Caribbean Biotope Seagrass Tank

[Michael Hoaster]

I've been asking myself the same question lately! One of the main reasons for my tank re-do is to get rid of pests, like dinoflagellates and aiptasias.

To answer your question specifically, I'd soak the chaeto in a 20-1 bleach solution, rinse in seawater, and then put in a holding tank for a week or two, to see if anything pops up. If so, repeat. Hydrogen peroxide is another option. Or maybe do both!

That's what I'm planning to do with my seagrass. I agree, macros can bring in some nasties. I'm going to be more careful with future additions. It kind of sucks, adding complications to adding new plants, but in our closed systems, it makes sense to be careful. Start clean, clean start!

 

[Subsea]

Slightly off topic, but also on topic... if I wanted to re-add chaetomorpha to my refugium, how can I "QT" or "sterilize" it? I feel like macroalgae additions can bring it unwanted pests quite easily. Perhaps we're still looking for the answer on this one.

It is a crap shoot. For all the protocols that AlgaeBarn use to sell "œpest free" macro, they can not warranty it to be pest free. Take Aptasia. If I use a 10% hydrogen peroxide solution bath for ten minutes, I will kill all algae, pods, micro stars and worms, but not Aptasia or coral.

It should be quarantined and observed is my best advice.

 

[Subsea]

Two minute soak of 5% bleach solution killed both macros. After one hour, Bortacladia is losing red pigments and turning clear. I doubt that it will make it.

Enteromorphy is tough. In an outside growout system of three 150G Rubbermade tanks, which was shut down for > 4 years, the interconnecting pipes sprouted strings of Enteromorphy after being dry for that whole 4 year time period. It took 4 months of recirculating thru pipes to rejuvenate algae spores.

Used a 30 second bath with same 5% bleach. Enteromorphy bleached 90% within 15 minutes. After twelve hours, Enteromorphy tendrils are 99% bleached. Some slight bleaching is noted on Halymenia digitata.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

It IS a crap shoot! The more I think about it, the crazier it makes me. I've got hundreds of tiny snails. What am I going to do with them? AAAAAAAHHHHH!

I think the best we can do is try to start with clean, new introductions. Then, it's Mother Nature's turn - or the chemists', depending on your point of view…

 

[Subsea]

Used a 30 second bath with same 5% bleach. Enteromorphy bleached 90% within 15 minutes. After twelve hours, Enteromorphy tendrils are 99% bleached. Some slight bleaching is noted on Halymenia digitata.

After 24 hours both macros were bleached with a 30 second bath in 5% bleach.

 

[taricha]

This is a pretty cool red macro with neat growth form.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2672492
Just wanted to flag it here for folks who might appreciate it.
Red macros never lasted long in my system.

 

[taricha]

Subsea, Thanks for doing this. It's important, because I think an exposure of some concentration/time with bleach is needed to cover certain classes of hitchhikers.

To prevent infection of nasties while moving macroalgae, I'd do multiple dips to target multiple things. I'll order them here from mildest to harshest
1. A Bayer dip to target bugs/worms/ crustacea - this is so mild most corals don't even close up.
2. A rinse & shakeout with fresh tap water - if nothing else, this kills almost every stage of every dino. Only exception I know of is prorocentrum dino cysts. The effect is near instant - microscope shows cells already lysed in the 10 sec it takes me to get the slide in place.
3. Some concentration/ time of bleach to oxidize basically any single cells. I think it's important because peroxide regardless of concentration just does not oxidize everything quite the way bleach does. That's why bleach is just about the strongest biocide known. Autoclave is about the only thing harsher on life than bleach.
I left out antibiotic, and you could totally do doxycycline, or maybe iodine if you want but honestly, I think it's redundant if you have bleach.


So this will kill off any single cell organism and most any tiny invert I can imagine. But then you still need to quarantine and monitor, and perhaps treat for particular classes of larger hitchhikers.
It's really unlikely but possible that aptasia or a snail could survive that. So consider snail and aptasia killer chemicals.

There is no 100% never get sick protocol, but that doesn't mean we can't really improve our odds by vaccines, hand washing, disinfecting surfaces etc.

Did I leave anything out? Any other dips/protocols that would be worth doing?

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Thanks taricha and Subsea. I'm so glad everyone's been chiming in on this subject! I've been slack with new introductions in the past, but going forward, I want to have a plan (and equipment) in place to keep nasties out of my aquarium.

 

[sam.basye]

Man, what a bunch of nerds... Haha

Interesting learning about this sciency stuff though!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Your point being, Mr Kettle?

 

[sam.basye]

Your point being, Mr Kettle?

Shouldn't that make me Mr. Pot? Or do you want to be Mr. Pot being where you live..

I have actually been finding myself less involved these days. Not sure why? I still read your plant nonsense whenever I get a thread notification, but that's about it. :0

To kill off your snails, jack the ammonia up until they start doing backflips or add some cured non-aquarium safe silicone and wait for the backflips. Lol

Both of these (unintentional) methods have worked great for me..

 

[McPuff]

Great information on macro algae cleansing! Not sure why I hadn't considered Bayer dip for the cheato as I dip all corals in it already.

Mr. Pot ---- ha ha ha!!

 

[Chasmodes]

For my tank, I'm not as worried about nasties as you guys are except for fish parasites. So, my plan is to simply put everything in a holding tank without fish (fallow) for 6 weeks and then place it in a FW bath for a few minutes before transferring it to the display tank. All fish that I collect will go into QT and treated with copper for three weeks.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Yeah, that makes more sense for ME to be Mr Pot, heh, heh…

This discussion has been very informative! Cheers!

Kevin, I was in a similar place regarding nasties. I wasn't concerned with hitchhikers on plants, etc. I benefitted a lot by getting freebies, like plants, pods and worms. Now however, I have several undesirable organisms I want to eradicate, and I don't want them to return, hence the obsession with sterilizing stuff. I don't expect to go 'full nazi', but I do want to have a procedure in place.

I 'got away with it' for three years before I had trouble. I managed to get rid of ICH, but since then I've accumulated a few other items I'd like to get rid of, and hopefully not return. They are dinoflagellates, aiptasia anemones and a few macro algae.

These items, as well as some system fixes, led me down the path to the re-do. Having lived with the setup awhile, the little things that bugged me gradually became bigger things. I was very happy how things went with the tank. I was thrilled to keep the plants alive! Now I'm at the point where I have a better idea what I don't want, whereas before it was like "everyone's welcome!"

I see this as my own evolution as an ecosystem manager/gardener. I'm fascinated with our two tanks similarities and differences, as well as our methods to get there!

 

[Chasmodes]

I see this as my own evolution as an ecosystem manager/gardener. I'm fascinated with our two tanks similarities and differences, as well as our methods to get there!

Exactly, me too. I've learned a lot from your experiences, and probably will continue as long as I don't run out of working brain cells. I'm paying close attention, because someday, I may evolve as well I can see without the right checks and balances like predation, certain OK species populations can get out of hand and take the tank in the wrong direction.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Agreed! I'm learning from your experience too.

I have an OK species that did get out of hand. That black grasilaria was great, when it was just one plant, surrounded by other, more colorful plants. It took a while but eventually it got out of hand, forming a black turf throughout the tank. It wasn't a problem for the ecosystem, but it was a problem for me, aesthetically. The overall color of the tank shifted towards black, which wasn't what I was going for.

It will be interesting to see if I am able to better control which plants I keep, in order to get the look I want this time. So the gardener aspect is becoming more important to me. I see this as the gardener/ecosystem manager challenge!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Progress is slow, but things are happening. I have two tanks set up in my home office - the 40 gallon QT and the 25 gallon holding tank. The holding tank just has substrate and water. Since I used dirt, I wanted to give it some time to settle down before I start transferring seagrass into it. Also, I'm still deciding on the lighting. The compact fluorescent I have on it now doesn't look bright enough to me. It's 96 watts, so that's 3.84 watts per gallon. I'll have to play around with it.

It occurred to me when to make the cut from one thread to the next. Once I drain the tank and am ready to begin adding new stuff - THAT will be the time!

 

[Michael Hoaster]

I have another 96 watt bulb and ballast, so I put both over the holding tank. Now I feel like there is enough light to keep the grasses alive in there. I put some mollies in there too. Now all I need to do is commit to ripping out the grasses. It's tough since they're doing so well. But it's got to happen! I got the stuff to make my tank-top screens, for fish stick prevention. It seems like a lot of fish are potential jumpers. So many projects to come!

Stay focused!

 

[vlangel]

I think you have a good plan and are executing it well. I hear ya on hating to rip out the grasses now that they are finally thriving. �� Its always a bummer to have to go backwards to ultimately progress more forwards.

 

[Chasmodes]

The next journey is nearly beginning