Help With "Limp" Coral

[Guest joe ross]

Hello all,

 

I'm new to reef systems and have had a coral for about a month now. Recently, I've had an explosive growth in reddish algae that creeped on to the coral. Since then, it seems as though the coral has been gradualling drooping to the point where it's now completely limp over some live rock. Can the algae suffocate the coral? I haven't wanted to touch the coral in fear of damaging it (to remove the algae)

 

I realize that my algae can be controled by using RO water (I've been using treated tap) from other posts, but I need a solution now - before I lose the coral.

 

I have a pretty healthy tank as far as I can tell (except the algae). I have coraline algae growing on my rock, my nitrates and ammonia are low, ... I can't figure out what might be causing this other than the algae.

 

Many thanks for your help in advance. I'm in awe of everything that you guys are doing and can't wait to see some of your tanks. About 15 years ago, I was a carnivore keeper (Lionfish, eels, and triggers) and now I want to get into inverts. So, any help would be apprecaited.

 

Joe Ross

 

UPDATE: Well .... I followed the "blow" advice of the first response with the baster and it decimated the coral. I'm not sure if that meant that it was already gone, but it fell to pieces with a little pressure (and the algae never came off of it to boot). Thanks for all your help. I wil definately follow the advice of going on tank tours. I would also like someone to come by and give me some advice about my setup. I have my tank in the same room as my home theater system and it's a bit loud, so I'll want some suggestions on how to quite it down (has anyone tried to enclose the cabinet in the back and add acoustic insulation?). Looking forward to meeting all of you at my first WAMAS meeting.

Edited February 5, 2006 by joe ross

[emissary]

Greetings, welcome etc. Before we begin, a side note of encouragement to "join the club." It costs a tad, but I'll tell ya -- I joined a year ago and it has been hands down the best investment I've ever made in the hobby.

 

That said, need more info. What kind of coral is it? You say 'hanging limp' so I'm going to go and guess it's sinularia, nepthea, or sarcophyton. Got a baster? You can always baste off the red stuff. Also suggest water changes. Lookup online for cyanobacteria and you'll find what that stuff is and how to get rid of it.

 

Now, IF my coral genus guesses were correctish, I wouldn't worry unless that same state persisted for more than say... a week. With sarcophyton, you'll find that at the end of this period it will release a film of mucus. The other two don't do that, but they will 'hang limp' once in a while. A pic would help...

[Guest joe ross]

Greetings, welcome etc.  Before we begin, a side note of encouragement to "join the club."  It costs a tad, but I'll tell ya -- I joined a year ago and it has been hands down the best investment I've ever made in the hobby.

 

That said, need more info.  What kind of coral is it?  You say 'hanging limp' so I'm going to go and guess it's sinularia, nepthea, or sarcophyton.  Got a baster?  You can always baste off the red stuff.  Also suggest water changes.  Lookup online for cyanobacteria and you'll find what that stuff is and how to get rid of it.

 

Now, IF my coral genus guesses were correctish, I wouldn't worry unless that same state persisted for more than say... a week.  With sarcophyton, you'll find that at the end of this period it will release a film of mucus.  The other two don't do that, but they will 'hang limp' once in a while.  A pic would help...

51732[/snapback]

 

Many thanks. I did join and intend to get active. One of the main draws was the ability to buy stuff from other members. Where can I find that? The site implied a whole section of "for sale" stuff.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't seen the coral that I bought in conjunction with any scientific names (shame on me for not knowing). The guy at Wallys said it was a star polyps, but I don't see anything online like it under the name of star polyps. It looks more like "Colt Tree Leather" (I tried to attach a picture -- but can't figure it out -- how humiliating!). I do weekly 10% water changes. I meant to say that I use "untreated" water -- so that appears to be part of the problem. Is there any reason why I can't use Brita water treated water in the interim to remove some of the algae feeders? Also, where can I get an RO filter?

 

Thanks for the suggestion about a baster (I'll probably use a syringe). Unfortunately, I don't have a good enough digital camera to take pictures of livestock in my tank. I've tried it before and it just can't focus. Does anyone have any suggestions on what kind of camera I'd need to take the kind of fabulous pictures that I see on WAMAS?

 

Best,

 

Joe

[Grav]

Green star polyps (GSPs)

http://images.google.com/images?q=green+st...G=Search+Images

and colt coral couldn't be further apart.

http://images.google.com/images?q=colt+cor...G=Search+Images

 

A brita filter would be better, but not by much. RO/DI water is filtered 6 or 7 times, and half to 2/3rds of the water is discarded to ensure just H2O makes it into your tank. Also, avoid spring water and such.

 

I 2nd the use of a turkey baster to blow off any alge... especally if we are talking about GSPs. A colt has a bit more body mass that it can live off for a while but GSPs could get choked out quickly. A syringe just isn't going to move enough water. Pick up a cheap plastic baster for <$4 or steal one from the kitchen and buy a new (nice) one for for your other half. You will use it at least every week for years.

[ErikS]

One of the main draws was the ability to buy stuff from other members.

Generally takes a day or two between the time "ya pays your dues" & you get membership access - there is indeed sale/trade forum w/ lots of bargains.

 

I say let the SO keep their baster & buy a new one for the tank (never know what the old one had in it) - a whopping couple bucks for the most often used tank item. I can't recall ever having gone more than 2 days without using it.

 

A good place for a RO/DI setup is here: BuckeyefieldSupply

 

Oh yeah..................Welcome!

[BeltwayBandit]

Welcome!

 

I third (or is it fourth at this point) the use of a turkey baster. I would, however, recommend that instead of using it to "Blast" the algae, use the baster to "Suck" the algae up. That way you can discard it instead of blowing it around the tank to seed other areas, also it does perform a bit of nutrient export. When I first started up I had problems with cyano, hair, and caulerpa. Trust me ever bit of "weeding" helps reduce the nutrients that the algae feed on.

 

BB

[Guest alex wlazlak]

do a search on ebay for "aqua-safe" ro/di units. $115 or so for buy it now. i couldnt be happier and its a 6 stage unit. if you get it be sure to buy the addaptor with it, i had to go to a hardware store and mix and match 4 pieces.

[emissary]

Also, once you become a member you'll get access to not only the For Sale/Trade forum, but also Member discussion. I encourage you to take an active role in "Tank Tours" this year. Always a lot to learn even for experienced hobbiests.

 

As far as basting goes -- definitely get a baster. An essential tool as it turns out. Blowing/sucking doesn't really matter in my mind. I've read that it can be helpful to blow HARD on your rocks with the baster periodically to kick up any settled detritus -- you can use a fine mechanical filter (filter pad) to catch the larger particulates when you do this so you're not just moving it around, you're removing the stuff from the tank.

 

RE pictures... I have a reasonably "crappy" camera that I take pictures with. I don't get phenomenal pictures, but they *work.* I make folks with nice cameras take pictures for me when I need good pictures. If you look at "photo properties" of various pictures on my reef site (see my sig) you'll see what cameras have taken what pictures, and what settings were used. When taking pictures of your tank -- use a tripod, and the timer function if you need that to ensure the camera is steady. That's your best bet. No flash.

 

Uploading pictures -- easiest to use some third party picture hosting site like photobucket. You can then link to your pictures by using the IMG button under "Code Buttons" when you're making a post. Best of luck!

 

Oh yeah, and I've never owned a colt, but I suspect they do the same kind of periodic floppy that sinularia, nepthea, etc do. http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_di...?pcatid=640&N=0

[davjbeas]

I battled red slime algae for a while, and i was using de-ionized water. in the end after doing all the research here and on reef central, i decided to use a product called red slime remover by ultralife i think. it is really some type of anti biotic that destroys bacteria. some people will say it worked, i do. some say that anything added to an ecosystem that destroys bacteria is just to risky. i found that the red slime was gone in under 2 days. if yuo choose to use a product like this,

i would give the system a full dose, and 2 days later do a large water change, and 2 days after that another large water change at least 25 % . also a "tap water purifier" from aquarium pharmacueticals for de-ionizing that tap water is simple quick and easy. good luck.

 

david b.

[emissary]

I'm wary of additives to kill nuisance algae. Problem algae is usually caused by high nutrient levels or some form of poor water quality or lighting that's started to "turn." Getting rid of the algae is fine, but if you don't solve the underlying problem, you'll need to get rid of it again later. Best to figure out where the problem lies and fix it.

 

$0.02.