Zibba's Reefs

[zibba]

It doesn't grow fast enough for me to back it up.

It must be a tabling acro because all it seems to do is encrust. I wouldn't know though; in 2+ years I have yet to see any real upward growth.

great pictures, how do you get them co clear ?

@Kris Belgium, it's a combination of cleaning the glass, having both tanks made of ultra-clear glass and using the flash on the camera to get a fast shutter speed. To compare, the pictures taken of the red tail tamarins aren't very clear because the acrylic is dirty/smudged, there's only a low-power LED that doesn't emit a ton of light and I didn't use the flash. The result is less-clear pictures.

 

[Kris Belgium]

all the pictures are with flash ??

 

[zibba]

All except the first two in post [HASHTAG]#262[/HASHTAG] were with a flash.

A lot of the corals pictures were taken with the avast marine top down photo portal -- it's just a matter of keeping the shutter high enough while getting in enough light. If you have questions about a particular photo, I'm happy to talk about about how it was taken (if I can remember).

 

[coral tarracino]

I Like the Fish!

 

[zibba]

Well I've finally come to the conclusion that I need to take the appropriate steps to kick these AEFWs out for good. Thankfully I have a ton of support from members of our local club, some of whom have offered to house/back-up corals, others who have been great sounding boards for coming up with a solid plan, and others who have given me much needed words of encouragement.

After clearing out as much room in the off-line frag tank as possible, I'm going to start cutting the acros off the rockwork and moving a select group of corals over to it. Other, more prized acros, have or will be going to friends for backup and others will be going to a friend who has an 8'x2'x1' frag tank ready to QT corals. Finally, there are a good number of acros that are ubiquitous here in Phoenix, or at least among my closer friends, that I'll just toss what's in my tank and replace later (we've got a great network of local hobbyists!).

Next, I'm planning to use a combination of Kalk paste and AquaMend epoxy puddy to kill off the encrusted portions of the acros. That's going to be a big job and I'll have to take it slow with adding epoxy so I don't freak out the system too much. Similarly, I'll also have to monitor the parameters closely because of die off and the decrease in uptake of Alk/Cal/Mg/etc.

The acros that will be going into the off-line frag tank will get dipped in Bayer every 5-days for at least a 40-day period. After 40-days, I'm planning to reassess how the acros in the frag tank are responding (looking for signs of bite marks, visually inspecting dip-water, observing polyp extension and color, etc.) and I'll decide then whether dips will continue. I'm not kidding myself: I'm sure I'll lose a huge number of acros during this ordeal but I keep telling myself that their chance of survival is currently very low and--most importantly--their chance of thriving is 0%. Once I'm certain all of the acros in the main display are dead, I'll wait 60-day or so before adding acros back into the display.

So with all that said, I figured I'd take a final FTS. It may be several years before I'm back to this stage but I'm hoping this tank will be standing and thriving years beyond that so I'm telling myself that it's all worth it. Admittedly, not at it's best here, but this picture will serve as motivation for me moving forward.

If you have any thoughts on how to tackle this differently, please feel free to comment.

Wish me luck!

- Z

 

[zibba]

@gettaReef, thank you! Once I'm done with all of the dips, I'll be keeping all new acros in the frag tank and dipping them regularly. In the past 2-years, I got lazy and I would dip new acros in Bayer once then I'd glue them down to rockwork in the main display. I wrongly thought that I could spot eggs and was careful enough during the dipping process. Now that I have a dedicated, off-line and fully functional frag tank, there's no excuse.

Appreciate the compliment on the FTS! It's like a Monet: Looks good from afar but it's far from good close up!!

 

[ritter6788]

You got this.

I went trough the same thing a couple years ago. My tank wasn't your size or as full but I had Acro frags back in my tank within a month, AEFW free and got rid of red bugs too. Good luck!

 

[blacktippr]

Anyone tried Flatworm Exit, I'm planning on using it on my 460 gallon display around 700 total volume.

 

[Blue Lip]

Flat worm exit does not work for AEFW. I read to try levamisole hcl.

 

[metrokat]

I'm curious why you would dip in bayer every 5 days? Is it a known fact that eggs hatch every 5 days and you are wanting to get the newly hatched FW?

 

[ApocalyptiCoral]

Hey fellow reefer. Im really sorry about your AEFW outbreak. Believe me when I say my coral was never as amazing as yours nor my collection as broad but I did have some serious beauties including a dinner plate green mili. I did quite a similar attack plan as you I had a fellow reefer take majority of my corals and him and I every five days battled the little worms and their eggs. Wishing about 6 months of dosing our frag tank and cleaning everything up I am back up and running and have been for over a year now. I lost quite a collection but also gained a new appreciation for this hobby. Good luck let me know if you have any questions even though Im sure your all set.

 

[zibba]

You got this.

I went trough the same thing a couple years ago. My tank wasn't your size or as full but I had Acro frags back in my tank within a month, AEFW free and got rid of red bugs too. Good luck!

I remember when you went through this and your experience (and results) are definitely encouraging. If you have any tips/tricks to make this process a little easier, I'm all ears (or eyes, I suppose).

Anyone tried Flatworm Exit, I'm planning on using it on my 460 gallon display around 700 total volume.

I believe there have been threads out there where people tried FE and they found out that you need to dose it at an extremely high-level to kill AEFWs. FE is designed to kill red planeria worms.

Flat worm exit does not work for AEFW. I read to try levamisole hcl.

My understanding is that FE contains levamisole. I considered dosing levamisole but after reading several threads and talking with people who tried it, I decided that it was too risky.

I'm curious why you would dip in bayer every 5 days? Is it a known fact that eggs hatch every 5 days and you are wanting to get the newly hatched FW?

This is from Kate & Cat's research (located here):

How long does it take for eggs to hatch? 11-14 days @ 27C (n = 4 egg batches)

The 5-days is regarded as a good starting point because we're not dealing with a uniform age group of flatworms. The first dip should kill most of the adults (although some will likely survive), but some eggs might hatch a day after you dip (bayer doesn't kill eggs), and some eggs might have been laid the night before you dip and won't hatch for several days, etc.

Hey fellow reefer. Im really sorry about your AEFW outbreak. Believe me when I say my coral was never as amazing as yours nor my collection as broad but I did have some serious beauties including a dinner plate green mili. I did quite a similar attack plan as you I had a fellow reefer take majority of my corals and him and I every five days battled the little worms and their eggs. Wishing about 6 months of dosing our frag tank and cleaning everything up I am back up and running and have been for over a year now. I lost quite a collection but also gained a new appreciation for this hobby. Good luck let me know if you have any questions even though Im sure your all set.

Thank you!! Very encouraging.

This hobby is very humbling, that's for sure! I've had good success despite these pests and several others (some that I've posted about, others that I haven't). Having the support of my significant other and reef-buddies makes all the difference.

That said, after taking a bone cutters to so many corals last night, our tank looks like a tsunami went through! It will be rebuilt and, in time, I'm hoping that's is better than before.

 

[zibba]

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" (for reference, youtube: "leeroy jenkins") 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&[HASHTAG]#x27[/HASHTAG];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, @evolved, got the pair eating pellets, which is amazing and 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

Another new leopard wrasse. I apologize for the blacked-out background but I was having a tough time getting a picture of this guy without getting the camera lens in the reflection. I still wanted to get a pic up though:
Ornate Leopard Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

We've had this one for awhile. Beautiful fish but reclusive and tiny so it's hard to get a picture of usually. This one turned out:
Pink Streaked Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

This last little bugger is really hard to capture. Probably the most reclusive fish we have. Peaceful and unique though:
Tanaka&[HASHTAG]#x27[/HASHTAG];s Wrasse by E Z, on Flickr

Enjoy guys and thanks for being patient while I worked through the AEFW issue. The tank will never be the same but I'm hoping to get it back on a direction it was heading pre-acroworms.

Cheers,
Z

 

[maroun.c]

Sorry to hear about the SPS struggles. I'm sure the remaining ones will be back to their glory in no time.
Great additions on the Wrasses especially.

 

[revhtree]

So sorry to hear you lost a lot of corals. But very happy to know you're sticking it out!

 

[zibba]

I had meant to post up a picture of the stand a long time ago but never got around to it. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it looks like:



@urbaneks did all the heavy lifting on building and designing this thing. It was a fun project and I learned a lot about woodworking during the process.

Still planning to add a ledge on the top of the tank and a box to hide the lights a bit (aesthetic only, not looking to direct light with it). If/when that ever happens, I'm sure it will take me a few months to post pictures of the final project

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers, Z

 

[Fin]

I had meant to post up a picture of the stand a long time ago but never got around to it. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it looks like:



@urbaneks did all the heavy lifting on building and designing this thing. It was a fun project and I learned a lot about woodworking during the process.

Still planning to add a ledge on the top of the tank and a box to hide the lights a bit (aesthetic only, not looking to direct light with it). If/when that ever happens, I'm sure it will take me a few months to post pictures of the final project

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers, Z

Really beautiful set up! Love the stand!

 

[urbaneks]

I had meant to post up a picture of the stand a long time ago but never got around to it. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it looks like:

@urbaneks did all the heavy lifting on building and designing this thing. It was a fun project and I learned a lot about woodworking during the process.

Still planning to add a ledge on the top of the tank and a box to hide the lights a bit (aesthetic only, not looking to direct light with it). If/when that ever happens, I'm sure it will take me a few months to post pictures of the final project

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers, Z

Eric - Thanks for tagging me in your thread. The cabinet and tank looks great. Very happy to see the updates rolling in. I think I speak for most of us when I say we hope to see acros in the big tank soon.

 

[zibba]

Really beautiful set up! Love the stand!

Thanks Fin! Me too, it really made it feel like the tank was part of our home.

Eric - Thanks for tagging me in your thread. The cabinet and tank looks great. Very happy to see the updates rolling in. I think I speak for most of us when I say we hope to see acros in the big tank soon.

I hope to get back to that point too!

Here are a few more pictures:

Very excited about this new blasto that I picked up at AZ FRAG's Desert Frag Fest:

I'll be farming this really incredible chalice for our local group, PROP. It's from Reef Raft and is called the JF Split Decision:



Tough to get a sharp picture of these guys because (1) they're super skittish and (2) they're in an area where it's hard to get a shot perpendicular to the glass. We thought this hi-fin was a gonner; saw it on day 1 then disappeared for about 4-6 months. We noticed it in a hole a few weeks back and then noticed the pistol shrimp with it! So cool!! (We added the pistol shrimp about 2-years ago and heard them from time-to-time but never saw them). First picture of both of them together:

 

[revhtree]

I had meant to post up a picture of the stand a long time ago but never got around to it. Hopefully this gives you an idea of what it looks like:



@urbaneks did all the heavy lifting on building and designing this thing. It was a fun project and I learned a lot about woodworking during the process.

Still planning to add a ledge on the top of the tank and a box to hide the lights a bit (aesthetic only, not looking to direct light with it). If/when that ever happens, I'm sure it will take me a few months to post pictures of the final project

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!

Cheers, Z

It still looks awesome! Can't wait to see your blue thumb take over!