open for weeks- probably over a month. I serously thought it was dead, too. And having a new tank, i was also very afraid and impatient. I did a TON of research and some people said that sometimes it will take up to MONTHS before it stops sheading its skin. It looks black and blue and basically just like decaying matter; it kinda just hangs there. Sure enough, it came back bigger and brighter than ever when it did! It sheads every so often and should take about a week or so, but when it changes tanks, it can take up to months.

I got a frogspan frag from someone and it stayed small. I only put very little current on it, but it still didn't seem happy. it got smaller and smaller and some days it didn't open at all. I eventually put it where there was basically NO current and it has since been growing at a much more rapid pace.

MY GSP opened for the first few days i had it. Then i moved it (re-aquascaped) and then it closed and didn't open for a very long time. I also thought it was dead and thought it might be a lighting problem so I kept re-arranging the tank hoping that it would come out at a certain level of lighting. I gave up after a week and left it alone and it came out about 2 weeks later. Now it's super healthy and growing like crazy.

Basically, i think it just takes time. I know exactly how you feel. i'm pretty sure your corals are 100% fine and doing what they normally do. I have never put any chemicals in my water. Not a drop since the day i started it. Hope this helps!

[RoxyDog]

I forgot to ask if there were any SPS in your tank..if that's why you were dosing.    

[Agnate]

Nope, those are the only corals I have.

I was only adding in extra calcium and iodide/iodine (I don't remember which it is) for the invert inhabitants and if the corals happened to need it.  My hermit crabs are large ones, so I want to keep them happy.  I don't dose every second day like it recommends, though.  I think I've only dosed it twice in the last two weeks. 

Thank you VERY much for the reassurance!  It's good to know others have had this happen.  Now I won't get so annoyed thinking that it "died" from my inability to set up a reef tank, hehe.  Hopefully Redbelly gets some skimmers in soon, and maybe that'll help them feel a bit better.

PS - I did have 2 of the polyps open up by the end of the first day they were in there, but after that, I haven't seen one open since.  I'll just keep my fingers crossed that things are still okay, haha!

[sniggir]

I would bring your water in to get tested, check for Phosfate, also how old is your tank did ya start with cured LR or uncured.. only realy matters if your tank is young, should have your lights on for min 8 hours when you have corals, and last but not least how often do you do water changes.


Pat

[Agnate]

I started with cured LR, and the tank is close to 7 weeks old now.  I added in the CUC at about week 3-ish (might have been closer to week 4), and only added the puffers on week 5.

I planned on doing a small water change this weekend (maybe a 5-10 gallon water change), but I have been topping up every week at about 2 gallons-ish (maybe a bit less).

I'll increase my photo period to 8 hours and pick up some more snails.  I don't plan on adding any tankmates for a long time (other than CUC and coral), as I'd prefer to keep the bioload from my fish as small as possible.

When I get my water tested, I'll post up the results.  If my phosphates are high, should I like into a phosphate remover of some sort?  I've read about people having to do this, but nothing beyond that.

Thanks again for the info/suggestions!

[redbelly]

As for the frogspawn how wasthe flesh on the outside of the skeleton?

Stop dosing too. Although I am pretty sure that this is not causing the problems in your tank, there is just not need for it yet. You dont have anything yet that is consuming what you are putting in. Really you should not be dosing anything that you are not testing for. Plus excess iodine levels coupled with a potential for phosphate as you are using tap water is green hair algae waiting to happen.

IMO a phosban reactor is worth it weight in gold. But before you sink $100 into a reactor ($50 for the reactor, $25 for the pump, $25 for the media) I would invest the $200 into a good quality RO/DI unit.

[Achilles]

Just warning your tank it stil very young, you have not listed so I am wondering are you testing for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, just want to make sure that you tank is fully cycled as this could be your problem. Sometimes this can take a good 4 to 8 weeks to estaiblish enough denitrating bacteria. Also I aggree with Redbelly on the RO/DI, be sure to look at the one that remove chloramine is you are on city water. Also puffers may not be the best choice for a reef tank as there are messy eaters and most likely once they get bigger will consume you CUC.

[Agnate]

The flesh on the frogspawn seemed okay when I got it.  After the first day, it seemed kinda white-ish, a bit like it was flaying or something.  After I saw it like that, I moved it to less current, but it was gone before I got another good look at it.


I tested for ammonia and nitrite and got readings of zero, but I did not test nitrate yet (don't have the kit).


I agree that puffers are slobs and will devour my CUC eventually, but the tank was setup up for them primarily, so if I removed the puffers, I wouldn't really want the setup anymore.  ^_^