Why does my Duncan Spit out his food?

[sarsim9697]

Tested again this morning and everything was PERFECT! I left the tank alone today hoping that everyone would recover but so far only the snails have recovered. Everyone else is still miffed. How do I know if they are dead? Will they foul my tank if I don't remove them promptly? I don't want to give up on them too soon but I also don't want to cause more problems.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[mr_X]

the corals you mean? if they are dead there will only be white skeleton remaining. if there is flesh on them, they are still alive.

 

[mwilliams]

When you are doing your mixing your water yourself besure to let it cure for 24 hours before putting it in your tank with a pump in it for mixing. I have been told this by many aquarist. This is to allow the gases to escape and the water temperature to become room temperature. Do not add freshly mixed saltwater to your tanks unless nothing is in it.

 

[sarsim9697]

Good advice. Yes, I have been doing that, I just didn't know my salt and RO/DI filter system was bad. A simple TDS test would have shown that but.....DOH!

Still some color on all of them and tests were at the lower limits of normal today. We'll see if they come out. CROSS FINGERS! ....and toes!

 

[mwilliams]

Also I am still learning about the Saltwater stuff too.. I have had my tank setup for a little over a year and just now stepped into the world of Corals.

I did not know that about the salt if it is hard that it is no good because mine was like that but it was in a sealed plastic bag in a large plastic tubs that it comes in and I take my water the my LFS and have it tested and it was prestine to them all levels where absoultly perfect. I am using the Tropic Marin Pro Reef Salt.

 

[sarsim9697]

Yeah, unfortunately, my LFS tested my water too and said the same thing. Just check your Alkalinity REGULARLY because this mistake pretty much cost me everything alive in my tank. They just don't have tests for all the dissolved solids that can be in your water and cause harm.

The entire time this was happening THE ONLY TEST that was off was my ALK. The rest were PERFECT. I'm told the salt should NOT be solid or excessively clumped indicating that it came into contact with moisture, which makes is 'go bad'. I'm told it will also mess with your tests and give you false results. The salt I was using was also Tropic Marin Pro Reef but I think the brand is fine; it's just what happens to it. Mine was given to me, (by my LFS) probably because they knew it was no good and I didn't know any better.

Sometimes the LFS is NOT your friend. I'm not sure if it is the added business or the reef envy that motivates but in my case they knew they were giving me bad stuff and trusting them cost me pretty much everything.

Trust yourself and do your own research. That's what I have learned from all of this. Oh yeah, and beware LFS bearing gifts!!!!

 

[sarsim9697]

Everything is back to normal. I am actually doing 5% water changes daily and tests keep coming out normal.

I thought I was going to have more casualties to report but still only the snails and the Evergreens died. Scroll is coming back, Yellow Colony seems OK minus a few heads here and there, and Duncan is still hiding but coming out a little bit more every day.

I failed to discuss my issues with my mother so when she came for Thanksgiving she brough a Starry Blenny, two HUGE gorgonians, and a frogspawn to add to me reef. I didn't have the heart to tell her that it was REALLY bad timing. They all seem to be doing well now, but I know how that can change. Hopefully the issues have been fixed and they'll be fine.

If not, I'm sure you will be hearing from me again!

 

[scottkraft]

as all have told ya keep checking water params., pwc's will keep things in check. If all in in "normal" params the new goodies for your tank should be ok.
Scott

 

[sarsim9697]

Yup. So far so good. Everyone is happy now. Well, Duncan I is still on strike but not dead so we're still good. Newbies are fantastic.

Has anyone ever heard of a starry blenny? He is fabulous but everything I have read about him says that they only eat algae. This one appears to be eating my Heavy Grey Gorgonian (Gordo) despite there being a ton of algae for him to munch. Plus, today, I was feeding my firefish (The Twins) their mysis shrimp and he ate probably half his weight in them before the twins could get to them. He doesn't bother anything else not even the goldenrod (Flaco). He IS a Starry Blenny- he looks like an old man with his wierd eye protrusions--we call him grandpa or Gramps. Is he supposed to eat meat?? He does eat a ton of algae, too but I wonder if he is not killing himself with all the meaty foods he is consuming. Plus, what do I do about Gordo? He has little chunks out of him. Will he die or will they heal?? I iodine dipped him briefly. Is there anything else I can do to help him to recover??

Always appreciative of your insights!!

 

[mr_X]

he's not killing himself. let him eat whatever he wants.

dipping a coral that is being eaten by a fish isn't going to be very effective. you have 3 options:
1. remove the fish that is doing the eating
2. remove the coral
3. leave them alone, feed the fish well, and hope for the best

 

[mwilliams]

I agree with Doug on your options.

Mary

 

[sarsim9697]

I opted for leaving them and feeding the blenny. He actually started eating mysis right out of the tweezers. What a PIG! He eats pretty much EVERYTHING I try to feed everyone else (flake, pellets, Mysis, and greenSW) AND unfortunately, GORDO! One moring, the only thing left of him was the thin center spine of each of his arms despite ALL the extra food I offered. VERY SAD! I thought Starry Blennies were algae eaters but he's not eating the algae at all anymore. I'm worried that he will go after my other corals and my firefish, though he doesn't seem to be interested in them now. Gordo has been gone for a week now and he still has not shifted his attention. Was there perhaps something irresitable about Gordo? I figured Heavy Grey Gorgs were not pallatable to fish but apparently this one was. Everyone else is still fine.

 

[mr_X]

are you sure you don't have this guy-

his diet consists of nothing but coral. he's a leopard sailfin blenny. they are supposed to eat strictly sps polyps though. i've never owned one, but i've seen plenty of other fish deviate from their known diets, so why not this one?

 

[mwilliams]

I recently got my duncan and he has already doubled in size I fed him small
pieces of Mysis Sprimp and I was wandering how do you get them off those frag blocks and how to get them to attach to a LR?

 

[SNAKEMANVET]

I just leave mine on the frag plug,and just cut off a few heads and glue them to the live rock.

 

[mr_X]

you can't get them to attach to anything, unless you glue them. they don't encrust like that. they grow like trumpet corals, or branching euphyllia do- they build a skeleton with some flesh attached, and keep building on that.

 

[sarsim9697]

I use a combo of the green and white cement (that you squish together until it's white) and superglue gel. One or the other does not work very well but the two together are fast and fabulous.

I left my duncans on their plugs but you can sort of bend them or twist them off from the base and attach them to any piece of live rock. I don't do that because I like to be able to move them around until I know where they thrive the most.

Everything BUT the gorgs are thriving. Even the original Duncan finally came back out again. He's MUCH smaller but coming back nicely. Even the scroll coral came back! I lost all but three heads of my Yellow Colony but they are coming back nicely, too. The Starry Blenny is still munching everything in sight but he seems to be satisfied with Mysis, Brine, and nice pieces of Prawn. He's not a coral eater like the picture above. He's just a Starry with a wooden leg that has been fed a lot of different stuff in the past. He's getting huge; he almost looks like an eel! I'll load pics soon so you can see.

I cannot believe how much EASIER this has become now that I am doing weekly 20% water changes. I am no longer dosing ANYTHING, not even calcium or magnesium. Tests are always within normal parameters and everything is going nuts. It's finally back to being fun again. Thank you all for all your help. This has been a tremendous learning experience.