So, I upgraded my sump and got it all setup well and running. I made it myself, but I made sure all the silicon sealant are well cured, tank safe, and cured double past the needed time. Not to mention have used the exact same silicon sealant before with no issues. But all my softies closed up and wont open back up. I have checked the ammonia, pH, salinity, etc; which are all good (if anything better than ever have been with the sump working well now). I have tried letting them reset with the lights off. Tried to cox them out with feeding them liq foods they normally love. And making sure I have not make dramatic changes to additives, etc. It has now been a week, which is longest I've seen them closed up. Any ideas or suggestions? Thank you.
All my softies are upset
- Thread starter mbjnt
- Start date
What are the parameters? How long ago did you add the sump? Did you increase water volume and add fresh saltwater to the tank? It so, did the parameters change much with the addition of the new water, including temp. If you have one, I would say drop a poly filter in just in case some contaminants made it into the water.
Salinity 1.024, Temp 76, Ammonia 0, pH 8. The sump has been on the tank for about 6 months, but only for a week after rebuilding. Has two overflow pipes going to chamber, that fills a chamber that then flows over bioballs (have always had that), then up a short baffle to raise the water level (which baffle has 1 inch gap that I added normal mechanical filters filled with carbon) that then goes into a live chamber (new feature added) that I placed live sand, live rock, and algae from the main tank. Then hits another baffle to raise the level (which also causes cross flow over the live chamber), then a 1 inch gap baffle going down with few bioballs (mainly to catch the large algae chunks), into the return chamber with return pump and heaters (pump and heaters used before).
The toadstool looks about the same. But the mushrooms are starting to look worse and one of them is starting to puke out its guts (yeah, know that's a bad thing). Luckily the mushrooms are cheap ones. But the toadstool is a nice neon green top one that my wife picked out. The zoas, are not changing either, just closed.
I did add water though. With my sump fully working, I added about 20 gallons fresh saltwater.
Just thinking on the water, I normally buy ocean water (I know costs more, but always had better success), but all the local places where out so I bought salts and mixed it myself.... wonder if they dislike that.
The toadstool looks about the same. But the mushrooms are starting to look worse and one of them is starting to puke out its guts (yeah, know that's a bad thing). Luckily the mushrooms are cheap ones. But the toadstool is a nice neon green top one that my wife picked out. The zoas, are not changing either, just closed.
I did add water though. With my sump fully working, I added about 20 gallons fresh saltwater.
Just thinking on the water, I normally buy ocean water (I know costs more, but always had better success), but all the local places where out so I bought salts and mixed it myself.... wonder if they dislike that.
All my softies are upset
M2C: I had two swing arms as well a year or so ago that I was using and was having crazy time with my tank, couldn't figure out what was wrong. Took water into great white aquatics to test with their refract and my salinity was 1.33. With the swing arms you have to test against true first and mark it on there, on one 1.26 was 1.33 on the other 1.26 was 1.30 so they're highly unreliable unless you test against a refract or a known water source. I used it marked with a sharpie that way for a few weeks until I could get a refractometer.
M2C: I had two swing arms as well a year or so ago that I was using and was having crazy time with my tank, couldn't figure out what was wrong. Took water into great white aquatics to test with their refract and my salinity was 1.33. With the swing arms you have to test against true first and mark it on there, on one 1.26 was 1.33 on the other 1.26 was 1.30 so they're highly unreliable unless you test against a refract or a known water source. I used it marked with a sharpie that way for a few weeks until I could get a refractometer.
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Well, good news is a new frag is opening up and is all nice and happy. I am willing to bet the coral is upset to to changes related to water flow or change to water depth due to changes with the sump and getting everything happy. Of course the hard part is the mushrooms and toadstool have decided to attach to the largest live rock that I have...
I do not own a refractometer. I have used them before (for other things than saltwater) and made them (ok, science nerd in HS (ok, still am)). It's on my list of things I want for my tanks. lol.
The toadstool is now opening up! I guess I just really made the softies just mad with the sump upgrade. And the new coral is really opening up greatly! Thank you though everyone for your advise and ideas!
The toadstool is now opening up! I guess I just really made the softies just mad with the sump upgrade. And the new coral is really opening up greatly! Thank you though everyone for your advise and ideas!