Stony coral problems- Help!

[toothyanky]

Does anyone know why I would be having problems with all my stony corals but yet everything else is healthy? I have had moons, brains, moderns, frog eyes, torch corals, and others and all have not made it very long. Some of them slough off the skeleton (and still survive for months), others start to skrink up then get the brown goo. Has this ever happened to anyone before? I have someone service my tank and he doesn't have an answer for it either. Thanks in advance!

 

[steve-s]

Welcome to AquariumAdvice.com

Best suggestion is post as much info about your tank set up and water specs as possble.

When posting water specs, please include actual numbers. Alk, Ca, NH3, NO2, NO3, pH and salinity. Also describe how these corals are being acclimated and list what other types of corals you keep.

Cheers
Steve

 

[toothyanky]

First of all I must say that I truly am a newbie, even though I have had the tank for 14 months. The guy who services the tank has tested everything several times and has told me that the levels were all healthy. I should get the kits and test myself though, I really ought to understand better those things. It is 180 gallons and right now I have star polyps, carpet anemone, trumpet polyps, red mushrooms, 4 different leathers, 1 crocera clam, 1 maxima clam, florida ricordea, and a moon coral (edges disinigrating) and gonopore (shrinking) are not doing too well. I also have 2 peppermint shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, 50 hermit crabs, handful of snails, blue tang, purple tang, 4 line wrasse, 1 tomato clown, 2 fire fish, 2 ossilaris clowns, 2 cardinals, and 4 other fish that I can't remember their names right off hand (I know I am bad). Oh, and I had 3 other star fishes that I couldn't keep alive. I will get the kits and update the info. Thanks!!

 

[steve-s]

I will get the kits and update the info. Thanks!!

Cheers
Steve

 

[melosu58]

It could be several different reasons why. Two good reasons could be not enough current and not enough light. A third reason I am experiencing is a keyhole angel that loves to nip at stoney corals. You said you did not know the names of the other fish. Could they be a type of dwarf angel like mine. This is just a few things to check. Good Luck

 

[toothyanky]

All water specs are great, a couple of things that I hadn't included before is there is a hair/nail salon below me and the fumes get stinky once in a while. Also, my tank is 14 months old now and I haven't changed the lights yet, but I started experiencing problems around the 6 month mark. Is it common to experience such a quick degrade in lighting only after 6 months? I don't even have the lights on a timer and I'm not there much on the weekends so the lights haven't been overworked. Or is the lack of lighting on the weekends causing the problems?

Thanks for the responses, I have been enjoying this site!

 

[toothyanky]

Oh, and the other things that I couldn't remember were: royal gama, damsel, chromis, mandarine goby, 2 feather dusters, cucumber, and pulsating xenia.

 

[steve-s]

All water specs are great,

Please post the actual numbers for your results.

a couple of things that I hadn't included before is there is a hair/nail salon below me and the fumes get stinky once in a while.

Possible water contamination but running carbon somewhere in the filtration set up will eliminate it.

Also, my tank is 14 months old now and I haven't changed the lights yet, but I started experiencing problems around the 6 month mark. Is it common to experience such a quick degrade in lighting only after 6 months? I don't even have the lights on a timer and I'm not there much on the weekends so the lights haven't been overworked. Or is the lack of lighting on the weekends causing the problems?

Lack of proper light or consistant light will affect corals quite adversely. You should put the lights on a timer so they go on/off and specific times of the day whether your home or not. Typically 10 hrs a day is best.

If you have had the lights as long as the tank, 14 months is a long time for the bulbs to go without changing. It really depends on the hours they are on each day. For the most part PC bulbs should be changed at about every 9 months, VHO 10-12 months and MH should be done yearly.

Cheers
Steve