Thanks guys. Yeah, the problem is I love my fish .. almost too much. I mean it's almost sort of child-like, the adult in me knows that to the fish it's a one-way ticket one way or the other, but you have this hope that when they go, they go due to old age instead of "Ohhhhh, I guess I shouldn't have had that cucumber after all."

(I haven't confirmed that it's cuke nuke but the more I think of it, the more I'm convinced that this is not a clam spawn. It would certainly explain some things. The sump was in way worse shape than the main tank, I noticed immediately when I took the sump offline to check all my pumps that the tank started looking better with the sump offline, and the smell was 10 times worse in the sump. If the thing, say, managed to crawl into a return pipe and got stuck and the force of the water tore it apart, it would all have been flushed down into the sump. The skimmer too, it looked like when you try running a skimmer with freshwater, the bubbles were huge and there was zero foam production for the longest time.)

Coral Snow - great idea, thanks Brad. I do have some kicking around somewhere from when I was running Zeo, I just stopped using it when I stopped the rocks-in-a-reactor thing, I guess it couldn't hurt to add some in.

Anyhow I do apologize for the "I feel sorry for myself" post, and really do appreciate the support and kind words of the community. It really helps to put things in perspective, last night I really was done, this morning, maybe not .. I don't know, but you're right, I'm too far into this now to just walk away from it all.

Good to hear Tony. And there is nothing wrong with venting or feeling sorry for yourself. As long as you post it on here so you can keep you in the hobby to suffer...ahem, I mean enjoy it as much as the rest of us :wink:

:(
 

Really sucks to hear about your lose Tony, I know it might seem discouraging during the rough times but you just have to remember all of the joy that the tank has given you. That's 6 years of Flame Angel antics, countless new discoveries and I'm sure a whole whack load of bonding time with your kids :biggrin:! It's impossible to put myself in your shoes but I would continue with that massive tank you have going. With increased water volume comes increased stability and perhaps you could finally get some SPS to grow :mrgreen:! Keep the the tank in ICU for a little while, your much more of a experienced reefer than allot of us here so I'm sure you can pull through. If you need anything at all I'm just over in Douglasdale and would be more than willing to help!

Levi

Time for an UPGRADE. When life hands you lemons....well you know.

Hang in there Tony. Things will get better and you will regain your enthusiasm for the hobby you know you really love!

Oh no Tony!!! Keep your chin up. These things happen. It really sucks to have to take some steps backwards right when you start to feel happy about the tank. I think we've all had disasters at some point or another. I've had heaters fail twice cooking two entire tanks. Now I am smarter than the heaters. :D I am due for a disaster though...maybe my recent brush with red bugs will cure me for awhile. :p It's easy to toss in the towel and give up. Sometimes it's good to do that. Or downgrade. Everyone is always on the upgrade...sometimes downgrading is better!! ;)

How are your corals looking?

Thanks Myka. Corals, interestingly enough, don't look too bad today, but bear in mind I only have zoanthids and gorgonians and clams. The zoanthids were quickly receding on account of the butterfly, the gorgonians seem to be bulletproof anyhow, and the clams.. well, two of them look like hell, one of them looks like heck, and then the last 4 of them look like nothing was ever the matter. I'm sort of expecting the lose the two hellers (they look that bad.. :( .. kind of wondering if I should maybe just .. er, do something about it .. like freeze them and put them out of their misery), and I'm hoping for the best for the hecker, sometimes they just seem to gape for a day, and well the tank did go through a trauma so it's not unexpected to see reaction .. just hoping for the best right now, you never know, maybe they'll pull through).

WOW!! Tony this sucks... Let me know if you need anything. Good luck and keep your chin up!!!

+1

Tony I know it sucks now, I went through 2 weeks of hell and hung in, when almost anyone else would of quit. I have faith that for the love of the hobby you'll hang in too.

Don't do did, dude! Think about all you have to live for!!!!!!

Seriously, if you think about it - it is usually a GOOD thing when creatures spawn in our tanks. It's a sign that they're happy and healthy enough to reproduce. It happens and can be easily fixed with enough water changes.

It would really be a shame to lose somebody like you Tony to something silly like some sperm in the water. ;)