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Am I going to wake up to a crashed tank

B the Nano Reefer

B the Nano Reefer

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10 gallon tank. Hit it with flat worm exit. I did not know this stuff killed micro brittle stars. I have millions. They are ALL dead. The rock is covered. The sand and corals are covered with dead brittle stars. Millions. I am picking out what I can… any advice?
 
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That’s what I’m about to do. Likely will still miss half. This is the 5th cup I just pulled out. Can see thousand more in the tank… I might have just royally f’d up
 

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You should set up for lots of ammonia.

Is it possible to get an ammonia binder? Or move fish / valued corals into a different tank?

If you have auto water change, now is the time to set it up.


Experienced reefers: is the following a good idea?

Fill a brute trash can with mixed saltwater. Use airline to drip water out of the display and into the drain, and use your ATO to refill the lost saltwater with fresh replacement

Of course making sure there’s enough water to last the night by measuring the drain rate
 
I'd save the water changes for tomorrow if it just happened. Wake up early and give it a go.

To reduce the need for changes now, try sucking water out into a bucket feeding into some filter material. Let the material catch the stars, then dump the water back in.

I'd then toss in extra carbon and maybe a bit of amquel or equivalent. Probably not a full dose. I'd also consider adding a bubbler, though I can't say why, and I think higher pH makes ammonia worse. However I thought ammonia neutralizer reduces oxygen.

I believe the ammonia neutralizer should get you through any possible major issues, and jump on water changes to keep things stable.

If you're running a skimmer be careful it doesn't start overwhelming your tank.

Also, remember sand has very high surface area and holds a lot of bacteria. Probably comparable to the rock in a tank, especially with man-made rock. I would put the sand back in if possible, since you want that bacteria in there.

Best wishes! Stressful!
 
tribbitt said:
You should set up for lots of ammonia.

Is it possible to get an ammonia binder? Or move fish / valued corals into a different tank?

If you have auto water change, now is the time to set it up.


Experienced reefers: is the following a good idea?

Fill a brute trash can with mixed saltwater. Use airline to drip water out of the display and into the drain, and use your ATO to refill the lost saltwater with fresh replacement

Of course making sure there’s enough water to last the night by measuring the drain rate
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Don’t have a spare tank, unfortunately. Or the apparatus to set up a night long auto water change. Have added prime, and will continue to add some through the night.
 
Also one more thought, don't do something crazy and cause an issue trying to stop something that might be an issue.

Water changes. Make sure to do your standard stuff like temp, salinity, alk matching. Don't setup a bunch of new stuff and drastically change everything, nuking your tank by being active instead of having a chance your tank might hit a bump if you are totally passive.

I say that as someone who would certainly try and actively do everything at my own detriment.
 
richiev said:
I'd save the water changes for tomorrow if it just happened. Wake up early and give it a go.

To reduce the need for changes now, try sucking water out into a bucket feeding into some filter material. Let the material catch the stars, then dump the water back in.

I'd then toss in extra carbon and maybe a bit of amquel or equivalent. Probably not a full dose. I'd also consider adding a bubbler, though I can't say why, and I think higher pH makes ammonia worse. However I thought ammonia neutralizer reduces oxygen.

I believe the ammonia neutralizer should get you through any possible major issues, and jump on water changes to keep things stable.

If you're running a skimmer be careful it doesn't start overwhelming your tank.

Also, remember sand has very high surface area and holds a lot of bacteria. Probably comparable to the rock in a tank, especially with man-made rock. I would put the sand back in if possible, since you want that bacteria in there.

Best wishes! Stressful!
Click to expand...
Thanks, water changes right now are intended primarily to get as much of the flat work exit out. I have enough water to do another 100% tomorrow
 
richiev said:
Also one more thought, don't do something crazy and cause an issue trying to stop something that might be an issue.

Water changes. Make sure to do your standard stuff like temp, salinity, alk matching. Don't setup a bunch of new stuff and drastically change everything, nuking your tank by being active instead of having a chance your tank might hit a bump if you are totally passive.

I say that as someone who would certainly try and actively do everything at my own detriment.
Click to expand...
I’m really only limiting things to manually picking out millions of dead brittle start fish and water changing. All I really can do at the moment with what I have.

I had no idea this flat worm exit killed these guys so quickly. I dosed exactly as instructed and within 5 minutes, literally every brittle star was out and dead
 
B the Nano Reefer said:
I’m really only limiting things to manually picking out millions of dead brittle start fish and water changing. All I really can do at the moment with what I have.

I had no idea this flat worm exit killed these guys so quickly. I dosed exactly as instructed and within 5 minutes, literally every brittle star was out and dead
Click to expand...
If you have a net and siphon tool or just a hose you and can put the end of the hose into a fish net to catch brittles and let water fall into small bucket and pour water back into the tank. Than you won't have to worry about actually changing the water until you get most of them out.

Not ideal but just a suggestion.
 
B the Nano Reefer said:
I’m really only limiting things to manually picking out millions of dead brittle start fish and water changing. All I really can do at the moment with what I have.

I had no idea this flat worm exit killed these guys so quickly. I dosed exactly as instructed and within 5 minutes, literally every brittle star was out and dead
Click to expand...
That's nuts. I've used flatworm exit a few times and I've never had it kill anything other than flatworms.
 
Srt4eric said:
That's nuts. I've used flatworm exit a few times and I've never had it kill anything other than flatworms.
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It's affected my brittles too when I've dosed it. Not sure if it's the flatworm toxins or what, but I usually have to rescue them. I generally pull my hermits/crabs etc. also where possible just in case.

The brittles seem to be a canary in the coal mine for me. They go into panic spawning mode during water changes that are slightly cold or off on salinity.
 
Been trying to figure it out, how do you get a million brittles in a ten gallon tank?

I had 2 in ny main 32 tank for 6 months never got any more far as i currently know. Not even sure if they are still in tank somewhere as i took out the monticap they were hiding under and they drifted away somewhere.

Do they reporduce like asterinas by chance?
 
MichaelB said:
Been trying to figure it out, how do you get a million brittles in a ten gallon tank?

I had 2 in ny main 32 tank for 6 months never got any more far as i currently know. Not even sure if they are still in tank somewhere as i took out the monticap they were hiding under and they drifted away somewhere.

Do they reporduce like asterinas by chance?
Click to expand...

No, he's been adding them manually - 10 per day, for the last 275 years. Just recently hit the million mark...his life's work, totally ruined by this dose of flatworm exit.
 
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