We have all had moments in our lives where an event or series of events take over your life and everything else does not matter. If you are lucky, you go back to what you loved before. If you are dramatically changed to the core, you chose a different path. I have been refocusing on what is important to me now and shedding away the distortions not helping me get to my core inner value.

Distortions or distractions started with a major reorganization in our company, out with the old and in with the new. I was not concerned as I was always a top performer and like change as I grew up with it. I made the cut for first round but did not see the storm brewing where everyone was out for themselves and I would be on the receiving end of someone taking advantage of the corporate upheaval to retaliate against me as I had in the past had to report misconduct as part of responsibilities of the job.

This process put me in a tail spin which I was not sure I was going to pull out of it. I had no control, no one to turn to for guidance, and everyone was fighting to survive in the new regime. I did the best thing at the time, took a step back to reassess what just happened as confusion existed as four months early I was recognized as one of the best in the company and now being forced out. What to do next? I knew I loved my job before the turmoil took over and now know stepping back specifically that I love to help people be better. Down and out but now with a plan.. get back to what I was doing but in another company. So the search continues in a tough market to fit my values to a company where I can add value. Step one is clear and in process.

Next is to reassess what is important in personal life: family and personal time with hobbies. Spend more time doing family functions and adding value and focusing on hobbies which add value to my well being and get rid of the rest.

One hobby which was impacted was my reef tanks and the companion blog. Both now in steps of resurrection. The tank has been nuked with only the pair of clown fish and a red leg crab surviving the neglect over the last year of me trying to get my focus back in line.

Today took first steps with the reef tank by complete cleaning it, removing rocks to kill off nuisance items, remove equipment not contributing to health of tank with focus on minimizing approaches and making husbandry easier. Once these are mastered and I have earned the right to restock, start the next phase which will be a slow and tactical process.

I have a battle which is not ending and turning into an all out war! Algae! Dare I say it out loud in fear it will awaken some mighty giant I have not seen yet or amass more of the same army which has been overrunning my veiled attempts. We all face this foe one time or another. Mine follows the same story…poor nutrient exporting leading to explosion of algae and not just one variety. I have nice red slime, gorgeous filamentous, and some wonderful bryopsis for which I would probably receive awards if that was the prized possession. I know without a microscopic analysis and knowledge beyond what I have today, I will never know exactly what I am fighting and am sure why my little battle has turned into an all out war.

Here is my story which I am sure you have heard before. May be different steps but you know how it goes. I have to admit I feel I am fighting this war like the first little piggy in the Three Little Pigs kid’s tale.

For the first line of defense, I have been using ZEOvit bacterial system to export both phosphates and nitrates for about six months without seeing the ultra low nutrients. This was after using the other bacteria system, Vodka Dosing, which was my first failed attempt. Is it me? Is it my tank? I will keep plugging away with my research now focused on a sulfur denitrifier which I am reluctant to use as I have also battled low pH due to a closed home with high indoor CO2 levels. That is another battle which I have seemed to have won and another story to tell. I will drag my feet on trying anything else in hopes I am not being patient and will one day see the nutrients drop as all others talk about. Is it a mirage? A myth? Am I going to make it? Is this the holy grail which alludes me?

Second line of defense is old fashion brushing with a tooth brush. Spend any time doing it, you will know how much I love this task. To top it off, it seems like all I am doing is encouraging it to find a new place to grow, a new place to take hold. “Brush, Brush, Brush” is what my daughter says as she walks by eyeing me buried in the tank. I think she is laughing as she knows how the story goes.

Third line of defense, upgrade my equipment thinking that is the problem and a viable strategy. Started with trying to have better circulation, more reactors, better lighting, and now a “better skimmer.” I can say all I have accomplished is parting with my money with minimal impact on my tank. Am I believing all the hype of what I read or am I failing with the equipment I chose? Do I try another? Will MACNA have the next greatest thing which is the cure all and I should wait?

Fourth line of defense and new warfare tactic for me, using chemicals! I feel like I now have weapon I can use like my S&W MP 15 and Glock 23. Granted, chemicals can be as dangerous as the afore mentioned weapons with some innocent victims falling along the way even if I am careful. It makes me feel powerful against this mighty foe as I sit back and smile the sinister grin. Die! Die! Die! Will this be the weapon I have been missing? Will I finally prevail?

So far, I am losing the war with thoughts from time to time to give up and nuke the whole thing. That would be the empirical thing to do. Luckily, common sense kicks in and I trudge away in the every day battle watching casualties fall along the way with hope I will prevail one day. I will win, I say! Maybe one day or maybe I will lose my mind along the way!?!

I am seeing good coral growth and coloring and attribute to the ZEOvit system. Using my Red Planet Acro as baseline which has its red color and green base back. The ORA Roscoe’s Blue Acro has nice blue base color back with nice green polyp coloring and growth. I did lose my Orange Hammer LPS coral which was my favorite coral. I believe I damaged it when I accidently bumped it with another coral which cause it to recede and have STN. My Frogspawn and Torch LPS corals are growing like crazy.

I am still having issues with nutrients (35.2 ppm Nitrates and 0.03 ppm Phosphates) but only one full month into using the ZEOvit rocks. I need to be patient with protocol. I changed the ZEOvit rocks in the reactor and will proceed with the ZEOvit protocol I have for my tank.

I am seeing green hair algae or cyno starting to take hold in more areas of tank with the maintained nutrient levels. I am looking into using AlgaeFix Marine as I am reading good things about it over at Reef Central.

I am seeing my Alkalinity needing to be dosed 10 to 20 ml daily to maintain the proper level even with dosing Kalkwasser as part of top off. Both calcium and magnesium are inline. Will need to continue to closely monitor to determine if change in tank. I did verify with a newer test kit to eliminate the test kit as the issue.

For some reason I started losing my Turbo Snail, Florida Turbo (Astraea tecta) about two weeks ago. Out of the 18 I had, I am down to eight. I am not sure why unless the ULNS has impact on them with not enough food for them to survive.

I never win anything as I have the luck where I will be in a bad accident and walk away but when I gamble, anyone next to me wins and will give me money to keep playing as their streaks continue when I sit next to them. Now I have no excuse to set up a frag tank and get up to speed on how the ReefKeeper Lite works as I won one over at ReefBuilders. Should be very similar to program as the ReefKeeper Elite.

http://www.reefbuilders.com/2009/05/18/reefkeeper-lite-winner/

Missed their their post as I was traveling and glad Ryan emailed me today to let me know.

Over the last couple months, I have done a little research as I have been disappointed with my Acropora coloring in my tank and all the basic parameters are inline. It appears my Nova Extreme Pro T5 18w lighting system is too bright for my tank set up. Based on information I have read, it is argued adjusting the photo period will improve the aesthetic coloring. Decreasing the photo period is suppose to improve the coral’s colors and growth. I wanted to test this theory for color improvement with my tank.
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Still conducting my ZEOvit experiment seeing minimal results three weeks into it. May be related to skimmer not performing up to par so I adjusted it to skim a little more wet. As part of my ZEOvit experiment, I will be adding an additional reactor with the ZEOvit to see if that part of the ZEOvit system has any impact. There are arguments it has minimal impact in a marine environment and I want to test those arguments.

Reduced Vodka dosing from 2.5 ml/day to 2.0 ml/day as part of transition to ZEOvit supplements. Was seeing bacteria bloom on the glass so knew time to decrease again.

Conducted a 4 gallon water change. Did not need to change GFO but need to ensure it is not caking or I see numbers increase. Changed GAC as part of the monthly routine. Notice the skimmer was not skimming because the pump was plugged. Cleaned skimmer.

The air pump for my air stones stopped working and need to replace. Disappointing as it is only a few months old. Using it as part of solution to combat low pH due to high level of CO2 levels in house. Air pump was located on outside of house to import external air to tank. Will need to replace. Looking at a higher end pump but will replace with cheap brand until I want to invest in more expensive model.

Placed the LiterMeter III which is dosing Kalk top off on a RKE timer so it is only dosing during dark phase of the photo period to stabilize the pH swings. Will need to adjust the liters per day to compensate for the change. It was set at 3.40.

My orange hammer is seeing STN now it has been retracted since bumping it with the teal acro a couple months ago. I am afraid I am going to lose it. Acros are showing good polyp extension with some color returning after the Flatworm Exit treatment. Adjusted photo period from eight hours of daylight to six hours as before treatment was seeing washed out colors from the NEP T5s. Still hoping the other light bulb companies jump on board by October to make the 18w size bulbs for my 20 inch fixture as I am looking at replacing them by then or upgrade to a 24w fixture. I want to utilize better bulbs than those provided by Current. I really like my NEP T5 fixture and do not want to replace it. Looking at the ATI 24 inch 6 bulb fixture.

Running into an issue with my RKE as the timers not working properly. My RKE with the latest firmware version 1.11 not recognizing the DoW (day of week) settings. This is impacting my new settings for separate timers for weekend photo period.

Along with the food experiment I performed today, I also conducted my first fragging session with the large teal acro colony I have had for a couple months. It has not been coloring up and because of its size, I could not find another spot for it in my tank so I took a few frags from it. I moved the main colony after the frag session to the back left corner where I hope it has less light in attempt to color it up as it has not regained it’s teal color since being placed in my tank. The rest of my acros have great colors and reason I suspect too much light from my NEP T5s.

In all, I removed four frags from the colony. I am using a small frag tray I bought from Bulk Reef Supply to place them in a darker spot in my tank. I am hoping to use them to find a good spot in my tank for them to color up if the main colony never does color up.

Replaced Granular Ferric Oxide (GFO) with 1 cup of GFO and cleaned reactor. Phosphate reading was up to 0.05 ppm from 0.02 ppm on 4/20. At this current regime, I am needing to replace GFO every 3 to 4 days. I am failing to see any improvements using the ZEObak (1 drop twice week) and ZEOstart2 (0.2 ml per day) after one week of usage. Still using Vodka dosing as did not want to totally eliminate all at once. I will expect to see improvements in both Phosphates and Nitrates after four weeks so lets see in a few more weeks.

Replaced Granular Ferric Oxide (1 cup GFO) and preformed partial water change (1.5 gal). Observe Hammer Coral still retracted and other Acropora corals have browned. Attribute Acropora browning to high nutrients. Still have an issue with flatworms but waiting for additional treatment with Flatworm Exit.

I noticed some little red blobs on my glass. Upon further inspection and a quick search on the internet, I realized these blobs were flatworms. These are reddish-brown “ghosts” appearing as small flecks on the glass. My infestation appears to be a variety which feeds on algae versus Acropora coral. With my Nitrates at 17.6 ppm and Phosphate fluctuating between 0.01 and 0.09 ppm, they have erupted as I have been providing them nutrients.

The Plan

To reduce the population, I first need to export the nutrients before I use a good remedy, Salifert Flatworm Exit. If I suddenly kill a large population off with Flatworm Exit, the dying flatworms will emit a toxin which will kill all tank inhabitants. If I do not treat the population eruption, when the algae is completely consumed, they will die off all at once which would also be lethal to my tank inhabitants.

Based on my type of flatworm, I need to reduce the nutrients in my system to effectively reduce the population. I have been disappointed with my Vodka dosing as I am up to 5 ml/day dosing with little impact on Nitrates and Phosphates. I should be only dosing 1 ml/day and seeing results. Therefor, I am trying a new regime as suggested by my LFS. I am using the ZeoVit system to increase beneficial bacteria colony which I was trying to attempt with the Vodka dosing. I am using ZeoVit ZeoStart2 (0.2 ml/day) and ZeoVit ZeoBak (1 drop – Wed & Sun).

Once I see a reduction in the flatworm population, I will want to employ the use of siphoning to remove as many flatworms as possible to reduce the risk of toxic release by the dying flatworms. Once I am sure I have removed every visible flatworm, I will then use the Flatworm Exit which is reef safe to all inhabitants to totally eradicate the flatworms. The instructions for Flatworm Exit indicate I need to add 20 drops (4 drops/5 gallons). Once employed, I need to ensure I observe my tank for signs the flatworms are dying off about 30 minutes after dosage. If I do not see this, I will need to add 50% more (10 drops).

Once the flatworms start to die, I will use preventative maintenance to export the lethal toxins produced by the dying flatworms using GAC (1 lbs fresh carbon/50 gallons), partial 20% water change(s), and physical removing the flatworms. I will repeat procedure in one week to eradicate any which may have survived first treatment.

Going forward, I will need to ensure I use Flatworm Exit as part of my dipping routine to introduce new inhabitants.

My Experience Using Flatworm Exit

• 4/12 at 7:30a: Determined I have removed all the flatworms I could see, turned carbon reactor off, and then added 20 drops of Flatworm Exit.
• 4/12 at 8:00a: Surprised as tank looks like it is snowing from the dead flatworms.
• 4/12 at 8:01a: Turn carbon (2 cups) reactor on to start filtering toxins emitted from dying flatworms. Placed filter pad to manually remove flatworms. Notice my Tenuis Acro is starting to appear stressed.
• 4/12 at 9:00a: Observe all corals except frogspawn and toadstool are stressed, withdrawn polyps, and omitting defenses.
• 4/12 at 9:01a: Turn on second reactor containing Carbon (2 cups).
• 4/12 at 9:10a: Begin 20% water change.
• 4/12 at 9:32a: Complete water change and changed filter pad while tossing the old pad.
• 4/12 at 9:46a: Observe corals and still stressed. Now I am stressed.
• 4/12 at 11:11a: Observe corals and still stressed but a few polyp extensions.
• 4/12 at 4:46p: All the corals seem to be returning to normal with decent polyp extension.
• 4/12 at 5:15p: Observed more live flatworms on front glass. Do not want them to erupt again.
• 4/12 at 5:30p: Turned carbon reactors off and then added 20 drops of Flatworm Exit to repeat process.
• 4/12 at 6:15p: Turned both carbon reactors on. Corals looking much better this round.
• 4/13 at 6:33a: Corals look good. Will repeat process this weekend. Still need to get nutrients in check as Nitrates at 17.6 ppm and Phosphates at 0.05 ppm.
• 4/17 at 7:47p: Still observe number of flatworms on front glass. Bit disappointed with Flatworm Exit at this point but giving it benefit of the doubt these were from new generation and will retreat this weekend.
• 5/5 at 11:21a: I have been putting off treating again based on the number of flatworm I saw and impact I had the first time with the Flatworm Exit treatment. I have been focused on decreasing the nutrients to naturally decrease the flatworm population before treating again to totally eradicate them. So far I have had success decreasing population. I have had this luxury as my type of flatworm is not directly detrimental to coral health.
• 5/22: Introduced Yellow Coris Wrasse which at time did not know would impact my experience with Flatworm Exit.

Conclusion

Ironically, the introduction of a Coris Wrasse eliminated all Flatworms better than the Flatworm Exit. Flatworm Exit did reduce numbers to manageable level but the Wrasse finished the elimination of all remaining flatworms.

DISCLAIMER: Your results may very as each system is very different from another. For my tank parameters and environment, this was my observations and conclusion. This was not a controlled experiment so there is a potential for very large margin of error.

References

Levenson, Marc. “Flatworms (Red Planaria): How to eliminate them from your reef.” Melev’s Reef. http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html. Accessed 11 April 2009 .

Lynford M.S., Andrew H. “Evaluation of Chemical Eradication Methods of Acoels (Acoelomorpha) From Marine Aquaria.” Advanced Aquarist Online Magazine. April 2009. Advanced Aquarist. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2009/4/aafeature2/view?searchterm=flatworms. Accessed 07 June 2009.

Raabe, Charles & Linda. “The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Reefs – Worms.” Chucks Addiction. http://www.chucksaddiction.com/hitchworms.html. Accessed 11 April 2009.

Shannon III, Thomas. “Identification of Convolutriloba species.” http://macropyga.googlepages.com/identification. Accessed 11 April 2009.