Corals Shriveled Up After Tank Move...

Raven312

Raven312

Member
So, I moved everything over from my Biocube 29 to my 65 gallon. The parameters were the same (and a little better in the case of Calcium and Nitrates). I don't currently have a test kit for phosphates, which is the wild card here. What is different between the two tanks is the sand; I bought some very fine sand from a member here to top off the 50 lbs of aragonite that I had. I'm wondering if this is a potentially fatal mistake. The water clouds with any movement in the tank. I tried to mix it so that the coarser sand is on top. Should I pull everything out and make a better mix?
I told myself not to worry, that everything is getting acclimated (I do have a colony of zoas that are mostly open) but honestly, I'm worried. My inverts seem to be doing fine (even though my cleaner shrimp doesn't come out to play with me anymore - at least, not right now), the protein skimmer is doing a great job, my emerald crab is doing fine in the sump...but all of the corals are mad as hell. My acans have their mouths open just before lights out but they were not puffed up as normal. Fish are fine (well, my Clowns seem to be doing great but my Springeri Damsel is just hanging out in one place today, unlike yesterday when he hung with the Clowns).

I hope to hear that I'm worried about nothing but if not, do you have any advice as to what I should do??
 
You went from a shoe box to a tank! Give it some time! Lots of land to explore. Along with lighting an water movement
 
Yeah, I'm changing the lighting tomorrow. I'll have two OceanRevive T247's on there instead of the Kessil A160we. They really look nice on the tank but I have to Dr the brackets and put them back.

I'm glad it's just acclimation. I only made sure the params were very close and the temperature was spot on, then moved them, since they were mostly on live rock clusters.
 
The (fine) sand was from another reef. The aragonite, 25 lbs of it is new and about 25 lbs is from the tank I just took the coral from. I rinsed the fine used sand in RO water.

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I will pick up some carbon today. I was thinking about that. Good thing I picked up a reactor.

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If I use Chemipure, should I put it in the reactor or just place the bag in the sump??

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So it's not too fine for the reactor? I can rinse it and empty the bag into the reactor? (I've never used a reactor before.)

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yes...use the sponges in the reactor to sandwich the carbon between and stop the carbon from tumbling....
carbon should not tumble...and keep a moderate and steady flow thru it....faster flow rate reduces contact time and make the reactor less efficient....
 
So, it was a long day at work and I stopped at a new LFS. The guy who took care of me suggested I try PURA Complete, which he says is comparable to Chemi-Pure Elite and they had a large jar of it, so I decided to give it a shot. It's been running for a few hours and I must admit, the water is starting to LOOK clearer. Nitrates are down from around 2.5 ppm to 0 ppm. Everything else is the same (I need to get a Phosphate test soon, as I'm sure that was affected). I lost a fish today and was disheartened by that. I can't say what did it, though I guess it was tank conditions. Luckily it was the Springeri Damsel but I really liked him. My Cleaner Shrimp is doing fine, though he's not as boisterous as he was, my Clowns are doing OK, though not as playful as they were. I'm really hoping this stuff clears up whatever was taking a toll. My Frogspawn looks like it's ready to rear its head, so that is encouraging. Yesterday I couldn't even tell where it was located. Hope for tomorrow...


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i think you will be fine, did you use your old water as well? tip for next time is to rinse the sand in an old pillow case.
 
Pfisherman said:
i think you will be fine, did you use your old water as well? tip for next time is to rinse the sand in an old pillow case.
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I used some of my old water. I left half of it to use as a qt tank (and topped it off, of course).
My skimmer is getting a lot of wet skimmate. The water is clear but some of the corals are still covered in mucus.

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Raven312 said:
I used some of my old water. I left half of it to use as a qt tank (and topped it off, of course).
My skimmer is getting a lot of wet skimmate. The water is clear but some of the corals are still covered in mucus.

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Click to expand...

I just did a tank move with reusing my same sand and it took a few days for everyone (fish and corals) to settle in.

I wouldn't worry too much especially if you acclimated between tanks and are running carbon now. Just watch your ammonia, nitrate, and nitrite from using old sand.. Good luck!


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That's comforting. I woke up this morning and thought one of my clowns was dead. He was hovering in the bottom of the tank. I tried to net him, then he found some energy. I caught him and put him in my qt. Came home from work dreading that he might be dead; he's hovering in the corner, watching me. Put some food in there to test his response and he started eating. Very relieved. Added my lights tonight, so the only other thing to do (with what I have right now) is set up the ATO.
The rock I bought had a few things growing on it - some mushrooms and a purple growth that covered half of the rock. Noticed tonight that something is growing on the purple section - GSP! So SOMETHING is willing to grow in the tank. I remain encouraged.


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