My BC 29 after 1 yr

[slumpysix]

Hey all....

Things in the tank seem to be slowing down to the point of something was going wrong the past few weeks. I had been keep an eye on the nitrates as I could not get them down. I have been doing water changes to correct it but wasn't working. I have enough flow in the tank, skimmer working but the nitrates sky rocketed. What also sucks is I have a flatworm outbreak going on.
Today I went to work in the rear chambers. I found my nitrate factory. In the first chamber I had a bag of chemi-pure and that was a big mistake as I found it was doing nothing more that holding detrius instead of helping. Under the skimmer in chamber 2 was another holding place as in #3. So I pulled everything and siphoned, cleaned the pump, the removable trays, skimmer. I had a bucket-o-crud like you would not believe. It's my own fault as I just didn't commit to doing it before. I have pulled the skimmer out like every 2 months but I see what I have been missing.

So now I have to deal with the flatworms. Can anyone recommend when I should do this. I really disturbed the tank today and want things to settle down before I go after these pests. They are covering half my rock, in the sand and on the glass. I have this feeling that I have to use FWE but don't want to lose anything, as I lost a turbo today that I just bought couple weeks ago. The shock today must have did him in as I'm sure it wasn't all that great to begin with when I bought him.

But as far as the tank today the water has cleared up and the clowns are hungry as ever and corals are in bloom so I am happy bout that.
I'll check the levels in the morning and keep going with some more cleaning I need to do....

[thrillreefer]

I had a flatworm outbreak in my 80 a few years back. They were red, around 1/8th of an inch in size. I didn't have a terribly bad outbreak, as I've heard that they can really cover everything. The least damaging and invasive method of control that I came up with was to siphon them out with airline tubing. You can start with larger tubing at first if you have a really heavy infestation, but the small diameter allows you to reach into crevices and to direct the suction right at the worms without taking out a whole ton of water. It's a bit labor intesive, but it is actually endless fun to watch the little suckers go down the tubes.

[slumpysix]

yeah I had a feeling it was going to be fun.. :)

[crazyseany]

I had some in my 75 and have syphoned them a few times.you can tiea filter bag to the other end and place in a bucket so when you are done you can reuse the water if you want(unless it turns red.)
as of now looks like they are in greatly reduced numbers.

good luck with them

do you have a pic of when u first set up your tank and a pic of a year later? just curious

I set up my BC 14 yesterday

sean

[slumpysix]

I do have a couple of pics.. Good luck with your new tank as well.

Here is the beginning. I think this was a month after I set it up.
You can see the 3 inch frag of xenia.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/117494begin1.jpg




And today. Corals are a little stressed and the xenia just seems to rock and roll. I don't know how many times I have prunned it. What's cool is I take the clipping to a FS for some credit. I think I'm due to get it cut. The clowns just love hosting in it.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/117494today1.jpg

[reefman13]

That's actually a real nice nano you have there:)

Do you still have the three clowns?

[slumpysix]

Yes I do . Since the beginning. They are 3 peas in a pod. I have the goby and shrimp pair also. I won't add any more types of fish until these guys live out their days.

[crazyseany]

is that the stock setup or did you do any mods. nice looking tank.
I like it

I put a MJ900 in mine. don't know if I needed to but had one sitting around so.... lol

sean