Vancop Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Brought it home about 4-5 days ago ...still hasn't opened ( new to SW / corals ) it looks ok...as in flesh and color, not muched changed since first put into tank .....just not opening....Lights are about 1 month old...6 T5 54 watt ( Nova Extreme ) 8 hrs white , 10 hrs blue, 6 hrs lunar. Water Paramenters are all good, but not sure what the Alk is...only have test strips for Alk....Ca is 400 NH3 0 No2 0 No3 5-10 PH 8.3 Temp 77.5 Salinity 1.024 Little guy is 18 inches from lights and in a low circulation area?? I just wedged him into a rock creavse rather then glue him down...about 45 degree angle ?? that ok ?? Any advise would be appreciated !! Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 I would imagine it would be fine. You may want a little more circulation but not high by any means. I would also think it would be open by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Maybe a little higher in the tank. I also run T5 (a 6x54w TEK light) and I have FS from the bottom of a 75g all the way up to about 6 inches below the surface. They all do well. It looks like there is skeleton poking through the flesh on both polyps. That sometimes happens when they get wrapped up in a plastic bag to be brought home. I prefer to use a piece of styrofoam to float them upside-down so they don't bang the bag and damage the flesh. Give it a few days for the flesh to heal. It normally does not get infected, but if it does it may turn to brown jelly. Good luck with that. BTW, Welcome to PNWMAS Show some pictures of your tank and tell us about yourself. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chewie Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Welcome! What do you have as far as fish go? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I was afraid to move it at all, thinking it would start the acclamation process all over again. Been about 5 days now since I put it into the tank and no changes except for the small white lines across the tops of the heads, which seem to be going away. Is that what your refering to as the skeleton part? It was in a plastic bag for transport home, I'll remember to bring my own packaging in the future. I also bought a patch of green polups ( SP ) with a large feather duster encased in the polups...it opened immediately and I split the polups into 3 pieces and glued them on the rocks...all 3 patches are doing great ! Thanks for the welcome....I'll post pictures soon....I pretty much have the first SW tank complete...90 gallon and getting ready to start on a 125 .....I post pictures and details in the newbie section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 3, 2009 Share Posted March 3, 2009 Yes, white lines are the skeleton part. Good to hear that they are not showing as much, that is a good sign. Flesh is healing well. Just being in your tank is the acclimation process. It is getting used to your tank water and light. move them and they will be fine. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 3, 2009 Author Share Posted March 3, 2009 I moved it up this morning, still not opened :( I moved it up about 4 inches and a little more flow ...hope this helps ...starting to get worried !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Still not a happy camper :( Starting to show a little more of the skeleton on tops...aleast 2 of the heads...the larger head is still looking ok....6 days now.....should be hungry ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 I would test the nitrate again. Then I would not distrub the coral anymore. Has the coral spit out anything? If you still see color in the skeleton, it can still pull through. What kind of lighting was on the tank it came from? Your lfs should be able to hook you up with the floating styrofoam trick to bring stuff home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 I tested the Nitrate a few hrs ago...Powder test...reads little blow .10...but no higher. All others levels are good ....only have test strips for GH and KH GH was 180+ ( high as the test kit color would say ) and KH appeared to be little more then 180 but not quite 240 if that means anything? I moved it this morning..first time in 5 days to about 3-4 inches higher and a little more flow ( which I would say is moderate...waving star polyups my gauge). No splits and there is still a color difference between flesh and skeleton...about 1/4 inch down is skeleton stalk. They came from the LFS and not sure what lights he had...was a long tank with lots of corals ( don't wanna throw names out ) but all the corals looked really good in his system and I trust him....I have seen LFS with alot worse !! Thanks for advise ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 4, 2009 Author Share Posted March 4, 2009 Day 7 and I think its finally giving up ....all 3 heads are looking pretty shabby...color looks the same as day 1 but they are shrinking ....skeleton showing on the larger head now ...no splitting and the stalk colors haven't changed :( Was hoping to add a few more corals on these days off...but now concerned about water quality.....on the good side, the feather duster and star polyps are looking great ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 4, 2009 Share Posted March 4, 2009 Vancop- If you want to try to save your coral, you can bring it over to me in Oregon City, and I can put it in my tank. When/if it gets better you can have it back. Let me know if I can help you in this way. have you read this article? Scroll down until you see Myth 15. Read it. There is a lot of good advice there. http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-01/eb/index.php To be honest, I tried to do what this article said to do. I lasted to week 6 or 8 before I bought my first clowns... which started off by having ich. So an emergency QT tank later, and 6 weeks in a 10 gal tank, my clowns were able to be moved back into their big tank. The latest tank that I set up used rock from my existing system, so it really was fine to support life from the start. Although it has had an algae bloom. That problem is getting fixed now. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 GOOD NEWS and BAD NEWS !! I think we solved the problem .....Salinity levels .....and a defective Refracto Meter ....took my water in today and ( can i say where ?? w/o violating a forum rule ? ) and it tested at 1.016 !!!! So good news is I think I know WHY ....Bad news is that it happened !! Have slowly brought the Salinity back up to 1.020 and will leave it for a day, then slowly start bring it back up to 1.024 over next day or so. Of the 3 heads ...one is looking very skinny...and up to the larger one that I'm hoping will be the one to make it..... Thanks everyone for the support and offer of assistance....and on a side note...I also learned that SNAILS will stop working and sort of hibernate when salinitys drop...so now I have another warning sign ...and I thought it was because there was no algae to eat ...so was supplementing them with food!! Live and learn....hopefully the FS will recover!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Yikes! Hopefully you caught that in time. Are you sure it's a defective refractometer? Maybe it just needs to be calibrated. Something to try before buying a new one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted March 5, 2009 Share Posted March 5, 2009 Did you use a refratometer or a hydrometer? Did it have a swing arm, or did you look throught the little tube thing? Hydrometers are known to be inaccurate over time. Some are better than others. Good thing you caught it. You can say where you took the water so that the store gets some credit. Not against any rule that I know of. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 I bought the calibration fluid when i got it from Marine Depot, and set it to their fluid....I checked it again yest ....against what the LFS reading was ....meter said 1.024....LFS 1.016 His corals were perfect.....mine not. Even I can figure those odds out !! As I started adding salt......I could see the different in the entire tank...crabs...fish...even looks like he FS is bouncing back ....Poor guys been in the twlight zone for the last few weeks !!! I am calling Marine Depot today to talk to them about their calibration fluid .....nowhere on the bottle or shipping papers does it say what the fluid is set to...I had to find it on their website.....so i will talk to a person today and see what they say. +/- 1 maybe....not +/- 5 ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vancop Posted March 5, 2009 Author Share Posted March 5, 2009 I didn't think it would be a problem as they are sponsors.....just wanted to make sure .... SEA HORSE ROCKS (rock2)(rock2)(rock2)(clap)!!!!!!!!!!! I had been struggling for the last 4 days trying to solve this myself...and Issiac asks a few questions and immediately solves it within minutes of being in the store !! Even offered to send me home with some better salt ( free ) to bring the levels up. I have delt with Sea Horse now for about 2-3 weeks ...and nothing but professional and knowledgeable people !! (icon)(icon)(icon)(icon) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markdadof2 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I was told to calibrate my refracto with RO/di water that measures out at 0 TDS. Seems to work for me. Does anyone else do it this way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowman Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I was told to calibrate my refracto with RO/di water that measures out at 0 TDS. Seems to work for me. Does anyone else do it this way? I calibrate mine like this also. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 There are several threads on RC that state it's not accurate to do that. I used to calibrate with RO until I read some of the posts there by reputable members. I ordered some calibration fluid and recalibrated with that. Turns out it was actually 1.019 when it read 1.025 while calibrated with RO. No wonder my inverts and coral were not doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I was told to calibrate my refracto with RO/di water that measures out at 0 TDS. Seems to work for me. Does anyone else do it this way? Unless you have a lab grade refractometer (over $100) this will not give you the proper calibration. I use Pinpoint Salinity Calibration Fluid 53.0 mS. You can get a bottle for 5 bucks should last you years and years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
undrtkr_00 Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 Unless you have a lab grade refractometer (over $100) this will not give you the proper calibration. I use Pinpoint Salinity Calibration Fluid 53.0 mS. You can get a bottle for 5 bucks should last you years and years. That's a good tip. Do any LFS carry this, or did you order it online? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted March 6, 2009 Share Posted March 6, 2009 I got it online so i bought 2 bottles. I'm not even 1/4 thru one of them and its been a year. Glad i bought 2 though, i spilled one (laugh) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wobble Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Saltwater Fantaseas carries it too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CA2OR Posted March 7, 2009 Share Posted March 7, 2009 Impur you are awesome. Saved me like $95 or more. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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