Melev's new 280g Starfire tank thread
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melev
Well-known member
This is a very slow process, but my suncorals seem to be improving in health on a daily basis. They are fed every night with a mixture of mysis and cyclop eeze. Each polyp is now inflating and spreading over the original skeletal base again. This will take a long time I'm sure, but I don't mind. See the babies forming? Every night they are open, but this was a daytime picture.
Here are the new Dendrophyllia polyps I purchased recently.
And this is what my skimmer pulled out since last night's cleaning. It looks like a volcano in shape inside the cup. Since dosing with AZNO3, I'm seeing better skimmate production, and the glass today isn't getting nearly the film it was getting before. Today I dosed 50 ml (640 drops)
Here are the new Dendrophyllia polyps I purchased recently.
And this is what my skimmer pulled out since last night's cleaning. It looks like a volcano in shape inside the cup. Since dosing with AZNO3, I'm seeing better skimmate production, and the glass today isn't getting nearly the film it was getting before. Today I dosed 50 ml (640 drops)
poppin_fresh
New member
with out further aduew...adeux...forget it...delay
here is the algae I was referring too. Anyone else had this crap, what is it??
here is the algae I was referring too. Anyone else had this crap, what is it??
jnarowe
New member
That's the very rare RedEX algae and you can't get rid of it. You will have to take your system down, allow it to stay fallow for 6 months, throw out your rock, and neuter the fish.
Good Luck!
Oh great, now it shows up! :lol:
Anyway, maybe it's not algae? Perhaps bacteria? I have something similar in my QT that lets go when I hit it with a lot of flow.
Good Luck!
Oh great, now it shows up! :lol:
Anyway, maybe it's not algae? Perhaps bacteria? I have something similar in my QT that lets go when I hit it with a lot of flow.
poppin_fresh
New member
HAHAHA...I just put the pics in the wrong dang folder on the webserver. All better now...thanks for the sarchasm! 
poppin_fresh
New member
This stuff has never shown up in my refugium. It will however grow infront of and on the intakes of my Tunzes, so I know its not afraid of flow.
Alaska_Phil
New member
Yes, I've seen that twice in my 50 gal system. The first time I fought it for months doing 2x weekly water changes, running phosepate sponge, all the usualy algae removal stuff. I finally rid the tank of the stuff by manually removing as much as possible and then completely blacking out the tank for 3 days. Best way I found to remove it was to shut down the circulation and scrape and srub at it, then scoop it out with a net. And I mean completely blacked out, covered with black plastic top and all sides. Be prepared to do a large water change as soon as you uncover the tank again, and you're skimmer will be pulling an increadible amount for a while.
After the first time the tank was clean for almost a year, but it reappeared after a couple large turbo snails dissappeared, presumed dead and rotting in some little hole that I can't find. Now I'm dealing with a minor hair algae bloom following it.
Phil
After the first time the tank was clean for almost a year, but it reappeared after a couple large turbo snails dissappeared, presumed dead and rotting in some little hole that I can't find. Now I'm dealing with a minor hair algae bloom following it.
Phil
melev
Well-known member
Whatever it is, you need to export it. Here's what I would do:
Turn off all pumps.
Use a scraper and have a helper nearby with some tubing. Scrape and siphon out all of that stuff into a nearby bucket or trashcan. Between scraping, they can pinch off the tubing to avoid wasting saltwater.
Replace water with newly mixed (and 24 hour aged) saltwater that matches the tank's temp, pH and salinity.
Run carbon actively in a Phosban Reactor and change it in 72 hours. Run another batch of carbon.
Reduce your lighting period to 6 hours a day, max. Due to the improving water conditions, clarity will inprove and your corals may get too much light. After a couple of weeks, you can ramp up the lighting schedule by 15 mins daily to get back to 9-10 hours a day of light.
Clean skimmer collection cup and riser tube daily for the next week or two.
Test for nitrate and phosphate 24 hours after the clean up to see what the water parameters really are. You definitely have PO4 in the water, which needs to be removed via GFO or something like Phosbuster Pro.
Oh, and sit back and enjoy your cleaner tank. Celebrate and reward yourself with some new hungry snails.
Turn off all pumps.
Use a scraper and have a helper nearby with some tubing. Scrape and siphon out all of that stuff into a nearby bucket or trashcan. Between scraping, they can pinch off the tubing to avoid wasting saltwater.
Replace water with newly mixed (and 24 hour aged) saltwater that matches the tank's temp, pH and salinity.
Run carbon actively in a Phosban Reactor and change it in 72 hours. Run another batch of carbon.
Reduce your lighting period to 6 hours a day, max. Due to the improving water conditions, clarity will inprove and your corals may get too much light. After a couple of weeks, you can ramp up the lighting schedule by 15 mins daily to get back to 9-10 hours a day of light.
Clean skimmer collection cup and riser tube daily for the next week or two.
Test for nitrate and phosphate 24 hours after the clean up to see what the water parameters really are. You definitely have PO4 in the water, which needs to be removed via GFO or something like Phosbuster Pro.
Oh, and sit back and enjoy your cleaner tank. Celebrate and reward yourself with some new hungry snails.
Alaska_Phil
New member
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, I brought the lights back on slowly. 2 hours the first 2 days, 4 hours the next two...etc...
Phil
Phil
makoJ
New member
makoJ
New member
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10896652#post10896652 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by melev
This is a very slow process, but my suncorals seem to be improving in health on a daily basis. They are fed every night with a mixture of mysis and cyclop eeze. Each polyp is now inflating and spreading over the original skeletal base again. This will take a long time I'm sure, but I don't mind. See the babies forming? Every night they are open, but this was a daytime picture.
Here are the new Dendrophyllia polyps I purchased recently.
And this is what my skimmer pulled out since last night's cleaning. It looks like a volcano in shape inside the cup. Since dosing with AZNO3, I'm seeing better skimmate production, and the glass today isn't getting nearly the film it was getting before. Today I dosed 50 ml (640 drops)
Nice score on the Dendro's!
melev
Well-known member
Yeah, you win a few, you lose a few. Read on...
So all my corals have done fine with the AZNO3 in the system except for the one tricolor acro. It was loosing tissue within its core. Today I took another look at it, and to my disgust, it was AEFW bites. AGAIN! With all my attention to avoiding introducing any pests in my tank too. Argh. Here are some pictures of the beasts. The coral is just a frag, and to be honest I'd almost willing to toss it out rather than take the chance of letting any more loose in my system.
Notice the tiny dots or spots? Those are bite marks. The dark area that the arrow indicates are eggs of more to come.
I pulled it out of the tank, and let it dry off. When that happens, the AEFW are shiny wet.
It is currently in a Fluke Tab bath with powerhead, but there are a lot of eggs in that coral. I know that Julian Sprung has released a product called Revive that some are successfully using to melt these hideous creatures away, and I almost placed an order for a bottle with my recent MarineDepot order. Should of done it after all.
So all my corals have done fine with the AZNO3 in the system except for the one tricolor acro. It was loosing tissue within its core. Today I took another look at it, and to my disgust, it was AEFW bites. AGAIN! With all my attention to avoiding introducing any pests in my tank too. Argh. Here are some pictures of the beasts. The coral is just a frag, and to be honest I'd almost willing to toss it out rather than take the chance of letting any more loose in my system.
Notice the tiny dots or spots? Those are bite marks. The dark area that the arrow indicates are eggs of more to come.
I pulled it out of the tank, and let it dry off. When that happens, the AEFW are shiny wet.
It is currently in a Fluke Tab bath with powerhead, but there are a lot of eggs in that coral. I know that Julian Sprung has released a product called Revive that some are successfully using to melt these hideous creatures away, and I almost placed an order for a bottle with my recent MarineDepot order. Should of done it after all.
poppin_fresh
New member
Bummer 'bout them flat worms Marc.
Thanks for the tips with the slime. Its pretty much what I have been doing, less the Phosban reactor. I had it offline for months now, but I finally got some more GFO and new pump for it. I have slacked on the whole tank for a while now while I work on getting the 180 online.
Does that Phosbuster stuff even work? Does it convert the PO4 into another compound??
Thanks for the tips with the slime. Its pretty much what I have been doing, less the Phosban reactor. I had it offline for months now, but I finally got some more GFO and new pump for it. I have slacked on the whole tank for a while now while I work on getting the 180 online.
Does that Phosbuster stuff even work? Does it convert the PO4 into another compound??
Lunchbucket
Premium Member
Crap I'm sorry to hear that you have more of them. You haven't treated all of your corals have you? I'm wondering if they have been lurking and you didn't know it till they populated enough to show signs?
Lunchbucket
Lunchbucket
Dudester
Premium Member
Marc, since it's only 1 small coral that's affected (as far as you know), I'd put it in a separate quarantine tank and treat it "by the book" if you intend to keep it. I know you've had success treating an individual colony in the past, but this frag is completely covered with eggs and bite marks from flatworms. My opinion is that you would be placing your beautiful reef at unnecessary risk by keeping this coral in there. I'm not sure the treatment would be 'worth it' if you're only going to treat 1 coral, but I also know that you hate to give up on any coral and, philosophically, it may be the right thing to do. Nobody would fault you for throwing it out, however, and considering the labor involved, that would probably be my personal course of action.
Benny Z
In Memoriam
melev - i've used azno3 many times. i've found it useful in quickly reducing nutrients in extreme situations. however, ime it has the exact same results as using vodka, but with vodka you get the added bonus of po4 extraction...which, in all honesty i'm willing to bet the azno3 and azpo4 products are one in the same. (vodka or sugar water - just a hunch. 
)
also - if you plan to run the product long term i think you will begin to see your tank look very sterile after about 3 months. i try not to use it for more than a month or so at a time or my corals start to pale. jme.
)also - if you plan to run the product long term i think you will begin to see your tank look very sterile after about 3 months. i try not to use it for more than a month or so at a time or my corals start to pale. jme.
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