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Jamison
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Topic: Sick Frogspawn? Posted: April 27 2004 at 1:01pm |
Hey folks. I've had a branching frogspawn in my tank for about a month now, and he's always looked great. He inflates real well when the lights are on and everything. When I came home yesterday, I noticed that one of the heads was almost entirely retracted, which I have never seen any of the heads do. This morning the same head was retracted so far, I could easily see the skeletal structure underneath. The other 5 heads haven't changed at all. Is this something I should be worried about? Any suggestions? Thanks for your help.
Jamison
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acerob
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Posted: April 27 2004 at 1:59pm |
I had some problems with my frogspawn a month or so ago, and it turned out to be phosphates. you might want to look at that first. I bought a sea gel filter and mine has been fine ever sice. As long as the head doesn't start to disappear all together you should be ok.
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Highland, UT
12g Nano
90g Reef
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ssilcox
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Posted: April 27 2004 at 2:38pm |
Have you done anything different lately? Water change? Dose anything? Move a powerhead? Sometimes my frogspawn just decides he wants to be mad for a day or so, then comes out just fine a day later. If you havent done anything different I would say give him another day or so before getting really nervous. Also, do you have any other coral in your tank? Is anything else showing any signs of stress?
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acerob
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Posted: April 27 2004 at 3:04pm |
one more thing. If you have moved it recently, it may not like the current or light where it is at. Also you can look for your hermit crabs, sometimes they will climb into the branches and kind of pick at them and irritate them.
This is what was happening to mine.
Edited by acerob
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Highland, UT
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90g Reef
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Jamison
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Posted: April 27 2004 at 4:42pm |
All I have are Green Star Polyps and a small frag of Zoanthids, which are just fine as are the other heads of frogspawn. I have not moved anything. The one head is retracted much further than what your pic shows. I did dose some red slime remover last week, but have done a water change, and like I said everything else is fine. I guess I'll give it a little more time.
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acerob
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Posted: April 29 2004 at 11:02am |
Jamison, How are things? has your frogspawn recovered??
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Highland, UT
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Jamison
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Posted: April 30 2004 at 7:32am |
Nope, he comes out a tiny bit during the day and then shrinks entirely inside his skeletal structure at night. I should post a pic. I'm worried that the head is a goner. I did another water change Wednesday night, but still haven't seen any improvements. Thanks for your concern acerob. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. I wonder if the red slime away got to him somehow???
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: April 30 2004 at 8:20am |
Jamison wrote:
I wonder if the red slime away got to him somehow??? |
A factor, no doubt.
Your tank is young and going through changes that are not evident in water parameter tests. These changes can effect more sensitive coral like LPS and SPS. The frequency of these changes declines over time. It may take a year, so be patient and allow the tank to take care of itself.
There are older more mature tanks in this group that can temporarily house the Frogspawn. I would suggest this if it continues to decline in the next week, like if it completely refuses to expand or starts losing flesh.
I just moved a Fungia/Plate Coral from Reefobsessed's one month old office tank to my tank. I hope to nurse it back to health then return it to her aquarium.
And one more bit of free advice: Ask us here on the message board what to do about problems, before shelling out $$. Many problems can be handled by obtaining knowledge rather than spending money. The help comes quickly, usually on the same day and is free. Yet, it is worth more than you can imagine.
my 2 cents
Edited by Mark Peterson
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acerob
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Posted: April 30 2004 at 8:24am |
I agree with mark. I know that frogspawn is really sensitive to changes. and dosing with anything will affect your tank in one way or another, but if you can keep them healthy they are a good judge of whats going on in your tank. I think that frogspwan and other like corals are my favorite.
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Highland, UT
12g Nano
90g Reef
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Jamison
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Posted: April 30 2004 at 12:39pm |
You guys are great! As a newbie, there's plenty I don't know about the hobby. I do post quite a few questions between here, RC and local fish stores. Mark, you are a great source of knowledge and one of the most helpful people on this or any other board. I assure you it does not go unappreciated. I'm sure there are plenty of things I could be doing better. I'm constantly fighting an algae bloom of some kind. I hear this is pretty normal for new tanks. I ended up getting the Red Slime Remover, because I was afraid it was going to start choking out my corals. You'll have to let me know if you'll be in the Kaysville/Layton area anytime soon. I'd love to have you over to tell me what improvements I could make. I didn't put all that money into the hobby to harvest algea, but that's what I'm best at. Thanks again for your help. I'm watching the Frogspawn and will let you know if things improve or get worse.
Jamison
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 01 2004 at 6:42am |
Jamison, Do I have your phone # and address? PM me.
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jglover
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Posted: May 01 2004 at 9:53am |
Jamison is it Algae that is growing or cyano bacteria? my new tank had a huge cyano bloom as most do do you have any green algaes in your tank? I added some and the cyano dissapeared in about a week. And I wouldn't recommend getting any new Corals until your tank is atleast 3-4 Months old.
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Aquarium Creations
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Posted: May 01 2004 at 10:08am |
I dissagree with having to wait untill your tank is 3-4 months old to be able to ad corals, I will agree that some corals you should wait a bit on but most of corals would be fine. some LPS/SPS are very hardy and some are not i think the biggest reason that corals die is people dont take enough time to study about what they are getting they just get it and put it in there aquarium and think it will be fine, there is alot to know about what corals need as far as food,lighting conditions, water flow,placement,
but this is all IMO Eric,
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 02 2004 at 8:57am |
Coral are easier to keep than fish. I also agree with Eric.
I place soft coral in my tanks the same week I set them up and I know how to deal with any algae blooms. My procedure for setting up tanks is posted here on the message board for everyone's instruction and profit.
I suggest that the use of chemicals of any kind in any tank less than six months old, is unnecessary, wasteful and can even be harmful to the effective maturation of the aquarium's biological ecosystem.
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Jake Pehrson
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Posted: May 02 2004 at 3:41pm |
I also agree with Eric. Corals can be added very shortly after the tank is setup.
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Jamison
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Posted: May 03 2004 at 8:26am |
Thanks for the info folks. My tank has been up for 4 months now, so either way, I'm probably covered for many different types of coral. The Red Slime Away, which I now know I probably shouldn't have used, seems to have gotten rid the red cyano. I worry that while killing the cyanobacteria, it probably killed lots of beneficial bacteria as well, so it will likely take some time to recover. I do have a couple different green algaes going right now. Here's a little more about my tank and parameters. I have 135 lbs of live rock. I run an ASM skimmer geared for 250G tank. I also run carbon. I have an in sump refugium full of feather and grape culerpa. Amonia, Nitrites and nitrates are 0. PH is 8.2. Alkilinity is 8.5. Salinity is at .023. I have an RO/DI unit for all top-offs and water changes. I am currently dosing Kalkwasser to keeep calcium up and Kent SuperBuffer to get my alkilinity up closer to 10. My Frogspawn head is still receded. Billy at MSM said it could have a bacterial infection of some kind. Thanks again for all your help and support!
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: May 03 2004 at 8:38am |
With what you have stated about your tank, cyanobacteria algae could easily be reduced by stopping feeding for a few days. The refugia, skimmer and carbon can handle removing the nutrients that feed cyano. Most healthy tanks have a little cyano here or there.
You should know that for a tank that new, I would not use carbon, skimming and a refugia at the same time, in fact, the refugia which eventually ought to be RDP if it is not already, can handle all the waste so that skimming and carbon should only be needed periodically. If no SPS coral are kept skimming and carbon can be cut back to only infrequent use.
My 2 cents.
Edited by Mark Peterson
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Jamison
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Posted: May 19 2004 at 9:06am |
I wonder if my bubble tip could be the culprit??? Could a BTA be responsible for killing an entire head of a branching frogspawn? My BTA does expand to about 12-13 inches across during the day, and I just noticed that when he is fully expanded he is perhaps only about 1/4 inch away from my expanded frogspawn. Could one sting cause the head to shrivel up and die? I guess I'd better move the frogspawn.
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acerob
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Posted: May 19 2004 at 9:10am |
It’s definitely a possibility. I have seen lots of corals that have been severely damaged by even small anemone’s sting.
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Highland, UT
12g Nano
90g Reef
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