375 g Reef/ 600 g System stuffed in my office

[Bax]

That sounds liek a good protocol Sandy.

I picked up a pair of 120w LED fixtures with 2w lamps and 120* optics. One is for Christmas so while Santa is holding it to place under the tree, I'm swapping my two MH SE ReefLux 250s out with one ReefLux 400 SE MH and the other LED unit. The 250s are OK, but I've not been impressed with color or growth. I miss my 400's in the display!

I'll let them run side by side in the 100 for a month or so just to see how the corals and frags respond. I'll be selceting about 6 types of equivalent frags to place as evenly as practical below both lights. I think my Club has a Par meter I'm going to try to get my hands on to get some quantatative data as well has my qualatative subjective opinion, to evaluate the results. And of course, there will be pictures! ... Let the games begin!

 

[Bax]

So, as promissed, I got 2x - 2w LED 110w fixtures for Christmas ... unfortunately ... I also got AEFWs :furious:

Based upon the timing and the fact that the AEFWs are only in my 100g ... so far ... I have to assume that they came in on frags I acquired from in early November. Yes, I dipped, but I saw no adult FWs drop off. I have to assume that eggs were on some piece I bought and now that it's been over 6 weeks, I have adults .... and ... An infestation! :uzi:

On a brighter note ... The LEDs! :smokin:

I only had time to hang one set. The side by side comparison to MH will have to wait until I return from Virginia to see family.

There are three cooling fans

It's pretty sleek, the power cords are a bit short IMO

Very white light and a nice shimmer effect

Here it is next to the old T-5s ... they look yellow!!!

I also gave up on building a stand for the 40B due to time limitations and just dug out an extra 75g stand I have ... it'll work!

AND! ... I pulled the 75g holding tank out of the enclosure in the shop! What a ton of extra realestate!

 

[edandsandy]

:mad2::mad2::mad2: AEFW :blown: I'm so sorry to hear that.
We had them too not so long ago. Do you have a vet that will sell you Interseptor???
One of our reef club members is a vet, I just had to take a picture of the our tank for his files and he was able to sell us the Interceptor....
It's not that expensive. It was trying to get all the crabs out of the tank 3 times that was a pain in the @$$. But we are bug free now!

Best of luck Bax......

 

[Bax]

Sandy

Thanks!
I need to find Levemosol (spelling???)
In the mean time i'm dipping in Revive and TMPCC to knock off the creepy crawlers. I need a better magnifying glass to hunt for eggs. I've missplaced my 10x loop.

 

[Bax]

So yesterday, I was by my sump doing some maintenance. I smelled that electric smell that should always be an alarm in your head. I started looking for an issue, a wet cord or whatever. Suddenly, there's a BANG! BANG! And a few flashes!

Turned out that a Stealth heater in my rock tub exploded!

Luckily I was there to unplug it and remove it right away.

That's the craziest thing that has ever happened to me in reefing!

 

[Bax]

Dipped again today, still finding adults and young AEFWs.

Sandy, your QT method is they way to go! It's the only sure way to deal with them ... never let'em in your system! :blown:

 

[edandsandy]

I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this Bax...
We went through it too....
Good luck..... keep us posted on your progress...

 

[Bax]

Thanks Sandy!

These aren't the first pests I've had to deal with but hopefully with a good QT protocol, they'll be my last!

So last week a Stealth heater exploded and yesterday while relocating some equipment into the new found space in the sump enclosure, I discovered that my old and faithful dual 400 watt PFO ballast is leaking oil! .... Really?!?! :mad2:

Fortunately, I just bought a pair of CoralVue 400 w ballasts for the frag set up, and LEDs for the DT. I seriously need therapy! :lolspin:

 

[Bax]

Wow!

I can't believe it's been 4 months since I updated this thread! What a slacker!

So, in the past four months I ...
Got AEFWs;
Ordered some Levamisol;
Overdosed my system with Levamisol;
Recovered from the Levi OD;
Properly treated my system with the Levamisol;
Had a second heater burst, this time taking all of the motile inverts that survived the Levi OD and a few corals too;
Recoverd from the hearter episode, but I'm still mopping up the algae outbreak that followed it :headwallblue: ;
Restocked my CUC and most of the other motile inverts lost in the above fiasco;
Set up a coral QT and began resocking SPS and in the process observed incoming pests from each and every one of the "top" LFS around;
QT'd a new coral beauty in an effort to pair it with my established one, but that did not work out so well :worried2: ;
Added a tomini tang, which did work out; and
I've begun pulling my rock tub off line and will remove it from my system. Between the tub and my 75 g I already took down, I've reduced the system volume by 225 gallons so I'm down to about 350-375 g give or take.

Just this week I've started populating the 100gallon tank with SPS. Even though they are just frags, it's almost like having a reef again! I can't wait to see them growing out! Maybe this will become fun once more! :thumbsup:

 

[Bax]

I've recieved a few PMs asking for the dose of Levamisol, so here it is:

First you need a good stock of Levamisol in the right form. I found it in many versions but I found the purest & least expensive was at a live stock supply web site. Under Goat dewormers you are looking for a product called PROHIBIT, Soluable Drench Powder, this is nearly pure Levamisol. It's about $25 with shipping from the cattlestore.com.

Measure out one liter of RODI water. To that, add 5 grams of the powder and mix well. It should completely dissolve into solution. This liter will treat 300 gallons of system water.

This solution can be stored in a closed top container in a cool, dark, dry location for several weeks if needed. There's no reason, that when mixed proportionately with SW, this could not be used as a treatment for all incomming SPS corals.

Calcuate your system volume, included everything sump, piping, skimmers, etc. Keep all system flow moving normally, i.e. thru your skimmer & media vessles too. Shut down air to the skimmer, remove GAC & GFO, I'd also recomend changing any filter media such as pads or socks.

Add the solution in the return section of your sump at one liter per 300 gallons of system water or in that proportion. In other words, a 150 gallon system would need 1/2 the liter for a single treatment. Do not over or under dose.

After adding the appropriate amount of solution for your total system volume, wait at least 4-5 hours and you can restart your skimmer. If you use GAC you can put it back on line as well. You can change some water if you like, it's not critical if dosing was right.

Your pods and mini brittles will take a huge hit. That's why you changed your filter media. In a day change it again and it'll be full of lost pods & mini brittles. Sea Stars should be removed during the treatment but can be returned once you've skimmed and run GAC a bit. All my other motile and sesile invertibrates weren't really happy, for example, hermits, snails, & clams all closed up tight, but they made it through just fine. My corals were all fine.

Repeat this treatment every week for 3-4 weeks.

You need to dip and inspect to confirm that eggs are not still hatching. The egg cycle can run two plus weeks so you need at least three treatments one week apart to kill hatching AEFWs.

Good Luck!

 

[edandsandy]

Bax,
I'm sorry to hear what you went through with your tank!

I was under the impression you could not dose your tank with levamisole:uhoh3:

 

[Bax]

Bax,
I'm sorry to hear what you went through with your tank!

I was under the impression you could not dose your tank with levamisole:uhoh3:

Sandy

I'm proof you can. I overdosed it once by inadvertently using the fresh water dosage, that was not good! :rolleye1:

However, if you follow the instructions, you can dose your system. :fish1:

 

[edandsandy]

Hey Bax,
Knowing my luck I would od the tank, Ed would divorce me, :debi: and turn the tank into a FOWLR tank... We are still dealing with AEFW too,it's not a huge problem..... but I keep dipping and blowing off the corals and added a few wrasses....it's alway something to keep us in check with nature!

 

[Bax]

Sandy

Based upon the shear level of effort you have coaxed from him on your system .... Ed is going no where any time soon!

In all my reading, very few have had complete success with a dip regimen even when supported by a good stock of FW eaters like wrasses. The problem is that the adult AEFWs are prone to crawling down on the bases of the SPS and even under them laying their eggs in the cracks and crevases of the rock work and SPS base structures.

You may, at some point need to perform a series of systemic treatment to really overcome this evil pluage.

Systemic treatment with Levamisol is safe as long as you follow the recipie I provided.

If you, or any one, is going to follow that approach, invest in a postal scale so you can measure accurately. You don't want to OD the tank, but it is important to treat it strongly enough to kill the motile adults and hatchlings.

 

[Bax]

Here are some pics of a few of the pieces I moved over to the 100g. I am loving the MH & LED mix!!! 8)

Hulk acro it just glows under LED!

This Blue tort (I'm pretty sure it's the Shawn Bennett) has been in the 100 for a few weeks as a tester. It was under a 250 MH up until last week when I hung the LED over it. It now get a 4 hour dose of 400w att MH as well.

The frog skin gets very yellow under the LEDs, when the polyps come out they are purple, it very cool!

This a florida is really starting to grow. I really like the rose tips!

This miami orchid has been right next to the blue tort in the 100. The M.O. really dose not color well under LED only, it needs the MH to give the deep purple color through the body.

I got this at Red Sand, I think it's a deep water, it has really responded to the 400 MH/LED combo! I think it's going to be awesome!

Like the M.O. the tri colors like this valida are very pale under LEDs only. this one is barely within the reach of the 400 MH but it's color is already deepening under the combo.

My tuxedo urchins just glow under the LEDs!

 

[Bax]

Here's my new lighting scheme in the 5' long 100 g.

This is just the two LEDs lit

Here they are with the single 400w MH in the middle

I think it's perfect! I'm running the 400 for only four hours a day

 

[edandsandy]

Your tank is looking good, I know first hand how difficult it can be recovering from a crash.....

 

[Bax]

Your tank is looking good, I know first hand how difficult it can be recovering from a crash.....

It felt more like colliding with a tractor trailer on the rail road tracks, being run over by a passing vehicle while getting out of the burning wrechage and then watching in horror as the trail comes to really spices things up by draging the whole flaming mess down the tracks! :headwalls:

I'm feeling much better now! :wildone:

 

[edandsandy]

That is EXACTLY how it feels :thumbsup:

 

[edandsandy]

Sorry to ask again, but how exactly did you come up with the formula to dose your entire system?