Jan

I'll tell you the difference between my blends and others - All ingredients are sustainable and sustainably sourced. We do not use any seafood's that are endangered or overfished and all seafood's are caught using safe catch methods - Our blends do not contain preservatives or chemicals. We do not use shrimp because most shrimp contains sodium triphosphate. We do not use cyclopeeze because it contains a preservative that is also a pesticide, though safe according to the USDA.. - You get more for your money. Our mixed reef Blend sells for $20.00 per 15 oz bag. - Just like the other frozen raw foods if you use too much you will have issues with nitrates, but I'm sure you are aware of that from using other frozen blends. Oh, and I forgot to mention that all of the seaweeds, nori and spirulina used in our blends are certified organic by the USDA.

+1

I learn something new everyday...

What are EEFW? I've never seen that abbreviation. Never mind. I found it here. http://www.projectdibs.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2296 Hmmm, these are probably what you have. I've never seen anyone post that they've had these on WAMAS in the few years that I've been a member. The link above says Julian (probably Julian Sprung) says revive will kill the worm and their eggs

Yes. That's it. Can you make the correction and any others you find? Thanks, Tom. This stuff comes into my head and I need to dump it. It happens fast and has many typos.

Many flatworms reproduce by fission or budding. AEFW lay eggs and those are difficult to treat/kill. http://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/31-flatworms-and-other-bugs-that-make-you-see-red

Isaac, you're fine. Keep doing what your doing. Many benefit from posts with sound advice. Many of the same situations and questions have been posted, asked and answered many times over. There's no such thing as beating a dead horse with new hobbyists. No one is being mean or cruel. I see everyone helping. Posts like these are for everyone's benefit.

Before starting a marine aquarium the new hobbyist should 1- Join a marine aquarist club. Many of the questions you have have been asked an answered many times over. It's ok to ask again. read the new hobbyist threads. Ask as many questions as you want. there is no such thing as a dumb question. Experienced hobbyist enjoy teaching new hobbyist. 2- How much time do you have available to dedicate to the hobby? 3- where will your set up go? Basement? first floor, etc? 4-can the structure withstand the weight. Each gallon of water weighs approximately 8 lbs. 5- will you have easy access to your mixed water in case of emergency? 6- Patience. do you have it? You'll need it to be successful. When choosing the right set up 1- Consider the space have available 2- Ease of use - A tall tank high up on a stand will require you using a step stool and then possibly tongs for gripping and placing corals, etc. 3- Lights - do your research. Lights are costly. you have several options depending on what type of set up you want.LED's, MH's or T5's 4- Will you be putting together a mixed reef or fish only? Predator tank or SPS only? Live aquaria has a great compatibility chart. Each item has a description for care. You can look up corals, fish and inverts. Know what they require before making your purchase. 5- Filtration is very important. Look into skimmers, UV sterilizers and media reactors. You may not need them right away, but you will probably need them down the road. 6- Flow. Water flow is very important. It helps to oxygenate the water and keeps detritus moving so it can get to your filter. Some corals require high flow as this is how they get their food and keep detritus away. Live rock is considered part of your filtration. Inspect it closely for hitchhikers and pests such as aiptasia and majano . 7- Will you be using a refugium? Hang on back or under tank? Refugiums are great natural filtration addition that will compliment your mechanical filtration. They are also a safe place to house livestock. 8- Heaters. Make sure you choose the right wattage for your set up. a 25 watt heater wont do any good in a 75 gallon tank. consider getting a back up in case it fails. 9- invest in a refractometer. Cycling your tank There are several ways to cycle your tank. the choice is yours. 1- Get a test kit that contains tests for Nitrogen, Nitrite, Ammonia and PH. These are the tests you will need when cycling your tank. 2- After adding sand and live rock you can use inexpensive fish to create the bioload necessary to cycle your tank. This isn't recommended for by conscience hobbyist. We want to keep our livestock alive, but if you are comfortable with this method no one will stop you. Remember whatever fish you choose if it survives your stuck with it. 3- Feeding your tank everyday. Feed flake, pellets or raw foods to start the nitrogen cycle. The food will break down and cause a nitrogen cycle. 4 - Add live sand from an already existing system. You can get live substrate from an already existing system from a LFS or other hobbyist. The substrate should be from a pest free, well established thriving aquarium. Many experienced hobbyist start their tanks this way. they will also use chemicals like stability, prime or amquel to block the ammonia from any livestock they may have in their tanks. I do not recommend that a new hobbyist add livestock before their tank has cycled. 5- Some have even used ammonia. I know nothing about this method. Adding corals and livestock 1- read about pests often found on corals, 2 - Look at many pictures of diseased fish so you can identify a diseased fish before purchasing it. Fish should be bright in color and active. They should appear injury free. their fins should not be frayed and they should not have any white spots or cloudy eyes. ask that the fish be fed before purchasing so you can see it eat. Make sure you can provide the proper diet. Many wild caught fish need live foods. they will starve if they cannot be acclimated onto flake, pellet or frozen foods. 3- Acclimate your fish slowly. Have a routine established that will protect your display tank from becoming contaminated by infections and the addition of pests. Having a quarantine tank and a hospital tank are ideal for observing and then treating for disease and pests. There are other methods, advanced methods, for treating fish like fresh water dips with methylene blue. I don't recommend this for the beginner. If using a QT system make sure you do not use live sand or live rock. A QT should be bare and have hiding places for fish. PVC pipes are ideal for this. you will need a filter, power head for flow and a heater. 4- dip all corals in dips like Revive or Coral Rx before placing them in QT or in your display tank. Taking a few extra precautions will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. Introducing disease into your aquarium can cause mass infections that can often times lead to death of all livestock. Talk to your LFS about dips and Qt's.

My point is dip before it gets to this point. Dip before you put it in your DT. Once these organisms get into your system they can be almost impossible to get rid of. Every hobbyist, especially new ones, should get into the habit of dipping everything they can. All corals should be dipped in Revive or Coral Rx. Zoanthids, clams and fish can withstand dipping in FW. It will save you a lot of issues in the long run. Your LFS's should be giving you this advice as well. Good luck!

My experience with similar flatworms is they die quickly when dipped in Revive and Coral Rx. I had several large ones come in on a variety of macro once. Dipping the macro killed the worms and the macro. There's a thread with a picture somewhere in my 7000+ posts. Some of these flatworm's like eating softies. Some don't do any harm except block the light which caused corals to starve, and as I'm sure you know by now, some like eating the flesh off of SPS.

The gray starfish is an asterina starfish. harmless unless they get out of control. then they tend to block light. Some have reported that they've eaten certain corals. Not been my experience.

Always assume all corals have pest until proven otherwise. where did you get these corals? You may want to let the LFS know.

Didn't you dip the coral before you added it to your tank? Coral Rx and Revive do a great job of killing these types of flatworms.

That is not a whelk. That is a black stomatella snail. Reef safe and great part of clean up crew. Whelks are never good for your reef tank. they are cone shaped and usually fuzzy.

It's the pico. Theres no skimmer. It killed all my macro. Doing huge water change. 1.5-2 gallons. Murphys law

Figures it would happen less than two hours from when I have to leave to the airport.

Do a search on liveaquaria for nano fish. You'll get many options with full description for each.

Just let it dry.

http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/mermaids/videos/mermaids-strange-body-found-on-beach.htm

And do you still feed my food? I had zero nitrates when my DT was packed and I only fed my blends. I'm just curious. I think that if you feed too much and don't have good filtration you will have nitrate issues.

Check your TDS

Increase water changes to once a week. Have you checked your RO/DI water?

Good point, but that takes a lot of self control.

Thanks, Laura. I look at it waiting for some life to emerge. I get excited whenever I see a snail. My husband is really upset about the lack of color and life.

LOL, thanks. Not until we are ready to move....whenever that is.