Out of control tank - reborn!

[iwishtofish]

Thank you, tedpolzin.

We're still trying to determine if there are some flatworm survivors. Last night it looked like some were on the glass down low near the sand where we probably missed with the Mag-float, but they didn't appear to be moving. Time for my friend to pick up a six-line wrasse! He's had bad luck with them in the past, though - he's tried to add 3 or 4 really small ones before, and they all either jumped or just vanished. I think the clowns and former blue damsel might have been responsible.

 

[redfishsc]

Nice work on removing all that salad. Did you eat it with ranch or caesar? :jester:



It's hard to tell in the photo, but if it was a strain of bryopsis, you might want to consider a good rock cooking to kill it off. Since the tank's back together anyhow, just see if it makes a "comeback" enough to warrant a rock cooking.

 

[iwishtofish]

Ha! redfishsc, we just put it on bologna sandwiches - tasted great! I still have some pods stuck in my teeth, though...

I think it was just plain old hair algae. The silky kind. Hopefully it can be kept in check with water changes and a good cleanup crew!

 

[goldmaniac]

Looks great. Congrats to your friend and to yourself. Looks like your friend knows what he's doing, he just didn't keep the maintenance up. The selections of coral and the equipment shows that to me.
Spawning clowns is nothing to sneeze at. I've never had spawning clowns.
Another congrats! I like the 'scaping.

 

[iwishtofish]

Thank you for your kind comments, goldmaniac. I know he'll be pleased to hear them. And, yes, he does have a knack for this hobby.

 

[iwishtofish]

So, I thought I'd do an update on my friend's tank as it goes through the recovery process.

First, an FTS from this afternoon:

As you can see, the red/orange monticap came unglued and fell to the sandbed. He plans to glue that back in place.

The cleanup crew has been increased, although that is happening more slowly than he would like. I think he added about 12 to 15 hermits (mix of small blue legs and scarlets) and maybe 12 snails (mix of turbos and astreas). There are still widespread small patches of hair algae, and hopefully those will be eaten by the CUC before they can grow. He has also since added 3 tiny blue chromis to keep the clowns and diamond goby company.

No sign of any flatworms, thank goodness!

Left side:

Middle:

Right side:

The corals took a bit of a beating during the cleanup. It will be interesting to see how (and if) they recover. PE is pretty good, though, so maybe that is a good sign.

Here's the clownfish. You can see some damage to the Montipora Confusa top left in this picture:

The trumpet coral was a little aggravated about something or other. This coral was twice as big before the cleanup operation:

Thanks for looking!

 

[KyleO]

Careful with the new bulbs...............might want to dial down the daily exposure for the first week or so to make sure you keep bleaching to a minimum.

Nice work!

 

[iwishtofish]

Thanks KyleO! I think he plans to reduce the photoperiod. Maybe he should use window screen instead?

I think he called this a cup coral?:

Green zoas of some sort, I guess:

Blue zoas. Pesky algae - there wasn't a way to brush it out of there. I guess the only way to get rid of it is to starve it:

 

[iwishtofish]

I love the way this coral is growing. A monty of some sort, I guess?:

And this is just plain weird to me. The frag of the pink millie that is on the sandbed. Some of the tissue is actually turning a bluish color, and not at the tips. Maybe this coral is just that perturbed! Anyone have any ideas?

 

[spleify]

Wow what a great recovery! Good of you to help out your buddy.

Nice work and thanks for sharing your experiece. Goes to show no matter how far things get out of control, they can always be brought back.

 

[iwishtofish]

Thanks a lot, thile123! I know the kind comments that have been given are really appreciated by my friend, and serve as good motivation to keep things on the upswing!

spleify, thanks - I think what you say is true. Sometimes it takes a lot of work, but things can usually be turned around.

I'm still hoping someone chimes in about the green color in the millie. I know that there's some HA on the exposed skeleton areas, but I'm pretty sure the tissue has a green tint to it now. Maybe sometimes corals under stress get strange pigmentation?

 

[potterjon]

The "cup coral" looks more like a "ruffled ridge" than say a "pagoda cup". It looks like a turbinara species anyway.
The next one in question is a digitata.
The millepora will change color with placement, my blue mille looks more blue when lower in the tank for example, but my rose mille likes it high in the tank.

 

[Boyman]

good recover

 

[iwishtofish]

I appreciate the information, potterjon. The original frag of that pink millie was a deep pink in my former 29g, until it mostly browned out, probably due to high nutrients. I never got the bluish-green color, though. It will be interesting to see what happens when the new bulbs are in.

Thank you, Boyman.