jason the filter freak August 23, 2021 Share August 23, 2021 3 hours ago, ReefdUp said: And I should mention, I finally kicked BJD thanks to a combination of hydrogen peroxide dips and Cipro. I need to get that article posted (but I hesitate to do anything that might encourage people to start dosing antibiotics into a reef tank.......) If you preface that 1. You are not saying to dose Cipro as you're not a Dr./Vet 2. State that Cipro is a prescription medication and 3. You're not saying that Cipro is THE solution and do it your own risk. I would absolutely post it for the simple reason that there really isn't much profit/interest in active research on using medications in advanced applications so not being researched that much. It's really helpful to get the information out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cris September 12, 2021 Share September 12, 2021 I just finally read this and it was fabulous. Thank you for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp September 13, 2021 Author Share September 13, 2021 3 hours ago, Cris said: I just finally read this and it was fabulous. Thank you for sharing. Thanks so much! It means a lot to hear that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp October 24, 2021 Author Share October 24, 2021 Looky what I just picked up! This should be some good Saturday evening reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YHSublime October 29, 2021 Share October 29, 2021 You'll have to tell us what you learn! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 22, 2022 Author Share January 22, 2022 Sorry I've been a bit silent. The recategorization of a lot of corals (e.g., Acanthastrea to Micromussa) meant I had a lot of cataloging to update. Then, my computer crashed right after I finished...and I didn't have a backup copy. ARGH! I'm still going through everything. But here are some before/after gems: I honestly thought this was deteriorating epoxy or some sort of gum stuck to a coral skeleton (with a couple polyps remaining that I was trying to save.) For whatever tiny sliver of hope I had in my mind that it might be a coral, I stuck it to a frag plug... and waited... This eventually grew. This coral grows lovelier by the day. This one still hasn't grown much, despite regular feedings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
menglish January 22, 2022 Share January 22, 2022 you are so good at this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 22, 2022 Author Share January 22, 2022 1 hour ago, menglish said: you are so good at this Thank you!! I've had a lot of great mentors over the years! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 23, 2022 Author Share January 23, 2022 I don't have an exact date on the "before" photo of this. My digital camera at the time didn't have the date set. This was one of my very first "rescues". I was a "starving college student" trying to also keep a reef tank - not a good combination. I took a black light and looked through a LFS' live rock bin, and I saw a tiny bit of fluorescence from this piece. All I had to do was pay for the live rock per-pound price. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 29, 2022 Author Share January 29, 2022 I can't believe I haven't posted up one of my very first rescued corals. This was in the "bargain bin" of a LFS, and that was really the only area in which I could afford to shop at the time. This coral is still with me today and has lived with me in four different states all across the country. It's been fragged countless times as well. (Apparently I forgot to put the "after" date, which was 2 July 2010.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 29, 2022 Author Share January 29, 2022 And here's just another pretty one... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp January 30, 2022 Author Share January 30, 2022 This Goniopora took FOREVER to start to take off. I was convinced that I was going to lose it for over a year. Just recently it finally started growing well. (So when people think rehab'ing corals is profitable, I point to examples like this. It'll be two years before this coral is to a sellable size plus all the time/medications to get it there...and it's just a standard Goni.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 5, 2022 Author Share February 5, 2022 Talk about a transformation here... Looking back, this one (Dipsastraea?) was more of an "advanced" rescue for me at the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 5, 2022 Author Share February 5, 2022 I have had a lot of failures along the way, many of which I could likely save today (but were beyond my capability at the time). I just thought I'd share a few for some lessons learned. 2012: This one is likely still beyond what I could save today (notice the decay near the mouth, along with the gaping mouth.) (But wow - what an incredibly gorgeous coral!!) 2011: I had no belief that I could actually save this one, but I wanted to learn and develop some protocol. It had no feeding response, had a gaping mouth, and appeared to have no internal structure. 2011: This is one that I believe would have a chance today (but was beyond my capability at the time). My guess is that it had a bacterial infection and needed an antibiotic bath. The mouth was intact and responsive, which is what is a good indicator of recovery here. 2013: The same goes for this dying Cynarina (note the intact and responsive mouth). The splattered bleaching pattern makes me think it had a bacterial infection and needed treatment. But, at the time, it was just beyond my capabilities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 6, 2022 Author Share February 6, 2022 There for a while, Australomussa corals (I think these now fall under Lobophyllia) just were not doing well in the hobby (but were frequently imported). This is one I managed to save. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 10, 2022 Author Share February 10, 2022 Since another member posted up about Elegance corals, here's one of mine (it didn't require fragging into healthy tissue, but it was still in really bad shape!) It was covered in flatworms, aiptasia, had bad water quality, you name it. I think both pieces went into new homes shortly after initial recovery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 13, 2022 Author Share February 13, 2022 One thing I don't like about just showing the before/after photos is the absence of the incredible challenge to get the corals to *stop* declining/ dying. It's not just about bringing them home, treating them once, and then watching their recovery. It's often a months-long fight. This coral was a great example of that process (and how difficult it is to make this sort of effort profitable). Here it is when I brought it home (10 May 2020): For the next month, it continued to decline (19 June 2020): That was the low point. It took about another year after the low point to start to recover (and then even more time to actually start to look good) (28 August 2021). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaJMasta February 13, 2022 Share February 13, 2022 Another great recovery! Do you have any 'case studies' written up about particular pieces? I get the feeling that just seeing a day by day or week by week log of a recovery process would show a lot of the methodology that's yielded so much success. I look at these before pictures and barely would know where to start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maevepotter February 13, 2022 Share February 13, 2022 Ditto. I'd love to hear how you fought this. I've had pieces die looking like this before and they don't get better obviously without whatever treatment you're applying. Can you give us some pointers on where you get these medications and a basic method to try? Obviously wouldn't blame you if it failed (at our own risk), but I would love to have something to do against these kinds of losses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 25, 2022 Author Share February 25, 2022 On 2/13/2022 at 11:21 AM, DaJMasta said: Another great recovery! Do you have any 'case studies' written up about particular pieces? I get the feeling that just seeing a day by day or week by week log of a recovery process would show a lot of the methodology that's yielded so much success. I look at these before pictures and barely would know where to start! Thank you! Yes, I keep a blog (www.coraleverafter.org) where I post about each case and other interesting things I find along the way (various parasites, things I build, etc.) Posting on a forum for hundreds of corals has too many challenges. I had some articles on a previous blog on some of my techniques, but I'm still porting everything over. On 2/13/2022 at 11:37 AM, maevepotter said: Ditto. I'd love to hear how you fought this. I've had pieces die looking like this before and they don't get better obviously without whatever treatment you're applying. Can you give us some pointers on where you get these medications and a basic method to try? Obviously wouldn't blame you if it failed (at our own risk), but I would love to have something to do against these kinds of losses. Most of what I use are standard dips and good husbandry (e.g., CoralRx, hydrogen peroxide dips, stable parameters, good food). The key is diagnosing what is wrong and knowing what to do about it. For example, if a coral is bleaching, there are a lot of things it could be (so diagnosis determines the treatment path). After that, it's knowing what to do about it (e.g., treat for bacterial infection, move to higher/lower light, feed the right foods). On my blog, I try to go into what I thought was wrong and how I tried to correct the problem(s). As a systems engineer, I try to view the problem holistically and as a process. But if I had a magic solution, I'd definitely be shouting it from the rooftops! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 25, 2022 Author Share February 25, 2022 This Acropora was an easy example of diagnosis and treatment. I received it (along with a lot of other dying corals from the same tank) back in 2012. I immediately noticed that it had both red bugs and AEFW, so I performed a series of coral dips (there were less treatment options and general parasite knowledge back then). You can read a bit more about it on my blog at https://coraleverafter.org/?p=585. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 25, 2022 Author Share February 25, 2022 This rehabilitation makes me smile a lot. This coral was about to be thrown out at the LFS, but I noticed some tiny remnants of tissue. It just took my normal "in-processing" along with good husbandry. Now, this coral is quite large and healthy in my tank! https://coraleverafter.org/?p=231 Three years later: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 25, 2022 Author Share February 25, 2022 On 2/13/2022 at 11:37 AM, maevepotter said: Ditto. I'd love to hear how you fought this. I've had pieces die looking like this before and they don't get better obviously without whatever treatment you're applying. Can you give us some pointers on where you get these medications and a basic method to try? Obviously wouldn't blame you if it failed (at our own risk), but I would love to have something to do against these kinds of losses. I wrote up today's blog on the rough process I follow for most corals. Hope this is a start on what you were wanting to see! https://coraleverafter.org/?p=578 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp February 26, 2022 Author Share February 26, 2022 Most of what I take in are the pieces truly destined for the calcium reactor, like this one. It was completely browned out, receding, and overall not something marketable by the LFS. Now, it's stunning, with its glowing green stripes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReefdUp March 9, 2022 Author Share March 9, 2022 On 2/26/2022 at 7:02 AM, ReefdUp said: Most of what I take in are the pieces truly destined for the calcium reactor, like this one. It was completely browned out, receding, and overall not something marketable by the LFS. Now, it's stunning, with its glowing green stripes. Arrrrrrrgh - brown jelly hit this one today. I'm trying a new protocol, but now all rescue efforts are on a hiatus. *Sniffle* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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