Intro and Sad All at the Same Time

[UDflyer00]

Greetings Everyone!!

   My name is Mark, UDflyer00 here on the forums.  I met a few of you at the meeting Saturday, but wanted to introduce myself.  Our current tank is a 65gal AGA, which replaced our 60gal Hex that sprung a leak about 6 inches from the bottom early last summer.  We decided to steer clear of the Hex after that incident and because of the small area we were looking to fill the smaller footprint of the 65 AGA was perfect.  After a stint at a store we were able to save our Niger Trigger, goby, and a Lemon Peel Angel.  While the new tank cycled we lost the Lemon Peel, but once things began to settle again we picked up a new Lion.  This is where the story takes a turn for the worse...   Saturday night I picked up a few items at the after meeting sale, one of which turned out to be a bad decision.  I added the beautiful and very interesting Medusa Worm.  Very cool to look at, but be aware this species could have side effects (at least that's what I gather now after the fact).  But after introducing it into the tank and taking some of the pictures below we turned in for the evening.  After a busy Sunday we returned home to the horrific site...    Everything, but the goby had gone belly up...   The lion, the trigger, and the hawk all gone...  After talking with Joel we've gathered that the worm was probably the culprit.  As I was cleaning up the corpses from the tank I did see a few "pieces" in the water so I'm not sure what happened to the worm but all the carnivors suffered.  My guess is it died somehow and they all took part in the last supper...  Anyway, enough saddness, I now have a beautiful hermit crab display well maintained by the lonesome Goby...  It was a sad day in the house, but we'll move on and I hope to get some more fish again in the coming months...

   But here are a few pictures of the tank pre-genocide...

Look forward to talking again at the next meeting.

Mark

[UDflyer00]

and a pic of the silent killer...   At least that's what we can gather.... 

[larrynews]

are they toxic

[UDflyer00]

I'm not sure... I was hoping to talk to Joel about it tonight at the shop, but not sure I'll have the chance to.  I've read a few other posts out there that others have had the same results...  I do not know the official answer, but I would just be warned if you have something that may try to pick at it...

[lazylivin]

are they toxic

Sorry to hear about your losses.
Yes, some of them are extremely toxic. For those that are, probably should not be sold in the hobby or at least buyer should be informed of the risks. Did you actualy see them eating it? The reason I ask is usually fish wont eat from what I read. More often then not it is the toxin's they put in the water when they are stressed or die.

[UD Flyer]

Sorry to hear of your tragedy. It’s never good to lose any fish, and even though they’re fish people do become attached to them.

This is why it’s good to always research everything and never buy anything on impulse.

Even though your prized fish are gone you can now set up your tank for a reef. But be prepared, it may get addicting!!!

[UDflyer00]

Sorry to hear about your losses.
Yes, some of them are extremely toxic. For those that are, probably should not be sold in the hobby or at least buyer should be informed of the risks. Did you actualy see them eating it? The reason I ask is usually fish wont eat from what I read. More often then not it is the toxin's they put in the water when they are stressed or die.

Knowing that definitely would've influenced my decision...  Worm vs. Risk to lose everything??   I would've chose no worm...  Oh well hindsight is always 20/20 as they say.  As for did I see them eat it? No, we were gone all day on Sunday and returned to the scene of the crime after the accident.  I just saw a piece or two of the worm float around while i was cleaning out the bodies...

As for a reef tank, it would be cool to get a few corals, but not sure i'm ready for all the dosing to maintain it...

[MechanicalEngineer]

Welcome...and sorry to hear about your tragedy.    May your fishies go to the great ocean in the sky!  (On the positive note...coral time!  You can keep some corals without worrying too much about dosing.) 

As usual, I'm here with info:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/invert.htm

[hamiltro]

  i think we all feel your loss

[lazylivin]

I second Reef' Up. if you do frequent water changes and only have a few corals probably wont need to dose. Dosing is more for the moderate to heavily stocked aquariums or a specific corals needs. So if you want some Zoanthids, maybe Green Star Polyps, mushrooms or some Singulars you would probably be fine with good husbundary.
Once your tank bounces back and you have done some good water changes added some carbon to remove toxins I would be happy to provide you with some free beginner corals to get you started.

[Blown76mav]

Sorry about your loss, I seen that at the shop as well and thought to myself, "if that thing dies its gonna kill a lot of stuff"  There are a few things out there that do that, the worms, sea apples and a couple others.  I would do a 100% water change just to be safe before adding any more fish.  Just my .02

BTW welcome to the club. 

Lonnie