Getting back on track! My reefs ups and DOWNS.

Hey everyone, it's been a while since I've read through 3reef threads till I pass out but it's amazing to see how strong this community is. I've been spending a lot of time the past couple weeks getting my tank back to where I need it, although the average person thinks the tank looks great, I know I've let it slip the past year.

I have a 90g reef setup with a 20g sump. It's will be up and running for 5 years this April and in that time I've developed a love hate relationship with it and have probably shaved a few years off my life from the stressful times.

I live in a small cottage a few houses from the beach in Bradley Beach New Jersey and was able to survive Sandy last year relatively well. With the exception of the lights, we kept the tank flowing for 8 days when we lost power. We lost a few corals but it made it. After the storm the tank was understandably delicate. The corals that were not going to make it had to be removed and it took some time to stabilize again.

After the initial rehab of the tank I let the schedule I had for the tank slip. Water changes became a little less frequent, water testing only happened if I saw a problem, and spot feeding of the corals became non existent. I was pretty exhausted just thinking about the tank for a while there, but it still remained pretty healthy considering my laziness. Glad the health of the tank, the system, and sump was strong enough to get by. My big low was the loss of my target mandarin three months ago. I saved her days away from starving two years ago, it was so bad my local store gave her to me thinking she was done. I still feel terrible I let her down in the end.

About a month after the loss I began to notice a flatworm outbreak. I have always had a small amount in the sump but the mandarin aggressively hunted for anything that moved, including the worms so the display was spotless. I hate the idea of putting chemicals into my system and didn't want to risk the worms toxins wiping everything out. So I zip tied a filter bag to the end of a hose, put it in the sump and began to siphon them out of the tank. I was about an hour into the tank when I spotted my yellow tang on his side in the sand. I stopped cleaning out the tank since I was having trouble spotting anymore and put the tank to sleep hoping the tang was just stressed from all the activity. About an hour later my blue hippo was beginning to look bad and not retiring to its sleeping spot, the yellow's condition had also declined. The only thing I could assume is the exact thing I was trying to avoid happened, and the worms released their toxins. I immediately grabbed an eheim, loaded some carbon and got it going, checking on the tank every hour. A few hours later the yellow tang expired and the blue was still having trouble. All I could do was wait it out. The following morning the blue tang was out and about full of life again.

I began weekly water changes, this time siphoning the worms complelty out of the tank into a bucket instead of catching them with a filter bag. The water quality is worlds better, my corals are growing again instead of being stagnant, and the fish are noticeably more active. BUT the worms can still be found in this display when looked for. It's was time for me to fill a couple voids and hopefully find another friend to help with the worms.

I ordered and quarantined a leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus) with a hope it may have an appetite for flatworms, if not there's a huge pod population for him to work on. I also ordered A juvenile Desjardini Sailfin Tang and boosted my cleanup crew. Last week they both made the transition into the display. So far so good, the wrasse is out and about hunting almost daily (took a personal day and stayed in the sand yesterday) and the tang isn't getting much aggression from the bigger guys in the tank although a short chase ensues if he spends too much time at the nori clip.

The tank is now stable enough for me to transition back to bi-monthly water changes, spending time inspecting every inch of the tank during and after the light cycle and just practicing good husbandry. The worms are still around when I search them out but it's a battle I'm not going to win overnight. I installed two iZon cameras on the tank so I'm able to keep an eye on everyone while at work. This is especially helpful with the new wrasses as he goes to sleep before I come home at night.

I hope to get everything back to pre-sandy standards! I'll post some updates as this roller coaster ride continues.

Corals are all thriving so the montipora, zoas, and mushrooms are all getting fragged this weekend before they completely take over.

 

Weird story about the Flatworms and the Tangs, is it possible you stirred up the sand bed? Thanks for the heads up I would have not thought they would release enough toxins being siphon hmmmm.
What about the Chocolate chip in the acclimation box, is it a food source?

Hopefully the fish will do the job regarding the flatworms. Do you know the specific type of flatworms?

Boy, you and the tank have had quite the journey, wow.

Welcome back and looking good.

 

Wouldn't dare touch the sand bed (4" deep). Only focused on sucking the flatworms off the rocks and leather corals. I would have never thought it would have caused a problem either but that's all I could figure. I was using reef gloves so it wasn't anything on my hands so I'm still dumbfounded.

They're clear Convolutriloba flatworms.

And you guessed it the star is for my Harlequin shrimp. The thing is a monster!

 

welcome back! Sounds like you've come out on top after all of the troubles! So sorry for your mandarin loss

 

The starfish looks like it's in jail. I guess it's kind of on death row LOL. Dead star walking!