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Another Newbie with lots of Questions


KTHOM

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Hello- so my wife is more of an avid aquariast but I try to help where I can. While she was recently away I tried to clean up her tank and well killed some things. I cleaned her power heads and when I moved them I guess the change in water flow was not right for her corals. She had a rose bubble tip anenome and it "moved" but has not been seen since. She had a small piece of a coral she called superman as well as a favorite that looks like green alien eyes. I figured I'd join a forum and learn what she is into and see if I can't be a better helper well at least less of a killer.

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Welcome,

 

It might not be all that bad. The RBTA might have just moved and hid for a few days. If you disturb them or change their water-flow they tend to move or hide. I have done the same and ended up with 2+ RBTA after changing a water-flow.

 

As for the wife I cant help you there, but I wish you the best of luck (wife)

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Well I was just getting use to the site and there is more. So I also tried to change the pump on the sump and broke it in a few places and she was not able to fix it. She didn't have the sump for a few weeks and finally had to buy one.

 

So there is at bright pink bubble tip she had got a great deal on from Woody at seahorse that's been missing for a month I think and she loved that one. The black clown fish, little green crabs, a sea hare, a lot of her snails died, a flat coral she called superman that was a frag, and a big favorite or faviat that was purple and green. I don't know names well so I could be wrong. She has had this huge tank for years and most of the corals are huge. Her clams are amazing as well. One of her flat corals like the superman one is probably a foot tall and a foot wide but orange with white mouths. She's upset but being pretty nice about it I guess, but I know she blames me for messing with the sump and tank flow and the fact I've been laid off and she sits at work all day doesn't help.

 

Her birthday is in two weeks and I want to surprise her with a few new corals or fish and make up for it. Woddy mentioned this site once and then the guy from Salem who she bought the sump from suggested this site as well. I think his name was Mark but I'm so bad with names.

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Welcome,

 

It might not be all that bad. The RBTA might have just moved and hid for a few days. If you disturb them or change their water-flow they tend to move or hide. I have done the same and ended up with 2+ RBTA after changing a water-flow.

 

As for the wife I cant help you there, but I wish you the best of luck (wife)

 

How long will they hide before giving up on them. She had had it in the same place since she bought it but after the sump was out and the water flow changed it moved one day and disappeared the other. It was a small one. She got a good price I guess this color was rarer than others. She has said that she wont be able to get another one like it not sure if that was mad speaking or money cause like I said I am laid off.

 

 

Oh and there was a bright yellow toad stool looking leather that shes mad about too.

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On the anemone it should come back out within a week or so if it's hidden. This isn't an absolute as I know one person who had one reappear many months after it disappeared. (If it's around the back where it can get light still then it could stay hidden) I'm a bit concerned though with the color mentioned. Rose Bubble Tip anemones often turn bright pink when they unhealthy as they start losing the algae that helps to keep them fed. This is true of most corals that are turning pale or white (mix the pale white with the red of the RBTA and you end up with a pink color).

 

That said we really need more information to determine if there are others issues causing problems. While some corals are ultra sensative to water flow most will not be effected very fast by changes so I suspect there may be other problems. Do you know what the water parameters are? Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, PH, Alkalinity, Calcium, Salinity, Temperatures. If any of these have had some drastic changes (quite possible as you mentioned the sump being replaced) then they could be causing the problems.

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On the anemone it should come back out within a week or so if it's hidden. This isn't an absolute as I know one person who had one reappear many months after it disappeared. (If it's around the back where it can get light still then it could stay hidden) I'm a bit concerned though with the color mentioned. Rose Bubble Tip anemones often turn bright pink when they unhealthy as they start losing the algae that helps to keep them fed. This is true of most corals that are turning pale or white (mix the pale white with the red of the RBTA and you end up with a pink color).

 

That said we really need more information to determine if there are others issues causing problems. While some corals are ultra sensative to water flow most will not be effected very fast by changes so I suspect there may be other problems. Do you know what the water parameters are? Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, PH, Alkalinity, Calcium, Salinity, Temperatures. If any of these have had some drastic changes (quite possible as you mentioned the sump being replaced) then they could be causing the problems.

 

 

+1. Ours RBTA only hid for a week or so then we saw him in the back of the tank. He was there for a few more days and at some point we woke up and there he/she was up front again stinging everything it could.

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On the anemone it should come back out within a week or so if it's hidden. This isn't an absolute as I know one person who had one reappear many months after it disappeared. (If it's around the back where it can get light still then it could stay hidden) I'm a bit concerned though with the color mentioned. Rose Bubble Tip anemones often turn bright pink when they unhealthy as they start losing the algae that helps to keep them fed. This is true of most corals that are turning pale or white (mix the pale white with the red of the RBTA and you end up with a pink color).

 

That said we really need more information to determine if there are others issues causing problems. While some corals are ultra sensative to water flow most will not be effected very fast by changes so I suspect there may be other problems. Do you know what the water parameters are? Nitrate, Nitrite, Ammonia, PH, Alkalinity, Calcium, Salinity, Temperatures. If any of these have had some drastic changes (quite possible as you mentioned the sump being replaced) then they could be causing the problems.

 

 

From what I can tell she thinks the anemone moved cause of the water flow and the others died when the sump was off for a number of weeks and I didn't do a water change while she was at her dad's. She had changed the water right before and right after cause of the sump but either way I've got some to learn.

 

It's been awhile for the bubble tip in hiding. The color of it was the same as when she bought it so I don't think it was sick but I don't know about them. It wasn't really white or pale it was just a flourescent pink.

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From what I can tell she thinks the anemone moved cause of the water flow and the others died when the sump was off for a number of weeks and I didn't do a water change while she was at her dad's. She had changed the water right before and right after cause of the sump but either way I've got some to learn.

 

It's been awhile for the bubble tip in hiding. The color of it was the same as when she bought it so I don't think it was sick but I don't know about them. It wasn't really white or pale it was just a flourescent pink.

 

Looking at the picture I would guess it was unhealthy right from the start. That is an RBTA (Rose Bubble Tip) which should be darker. While water flow would explain a possible reason for it moving it is unlikely it is the ultimate cause of it disappearing. It would have continued to move until it found a spot it was happy. This would be a spot where there is light so it should be somewhere that gets light if it's still alive. Mine actually migrates around a little each day currently however it doesn't move very far. (I have a cinnamon clown that does a superb job taking care of it though so it stays clean and is fed well) If it died then chances are there is more than just a flow change that caused it.

 

Before speculating on the causes though I would start with the water parameters and see if there is an obvious problem.

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I am sure the water was off cause I broke the sump, stirred the sand, moved the pumps, changed the light cycle some how and can't remember what else I got in trouble for right now but I know that the water had to been off cause she did a water change immediately after getting home and wasn't happy about it.

 

I just was holding out hope the bubble tip was just hiding. I guess if it was sick to start with it wouldn't have mattered there but there was a lot of stuff and she's never had a "crash" as she put it where so much has died off so I'm sure it was me trying to help.

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uh-oh. Did you say that you stirred the sand. How deep was the sandbed that you stirred? This could have been the cause of the problem. Now I understand why she did a waterchange right after the sump problem.

 

We all have to start learning sometime. I lost an entire 240 gallon tank full of coral a couple of years back.

 

Jay

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I am sure the water was off cause I broke the sump, stirred the sand, moved the pumps, changed the light cycle some how and can't remember what else I got in trouble for right now but I know that the water had to been off cause she did a water change immediately after getting home and wasn't happy about it.

 

I just was holding out hope the bubble tip was just hiding. I guess if it was sick to start with it wouldn't have mattered there but there was a lot of stuff and she's never had a "crash" as she put it where so much has died off so I'm sure it was me trying to help.

 

Just don't go and tell her the anemone would have died anyway. It may not have under the right conditions. Instead I would try to get her to teach you what she knows so you don't make the same mistakes again. Chances are she will be happy that you want to share the hobby with her.

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uh-oh. Did you say that you stirred the sand. How deep was the sandbed that you stirred? This could have been the cause of the problem. Now I understand why she did a waterchange right after the sump problem.

 

We all have to start learning sometime. I lost an entire 240 gallon tank full of coral a couple of years back.

 

Jay

 

Agreed ... I've seen small increases in ammonia just from moving a rock and kicking up a little sand, a good stirring could cause a large spike.

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Working on it. Learned a bit from this site already. Someone told me that the Superman is a Monti and superman is a color. Rainbow too. The favorite is really a Favia. That will help me find them at least.

 

Yes, it sounds like they were probably montipora corals. The Superman and Rainbow names are just descriptions of a particular coloring that are often applied to a variety of different corals though. Favia on the other hand is the name of an actual coral or rather family of corals (montipora is as well). To get a match for it you will probably need to look at several before you find one that looks similar.

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