Well, the good news is that I'm acropora flatworm free! The bad news is I lost 95% of my acros in the process!
The dipping took it's toll on the acros but it was more an issue with my travel schedule. After about the 5th dip, I was gone nearly every weekend for a month or two and I wasn't able to keep up with the frag tank. There was die-off that sent the frag tank into a downward spiral that spurred a cyano bloom, which in turn smothered the corals and lead to more die-off. I couldn't get ahead of it after that happened.
The corals that survived are brown turds right now, as you'll notice in a few of the pics below. But I'm re-energized and ready to get our tank back in order. The fish are doing well and we've added some new fish over the past few months.
Over the past 2-weeks, I've worked to get the tank cleaned up, which included giving both skimmers a vinegar bath, changing the bulbs on the UV filter, doing a heavy sand vaccuum during a 30% water change and reconfiguring flow in the refugium section where a lot of detritus was settling.
Normally I'd advise NOT to do all of those things at once because going from dirty to very clean can be just as bad. But all of those projects were long over due and I needed to get them all knocked out while I had the free-time so that I can get back to a regular maintenance schedule.
I'll try to put a full fish list together soon but here are pics of a few new fish that we've added and a few others of fish that have been in our tanks for awhile. You'll notice a lot of new leopard wrasses, I guess we got on a kick!
The male lyretail is still strutting around -
Lyretail Anthias (male) by
E Z, on Flickr
This guy is a new addition to our tank but it was in a friend's tank for years. His nickname is "Leeroy Jenkins" (reference:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hooKVstzbz0) because he goes nuts when food is added to the tank, pokes his head out of the water all the time and generally swims around like a crazed fish. But, he's awesome:
Blue Jaw Tilefish by
E Z, on Flickr
This is another new addition from the same friend's tank.
Potter's Leopard Wrasse by
E Z, on Flickr
Ditto:
Blue Star Leopard Wrasse by
E Z, on Flickr
Very thankful to have been presented with an opportunity to get a pair of these beauties. I'll continue trying to get a picture of both jewel leopards together. Our good friend, Hunter, got the pair eating pellets, which is amazing and had helped tremendously with keeping them healthy and well-fed.
Jewel Leopard Wrasse by
E Z, on Flickr
Cool fish, ugly coral:
Long-nose Hawkfish by
E Z, on Flickr
Lunatus Wrasse is growing but I don't see much of a transition from old pictures:
Lunatus Wrasse by
E Z, on Flickr
