what is the worst problem you've had

Fighting dinoflagellates or red slime algae I think it was called. Didn't last real long, but was a pain and luckily no losses!

And I was not able to fit a larger tank in my house sadly.

 

Some kids are just evil , Well maybe that why momma is evil! and sometimes the apple does not fall far from the tree either! I told my elder sister that 30 yrs ago when she adopted a little 2 week old baby,,, There is genetic make up and the there is environmental make up..And the adopted girl was always messing up in someway or the other Law, drugs school and is still always in trouble some 30 + yrs later.

 

Hostility Toward Tanks

I know most people will probably tell me "no @#$8 sherlock" for saying it, but isn't the hostility people direct at tanks, really hostility directed at the owner of the tanks? People poison, smear, or destroy tanks to get back at the owners of the tanks for doing/not doing something.

It happens with ordinary housepets too, and I remember a case that was within a mile of my university, where the father not just killed, but DISMEMBERED the cat, because the children were being unruly.

Poisoning a tank full of fish and coral may not get the same amount of attention, or seriousness from the police, (The father was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals - actually did some jail time for it) but it is cruelty to animals nonetheless. By the same token, we as caretakers of these animals, MUST take care with our husbandry, to make sure we're not being negligent or abusive to these wonderful creatures we call pets, whether four footed, finned, or invert.

You wouldn't purchase a cat or dog without having at least some idea of how to take care of it, and by the same token, we must all exercise that same due vigilace, to make sure we can take care of the creatures we put in our tanks. (This applies especially to me for being dumb enough to purchase something like a Flame Scallop, which has somewhat poorly understood husbandry)

 

The worst thing that's happen to Me was about 3 yrs ago.We had an ice storm that took out the power for 4.5 days.The high for the week was 22 degrees,and the only heat we had was a insert fireplace.Keeping the fire going every 20-30 minutes,24hrs a day,I could only slow the rate at which the tank cooled.After 4.5 days the tank temp had dropped to 64 degrees.
Lucky I only lost about half of what I had.

 

About 20 years ago before I knew anything about reefkeeping, right after college I had a FOWLR tank. We rented a boat out of Key West and I took a brain coral off the reefs. It was perfectly semi-spherical, about half as big as a basketball.

After the first day it was THRIVING, or so I thought. Within 2 weeks it had died and fouled the entire tank to the point where the water was nearly opaque and stunk to high heaven. If I recall, I had a niger trigger, a grouper about the size of my palm, an 8" snowflake eel, and a few damsels. Everthing died.

Those were carefree days when my conscience was a mere shadow of what it is today.
Those were times when the reefs were endless and stealing a piece off the reef was not the sin it is today. I'll never again take anything off a reef as long as I live, unless it's season and it's legal to spear. And of course lobster. . . mmmmmmmmmm lobster. . .

 

Hell yeah! theres nothing like fresh spiny lobster,mmmmmmmmm

 

I don't even feel right posting anything after some of those horror stories!!! WOW!!!!!!!
My wife loves the fishies too much! My tank is young, no probs. so far, other than, of course, CHECKING ACCOUNT DRAINS!!!

 

i had the Mirionema in my tank. and i still have some after 4 years of fight.. it came soon after the chiller boiled my tank.. that i thought it was the worst thing.. then when the tank was recovering i saw that nice little stuff.. then in a 7 days holiday i went back and i discovered that a 3 cm2 stuff had filled all a 100g tank in less then a week..

now i'm near to win.. after 4 years.. but to kill it i lost many SPS and i have algae in the tank.. so it's a fight wont end this year.. so it was the worst..

 

Is this some sort of nuisance algae?

 

I believe it is a Brown Hydroid Myrionema.

Jim