Interesting problem (???)

[jsteinman]

John,

I ran the same setup on my 90 for about a year. You may want to check you Phosphate Levels with a Salifert kit. What type of Caulerpa are you using and how long has the tank been established? Some forms of Caulerpa can cause problems. Are you using RO/DI top off water? Have you checked Calcuim or Alk yet. I put off getting these test kits for a long time and felt stupid for not getting them sooner as they can tell you when to do water changes. I know Leng says you don;t need to do water changes, but you should anyway. I went 9 months without one but lost some corals along the way. Also for some reason, I never had any luck with Clams. I now have a 220 and am using a Skimmer and will be turning on the plumbed Eco-Sump this weekend. I will not use Caulerpa again. Try to get Sargassum sp. and Chaetomorpha sp. as they do not go sexual and release toxins into the water.

 

[samurai9]

Sharkky I have not had experience with Xenia, but I have heard that story a lot. I can offer you a possibility. I think your ecosystem filter is cleaning your water too well. Mushrooms and xenia, I believe, do better in water with higher organic levels. Also, I have heard from many people that xenia acts as a nitrate sponge. It could be that your caulerpa is 'beating the xenia to the punch', taking away all the nitrates. As for the snails' deaths, possibly the release of toxins from dying corals? Good luck, HTH.

[ January 04, 2002: Message edited by: samurai9 ]</p>

 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if I've got a problem or not, so let me explain and see if anyone has any insights...

75 gal reef running the ecosystem mud filtration system. Lighting is 2x48" VHO (1 actinic, 1 50/50) and 2 x 175w 6500K MH.

All fish are doing great (maroon clown pair, lineatus tang, blue-throat trigger), shrimp are doing fine (cleaner, peppermint), water checks out just fine (0 ammonia, nitrite, nitrate). Salinity a tad low at 1.021. 20" diameter Gigantia anemone doing fantastic--eats about 2 big prawn shrimp a day.

Then the problem...
Xenia crashed, mushrooms are shriveled and look as though they're losing their attaching power, and some snails have died. I'm clueless. I've never seen a tank where the difficult animals thrive and the easy stuff crashes! The mushrooms have never opened to their potential, and the xenia looked good for about 2 days. All the rock and animals came from long-established tanks (most from one of my own tanks that I'd had in storage for a couple months with a lfs during a move).

Any input??


-John