Aiptasia

[jtdunham]

I am new to this hobby and a new member to MAAST. I have a problem that no one is able to figure out. I will provide as much info as I can so you experts out there can help me.

I have a Red Sea Max 34 Gal.
My tank crashed last November. This was a result of my own stupidity in an attempt to kill bristle worms.
I let the tank cycle and have slowly introduced livestock and corals.

My coral keep dying. Green Star polyp, mushrooms, zoanthids, and flower pot. Within a day or two the green star stops opening, then the mushrooms shrivel and detach, the zoanthids close up and finally the flower pot dies. This senario has happened on three different occasions.
When I have corals I feed Roti Feast, Phyto Feast and Coral Vite once per week. I did a 7 gal water change last week.
My H2O test are all fine. In addition to the standard test I tested for phosphate, copper, and calcium, all fine.

My fish seem fine and thriving. Spotted Hawk, Mandarin, Clown, Lawnmower Blenny, Anemone.
I do not know what if any inverts I have. I have removed several crabs and such over the past weeks.

I spoke with someone at Dr. Foster and Smith and they suggested it could be Aiptasia. The problem is I do not see anything that looks like the pictures I have seen on the web. Foster's people said to directly apply Kaalkwasser to the Aiptasia. I can not do this since I can not see the Aiptasia. I do see some very thin white thread like things floating around. Not many. I thought these were just stray arm hair.
I do clean the algea off my rocks every couple of days so perhaps I am preventing the Aiptasia from esablishing and release the deadly little threads into the water to sting my corals. I am at a loss.
Please help. I love corals. I do not want to buy fakes or resort to fish only.
Thanks

[Captain Jack]

Peppermint shrimp did a good job of riding my tank of aptasia, but i could see the little pesky anemones; at least while the aptasia is small, they like to eat it.

The hair-type thread thingies are probably a type of worm. If so, they are not considered much of a threat unless there are so many that they constantly irritate your corals. Don't know what else to tell you, I'm still pretty new myself.

[jpond83]

what about ammonia? what was the first coral to go? salinity? temp?

[jpond83]

also nitrates? take your water to your lfs and have them test it. i get mine done at B&B. they are very helpful

[marshall.read]

first of all, welcome to maast. what did you do to kill the bristle worms? if you introduced some chemicals to the tank then simply letting the tank cycle will not help, you will need to remove all the water, and cleaning the rocks and sand would be advised as well. what are your exact values for nitrate, ammonia, nitrite, copper, phosphate, etc. if the tank has been running since november then the aiptasia would be large enough to be easily visible on the rocks. on a side note, flower pot's are difficult to keep in the first place, but the other choices are good beginning choices. what type of lighting and flow do you have?

[jtdunham]

I killed the Bristle worms by dunking the rock in an iodine solution and then rinsing the rock. When I put the rock back in the tank I think it had a bunch of dead and dying bacteria that caused a cascade of bad stuff- amonia etc.
After the crash I changed the H2O completely. Cleaned the rocks and slowly reintroduced bacteria. Now my fish are fine.
The H2O test include Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ph, Copper, Calcium, Phosphate and salinity. i did these test today. None of the tests were elavated. I do not remember the exact levels, just that there was no problem.
I am not saying it is Aiptasia, that is just a suggestion put forth by Foster and Smith.

[Bill S]

OK, let's back up...

When testing, ANY level of: Ammonia, Nitrite, Copper are bad. ANY detectable level. Why are you testing Copper? Did you ADD copper at some point in time? If so, that would explain a LOT. ANYTHING that was in a tank treated with Cu will later release copper... And Cu will kill just about everything but your fish.

If your Calcium isn't "elevated", what is it?

Seriously, my point is test everything, and post the values. We aren't here to criticize - we've all made mistakes before - some bigger than others. And, at some point in time, we were all new to the hobby. Your best approach here is to be COMPLETELY honest...

A couple of thoughts: bristle worms are normal. TONS aren't - and are usually from overfeeding. How did you treat your rock with iodine?

BTW, aptasia is the least of your problems. They are pests, but if you can't see them, you don't have them. And as pests, they are about as harmful as bristle worms (no big deal).

[cbianco]

The H2O test include Ammonia, Nitrate, Nitrite, Ph, Copper, Calcium, Phosphate and salinity. i did these test today. None of the tests were elavated. I do not remember the exact levels, just that there was no problem.

They weren't elevated... What exactly does that mean?

Any of these things can be toxic to reef life. A small amount of copper, ammonia, nitrite or copper can decimate all life in your tank.

Can you give us specifics on the levels please. If not, test again and record it here in this thread.


Christopher

EDIT: Bill hit my point before I did. Next time I promise to read first, lol.

[jtdunham]

Thanks for the help so far.
I dunked my rocks in 5 Gal bucket od Iodine and water, did a great job on killing the worms- ha ha.
As for the testing; amonia nitrate, nitrite and copper all 0. Calcium is 400. I tested for copper because this problem is so vexing I am trying everything to find the problem and solution.
I have been to several LFS, for H2O tests and suggestions, as well as the tech support at Foster and Smith. F&S said that aiptasia if present would be very bad. So that is why I presented this question.
I just can't figure out why the corals die off.

[cbianco]

Thanks for the help so far.
I dunked my rocks in 5 Gal bucket od Iodine and water, did a great job on killing the worms- ha ha.
As for the testing; amonia nitrate, nitrite and copper all 0. Calcium is 400. I tested for copper because this problem is so vexing I am trying everything to find the problem and solution.
I have been to several LFS, for H2O tests and suggestions, as well as the tech support at Foster and Smith. F&S said that aiptasia if present would be very bad. So that is why I presented this question.
I just can't figure out why the corals die off.

Iodine is also toxic at all but minimal levels in our tanks. I am not sure how long it hangs around though after a water change. It could be "stuck" in the rocks and sand. I am going to assume that you did not use copper.

Are you running a skimmer? A skimmer will pull out nutrients from the water.

Christopher

[Gseclipse02]

what are you using for lights? odd ?....

[jtdunham]

The first coral to go each time was the green star polyp, then the mushrooms.
The polyps were in a medium to medium high flow area and the mushrooms were in a low frlow area.

[jtdunham]

Standard Lights for Red Sea 34 gal: From the Users Manual
"two 55 watt T5 power compact flourescent bulbs with a high-polish, textured aluminum reflector.... The lighting provides 1 watt per liter of clear blue sky color (10,000K) with a 1:1 ratio to pure actinic blue (420nm wavelength peak)".

as for skimmer removing nutrients I do use Coral Vite once a week when I have corals. Tried Coral Vite more frequently but no help.

[marshall.read]

the reason i asked about the lights is that if we assume you don't have any chemicals in the tank and we assume the tank has cycled, then something has to account for the death of the coral but not the fish. if the lighting was really poor that could account for the death of the coral but not the fish. however, the lighting seems more than adequate, so at this point i'm going to second Christopher's thoughts on the iodine. it may have seeped into the rocks and is leaching out into the water.

[RICKY81]

you mentioned all this information about your lights but never mentioned how old they are....if they are very old about a year old they probably need to be replaced..........i have also noticed that you haven't mentioned anything about ur Alkalinity levels... as for my personal experience i once had problems with my corals dying and were my mh lights, changed them color was better and did better then my alkalinity was really low and now i have increased the levels to a more normalized level about a 3-4 rather than a 1 but still working on it..


Standard Lights for Red Sea 34 gal: From the Users Manual
"two 55 watt T5 power compact flourescent bulbs with a high-polish, textured aluminum reflector.... The lighting provides 1 watt per liter of clear blue sky color (10,000K) with a 1:1 ratio to pure actinic blue (420nm wavelength peak)".

as for skimmer removing nutrients I do use Coral Vite once a week when I have corals. Tried Coral Vite more frequently but no help.

[Texreefer]

Welcome to MAAST!
H2o tests all fine,,? probably not. its not aptasia killing your stuff. its most likely your water quality,lighting etc.. give us all the details in numbers. we might see something you are missing, and please don't add another goniopora to your tank. they are very difficult to keep alive and will just die on you