Ugh, sorry to hear Scott. It looks like a soft coral actually…maybe some sort of a small matt of some sort of leather coral actually.
So, I’m past the 10week mark of the tank being fallow…I had a vacation fall near the end, so I wasn’t able to purchase and babysit a fish for two weeks of QT. ARGH! Anywho, I’ll probably start with a Tang…maybe even a Naso if I can find one for a decent price.
Anywho, the tank was doing GREAT up until 2 weeks ago. The Hair algae has decided that it LIKES not having fish pick/eat it.
Also, the asterina stars have gone NUTZ. And maybe so have the Astrea snails??? I have a TON of stars, and seemingly JUST as many baby Astrea snails. They look like Astrea snails but they don’t have a shell…so I really have NO idea what they are…maybe you guys can identify? They “snails” seem to have the same foot and mouth that the astrea snails do.
Here is a few iPhone shots (with a macro lens) of the snails/stars and a FTS of them all over the glass.
Today: Added 10 blue leg hermits and 1 Lettuce Nudibranch to the tank. They’re on “Grounds Keeping” duty. Of course, I go 10+ weeks with a fallow tank and 1 of the bags from the LFS gets into the tank with whatever water was in it. ARGH! Ah well, not the end of the world.
Also, Niger Trigger in QT. Will monitor him for 2 weeks before he goes into the display. Pics soon…letting the guys acclimate, so the lights are off.
If all goes well, I’ll probably put another Naso in there. Maybe a Powder Brown if I see one thats colored up really nice.
Niger Trigger is in the DT, finally a fish to enjoy! The stomatella snails we discussed earlier…they’re on his menu already.
And I solidified my position on hermits. No more hermits. Within a few days the 10 hermits all but wiped out my snail population (the Astrea snails). Anything that doesn’t stay on the glass gets eaten. Crazy hermits.
On another note. I had one piece of volcano rock that was getting maidens hair algea all over it. (it was greener than hair algea and almost impossible to remove from the rock) So, I bleached this rock. After some rinsing with vinegar, drying, rinsing, yada yada…it went back into the tank. I added some de-chlorinator to the tank too, just incase. (This was before I put the fish in). There were two locations of Xenia next to this rock. One upstream from the flow in the tank, and one downstream. (Circular motion) The Xenia has been reduced by 80%, and the upstream section is completely gone. (which I’m grateful for.) One would guess that there was some bleach introduced into the system obviously, but none of the other corals were affected in the least. When I started this hobby and purchased the Xenia I was told “If you kill the Xenia, you’re are doing something terribly wrong.” This comment clearly meant to indicate that the Xenia is very hardy, and great for a n00bie like me at the time.
Anywho, anyone ever had any odd die off of Xenia before? I’m ok with it if it comes back. It’s currently marooned on a single rock in the sand, so it can’t get anywhere else, and I do like how it flows in the current. But its not the most appealing coral in the tank for sure. (not that I have alot…)
I really like and hate Xenia, I love the way it looks and the pulsing action, I hate how fast and easy it spreads and I hate the fact that it’s loaded with ammonia and has a great potential to cause a total crash if a large colony dies rapidily.
Xenia won’t live in my tank. I had some that was spreading like crazy. I started sps and used Gfo and got water real clean and it just melted away to nothing. All other corals were fine. I really don’t think it’s as hardy as some say.
Xenia has never really done great in my tank. It did better and grew in my other “dirty” tank that gets minimal water changes. Seems strange since it comes from the red sea which is very low in nutrients compared to other locations. The small amount in my tank has not grown but still is alive and pulsing. The last frag died. I feed corals more frequently now. Seems to help.
No huge changes. Niger and Naso out of QT and in the tank. Just added some small frags of purple and green digi, monti cap, green pocillopora, and a Hollwood Stunner chalice, all from Jason.
Rob, are those flatworms I see in in the first couple of the pics? hope it don’t get too bad. Other than that tank looks great. Now just watch it grow.
wow, GOOD eye A! I was wondering what those were. I googled “reef flatworm” and that does appear to be what they are. Up until now I just figured they were typical reef fauna. They seem to be mostly on the rock and glass. Most people say to get rid of them so.
Salifert makes that Flatworm Exit, but the more interesting idea is to use a sixline wrasse. Anyone have any other suggestions to use besides a sixline, as I hear they can be aggressive.
[quote=“Faralon, post:115, topic:4981”]
Salifert makes that Flatworm Exit, but the more interesting idea is to use a sixline wrasse. Anyone have any other suggestions to use besides a sixline, as I hear they can be aggressive.[/quote]
My sixline does not eat them (and has killed other fish). Many others say theirs does not either. Velvet nudibranchs live on them (likely die without them). ASR can get them. Springer’s damsel is also supposed to eat them. I just ordered a springer’s damsel from reefs2go it will arrive Wednesday. Will let you know. That type of flatworm is not directly harmful but is toxic when it dies. This is why you need to be careful with stuff like flatworm exit. They can multiply fast and can block light if on corals, mostly lps and shrooms from my experience. They also eat pods. There is no benefit to keeping them and are considered a pest by most people. Before you treat for them remove as many as possible with a siphon. I put a fine media bag on the end of the hose in the sump with a little carbon to limit toxins when doing this. When they are gone be sure to dip ALL corals going in the tank. TLF revive works great for me.
The tank is looking great though. I really like the acans!
+1 Scottman, but I don’t think it’s necessary to dip the corals afterwards. Neither the dip or flatworm exit will be very effective against the flatworm eggs. I had to dose twice about a week apart to fully rid my tank, which is pretty common. You will kill the vast majority with that first dose though.
Sorry, should have clarified. I used dip to remove from corals before treatment (had tons on frogspawn) and then on all new corals before going into the tank. I probably got eggs like you said. The revive kills live flatworms, not sure about eggs. Do iodine dips kill eggs?
