Fishypapa
New member
I figured here was as good a place to post as any since it's an all too common thread. :deadhorse1:
Of course I'd NEVER allow that to happen in MY tank. Word of caution everyone, if your instinct says to shut the %*$@^ pump off, do it!
Last night I did a water change, added some carbon to my GFO reactor, dumped the skimmate, uprighted some coral that my tuxedo urchin "Dexter" knocked over and off rock in his travels the previous day, AND decided to move a rock that where my Green BTA had called home and my Rose BTA was hanging out on the other side on the substrate.
Well, apparently the Rose got upset and went walkabout. You got it. Right up to the Vortech. Now here's the real kicker. I saw it moving against the glass and was thinking, maybe I should turn the pump off just in case. Nope. It wasn't to be. Before I went to bed I decided to check in on it, seeing as it was having a fit and all and there it was, lodged into the side of the MP10 (no foam cover of course) with pieces of it's beautiful tentacle flying around the tank! :doh:
I turned the pump off and decided against letting it free itself since it's foot (and I couldn't tell what condition it's mouth or foot were in at the time and I didn't take pictures because all I could think about was getting it free). So I carefully and slowly dislodged it mangled body from the intake screen.
Luckily for me and it, both the mouth and foot were completely unscathed but I still couldn't tell about the rest of it so I set it on a rock on the other side (where my peppermints couldn't get to him) and waited. Then I got the idea to add the remainder of my bottle of PhycoPureâ„¢ Zooxanthellae directly to it just in case it needed to absorb some to help recover from the trauma. I started seeing some movement in the tentacles (not from the flow) so I thought ok, maybe it has a chance. Then I removed it from the DT and put it in a plastic container with some rubble in the fuge (well away from the fuge's resident reef lobster) and turned off all the lights.
This morning I went up to check on it and he had crawled out of the container and was attached to the side where the flow moves through acrylic teeth and into the return section, open (as much as he could be) and doing well aside from having about a third of its tentacles shaved off on one side. So I took him back out of the fuge and back into the DT, adding another rock for him to get his foot into. The peppermints were hanging around but luckily one of my clowns has claimed both the green and rose BTA's as its own and chases away even the shrimp so it has a guardian.
Ok, if you've suffered through this long let me just re-emphasize the need to cover your pumps if you have nems. He and I were lucky in that he just got a haircut and that's all, it could have been SO much worse! Just have to get some fresh water and do a big change tonight after trying to suction out as many tentacle pieces as possible. Don't want all the stinging cells floating around the tank. Oh, I will say that I turned the skimmer up to get as much stuff out as possible in the meantime so maybe that will help some who get in this situation)
I'll post updates here and a few pics this eve when I get home.
Of course I'd NEVER allow that to happen in MY tank. Word of caution everyone, if your instinct says to shut the %*$@^ pump off, do it!
Last night I did a water change, added some carbon to my GFO reactor, dumped the skimmate, uprighted some coral that my tuxedo urchin "Dexter" knocked over and off rock in his travels the previous day, AND decided to move a rock that where my Green BTA had called home and my Rose BTA was hanging out on the other side on the substrate.
Well, apparently the Rose got upset and went walkabout. You got it. Right up to the Vortech. Now here's the real kicker. I saw it moving against the glass and was thinking, maybe I should turn the pump off just in case. Nope. It wasn't to be. Before I went to bed I decided to check in on it, seeing as it was having a fit and all and there it was, lodged into the side of the MP10 (no foam cover of course) with pieces of it's beautiful tentacle flying around the tank! :doh:
I turned the pump off and decided against letting it free itself since it's foot (and I couldn't tell what condition it's mouth or foot were in at the time and I didn't take pictures because all I could think about was getting it free). So I carefully and slowly dislodged it mangled body from the intake screen.
Luckily for me and it, both the mouth and foot were completely unscathed but I still couldn't tell about the rest of it so I set it on a rock on the other side (where my peppermints couldn't get to him) and waited. Then I got the idea to add the remainder of my bottle of PhycoPureâ„¢ Zooxanthellae directly to it just in case it needed to absorb some to help recover from the trauma. I started seeing some movement in the tentacles (not from the flow) so I thought ok, maybe it has a chance. Then I removed it from the DT and put it in a plastic container with some rubble in the fuge (well away from the fuge's resident reef lobster) and turned off all the lights.
This morning I went up to check on it and he had crawled out of the container and was attached to the side where the flow moves through acrylic teeth and into the return section, open (as much as he could be) and doing well aside from having about a third of its tentacles shaved off on one side. So I took him back out of the fuge and back into the DT, adding another rock for him to get his foot into. The peppermints were hanging around but luckily one of my clowns has claimed both the green and rose BTA's as its own and chases away even the shrimp so it has a guardian.
Ok, if you've suffered through this long let me just re-emphasize the need to cover your pumps if you have nems. He and I were lucky in that he just got a haircut and that's all, it could have been SO much worse! Just have to get some fresh water and do a big change tonight after trying to suction out as many tentacle pieces as possible. Don't want all the stinging cells floating around the tank. Oh, I will say that I turned the skimmer up to get as much stuff out as possible in the meantime so maybe that will help some who get in this situation)
I'll post updates here and a few pics this eve when I get home.
