New tank, need advice

[briareos]

I've started a new tank (same size) and am cycling live rock now.

The water smells bad, there are lots of surface bubbles, there is white fungus, and the water is cloudy! I didn't have this problem with the first tank, probaby because the rock was already pretty much cured when I started it. This time I got the rock from Pasir Ris and the auntie said it just arrived a few days ago.

Should I change the water until it clears up, or just leave it? Right now I can see tubeworms emerging from their tubes and they all look like they're going to die. Bristleworms are no longer hiding either and just hanging out on the surface of the rock. I think it looks quite bad.

[briareos]

Something is wrong with my tank.

I change 20% of the water every 2 days. The crabs, brown zoos, and goniopora all appear to be doing well. They open everyday.

But the yellow zoos are shrivelling up. After a few days in my tank they just closed up and never opened again. And all the while they're getting smaller and they lose adhesion on the rock. Some even dropped off and died.

Any suggestions?

BTW the reddish coral has opened up. Any idea what coral it is?

[briareos]

Okay.. more progress photos.

3/4 of the yellow zoos have died. They just closed up and started melting away day by day. The other zoos appear to be doing well and spreading. The goniopora is opening up everyday too.

I got a new ball of metallic zoanthids. It's in the upper left area.

I also shifted the goniopora higher up near the light, but the flow there is also strongest. I don't think it really likes bring there since the polyps aren't extending as much as when I placed it below.

[briareos]

Current look of the tank.

They appear to be healthy. Brown zoos are eating cyclopeeze actively.

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, is the sun coral on the lower right hand side of your tank leaning against your tank wall?

[briareos]

Yep. I just placed it back after feeding. I have to take them out and feed them in a separate tank everyday or I'll foul the water.

[Qxnviolet]

Erm, what kind of food do you feed your suns? Interested to find out the different way people feel their beloved sun corals....

[briareos]

Cyclopeeze. It really makes them open up in 5 minutes.

[Qxnviolet]

Hrmz, bro colin also uses cyclopeeze to entice his suns to open up before feeding them mysis. Do you feed yours anything else except cyclopeeze?

[jervismun]

Just cyclopeeze is not enough IMO, they need meaty food.

[lyz77]

How long do you all spend in target feeding? Wht do you use to transfer the MS to your coral?

[jervismun]

How long do you all spend in target feeding? Wht do you use to transfer the MS to your coral?

I try not to overfeed them, bad for the coral, bad for the water, bad for the wallet... I use a extra large syringe with tube extension to do the job... works well for me so far. Bought it from AM for a couple of bucks!

[Qxnviolet]

How long do you all spend in target feeding? Wht do you use to transfer the MS to your coral?

I use an oversized syringe too....with a long feeding tube. Normally i'll spend around 30 mins to feed all my LPS.

[jervismun]

I use an oversized syringe too....with a long feeding tube. Normally i'll spend around 30 mins to feed all my LPS.

Wow that's very long!!! I usually go 2 rounds, each around 3 mins... 10 mins apart. 3 times a week.

[Qxnviolet]

Wow that's very long!!! I usually go 2 rounds, each around 3 mins... 10 mins apart. 3 times a week.

Haha, 30 mins is inclusive of the time i spent trying to entice them to extend their feeding tentacles...the lobo doesn't extend them very often....

[briareos]

Today's photos:

Closeup of the strange degenerative yellow polyp condition.

Look at the lower right corner. Is that a pest anemone? It's clear, so after I fed it some cyclopeeze I can see all the gut contents.

When the sun coral is fully opened, I notice some polyps have long tentacles, while others have really short tentacles. Could it have already undergone some degeneration in the shop? This is a high maintenance coral.. I've already noticed tissue receding around the raised areas of the skeleton.. probably because I haven't been feeding it well.

Sea mat is spreading... new polyps are appearing at the base.

Underneath one rock, there're lots of these tubes with 2 tentacles each. I think it's some kind of worm or snail.

A lot of macroalgae has been springing up. Should I remove them now?

On the right, all those white specks are copepods.

[briareos]

Tank as of 20 May.

star polyps? They look white now.

Got a leather coral that was too big for the tank, so I cut some chunks off and glued it to rock. It seems to have recovered quite quickly.. polyps emerged after 2 hours in the tank.

Green rhodactis from a fellow reefer.

Common mushrooms from iwarna.

Green mushrooms from iwarna.

[briareos]

After days of daily feeding, I think I have got my sun corals back to normal condition. When I first got them from the shop they were quite locked in, and the tentacles short and stubby and not sticky.

Today this is how they look.