Why I am closer to leaving this hobby

[fishypets]

Nothing like coming home from a stressful day at the office and smelling the most horrific smell to someone keeping sps. Lost about 13 in the last 24 hours. Take a look.


http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6585.jpg

Tyree Purple Unknown Limited Edition value around 1,000

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6587.jpg

Tyree Pink Lemonade frag value around $250.00

Top down shot of the cloudy QT tank

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6589.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6590.jpg

What I threw away

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6591.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6592.jpg


Folks I can't say it hasn't been a fun ride but if my sps keep this up I'll be wiped out in a few days. You might see some nice equipment in the for sale section shortly.

[hobogato]

sorry clint. what caused them to start going so fast? did some of your equipment fail or something?

[cpreefguy]

Man, that is horrible Clint. Thats looks like my worst nightmare. Keep your head up and let me know if I can do anything to help.

[fishypets]

Man I wish I knew Ace. Something went wrong during the treatment yesterday I guess. Can't put my finger on it yet.

[BIGBIRD123]

Same goes here, Clint. You're welcome to as many frags to get you going again. I know that I don't have the amazing $$ corals that you had but I do have a few nice ones. I would hate to loose such an inspirational reefer as you and this time no jokes.

Steve

[JimD]

Only true sps'ers can appreciate the agony of an event like this and I believe every dedicated acro lover will eventually experience such an event. Sps keeping isnt just cool, its an artform and a true love, stay true to your heart and absorb the loss, take what youve learned and apply it to new endevours, dont give it up, you apparently do in fact have the ability to be successfull.

[cpreefguy]

Clint, same goes here. That $500 efflo you fragged for me is doing awesome. I dont have much, but Id be glad to hook you up with some coral if/when youre ready

[matt]

Ouch, I'm really sorry to read about and see your loss. Hang in there!!

[reefguy210]

even the non-sps people are cringing. i would be absolutly devistated if i came home to that :(

[BIGBIRD123]

Not to this magnitude, but last year I lost 5 Major colonies (a 3-1/2" Texas PM colony) and about 12 LE frags all in one night. I never really found out what happened but think that some cleaning chemicals (airborne) got in the tank. It's almost like smelling burning flesh.

Steve

[Ross]

ohh wow thats horrible, im so sorry. i get bummed when i lose 1 frag hahah

[Ram_Puppy]

that sucks man, You truly have my sympathy.

[fishypets]

Thanks to all for your support and kind words. John from kingfishaquarium.com was kind enough to come over and lend a helping hand. I fraged everything of worth and sent them home with him. We did a 60 gallon water change using 30 gallons fresh water and 30 gallons of water from my main tank. I hope all is well in the morning but only time will tell.

John (TheDude) thanks a million for you time and effort. It's your kindness that will make me miss this hobby so much if I leave.

-Clint

[Bill S]

Wow. That just plain sucks.

I've been in THIS hobby, off and on, for over 35 years. Yes, I've been keeping saltwater for THIRTY FIVE years. In that time, I've bailed out more than once or twice - but I ALWAYS come back. Folks that know me know that as a teenager, I worked at a large LFS. Back when SFW were BRAND NEW.

We have ALL had our ups and downs. That's why my wife looked at me with a smirk when Paletta talked about his massive failures during the Sea World talk. We've ALL had big and small problems, and we will have them AGAIN.

That's what's GREAT about this place. Whatever you need, want, or struggle for, there's SOMEONE to help out. Let ME know what you need, and I'll be there. Hang in there, and let us know how things go, and if you need anything. None of us wants YOU to leave. Ya know, misery loves company! Just kidding of course, but please know, we are all here for you.

[thedude]

I have to say it was a pretty discouraging day. I HATE the smell of acropora because the only time I smell it is when they start dying.

I think what happened is somehow this latest round of fluke tab treatments ****ed off the table corals. All of the big tables went very fast yesterday. To boot, the fluke tab treatment pretty much requires a 100% water change. Fresh saltwater, no substrate and little rock + dying stuff = more dying stuff.

I brought over a bacteria laden filter pad from one of my systems that's running and we did use old tank water (as Clint mentioned). Hopefully this should clear up any residual ammonia.

I've also just got to chime in with everyone else that Clint, you will be sorely missed. I've been in your shoes before but I don't think you'll be tankless for long if ever.

Let's all knock the hell out of some wood and get the last remaining colonies to stick out the treatment.

John

[JeffCo]

Clint,
I know exactly what you are going though. I was hoping you would be able to get through this whole process without experiencing the same thing I did.

I had about a 12" table that also was the first to go and that set off a chain reaction that killed the rest of my acros. I probably had about 50 or more colonies that died about 2 months back, (3 years of collecting). My entire house smelt like dead acros for a week. I almost sold my entire setup as well. Toyed with the idea of going fish only, but I knew I would not be happy with that. I stopped visiting maast, fish stores, and totally lost interest in my tank and the hobby. Fortunatly I still had my pocci's, montipora's, seritopa's, everything but my acro's.

Two months later and I am finally getting back into my tank again. Did a total cleaning, rearranged the rockwork, and am now doing regular maintence and wanting to trade sps again.

I know your feeling really bad now, but don't give up, because sooner or later you will get excited about the hobby again.

[Dozer]

I can only imagine how you feel, I'm truly sorry for you man. I had some problems many months ago where I lost all my SPS. Granted in my case I only ever had very little, but it was still enough to make me feel sick and want to rip the whole tank down then and there. Cooler heads and better wisdom (i.e. my wife :D ) prevailed and we ended up holding onto the softies and fish and just trying to get that healthy and straight again. All these months later I'm glad we stuck with what we still had because now I have the bug to put more effort in again and I am investigating better equipment and education on my part to have more success with keeping some SPS the next time.

I guess the point of all this is that if you can hang in and even just keep a fish only with a few easy corals running while you take a little mental breather and think things through you might be very happy. Or, break everything down and take a break! I think sometimes some of us need to step back from a hobby like this now and then and take a break. But maybe resist selling everything off because later it is VERY likely you will want to try something again and you won't have to go through the hassle of buying back a lot of things you just got rid of the year before.

I'm in your neck of the woods and if there's anything I can do just let me know. I would offer you some SPS frags myself but I don't even have any- and besides the last thing you probably want to see right now is some hard corals lol. How about a cold beer??

[pickle311]

Clint, that totaly sucks dude. I've been following your progress very closely because you had an amazing tank and you 've hooked me up with some sweet frags in the past. It's just to bad I lost every one I got from you to AEFW. I was really looking forward to seeing you getting everyting back up again. I hope you don't leave, then I won't have anyone else locally that I know of to get the really nice SPS from. Keep in there bro and let me know if there's anything you need.

[SueT]

Clint, you are who got me so interested in keeping sps again after my tank loss. I saw pics of your tank and used that as a inspiration. This is a horrific loss and I so know how it hurts. Do what you need to but don't leave the hobby in this way.

I will make you the same offer you made me...

[hobogato]

what is mine - is yours - well at least part of it ;) i know it is VERY difficult now, but when you are ready, you can come get what ya want from me. keep on pluggin - even if you only save one, that is one more than you would have if you didnt try.

[thedude]

More horrible pictures are on their way... I feel like I might throw up.

I don't know if Clint's going to have time to post pics tonight but I'll relay the awful news he just told to me. Of the colonies still holding on, we lost another huge portion. Out of the initial 60-70 corals, Clint has somewhere near 10 left.

The biggest colony of oregon blue tort I have ever seen, went up to acro heaven today and we can't figure out how to stop the dying.

I did bring snips of most of the colonies still living back with me last night so SOME of the corals still have a fighting chance for the lineage to live on. Again, let's all hope that the rest of the corals don't suffer a similar fate.

[fishypets]

Yes it's true.....Stay tuned for more death pictures.

[thedude]

Special thanks to Hugo aka snipersps for making this post possible.

[fishypets]

Before shot of my Oregon Blue tort

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_4361.jpg

What I came home to.

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6596.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6597.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6598.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6599.jpg

http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f330/fishypets/IMG_6600.jpg

[Viet-Tin]

So sorry to hear such a great lost! Ive been following along with hopes of your tank getting better and seeing these pictures brought tears to my eyes. Your tank was truley an inspiration and is what got me started on sps. I really hope the rest of your surviving colonies pull through and hope to see you marvelous tank up and running again.

[fishypets]

Thanks man, that means alot. I don't think anyone will see my 125 up and running again. The rate my sps are dying I'll be sps free by Friday. :P

[mojo]

I spoke with Clint this morning and 5 more colonies have died. My interest in this is peaked not only because of the sad loss of Clint's beautiful colonies, but all of my acros are dying in that tank as well. It seems like they're fine in the morning and within several hours, he finds them dead. I don't know what it is about the early morning hours ... none of them have died over night?? Maybe you should leave the MH off, Clint??

JeffCo - I'm particularly interested in your past experience with the wipe-out of your tank, as the sequence of events is very similar to what's happening in Clint's QT. Could you share with us your thoughts on what initiated the loss of your tables, and did you get any follow-up understanding of what could have been done differently to prevent or treat the problem?

[Bill S]

And, if the MH are double ended, there IS a piece of glass in the pendant?

[fishypets]

Yes please chime in Jeff.

Brian- P.H. is from 8.0 ~ 8.2 not much of a swing.

Bill the lighting is a single 400W 12K R.L. about 28 inches from the coral.

[fishypets]

Temp is 77~80 and yes I run a phosban reactor full of carbon changed once a week.

[mojo]

I'll answer for Clint. The temp is controlled with a chiller and fluctuates from 77-79 degrees; the equipment and light provided all of the necessary heat. Carbon is run actively and at all times in a Phosban reactor. This is a seriously well thought-out QT. Thanks, everyone, for your inquiries as to what could have gone wrong - it seems like we (well, mostly Clint) did everything right and still got burned. I'm anxious to hear how things went over the remainder of the day today, just wishful that the chain of fatal events has been broken.

woops, I see that Clint just beat me to the punch

[JeffCo]

I setup a 75 gallon quarantine tank. Temp and ph were monitored and controlled. I had my corals in the quarantine tank for about 2 weeks prior to treatment to make sure the acros would be happy. I used water from the main tank and did water changes every couple of days. (Took water from the main tank into the quarantine tank, and used fresh saltwater to add back to the main tank). The corals were doing great, some even better than when they were in the main tank.

Mine went downhill on the first dosing. I used the Iodine stuff that hospitals use for scrubbing in, (forget the name now), but I got it from the local HEB. I tested it on some frags that were infected with AEFW and it worked great. The acros were stressed but recovered very quickly and it only required a 20 minute dip.

Anyway my plan was to dose the entire tank with the iodine and then do a 100% water change. Well, I did the dip, then started draining all the water out. Had some pump problems, so the corals were probably out of water for about 15 minutes during the draining. I also rinsed the coral off with some saltwater to try and get all the iodine off of them. So, I refilled the tank back up with water from the main tank, (had the same param's and temp).

After about 4 hours the water seemed a little too cloudy. So I did another 100% water change, this time it was much quicker because I had a better pump that changed the water out quickly.

Everything was looking fine until I came home from work the following day and smelt the dreaded stench. At that time I had lost my large table and about half the corals were almost completely RTN. So, I took out all the corals that RTN, and did another 50% water change. I also had a phosban reactor full of carbon running.

The next day I saw that my acro's were still continuing to decline, so I took the pieces I had left and put them back in the main tank. But by the next day even these had RTN.

Looking back, what I would have done different was to dose the corals in batches outside of the quarantine tank, then returned them back after I rinsed them with clean saltwater. Also, I added all the iodine directly into the quarantine tank instead of mixing it prior. This caused some heavy duty iodine contact with the corals in the initial pouring. Because even though I did all the water changes afterwards I still think there was some iodine on the corals or in the water that was contaminating them.

Also, when the huge table went, it contaminated the entire tank and started a chain reaction that no matter what I did, I could not bring the rest of them back.

I will post some pics tomorrow of the quarantine setup and the horrible pics of the dead coral skeletons.
Hope this helps so no one makes the same mistakes.

[lido]

Stay stong and I'm sure something good will come of this... We all have trials some tougher than others and what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. :)

[mojo]

Thanks for sharing that information, Jeff. It seems like the common denominator has been the in-tank approach to treatments, as opposed to dipping in separate containers. Clint's and my corals did extremely well with the 'dip' approach. We thought we were being clever by treating in-tank so as to avoid flatworm migration from untreated corals to newly treated corals, but I guess that was a mistake.

How do the survivors look tonight, Clint? Think we should give them a break and wait a week before dipping them, or should we proceed as scheduled?

[apedroza]

OK I have a question. I have the coral that Sean got from reefermadness. It has some Polyp Extension but I noticed today some of the tissue appears to be receding and coming off. I have tried to trim the dead parts off but now that I have seen the problems you've encountered should I be worried about something spreading to my other corals or will this stay isolated to this frag. Should I even bother with it or just get rid of it.

[caferacermike]

OK I have a question. I have the coral that Sean got from reefermadness. It has some Polyp Extension but I noticed today some of the tissue appears to be receding and coming off. I have tried to trim the dead parts off but now that I have seen the problems you've encountered should I be worried about something spreading to my other corals or will this stay isolated to this frag. Should I even bother with it or just get rid of it.

I think your having troubles with a colony that was shipped and fragged. It's probably just showing signs of stress. Clint is having troubles with a specific little worm like creature. I used to do the same thing as you said, trim teh dead away. I had a frag try to turn on me awhile back and I had a different idea. I used some superglue over the dead area. It seemed to seal it off and the flesh encrusted the superglue. Look for worms or eggs clutches on your piece. DO you have those wonderful little white stars in your tank? If so a lot of us have noticed that they like to swarm in and eat frags. Something about them until they are healed seem to attract them.

[thedude]

Clint mentioned today that the front glass of the QT is now covered in a white bacterial film.... so it seems the bacteria have caught up.

I'd attribute this to treating in tank, and killing all of the bacteria cultures.

The tables died from the fluke tabs (we all know tables are the most picky) then set off a chain reaction.

[apedroza]

I woke up this morning and the frag is almost completely white. I went ahead and tossed it before it fouled up the tank. I do have quite abit of those little stars, but I haven't noticed tham attacking any of my corals. Usually they hang out on the glass, but I have been picking them out after reading a previous post about them.

[TexasTodd]

Man Clint, I somehow missed this new thread.

My condolances....truley.

LMK when you're ready for new stuff.

Todd

[fishypets]

Well as Mojo would say,"We're down but not out"

The last five or six of my colonies and about 7 of Mikes frags are still hanging on. At this point I've decided to stick with it and build up my tank again but upgrading most of my equipment. I had hoped that my little reef would look as nice as some of yours on this board but fate had other plans. :( The dream starts over next year. I will continue to update this thread when I can but I am about mentally spent for the time being. Thanks for all of your concern and generosity through my hardship.

Mike all I can say is I'm sorry that you had to experience this with me and I'm glad you are still my friend.

John and Brian thanks for all your time, supplies and advise you have given during this whole process. You will be repaid for your kindness.

Ace Man you built me one awesome QT tank, sorry I didn't hold up my end of the bargain. I was hoping to give you some nice coral for your generosity.

Anyone that has offered corals to help me get going again I can not thank you enough and I may take you up in the future.

-Clint

[SoLiD]

:( :( :( . I can't say anything other than I'm so sorry for your loss. Hope you have enough love left for this hobby to stick it out. - David

[jrnannery]

Clint, is it? I am one of the newbs previously mentioned in this thread, and yes, those pictures did make me do a little quaking in my boots.

I don't own any thing like what you had, but I can offer you some zoas in different colors, I have a rather large chunk of red chili pepper, and I am growing out a couple different types of "candy cane" (branching) coral. Not much, but when I can do some frags, they are yours. Free of charge, of course.

Most of all, it's good to see that you haven't lost your spirit. I know that I would be devastated if my tank was too suffer a calamitous event such as that. My little tank is my life right now.

Richard

[apedroza]

How about starting up a coral collection plate for Clint. I am not experienced in fragging but would be willing to give it a try to get you back up and running.

[SoLiD]

Ya know, AEFW's really SUCK. I can't even imagine your greef. I mean all that hard work.... gone. It kinda makes me mad, but who am I.