This is what reef neglect looks like

[SushiGirl]

Mushrooms move, though. Mine sure have if they don't like the conditions. I'm suggesting that the peroxide bath triggered the budding response, then once conditions were good they didn't bail like they would have if bad conditions persisted. Just a thought.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Yeah, I agree it is a possibility.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I did end up running the diatom filter for about an hour or two and it worked quite well. That tank is much clearer now. There was surprisingly little detritus. I tried blowing the sand around with a maxijet and I couldn't get the water seriously cloudy. Pretty strange.

I removed the lights on the sump for the other tank. Didn't have much of a reason for them. I suppose they were useful for keeping the water oxygenated at night, but whatever.

Here is a picture of that mushroom rock I poured peroxide on. This is day 2.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7_DeHsBe5b9mQC1U6Rdoh9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2eK7JyX_EBE/UDpFA5CN6RI/AAAAAAAAAO4/fnkYyJo3iQU/s640/IMG_1196.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Well damn. I suppose the kole tang has a parasite of some type. He has black spots and cloudy eyes now. Still eating well, but it doesn't look good.

I did the peroxide experiment on another rock:
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/Mlf2370A4o4XjQWl5j6cwtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ZIvvwKqT31Y/UD_SeN3ZW9I/AAAAAAAAAPo/OHVxSxU_1uA/s640/IMG_1209.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/sVlYuVfJ6d62GX8Kk-ELXNMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-lHhl27y8rR8/UD_SxRgoW7I/AAAAAAAAAQQ/GQtKoclgHS8/s640/IMG_1214.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

I decided that since I am moving this tank to ann arbor, I am going to slowly transition so that everything in this tank is blue or yellow. I have never done a themed tank before. Yellow tailed damsels, blue mushrooms, yellow fiji leather, maybe a bicolor angel, yellow tang, yellow watchman goby, blue clove polyps. Seems like a fun project. Go blue!

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I diatomed the other tank today.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ajjYnfVTdT_ud3DtDF9zQtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-58avv5gk4Ko/UED9N2smHkI/AAAAAAAAARg/MvPC15K_2-U/s640/IMG_1216.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

This sure took out a whole lot more "STUFF" than my skimmer ever has.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/N8sT8_ECjrnjqmCbqNS2ttMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-aUI75AEoFEA/UED9OKjTZ5I/AAAAAAAAARo/DrK__TLP0rY/s640/IMG_1217.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/rk30hFpss0j2eIZhAF-g7tMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-dnGg8weMITI/UED9OWucBoI/AAAAAAAAARs/kssb5o525B4/s640/IMG_1219.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

 

[Donjr721]

Wow. I would have to shoot someone. Looks like you are progressing

 

[Disher]

What's your plan on getting rid of the flatworms? Those buggers sure are unsightly! Great job with the recovery. I'm amazed the fish lived through it all, I bet they were happy to see you!

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

What's your plan on getting rid of the flatworms? Those buggers sure are unsightly! Great job with the recovery. I'm amazed the fish lived through it all, I bet they were happy to see you!

The fish didn't just live, they thrived. Fish love algae. As for flatworms... I have no plans. I had them in my cube years ago and they disappeared on their own. I have been reading and apparently they cannot survive strictly on light and water. They must feed on pods and other small animals, so they probably exhaust their food supply eventually, especially when there is an animal to eat all the pods like a wrasse, goby, or damsel. I might add a yellow wrasse eventually just because I am making the whole tank yellow and blue.

 

[skincoffin]

Love the picture of the pile of algae. Think I can see a face in it :fun5:

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

your using phosban reactors as fluidized sand beds?

they are going to be pretty useless i would think for that....water flows through the sand in a tank no matter what, and bacteria will colonize it no matter where it is in the tank...you would be far better off putting chemipure or GFO or purigen or carbon in those reactors...fluidized sand filters have no place in reef/marine tanks. they do very little and clog very often.

personally i would trying to siphon out the flatworms to extinction.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

your using phosban reactors as fluidized sand beds?

they are going to be pretty useless i would think for that....water flows through the sand in a tank no matter what, and bacteria will colonize it no matter where it is in the tank...you would be far better off putting chemipure or GFO or purigen or carbon in those reactors...fluidized sand filters have no place in reef/marine tanks. they do very little and clog very often.

personally i would trying to siphon out the flatworms to extinction.

I know that bed filters phased out of popularity some time ago, but I just like the idea of them. I don't know if they do anything but act as a mechanical filter, but I suspect they may assist in the breakdown of some unmeasurable organic compound. The aerobic bacteria have to be feeding on something, and I don't buy into the idea that there is not more aerobic bacteria in there than elsewhere. The sand is a different color. I don't really like any of those chemical sponges. I run them more as a "I have the equipment, and nothing else to do with it" than a "I need this to fix my tank."

I agree that siphoning flatworms is the best course of action for their treatment. I am moving the tank across the state today; it is interesting to see how many will survive. They are not really hurting anything, so they are last on my list of priorities. The most pressing is the caulerpa, which I will probably get a yellow tang to eat within the next month. Manual removal doesn't seem to be doing much, and I don't like what the peroxide treatment does to xenia.

As an aside, my kole tang seems like it might survive the move. I didn't expect it to live this long with the parasites, but it seems to be mostly cured at this point.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

Well, everything looks terrible. The move was a bit of a disaster. I will post pictures eventually.

 

[125G Reefer]

:beer:
Right on, very nice job if I might add.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I can't seem to find my camera, so here are some crappy phone pictures.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/fMNskg8ecN-xAR1pU1OlwdMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PmtmWQ4SFeo/UFe3zEKJ3eI/AAAAAAAAASE/jTFHz5PuyLY/s640/WP_000339.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eoPVosi-rN5H6rgyc5taddMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Tb5bOkO-AaU/UFe303CdHvI/AAAAAAAAASM/hZwsAU6s_IU/s640/WP_000343.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

 

[Lwhite]

Hey its all alive It'll spring back again

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I am pretty excited that one of my urchins survived the move. He looks pretty funny after dropping all his spines out of stress, but he is eating like crazy now and they seem to be growing back.

<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/kInjyetnldaJX3QTAWo6_dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-kiJYZfTzUCg/UFx951PYtxI/AAAAAAAAASo/9OghHICKCCI/s640/WP_000344.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

This is my next problem to deal with.... I am getting a yellow tang in a couple of weeks.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/eQ9HwaqMXMea_h_B6EssmtMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-RRzgT7oVRX4/UFx9-zmpwWI/AAAAAAAAASw/eEdp4sjY9Ug/s640/WP_000350.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

I am really impressed with just how much algae the yellow damsel eats. Relative to body size, I would say this thing eats as much as a tang... Granted it won't eat as large of a variety of different algaes as the tang will, but it seems there is enough of whatever it does eat to keep it busy. This thing is constantly picking at the back glass throughout the day and pooping a ton of green.

The yellowtail damsel on the other hand, doesn't even touch the stuff and sticks to flakes.
<table style="width:auto;"><tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/8jZjKRz6-8938o52nngXK9MTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=embedwebsite"><img src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Yu8JIfi3q1c/UF5UWXJWUiI/AAAAAAAAATQ/i4luqK-46qk/s640/WP_000349.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td style="font-family:arial,sans-serif; font-size:11px; text-align:right">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/104384727186653047787/Neglect?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Neglect</a></td></tr></table>

 

[akma]

Bryopsis is such a pain to deal with. You can raise your mag with kent tech m. That works wonders. Also, lettuce nudi branches eat bryopsis and they look awesome.

 

[Joe Pusdesris]

That is not bryopsis.

 

[RobPak84]

soft corals love dirty water. The most coral growth i've ever had was when I got lazy and quit doing water changes. I just added water and the corals would seem to double in size every week.