Dealing with setbacks and frustration

[Lavey29]

All good advice so far. You have only been in this hobby for six months, slow down. I have been reefing for 6-7 years and still have some setbacks, but I won't give up. If your fish are doing fine now just take care of them for a few months, get your algae under control, let the coraline algae increase throughout your tank. If you can give us all the water parameters you are testing, you may think it is all good but you may be missing something, happens to me still.

Salinity .026
Alk 8.9
Phos .05
Nit 5ppm
Ph 8.3
Mag unk salifert ordered
Temp 77
Water change was weekly now 15% every 2 weeks
Dose phos and nit in small amounts to keep numbers from hitting 0
65g display and 15g sump. No refugium but have rock and marine pure spheres
Eshopss s200 skimmer and vectra M2 pump
2x MP 40 for flow
Dose 20ml of phytoplankton at night
Dose 20ml of red sea AB coral food daily
Feed fish pellets and frozen 3x per day . Corals catch frozen in the flow.
Purigen and maxout in sump along with filter sock
Radion XR15 pro lights

Water is clear with minor hair algae developing. I have hermits and snails and cleaner shrimp.

 

[anthonygf]

The first pic is my 46 bowfront at 3-4 years old, October last year I upgraded to 75 gallon for my yellow Tang, December I had a severe Aiptasia outbreak when i thought I had it under control, it was so bad was growing between zoa polyps. In December I removed all rock and fragged good corals being careful not leave any pests.

I put all my corals on frag racks while cleaning the overflow, replaced all hoses and lines. Removed my sump and cleaned all equipment. Set my sump back up and removed some aiptasia growing in the sand bed. Cleaned rock for a week in bleach for a couple days, removed all remaining coral basically anything living, rinsed in fresh water for a day or two and also boiled the rocks outside of course. soaked for another day or two again and stuff still coming off even when blasting with garden hose several times. finally convinced it is clean enough I place rocks back into tank. During the next few months I monitor my corals and when they look good and healthy I will glue them back close to where they were before.

Some rocks with big coral like the Colt and the mushrooms had no pests on them and went back in without soaking of course and watched for any pests. This process lasted a couple months I believe, I was in no rush. It was like starting new/fresh and was still somewhat enjoyable because I knew it will thrive again. And Certainly is, during the next six months or so a couple aips popped up but disappeared, I guess my File fish or aiptasia eating shrimp got to them.

The third pic is 9 months later, still placing new corals down after a bout with GHA explosion 2 months ago I had so much needed to remove by hand and dosed FluxRx, now I have a coraline algae explosion covering my rocks which is beautiful because it keeps GHA away. Anyway with a little hard work, love and determination you will succeed.

Sorry for the long story, hope you read it and get some insight to what reefing is all about.

 

[anthonygf]

Salinity .026
Alk 8.9
Phos .05
Nit 5ppm
Ph 8.3
Mag unk salifert ordered
Temp 77
Water change was weekly now 15% every 2 weeks
Dose phos and nit in small amounts to keep numbers from hitting 0
65g display and 15g sump. No refugium but have rock and marine pure spheres
Eshopss s200 skimmer and vectra M2 pump
2x MP 40 for flow
Dose 20ml of phytoplankton at night
Dose 20ml of red sea AB coral food daily
Feed fish pellets and frozen 3x per day . Corals catch frozen in the flow.
Purigen and maxout in sump along with filter sock
Radion XR15 pro lights

Water is clear with minor hair algae developing. I have hermits and snails and cleaner shrimp.

WOW! Good work, numbers look good. After my bout with GHA my No3 went from 5ppm to 25, Po4 0.03 to 0.131, so far so good. Po4 is slowly dropping but I noticed corals look a little better with those higher numbers. Anyway the Red Sea magnesium is the best in my experience, I tried most of them. Still have some salifert left. When I got my ICP test it showed low mag, so got a Red Sea tester and sure enough was low. Tested again with one of my unopened salifert box and still low reading. If you can send yours back I would suggest you get the Red Sea test kit.

EDIT: Sorry but the salifert was reading higher than ICP and Red Sea test was so close to ICP reading that I will go with that.

 

[Isopod80]

Yes, but it's more convenient to have a local LFS do it and their methods cover all the requirements to ensure healthy fish but nothing is ever 100% guaranteed. When you order the fish the process begins. About 30 days later I go pick them up.

And yet you still got brook. All it takes is a careless employee failing to wash their hands once from another tank to their "quarantine " tank. I'd have a hard time believing they're all that careful all the time. Especially when busy. The owner knows this. Sounds more like an excuse to overcharge for "quarantined" fish to me.

 

[boacvh]

There is only one way to tackle how one feels about these issues IMO.

As awful as some are they are, they are all part of learning experience.

 

[Lavey29]

And yet you still got brook. All it takes is a careless employee failing to wash their hands once from another tank to their "quarantine " tank. I'd have a hard time believing they're all that careful all the time. Especially when busy. The owner knows this. Sounds more like an excuse to overcharge for "quarantined" fish to me.

I got the brook from a clownfish that I got from a longtime LFS business not the QT LFS service I used for my other fish. My mistake there for trusting the 40 year business. The service I use now is smaller and strictly focused on specific order fish that they QT and of course charge a healthy premium.

 

[Isopod80]

Beautiful tank, I'm sitting here watching an 8 head ausi torch with a cool neon green base wither away and it used to huge the size of a cantelope. First noticed it on my big duncan colony, then my dragon soul torch closed up and died, then a hammer closed up. Now my larger torch corals are closing up.

No offense bud but instead of watching, start dipping. BJD is treatable but you have to get ahead of it while you can. You can still probably save these corals.

 

[Isopod80]

I got the brook from a clownfish that I got from a longtime LFS business not the QT LFS service I used for my other fish. My mistake there for trusting the 40 year business. The service I use now is smaller and strictly focused on specific order fish that they QT and of course charge a healthy premium.

Out of curiosity, do these quarantined fish come with any sort of a guarantee?

 

[Lavey29]

No offense bud but instead of watching, start dipping. BJD is treatable but you have to get ahead of it while you can. You can still probably save these corals.

I have tried multiple dips. Thinking that removing anything that shows early signs may be best now. Seems to be focused on the left side of my tank. Right side not affected yet.

 

[Lavey29]

Out of curiosity, do these quarantined fish come with any sort of a guarantee?

I know if they ship they do but I pick up at the store. I will check the website or ask the owner.

 

[Isopod80]

I know if they ship they do but I pick up at the store. I will check the website or ask the owner.

Yeah, because any place willing to overcharge me for their "qt" and not back it up wouldn't get my business.

 

[Isopod80]

I have tried multiple dips. Thinking that removing anything that shows early signs may be best now. Seems to be focused on the left side of my tank. Right side not affected yet.

Have you tried the peroxide dip method. It's harsh but if you're at your wits end it can work. Rinse the affected areas to remove the visible jelly then dip the coral in a mix of tank water and 3% peroxide. I do 1 part peroxide to 15-20 parts water. You should see small bubbles rising form the corals surface. Leave for no longer than 3-4 minutes. Then rinse the coral in a separate container of fresh tank water before returning to tank. Clean containers and use new water/peroxide solution for each coral. Truthfully, I've lost a few corals over the years with this method but I've also saved quite a few as well.

 

[blaxsun]

It's a local service so I'm able to see the QT process and it thoroughly covers all the requirements to ensure quality healthy fish. I wouldn't mind adding a UV to my set up and have researched it. I do have extra equipment, various medications , small emergency QT tank available, etc...

I was in the exact same scenario and though I was taking all the necessary precautions - and look how that turned out. Now I have an oversized UV, revamped my feeding schedule and have refocused my efforts to being more proactive.

The suggestion to run your own small QT tank is a great one if you can’t always trust the health of the fish from the source - which sounds like what may have been the issue.

 

[Lavey29]

Have you tried the peroxide dip method. It's harsh but if you're at your wits end it can work. Rinse the affected areas to remove the visible jelly then dip the coral in a mix of tank water and 3% peroxide. I do 1 part peroxide to 15-20 parts water. You should see small bubbles rising form the corals surface. Leave for no longer than 3-4 minutes. Then rinse the coral in a separate container of fresh tank water before returning to tank. Clean containers and use new water/peroxide solution for each coral. Truthfully, I've lost a few corals over the years with this method but I've also saved quite a few as well.

I haven not tried peroxide yet but this has spread to other corals now. I am just going to do what one of the earlier posters said to do and that is just let the tank be and see what happens. Keep up my water changes and make sure my parameters are in check. I am running extra carbon because the bacteria is in the water column.

An interesting fact, I had my temp running at 78 with my IM helio system in my sump. My DT was like 2 degrees cooler because open top, the house stays at 75 and it is under an AC vent. I turned my temp in the sump up to 80 so my DT was at 78 and bam, the BJ started. Maybe coincidence I don't know. I have now turned my temp back down and am curious to see if that has any affect. I anticipate a complete wipe out of corals here though.

 

[Lavey29]

The first pic is my 46 bowfront at 3-4 years old, October last year I upgraded to 75 gallon for my yellow Tang, December I had a severe Aiptasia outbreak when i thought I had it under control, it was so bad was growing between zoa polyps. In December I removed all rock and fragged good corals being careful not leave any pests.

I put all my corals on frag racks while cleaning the overflow, replaced all hoses and lines. Removed my sump and cleaned all equipment. Set my sump back up and removed some aiptasia growing in the sand bed. Cleaned rock for a week in bleach for a couple days, removed all remaining coral basically anything living, rinsed in fresh water for a day or two and also boiled the rocks outside of course. soaked for another day or two again and stuff still coming off even when blasting with garden hose several times. finally convinced it is clean enough I place rocks back into tank. During the next few months I monitor my corals and when they look good and healthy I will glue them back close to where they were before.

Some rocks with big coral like the Colt and the mushrooms had no pests on them and went back in without soaking of course and watched for any pests. This process lasted a couple months I believe, I was in no rush. It was like starting new/fresh and was still somewhat enjoyable because I knew it will thrive again. And Certainly is, during the next six months or so a couple aips popped up but disappeared, I guess my File fish or aiptasia eating shrimp got to them.

The third pic is 9 months later, still placing new corals down after a bout with GHA explosion 2 months ago I had so much needed to remove by hand and dosed FluxRx, now I have a coraline algae explosion covering my rocks which is beautiful because it keeps GHA away. Anyway with a little hard work, love and determination you will succeed.

Sorry for the long story, hope you read it and get some insight to what reefing is all about.

Beautiful tanks and great story of success and determination. I generally only have bad luck it seems and this is just another obstacle to help me remember that. My tank was just starting to look beautiful with some nice corals thriving.

 

[Isopod80]

Yup, as you said it's spreading to other corals. If you just let the tank be then I would anticipate a complete wipe out eventually as well. It's up to you. Good luck.

 

[anthonygf]

Beautiful tanks and great story of success and determination. I generally only have bad luck it seems and this is just another obstacle to help me remember that. My tank was just starting to look beautiful with some nice corals thriving.

So sorry you are having trouble, it certainly is heartbreaking to go through. Mybe you need to do a rip clean. Something to research.

 

[Lavey29]

Yup, as you said it's spreading to other corals. If you just let the tank be then I would anticipate a complete wipe out eventually as well. It's up to you. Good luck.

Suggestions? Other then dipping or tossing out the infected corals what is there? I called a well known coral farmer and asked how he deals with a major outbreak and he told me to run extra carbon to filter the water column. I am doing some large water changes also.

 

[anthonygf]

Beautiful tanks and great story of success and determination. I generally only have bad luck it seems and this is just another obstacle to help me remember that. My tank was just starting to look beautiful with some nice corals thriving.

You have only been in for 6 months, I started with live rock and from what I have seen is much easier. I went slow, first week a couple pieces of live rock and 2 clowns, the next week another piece of rock and a colt coral, every week or two add another. Now after 5-6 years the Colt is slowly shrinking on me, don't know why.

 

[Lavey29]

Here are a few pics