ReefdUp

Can you get some clearer photos (daylight pic)? And all the other polyps are healthy? Typically when I see top-down LPS damage like that, it's a fish that went rogue. That's not always the case, but... what's your inhabitant list? Shrimp and some other inverts can do this, too, but they usually go in from the sides. Can you provide your tank parameters and general setup? It would also help to have a full tank shot.

Thanks Craig for handling this! If anyone ever has any issues or concerns with their membership, please reach out to Membership@wamas.org. Your friendly Membership Director is happy to help! 😁

@ranger, if you would like to continue this discussion, please start a new thread. Let's keep this thread relevant to the OP's specific question.

Recommend taking your water to a LFS to see how your parameters check out against a different set of kits. Bacteria added against ammonia: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bacteria-in-a-bottle-myth-or-fact.403226/ There are other ways to address ammonia, but dosing bacteria is my preference, as it naturally addresses the problem. The research linked above is more focused on initial cycling of a tank's ammonia, but it is still relevant.

While there are certainly other acceptable methods to reduce ammonia, adding beneficial bacteria to rapidly process it is nothing resembling a scam. Ammonia at detectable levels needs to be reduced ASAP (assuming the test kit is accurate), and given the lack of nitrite, it is possible the nitrate cycle is bacteria-limited. Inverts added may die (increasing ammonia further), so I do not recommend adding inverts until ammonia and nitrite reach zero.

To me, it looks like you have a bacterial insufficiency or lack of balance. How old is this tank? Recommend dosing quality "bacteria-in-a-bottle." Since you're registering ammonia with no registered nitrite (but still some nitrate), it appears that your tank may be struggling with the nitrate cycle. This is fairly common with new tanks (or ones that never properly cycled). Are you having any invert/vert die-off? Dosing bacteria may help kickstart the nitrate cycle. However, you're likely to get another surge of algae as the ammonia is converted. I'd only add the inverts once the ammonia and nitrite reach 0.

What are your calcium and magnesium levels?

Glad you were able to get the fish switched to a different food. Are you using a good *reef* salt that brings alk/ ca/ mag to natural saltwater levels? You have to fix your mag and ca, or else corals will continue to suffer. If you aren't going to switch salts, you'll need to supplement. Now, that probably has nothing to do with the cyano thing, but it's still part of good husbandry. Were you testing daily? If so, do you have those numbers so we can plot them out? It would be good to see if it looks like the rocks are leaching phosphate. I would keep using the bacteria-dosing but not vinegar or any other carbon source at this time. I still wouldn't go the chemiclean route, but I can certainly understand your frustration and use of it.

Welcome!! And welcome to the new baby - congrats!! We have our next meeting on 4 May, so hopefully you can get back into the swing of things there! Since you were last active, we've tried to make the meetings a bit more family-friendly. So, once you're comfortable, come on out with the clan! Although your little one can't enjoy gnawing on crayons yet, we have a kids' activity table at the back of the meetings. You can often find a couple families back there, which can be awesome for socializing on how to baby-proof the tank, how to have a tank-life balance, etc.

Recently, the WAMAS Board of Directors received three complaints within hours of each other. One was in regards to suspicious account activity, another was in regards to member interactions, and the other was an accusation of stalking against another member and a breach of personally identifiable information (PII). WAMAS takes all complaints seriously, especially those which threaten the safety of our members. The WAMAS BOD reviewed all relevant information pertaining to these complaints and found that the suspicious activity complaint was founded; the other two complaints were dismissed as unfounded. More specifically, the stalking and PII breach accusations were not substantiated. As a result, two members are no longer a part of WAMAS. If you have any questions regarding member interactions, suspicious activity, or other concerns regarding this or other incidents, please reach out to the Membership Director org box at Membership@wamas.org. (This thread is not open for commenting.)

Thank you so much! Glad you like them! Thank you! When are you starting lapidary?! Thank you very much; looking forward to nerding out with you over more rocks soon! Aw, thanks! I don't think I'm going to have a choice. They're so fun to make, but I'm not sure what to do with them all! Very cool! I mean, coral fossils... who wouldn't be a fan of that?!

Thank you!!

Here's a sneak peak at my next batch of material to process... Indonesian coral (probably the most colorful piece I've seen ever): Indonesian coral (love the insane detail on this piece for the corallites): Indonesian coral: Michigan Cladapora: Indonesian Coral (my favorite piece - absolutely amazing): Indonesian Coral (I plan to make this into a doublet; it's really well-agatized): Mexican coral (side slice) (*love* the crystals on this one!): Indonesian coral: Michigan Stromatopora (sponge): Michigan Hexagonaria percarinata (aka, Petosky) (no post on fossilized corals would be complete without it): Oolite: Wyoming Turritella snails (ok, you caught me, this is a freshwater species, but still... soooo cool): I could go on for hundreds of photos - I may have a problem! Hope you enjoyed.

I'm a nerd, through and through, right down to the rock collection I've had since I was a kid. However, last year, everything changed. My husband went to Australia and brought me back some opals - in the rough. He knew I had my Gryphon band saw, so he thought the hard part was over (this reminds me of when I found a *free* fish tank at a yard sale that started a 17-year reefkeeping obsession). Well, I ended up with a slab saw (to cut the rough into something more workable), and then I ended up with a cabbing machine. And, of course, I couldn't start with the opals; I had to practice! So I started buying rocks...and got addicted. But then, I found fossilized corals. More specifically, agatized corals. So now, not only am I interested in reefkeeping and scuba diving, I'm also into coral lapidary arts. But, it doesn't stop there. Ooooh no... Because what's the point of having all these pretty rocks just stored up?? So, I started metalsmithing copper and silver. I already bead, so now I have pretty much the whole lifecycle of jewelry. Seeing Ben at @Supreme Reefs with his awesome rock offerings at the last meeting gave me the courage to share my not-so-reef, reef. I plan to make ocean-related fossil cabochons into a mosaic, but for right now, I'm just making pretty rocks. Please enjoy my humble lapidary beginnings and the wide variety of polyp structures! Indonesian Coral necklace, set in copper with pearl and copper accents: Utah Red Horn Coral (rough and cabochon): Indonesian agatized coral (and if you look closely on the right, you can see agatized worm tunnels): Arizona coral (rough and cabochon) (this material was extremely pitty, so I need to fill in the void. It's gorgeous though and sparkles like crazy): Indonesian agatized coral (cabochon and rough): Unknown coral (rough and cabochon): Coquina (Clam) (when I said I was into coral, I lied - it's all water-based lifeforms) (this is one of my favorite pieces): Indonesian Coral (rough and cabochon): Utah Horn Coral (rough and cabochon): Stromatolite (microbial mats, particularly cyanobacteria): Michigan Chain Coral, "Halycites" (rough and cabochon): Oncolites (cyanobacteria): Crinoids (sea lillies) (rough and cabochon): Morocco Actinocyanthus (rough and cabochon): Stromatolite (microbial mat, particularly cyanobacteria) (cabochon): Mexican coral (side slice) (I'm so mad - the right side fractured off. I need to fix this.) (rough and cabochon): Unknown coral (need to finish - it had some pitting that I need to correct) (rough and cabochon): UK Lithostrotion (rough and cabochon): Indonesian coral (rough and caobchon): Thanks for making it to the end!

I've always thought your fish quarantine and experiences there were fascinating.