Hey I had a disaster! any suggestions?

[e7046v]

o.k. here's the story(more like novel,sorry),

I had alot of really awsome coral frags and a couple of fish in my NanoCube 10 gal. I had it up and running for about a year with acouple of algae blooms here and their and of course during the beginning phase some of my new fish died and i did everything by the book, this forum, and the LFS. Everything was doing great and it looked great. Their was only one problem , around the 6th month, it was this worm creature that I noticed was living in my live rock. I looked around and researched a little and to me and some other aquarists it seemed to be a harmless bristtle worm. At around the 10th month a realized that their were a couple dozen, i looked around for a second opinion and it still seemed that everything was all well. Then I noticed that my shrimp disappeared, so I looked and couldn't find him. It was another loss but I shrugged it off and checked my unchanged water conditions. Then I noticed that my brittle star's legs were all mangled and missing!!! I also saw that the worms were eating it alive. I hurried to save the star and did further research and found that the worms looked more like fireworms and that they were carnivourous. once again I called my LFS and asked what I could do.(they are really excellent) and they said to do a freshwater dip, so I did along with all the corals that were attached to the rocks. As i dipped the rocks I also went searching in the sand to kill any worms I saw. Afterward I put everything back in. the water was cloudy due to the sand sifting and the next day everything was DEADDEAD..........I have left it alone discouraged and I need a little help...or maybe alot

What should I DO?

i was thinking that I could set my rocks outside and let them bake for a while, remove the encrusted rotting coral, and replace the sand. And then put the clean rock back in with fresh salt water and new sand and then just ask the LFS or someone local for a "seed" starter. Do you think this idea is good? Should i keep the same sand? Should I do nothing and just remove the dead corals?

Help

THANKS

E7046 V

[reefone]

sounds like u killed alot of living things in the rock and restarted the cycle. id just take out the dead corals and let it recycle.

[Bonebrake]

Remove all of the dead stuff and do a 100% water change.

[LoBo]

wow...... that REALLY sucks.

thats why i always check my rocks before i put them in and i shake em up, what do you mean by dead? the corals were mangled?

[e7046v]

wow...... that REALLY sucks.

thats why i always check my rocks before i put them in and i shake em up, what do you mean by dead? the corals were mangled?

no they are dead, white, slimy, full of puss and nasty fungus thingys

[LoBo]

If i were you, id get rid of all the worms off the sand, rocks, do a 50% water change, add 25 % then do another 50% water change,vacumming the top substrate or stir it up a little and vaccum it. Put all the rocks in and everything, let it cycle for 2 months and watch it very closly for worms.

[zeroedge]

The overnight deaths point to the fresh water dip as the culprit and not the worms. What kind of water did you use for the dip? How long did you dip?

 

As far as what to do now....As suggested, 100% water change , do regular water testing and excerise patience for the next couple of months. You may want to buy/rent a bristle worm trap and see if you can round up as many worms as you can.

[reefman225gal]

Well your LFS dropped the ball the first thing they should of told you was to try and trap the worms at night by baiting them. There are a few different methods and they do work. YOU killed your tank not the worms.

you didnt mention how long the dips were but im betting long enough to kill off all the good stuff and some coral dont tolerate fresh water dips at all. man you over reacted. sorry for you losses