Poorly Nem

[jasonoconnell]

Hi,

I bough the below nem from my LFS about 6 weeks ago, it was doing really well for the first 5 weeks or so in the tank, it's tentacles were fully extended it seemed to like its location.

It moved itself into a new area of the tank, not too far from where it was, and over the course of 3-4 days now it has shrunk into itself, tentacles seem to have wasted away?

Nothing is leaking out, and I have not changed feeding habits from the first few weeks. My tank bred clowns have taken to it also, which is good

I'm just not sure whats up with it, or what I can do about it?

Hopefully these pics will come out....! Also any thoughts on an ID for this one would be useful too.

 

[melosu58]

What type lighting do you have and what is the wattage? I`m thinking not enough light as your pics are kind of dark.

 

[jasonoconnell]

I have 2 x 250W metal halides. I'm just a crap photographer!

 

[melosu58]

I apologize. You have plenty of lighting. You cant be worse than me on photo skills. LOL. Have you checked your water parameters?

 

[jasonoconnell]

I have-

Ammonia- 0
Nitirates- 0
Nitrites- 0
Ph- this seems to fluctuate between 7.8 - 8.2
SG was also a little high- it was 1.026, I've gradually reduced it to 1.024

 

[jasonoconnell]

So... what a rubbish few days I've had! I think the nem retracting back was a sure way of telling me that something wasnt right in there, and I should have read the signs better......

After I wrote the above, I rechecked my levels to find that the Ph had spiked to 8.4, and that the NitrAtes had increased to 20ppm. NitrItes and Ammonia were both 0.

I carried out a large water change (about 30% of the 800 ltr tank!) but still lost some fish overnight-

Blue Chromis (5 still seem ok)
Yellow Eyed Cole tang
Royal Gramma

I'm now worried as some of the remaining residents arent looking promising. I'm concerned that my chalk goby, is not "breathing" right, Regal tang isnt behaving normally, Clown fish is not swimming normally, and I havent seen my Algae Blenny in a few days, the other fish (coral beauty/6 line wrasse/yellow tang/flame angel) seem ok.

After the water change the readings have returned to normal, but as they have clearly fluctuated so much, I'm concerned that I may wipe out the whole tank! The lights are off, and I'm refraining from feeding for a few days while things settle back down.

Is there anything I can do to aid the fish?
What would have caused the Ph to spike so much in the first place?

Thanks

 

[roka64]

What time are you checking your pH? I will lower after lights out and rise after lights on.
What about temp? Is it stable?
Is the nem dead, if so, it could have nuked you tank.

 

[jasonoconnell]

I'm checking my Ph in the evening with lights on. It has always been between 7.8 and 8.2, I cant seem to get it to stabalise between the 2 points. The temp is stable at 24degrees. The nem is alive, and seems to have picked back up slightly. I hope that with the lage water chage, I can get some stability back into the tank, as I think thats whats caused the issue here.

 

[roka64]

Ok, did you test your pH after the PWC?
Do you pre mix your water for at least 24 hours?