Big Tank Upgrade with minor aiptasia and bubble algae

[aleok]

Hi All!

I plan on doing a tank upgrade/swap from my 8-9 year old 90 gallon mixed reef (w/ 75g sump) to a undecided size, but different tank, because i am moving.

Question is: is my seemingly under control aiptasia and bubble algae going to follow me to my next tank?

I've had serious outbreaks in the past (2-3 yrs ago), but with the help of several things including peppermint shrimp and emerald crabs, I thought i had eradicated them. But within the last 6 months ive even seen some small aiptasia and bubble algae, in isolated locations.

I have a lot of branching hammers/ frogspawn that have some aiptasia on there roots. Large sps colonies attached to live rock with bubble algae on them.

What is the best way for me to transfers all my coral without getting these demons in my new tank? cut off roots? chisel off the good sps? or am I already screwed because all the evilness is in the water already?

thanks!!

 

[hegeh]

Personally i would just transfer the rock with heavily encrusted sps if chisel them is impossible. Others going to be treated bleach and dry. Cant risk another aiptasia n bubble otbreak

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[cody6766]

Your algae and aptasia will follow, even if you clean really well. Honestly, even if you clean things as carefully as possible, you'll likely still see some algae and aptasia show up down the road. They just get into everything.

I had a BAD bubble algae issue and a fox face cleaned it up for me. They don't always do that, but I'm 2/2 with that species in two different tanks. Bhergia nudis are great for killing back your aptasia (takes a few weeks/months to really see the difference, but they're great. Urchins are also good for helping mow down algae. I currently have all 3 in my 60 cube and don't have any visible aptasia, bubble algae or turf algae. I'm supplementing the urchin and foxface with nori, and expect the bhergia to die off if they kill all of the aptasia in the tank. There may be a large enough population in the sump to sustain a small group, but the end result is no aptasia in my DT.

I'd recommend you make your move, clean what you can and add mitigation measures for each problem as it arises. Try to minimize it with prevention, but have a plan for when that doesn't work.

 

[Four drachma]

I recently bought some great rock to add to my display, and the guy I bought it from told me he's had issues with aptasia. I put the rock in qt, and sure enough I saw a few aptasias peeking out from some holes in the rocks. The rock was white, and didn't have much other life in them, which was fine, I knew my tank would share it's organisms with it once I placed it there.

I decided to soak each piece in strong bleach water for 20 minutes, the rinsed it and set them out for a few days until dry.

I placed them in my tank, and within a week, the aptasia were back peeking out the holes again..these things are very hard to get rid of. !

I use a small pen torch to kill ones on rocks I can easily remove and target them. I also have a majano wand, and it kills them too. If the aptasia is able to retreat into some crevasse or hole this, it's near impossible to kill.

My suggestion is to leave your rocks out and let them completely dry for several weeks if you can.


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[Sk8r]

Frankly, I don't worry too much about bubble algae. It'll turn up sooner or later. It's transient in most tanks. Goes away on its own. Most visitors admire it as beautiful. If you have a big problem with it, check your water quality.

 

[aleok]

Thanks everyone for you responses! cody6766, great advise. I figured once i got them there gonna be in everything.

Four drachma, thats crazy they lived after a bleach bath and total dry out! Most all my rocks in my tank have a large coral colony encrusted on it or water welded on to it. so i can't dry out really any of my live rock.

I guess, i'll make the move and then tackle the problem as they arise.

 

[cody6766]

Just remember, bhergia are very slow at first. You'll add them and not see a change for weeks, possibly. It took a couple of months to clean out my 60g cube. I didn't have a bad aptasia problem, but they were there.

Peppermint shrimp will eat them too, but I've had a few develop a taste for LPS, especially chalice corals. I've noticed that shrimp and crabs often find LPS as a better food source than what you put them in to eat, so I'm always reluctant to add them. Also, I have a cardinalfish that treats peppermint shrimp into $5 oreos, so I quit buying them.

 

[Four drachma]

Yeah aleok, I'm still in shock that they not only survived, but were out looking healthy as can be so soon afterward.

As I mentioned, I use a majano wand on the ones I can get to, and it not only works very well, it's extremely fun and rewarding to see them shrivel and fry right before your eyes.

The aptasia you have on the frog spawn branches, would be easy to get with the wand. It's not cheap, but I got tired of having to treat them with aptasia X numerous times before killing them.

It sounds like you have some nice SPS colonies, do you have pics?


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