Vicki's 20G

[phoenix91]

Despite the sps, lps and leathers looking amazing recently the pink zoas i had are completely gone; the blue & yellow ones are now starting to look peaky. No more zoas for me. I think it might be flatworm related, they were covering the blue ones yesterday so i blasted them off but the zoas did look annoyed. This just means i'm going to siphon more flatworms tonight Aside from flatworm grief (which i always have) my tank has been relatively stable alk/ca wise since i started dosing and testing more. Seems i add much more alk than ca but the ca is staying in my set range so i'm happy about that.

 

The stupid green plays are doing fine though, of course. I've been doing a bit of an experiment since before christmas; i took a rock with a few palys on and put it in a tuperwear container with tank water, stuck a lid on it and shoved it on a book shelf. I haven't touched it since i put it there, done nothing to the water, it gets minimal light and is cold. The damn palys are still alive and open and surprisingly green. Nothing kills these things.

[gena]

I've been doing a bit of an experiment since before christmas; i took a rock with a few palys on and put it in a tuperwear container with tank water, stuck a lid on it and shoved it on a book shelf. I haven't touched it since i put it there, done nothing to the water, it gets minimal light and is cold. The damn palys are still alive and open and surprisingly green. Nothing kills these things.

That's disturbing, but interesting at the same time.

 

I love the latest pictures! You really have some gorgeous pieces in there!!!!!

[phoenix91]

The only thing i have really noticed so far is they are smaller than the palys in my tank and they've stopped growing, but not died yet. I'd be interested to see if they would grow in such an environment; say if i changed out some water and kept salinity right, maybe put them closer to the window but didn't heat the water. I know some flatworms died and maybe a small bristle worm so the water quality can't be great right now.

 

Thanks! I'm glad i got a few sps, they're the most interesting thing in my tank right now. The mille looks to be growing but is a pita to get a photo of; it's all fuzzy and looks happy.

 

 

So i'm looking for long gloves so my arms won't get stung by whatever nasty is in the water column; i have xs hands and it's so hard to find any glovess that will fit. As far as i can tell the coralife aqua gloves fit med/lrg size hands. Maybe i should just duct tape my arms

[gena]

I bought those coralife aqua gloves...big mistake. They are huge. I ended up reselling them. Now I use the shoulder length breeder sleeves. I've ordered them on eBay before but I don't see any on there right now. I googled quickly and found them on a different site. Here's to give you an idea:

 

http://www.pbsanimalhealth.com/details/Breeder-Sleeve-Plus/205-630.html

 

They only last a couple of times use per gloves. They are great if you are just sticking your hand in the water. But if you need to move rocks or remove frags, you are guaranteed a hole and a leak. I still always wear them. Mostly so I don't contaminate my tank rather than so my tank doesn't contaminate me

[phoenix91]

Thanks for the link,I'll take a look. I figured the coralife ones would be too big, I take an xs in disposable gloves that we have to order in at work.

 

Both my clowns have the white stringy poop, I've removed the carbon and done a prazipro treatment. I've decided to just treat the tank because if both clowns have whatever it is then Bingley will either that've it now or get it soon enough. I'm hoping this treatment will take care of whatever it is for good. I don't really have the equipment to set up a hospital tank.

 

Tomorrow a new return pump should come In the post . More flow and hopefully better distribution of the heat. Yay!

[msscha]

The experiment with the palys is too funny, and I LOVE the new sig pic! Sorry the clowns are sick .

[phoenix91]

Palys are evil immortal things and I have proof. Thanks, that's me and a huge amazing horse in Kentucky. Lizzy's been getting stringy poop for a while and her behavior hasn't changed, I've treated the tank before but this is the first time Darcy has got it. Not really sure what's causing it exactly and I hope I'm treating it right. We'll see I suppose.

[gena]

I've used prazipro in a fully stocked reef tank with no bad side effects. It seemed to help the fish too. I used it for flukes.

[phoenix91]

I hope it works on whatever is wrong with the clowns. The corals look a tiny bit miffed but that could be because I took the carbon out for the treatment.

[racerfreak]

I love this tank and your DIY setup! I'm considering doing something similar myself but not sure yet. I hope you get everything worked out, wish I could be more helpful.

[phoenix91]

Thanks, it wasn't really my first choice for a set up, I really wish I'd plumbed it for a sump but at the time it was a bit of a panic so I went with what I knew.

 

Hopefully the clowns get better with 1 treatment, if not I'll do a second week and see how they get on.

[phoenix91]

My tank has been plodding on since my last update and everything was fine until yesterday. Bit of a disaster really but somehow the electricity tripped to the tank and I didn't notice until this morning, so the tank was without flow and heat from about 7pm until 7ish this morning. I switched everything back on and temp is down around the 72 mark :0. I'm going to leave it alone and let it heat up slowly, I think that's best. So far everything looks mildly pissed off but nothing looks to be in danger of kicking the bucket just yet. The devils hand has looked awful for days but I suspect it's going to shed (yep, just checked and its shedding) and the big scan is currently munching on a snail.

 

Fish are all alive and seem fine. it's a shame really because Lizzy was just beginning to be hosted by the frogspawn so I hope this setback doesn't affect that.

 

Everything In this tank has been to aquarium hell and back and mostly pulled through, so my only really worry is the few sps I have.

 

I've taken a few pics which I will upload soon.

[phoenix91]

Lizzy hiding under her frogspawn

 

 

Acan eating one of the few remaining snails in the tank

 

 

tank after 12 hours with no heat, it doesn't actually look too bad

 

 

and a delightful bucket of siphoned flatworms, they've gotten really bad recently, so this sight is a frequent one for me.

 

[gena]

I've had the same thing happen in more than one tank. Each time, no real harm was done. In my 10g I lost one frag of zoas, but they were not a hardy variety as it was. I think you'll be A-OK.

 

Did you ever treat the fish? No more stringy poop?

 

Corals don't look fazed at all

[phoenix91]

Yeah, nothing looked fazed. I've had it happen in my betas 5g but they are super hardy fish.

 

I did treat the fish, I treated the whole tank and haven't seen any more stringy poop in a while. I think I might have beat it.

[phoenix91]

The tank had it's first casualty of the heater switch off. One of the pink birdsnests bleached and died. Very sad but it's the one that had trouble in the Ca/alk swing so i'm not surprised it didn't enjoy the temperature plunge. Everything else looks great, nice and healthy.

 

Quick photo dump just after feeding time.

 

 

 

 

 

Mushroom cave is finally taking off

 

 

 

 

 

[phoenix91]

Some interesting developments with the fish, Lizzy has finally chosen the frogspawn as a host or should i say the frogspawn has finally grown large enough for her liking I spent a good half hour yesterday watching her play in it and swim around nuzzling it. Another interesting thing is that she lets Bingley the damsel hide under it and stay close to it... maybe she has mistaken him for a clown?

 

The flatworms are out of control, i will never again make the mistake of not dipping corals, I've learned my lesson! I've cut back feeding the fish to see if that makes a difference. I need to pick up a turbo snail or two, or just something that will take care of the gha on the plastic wall.

 

The tank is looking nicely stocked now and quite full. The green palys take up so much of the big rock that it gives that side a nice overgrown look.

 

 

 

 

 

The mille is definitely showing new growth, it's started to grow more on one side up towards the light.

 

 

Excuse the fuzz, i need a new glass cleaner.

 

[gena]

Looks great!!!!! I request more photos of "mushroom cave"

[phoenix91]

Thanks, I'll try to get some tonight

[metrokat]

How is the flatworm problem? Did you use any treatments like flatworm exit ?

[phoenix91]

The mushroom cave:

 

Before flatworm massacre

 

 

After

 

 

Peekaboo

 

 

and Darcy because he doesn't get enough appreciation

 

 

 

The flatworms are still awful. I siphon when i do a water change and sometimes between, i've also cut back feeding and closed the blinds next to the tank to stop the sun shining on it at all. I haven't used any chemicals yet, i think there are just too many and that much flatworm death (while satisfying) would probably harm the tank.

[gena]

I don't even "see" the flatworms...all I see are those gorgeous mushrooms Thanks for the pictures

 

I haven't done any research on flatworms besides identification. My very first saltwater tank had a flatworm problem. Like bad!!!! I ended up taking the tank down when we moved to California, so that problem was solved. I wonder if eventually they will just burn themselves out???? Especially if you continue to siphon them out. I'd be nervous about putting chemicals in there too. I've heard of success and tragedy from using the flatworm removal chemicals.

 

Anyways....your tank is still awesome

[phoenix91]

Thanks. All I see are the flatworms, it kind of takes away from the joy of the tank you know? The mushrooms are amazing, the biggest one was my first coral, it was tiny and shriveled when I got it and its turned out so lovely. I've already sold about 6 of its babies when I got rid of the rock it was on. I'm hoping to maybe get a different color at some point so I can have a contrast in the cave but my Lfs only had very sorry looking corals last time I went.

 

All I really know about flatworms is that they're both males and female (at least some species are) so breeding is definitely not a problem. I think feeding the tank less does help and upping siphoning helps too but sometimes I just don't have time to do it more than once or twice a week. I considered dipping all the rocks and might still do that, if I ever get a bigger tank and move corals I'll make sure to dip them so I hopefully don't end up with this issue again.

[gena]

Yeah...I know. I felt the same way about my infested tank I hope feeding less and siphoning does the trick for you. Maybe once you get the numbers really low you could finish them off with the flatworm killer stuff????

 

Another colored mushroom mixed in will look amazing

[msscha]

Hi, Vicki! Everything looks great! I love the pics of the clowns -- the side view makes it look like the fish and coral are suspended in air...your water is so clear!