Suzanne May 180 Gallon Reef Build

[NC2WA]

Suzanne,

bottom line is if it is wet, you QT it, includes inverts.

I sent you a PM..

 

[suzannemay]

Hey everyone. Long time no post... but I have got my QT tank running and some new friends waiting to be placed in my tank.. Now to make sure I keep them alive and hopefully I didn't pick too hard to maintain first timer corals..

Meet Torch, WP_000785 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

My I think it's pinkish acropora.. WP_000786 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

The clowns of the bunch.. WP_000787 | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[NC2WA]

Suzanne,

good to hear from you...

looking good....I like the torch and clowns....

 

[mfinn]

Suzanne,

bottom line is if it is wet, you QT it, includes inverts.

I sent you a PM..

I'm curious, what is the point of QT'ing snails and hermits?


I do qt all fish and many corals.
But there are somethings that I don't see the point in it.
There are some corals I believe that a good dip formula will work instead.
Such as the torch.

 

[suzannemay]

I personally didn't QT my snails and hermits. I did dip both corals and decided to wait at least 2 weeks before adding them. But I was told from the store that I could put the Torch in after I dipped. For some reason I am waiting to do so?? Just in case?

 

[suzannemay]

1 week in. Torch is looking good. The clowns looking good. Keeping my eye on one as it may be getting a white spot..? Not sure..yet. Both are eating well. But sad news my acropora is loosing some flesh on the left side. Two of the branches turned white. I hope it doesn't get worse.. Not sure what I can do about it. So off to research how I can help it survive the transition.

 

[NC2WA]

Dip it in coral rx or melafix

 

[seedlessinseattle]

I had some luck saving quite a few corals, what I do is, I cut off the bad area about 1/4 inch into the good area and I toss away bad part, when I say quite a few is mote like maybe 10 or so, I use some stainless side cutters that I got from my local pharmacy store, I think they use those for clipping nails I believe, anyways so far been lucky on most of them

 

[suzannemay]

I performed a dip on it tonight. Hopefully it wont get worse. I will have to think on how to remove the bad parts if it comes to that..It is at the base of the piece.

 

[suzannemay]

Damn.. another branch gone this is certainly quick necrosis.. so I pulled it out and trimmed, superglued.. I hope it survives..gerg...sad to see it go.

 

[suzannemay]

So far no new necrosis this morning.. I will check further when I get home tonight. On a cool note.. I think my Pajama Cardinals are breeding.. I saw one with his mouth super swollen for about 3-4 days and then it was back to normal this morning..so either ate the eggs..or spawned? Maybe little babies will appear at some point. Pretty cool to see though.

 

[suzannemay]

Well it has been awhile since I have posted. I hope everyone has had a Merry Christmas.

I added a few more things to the tank.. Desjardini tang is in quarantine, I added a candy cap and a brain coral to the tank.. but I am noticing some red flat worms appearing in the tank..not sure how those got in since I dipped everything? Oh well. So now I need to figure out how to get these out of the tank.. any suggestions?

 

[Ichthys]

Suzanne. I have heard that Flatworm Exit works well, but dont know from firsthand knowledge. What did you use to dip? Am curious if you used RPS All Out. If used correctly it should have rid your corals of these pests. RPS All Out is a local product and i think he is a sponsor here as well.

 

[spieszak]

dips are great, but they aren't a gaurentee. especially with lps or softies as they tend to close up when dipped and in doing so can let some things hide from the dip.
i have a firend who used flatworm exit, and it worked well. you have to do the follow up dose to be successful, and keep an eye on your snails, they don't seem to like it. be ready for a water change, though you may not need it, and have lots of carbon on hand. leave it for as long as you can (even though the directions say start carbon as soon as you see die off).. if you don't see signs of distress in the tank, try to hold off. the carbon seems to pull it out almost immediately...that was his impression of it at least. the snails were bothered and his leathers waxed right after, but basically nothing seemed worse for having done it, and a few corals perked up after for the lack of irritation from the flat worms.

 

[suzannemay]

I used RPS but I think they hitchhiked on a snail. I didn't quarantine those. I will go and get some of the chemical as they are spreading fast.. I water ready and carbon so we will see how this works out today. Thanks ! I hope your tanks are going well :0

 

[NC2WA]

ouch..sorry to hear that...on a snail..never heard of that before...wow...

 

[Ichthys]

If you could, would you be so kind as to post your process, in the thread? How many critters did you see, how much Flatworm Exit did you use, how long did you run it before using carbon, what effects it had on other inhabitants, what kind of results both good and bad? It would be very informative and helpful to others that may run into this pesky problem. Thanks.

 

[NC2WA]

Danny,

Nice suggestion and good learning experience for all.

 

[spieszak]

Its been a couple of weeks since my friend did it, but he noted that the only place local he could find it was Saltwater City. I only note it because it might be worthwhile to call around before driving to multiple stores..

 

[suzannemay]

I ended up finding some flatworm exit at Barrier Reef. As far as my process I will definitely blog away.

I had no idea that those little red flakes were worms...I assumed algae..so needless to say my infestation is nasty.. I came back from vacation and it was like the world hatched...
So..my tank is full of worms that look like little red flakes... as bad as it gets.. bummer...

Ok so far my tank has the following creatures:
Torch coral
Candy cap red coral
Brain coral
Live rock
Lots of hermits the reef safe kind..supposedly we will see..
A few snails of several varieties.
2 Pajama Cardinals
1 blenny
1 clown

Luckily not a lot of things to loose if this goes wrong..I guess it is good I am taking this all so slowly

Process:

1st: I blew all the rock off with a power head to try and lift out the worms as many as I could into the water for the skimmer to get. Tried to syphon off a lot of live worms where I could. Which is quite challenging as a short gal with a very LARGE tank.

2nd: Made salt water 40 gallons to accommodate a potential 25% water change.
3rd: prepped a phosban 550 with fresh carbon to set aside for after the treatment.
4th: Put the treatment amount into the sump and after a few minutes the worms started to die off and float up. after 30 minutes my tank was full of creepy crawly worms coming out of the nooks and crannys of the rocks.. that were not very happy most are dying off. I waited about an hour. Then my clown started to look stressed and my torch was puffy..so blew off the rocks again with the powerhead to lift off any stuck dead worms into the water. Sometimes they get sticky and clump together. these I hand siphoned.
5th: started up carbon filter.
6th: Cranked up skimmer even more
7th: cranked up the vortexes to kick up more debris..
8th: Now I wait a few before I start water change as the water is very cloudy and I want to see the bottom so I can really work the sand bed in the water change.. I have to get a lot of these worms out so they don't nitrogen spike my tank. The carbon is supposed to help with that.
Once that is done.. I will clean out the skimmer one more time and I am done for the night and will see what the tank looks like in the morning.

I have a feeling I will need to do another dose. So I will prep more water tomorrow while at work to prepare for another BIG water change on new years eve.
I need to stop and get more carbon and another dose too I only have half a dose left..I think there will be more live ones..