N.Kaos
New Member
Greetings! I've been using R2R for information for years, so I'm not a new aquarist and my aquarium isn't exactly new, either (this build is about a year old). However, I thought I would finally post to these hallowed threads to give me something positive to do regarding a recent tank crash, perhaps to get input regarding my approach to handling it, or to help others who run up against similar issues. At the very least I can document my tank's revival. This will be a long post but I'll try to organize it so that anyone interested can navigate quickly.
The build is a 45-gallon Bowfront aquarium sitting on a custom-built stand over a 20-long sump that holds 12 gallons. It's in a Shipwreck-themed home bar, so it's got a slightly tacky shipwreck/tiki thing going on. The subsequent loss of rock is made up for by enough MarinePure Bioblock in the sump to biologically filter a small village, which keeps this small system extremely stable and grows roughly a boatload of copepods without supplementation, holding at trace levels of nitrates and phosphates in all conditions. That's a bit of a brag, which is stupid because of what follows.
The flatworms came from nowhere and everywhere. Many months after the system had been running smoothly I found a few in my sump. A week later they were legion. Not a one ever showed up in my display tank; I imagine Gaia (my Mandarin Dragonet) or Dagon (an insatiable Coral Banded Shrimp) had a hand in that. Alas, the copepod population shrank as their numbers grew, and I feared the flatworm toxins that an uncontrolled die-off might bring. I did the perfect round of worm-removal and Flatworm-eXit treatment, twice over. "SUCK WORMS!" was the battle cry in my house as I used a small canister filter to remove their numbers several times per day. Carbon and water changes abounded after 30-minute, then hour-long FeX treatment cycles. Alas, a week after each war had concluded, they appeared again and began repopulating their ranks in the sump, again taking all the nutrients meant for the pods. I gave up and allowed them to populate unfettered for several months. One day, as a peered into the green chaeto filled with red worms and an ever-diminishing pod population, I vowed to open war upon them again and, this time, achieve a final victory, no matter what it took!
The final war was declared on Wednesday, December 2nd. My first strike was to remove all of the bioblock and chaeto into separate containers, treat them with a mass dose of Flatworm eXit, and remove all glass-bound worms I could find. Given an hour of treatment, the blocks and chaeto were then rinsed in clean saltwater and placed back into the sump. Another round of FeX in the sump only, a complete sump drain and refill, and I considered the opening battle successful. The week that followed included three volleys of worm-sucking per day ("SUCK WORMS!"), which was only ever a handful of worms at a time, slithering out from the deepest pores of the Bioblocks. It was always a handful of worms. Never were there not at least a few meandering about, issuing vulgar threats to the nearby pods and causing a general unease about the place. On Thursday, December 10th, it was time for the final planned strike. I opened fire with a volley of Flatworm eXit through the full system, laughing maniacally as I pulled their floating bodies from the water. Another water change, more carbon, and the next day... more worms.
The final battle began on December 11th. After a great deal of Google-research, I had concluded that the Flatworm eXit should have no ill effects on the livestock, and that the slow die-off of whatever worms remained deep in the rock should be minor enough to cause no damage. My wife warned me against this conclusion, but my determination clouded her warning. With this conclusion I removed the carbon from the system and dosed Flatworm eXit one last time, to be left in the system for several days so as to seep into all recesses of rock and block and finally finish the job. Would that I could go back and open my own eyes to my folly! No bodies came. December 12th, no bodies came. That morning there were some bristle-stars crawling out of their rocks, which was unusual. I left home for some errands. I returned that night to my TNT Anacropora looking slightly odd, its polyps contrasting unusually starkly against its red-orange body. I glanced at my water-change bucket, but it was quite late and all else looked fine. I resolved to do a water change in the morning.
The die-off came in torrent. The morning of the 13th, all the SPS were bleached. Hammers and Frogspawn were retracted as far as they could go. Zoas were curled up into unrecognizable stubs. The Bristle Sea-Stars were strewn lifeless on the sand. The fish and anemones looked on in terror; "when will the darkness come for us," said their aquatic faces (or.. whatever anemones look worried with). The Pulsing Xenia and Longspine Urchin shrugged in apathy at the carnage around them. Tests revealed nothing unusual. Three massive water changes took place in the following days, but it was too late. I had beaten the flatworms... but they had beaten me. The Euphyllia finished melting away over the next days and the last open zoanthids closed in gentle capitulation.
Life, uh, finds a way, in the immortal words of Ian Malcom of Jurassic Park. It has been ten days; I write this on December 23rd. With a Polyfilter, Chemiclean and carbon all cleaning the water, the hardier zoanthids have begun opening again, revealing a tiny central dot of returning phosphorescence. There is a touch of tissue growth pushing out of the recesses of Euphyllia skeleton. The SPS has browned, which could be algae but could also be an attempt at regrowth. The fish are all ok, and the BTA is thriving. The Rock Flower anemone has eaten this morning, for the first time since The Crash. Not a worm is in sight and the copepods coat the glass of the sump once again. This is where my new journey begins; I will see what I can salvage before rebuilding what I cannot. This will require keeping a pristine and healthy aquarium where what has been beaten back to the brink of death can find a way to thrive once more. My year-old aquarium is new again, and I will document its progress as such.
The build is a 45-gallon Bowfront aquarium sitting on a custom-built stand over a 20-long sump that holds 12 gallons. It's in a Shipwreck-themed home bar, so it's got a slightly tacky shipwreck/tiki thing going on. The subsequent loss of rock is made up for by enough MarinePure Bioblock in the sump to biologically filter a small village, which keeps this small system extremely stable and grows roughly a boatload of copepods without supplementation, holding at trace levels of nitrates and phosphates in all conditions. That's a bit of a brag, which is stupid because of what follows.
The flatworms came from nowhere and everywhere. Many months after the system had been running smoothly I found a few in my sump. A week later they were legion. Not a one ever showed up in my display tank; I imagine Gaia (my Mandarin Dragonet) or Dagon (an insatiable Coral Banded Shrimp) had a hand in that. Alas, the copepod population shrank as their numbers grew, and I feared the flatworm toxins that an uncontrolled die-off might bring. I did the perfect round of worm-removal and Flatworm-eXit treatment, twice over. "SUCK WORMS!" was the battle cry in my house as I used a small canister filter to remove their numbers several times per day. Carbon and water changes abounded after 30-minute, then hour-long FeX treatment cycles. Alas, a week after each war had concluded, they appeared again and began repopulating their ranks in the sump, again taking all the nutrients meant for the pods. I gave up and allowed them to populate unfettered for several months. One day, as a peered into the green chaeto filled with red worms and an ever-diminishing pod population, I vowed to open war upon them again and, this time, achieve a final victory, no matter what it took!
The final war was declared on Wednesday, December 2nd. My first strike was to remove all of the bioblock and chaeto into separate containers, treat them with a mass dose of Flatworm eXit, and remove all glass-bound worms I could find. Given an hour of treatment, the blocks and chaeto were then rinsed in clean saltwater and placed back into the sump. Another round of FeX in the sump only, a complete sump drain and refill, and I considered the opening battle successful. The week that followed included three volleys of worm-sucking per day ("SUCK WORMS!"), which was only ever a handful of worms at a time, slithering out from the deepest pores of the Bioblocks. It was always a handful of worms. Never were there not at least a few meandering about, issuing vulgar threats to the nearby pods and causing a general unease about the place. On Thursday, December 10th, it was time for the final planned strike. I opened fire with a volley of Flatworm eXit through the full system, laughing maniacally as I pulled their floating bodies from the water. Another water change, more carbon, and the next day... more worms.
The final battle began on December 11th. After a great deal of Google-research, I had concluded that the Flatworm eXit should have no ill effects on the livestock, and that the slow die-off of whatever worms remained deep in the rock should be minor enough to cause no damage. My wife warned me against this conclusion, but my determination clouded her warning. With this conclusion I removed the carbon from the system and dosed Flatworm eXit one last time, to be left in the system for several days so as to seep into all recesses of rock and block and finally finish the job. Would that I could go back and open my own eyes to my folly! No bodies came. December 12th, no bodies came. That morning there were some bristle-stars crawling out of their rocks, which was unusual. I left home for some errands. I returned that night to my TNT Anacropora looking slightly odd, its polyps contrasting unusually starkly against its red-orange body. I glanced at my water-change bucket, but it was quite late and all else looked fine. I resolved to do a water change in the morning.
The die-off came in torrent. The morning of the 13th, all the SPS were bleached. Hammers and Frogspawn were retracted as far as they could go. Zoas were curled up into unrecognizable stubs. The Bristle Sea-Stars were strewn lifeless on the sand. The fish and anemones looked on in terror; "when will the darkness come for us," said their aquatic faces (or.. whatever anemones look worried with). The Pulsing Xenia and Longspine Urchin shrugged in apathy at the carnage around them. Tests revealed nothing unusual. Three massive water changes took place in the following days, but it was too late. I had beaten the flatworms... but they had beaten me. The Euphyllia finished melting away over the next days and the last open zoanthids closed in gentle capitulation.
Life, uh, finds a way, in the immortal words of Ian Malcom of Jurassic Park. It has been ten days; I write this on December 23rd. With a Polyfilter, Chemiclean and carbon all cleaning the water, the hardier zoanthids have begun opening again, revealing a tiny central dot of returning phosphorescence. There is a touch of tissue growth pushing out of the recesses of Euphyllia skeleton. The SPS has browned, which could be algae but could also be an attempt at regrowth. The fish are all ok, and the BTA is thriving. The Rock Flower anemone has eaten this morning, for the first time since The Crash. Not a worm is in sight and the copepods coat the glass of the sump once again. This is where my new journey begins; I will see what I can salvage before rebuilding what I cannot. This will require keeping a pristine and healthy aquarium where what has been beaten back to the brink of death can find a way to thrive once more. My year-old aquarium is new again, and I will document its progress as such.
| Dead/Probably Dead | Very Close to Dead | Annoyed | "What Tank Crash?" |
| Anacropora coral | Toadstool leather coral | Midas Blenny | Mandarin dragonet |
| Digitata corals | Zoanthid corals | Encrusting monti coral | Clownfishes |
| Brain coral | Frogspawn coral | BTA anemone | Firefish |
| Birdnest coral | Leptoseris coral | Bengaii Cardinals | |
| Green Star Polyp coral | Hammer coral | Pulsing Xenia coral | |
| Plating montipora corals | Ricordea mushroom corals | Coral banded shrimp | |
| Bristle Sea Stars | Rock flower anemone (recovering) | Longspine urchin | |
| Bumblebee snails | 1/3 of larger snails (now recovered) | Sea cucumber | |
| ~2/3 of all larger snails | Crabs & Hermit Crabs | ||
| Tiny feather duster worms | Large feather duster worm | ||
| Flatworms (yay!) | Copepods |
