God Bless you Zoanthids.

[OCDP]

My tank just "crashed" one week as of today. I went camping and the tank sitter accidently left the lights on (my lights were on a timer, he came after the lights were off, therefore.. after the light "cycle" , and forgot to switch them off after he was done) Anywhoo, long story short: Tank got *hot* , all my SPS and LPS "melted" turning my tank into coral stew. House STUNK... oh man, that was a bad smell, tank was clouded like crazy. I debated just giving up all together, it was all very overwhelming. I have since worked my *** off getting things back in order, and I'm glad I did work as hard as I did because after only 3 days of working on the tank, levels are back to normal and are stable

What I am really getting at here, I figured everything was garbage coral wise.. but after closer inspection, my Crocea clam and *all* my zoanthids are alive ! They are all open and seem totally unaffected (sp) other than a slight dull colour to them.

I was in shock, I figured the heat would melt them as well, but they are doing just fine! God Bless the Zoanthids!! I have learned a hard lesson here, and I am learning from my mistakes, a temp. controller would have easily fixed my problem.. but it's too late for would have could have should have... here's a before and after tank shot.. notice all those purdy zoo's are still alive and kickin' .

Just goes to show how hardy these guys really are.

Tank as of , July 10th. 2006:

Tank as of Saturday, August 12th. 2006:

Cheers,
Scott

 

[kevxross]

Sorry about your losses, but it's impressive that you still have a nice looking tank right after a crash. Gotta love them zoas!

 

[OCDP]

I definitely think zoos are a much better coral to fill your reef with after the crash. They are easy to care for, they look amazing, they are super hardy, and they grow relatively fast. With SPS, they were nice, but very hard to care for, they didn't always look amazing because they are so finicky, and they surely aren't hardy. The growth was alright on my SPS, but not amazing.

What I did after the crash was just numerous water changes, 8-10g every day, somedays it was at least 10 if not more... I took all my rock out and scrubbed it and gave it a good rinse, I cleaned my sandbed (which I am now debating on removing) Ran carbon, skim heavily, cleaned my equipment, etc, etc... and things went back to normal pretty darn quick.

I am going to work on getting more zoanthids and yuma, ricordias, etc... they just have so much colour and a little more "life" than SPS. Having said that, I will definitely be adding a couple SPS pieces.. I still have the bug in me.. just not like before.

 

[msman825]

wow, looks like you got plenty flow

 

[OCDP]

Not really... 2 Seio 620's , an AC500 and a Remora (remora obviously doesnt add any flow) . I'd still like more. Maybe swap out the 620's for somethin' a little bigger...