Need some advice...

I

icy1155

Member
So now that I'm in my senior year of college I've become alot more involved at the Marine Science Center here. I recently started to pick up some projects that nobody has done anything with (or at least not to the extent that is needed). My first question is on the topic of red slime algae. I am preparing reef tank here at the campus to do a propogation expierement but the most work that has been done on this system for the last year was feeding the couple of clowns and royal gramma that make it their home, so red algae has infested the tank. I know that this means the nitrates are to high so i will be cleaning the biological filter to remove nitrate buildup and suctioning out all of the red algae that I can. I was wondering if anyone had any further suggestions on what can be done to combat this.

The second question that I have has to do with the same tank. Before I start investing my time in a coral propogation expierement, I need to get rid of all of the Aptasia that have infested the tank. I was looking on saltwaterfish.com and i saw peppermint shrimp 5 for like 18.99 or something similar. I dont mind paying for the shrimp because i know they will work on the Aptasia but I think I remember reading somewhere that they can possibly bother soft corals if they run out of Aptasia ... which hopefully they will eventually. I was wondering if anyone had expierence with keeping peppermint shrimp in a reef tank, and is it something I need to worry about. Right now there are tons of mushrooms in the tank as well as a beautiful frogspawn, and i dont want to introduce anything that will bother either or any corals that i may put in in the future.

The third and final question is in regards to sea horses. I was wondering if anyone here had expierence with keeping them and knew their requirements. The reason im asking this is there is a poor neglected yellow sea horse that nobody takes care of other than to feed every couple days (he/she/it is accepting frozen brine) I know that it deserves alot more care so it may be possibly going in my home tank, or even if it doesnt it will end up in a new system (its currently in approamatliy 4-5 gallon plastic critter cottage with a plastic plant and an air stone). He/she/it has proven to be a really hardy little sucker and the situation its in is horrible so i was wondering if you had advice on the setup that i need to get going that would be most benefical for his health. I dont have a large budget but you would be suprised at some of the equipment laying around the Marine Science Center that i have access to (i have everything needed to culture phytoplankton, zooplankton, rotifers, copepods, theres a 55ish gallon tank that I think that hes gonna go in if he stays there and doesnt come home with me, all sorts of perhipreal equipment)



Thanks for any advice i get on any of my questions... Im hoping to fix some of the neglect as soon as i can (today im going in siphon off some slime, kill some of the larger (size of a half dollar) Aptasia, and clean the little horses tank again (i have been doing this for the past 3 days since I realized nobody was taking care of him) and feed him.
 
I think a protein skimmer is a must if you are going to be doing sps corals and it would greatly help on your slime situation.

My peppermint shrimp have never bothered any of my sps or soft corals but they never touch any Aptasia when I had them in my tank either. I ended up using a paste made out of pickling lime/water and applied to their heads. Cheap and it worked.

Good luck !

Tim
 
the tank has a full external sump with a protien skimmer and a bio filter set up... i dont know if the protien skimmer is working but i know i saw it when i was looking over the equipment in the room behind the tank... and for aptasia i know that peppermints will eat off the smaller ones cause thats how i got rid of mine last year in my FWLR tank... just wasnt sure if they would bother the soft corals, LPS or SPS corals
 
another option for Aiptasia is to make a kalk slurry and either inject them or cover them with the past/slurry. don't do too much at a time as you can cause precipitation if you do too much at a time..
 
I have peppermint shrimp. The end of my tank where they live has no aiptasia. I haven't had a problem with them bothering corals either. Also, a good place to start would be the forum for beginners. there is an unbelievable wealth of info there. Good luck, Mitzi
 
The only coral my pepp harmed was a zoanthid colony- ate the skirts right off. Needless to say, he isn't with us anymore!!! Never saw him hurt anything else though.

Cyano really hates a high stable PH. To this end, I use Kalkawasser. Kill the aiptasia with injected boiling water, Joe's Juice, or the Kalkawasser...

:D
Laurie
 
Protein skimmer and high Ph are good suggestion.

In the short term you might want to get some frozen mysid
for the seahorse. Matt has a lot of information on raising seahorses.
I will post some more detail later.

I have not had a problem with peppermint shrimp.
A suggestion might be to take the rocks out and treat them.
Rinse them in clean saltwater and put back in the tank.
A water change is helpful.The nutrient level may be so high
that this may be necessary.

Do you go to school at SMCC or UNE?
There are a couple of people at UNE that
know a lot about saltwater fish.
Someone who worked at The Aquarium Gallery
is going to UNE.
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=30791
 
I go to UNE... there are alot of people here who know alot about saltwater tanks but nobody takes the time to do anything with the tanks other than the clowns that the aquaculture class takes care of. I did a 10% water change today, cleaned the bio filter out and injected the larger aptasia with boiling water. Theres just to many of the little ones to get them all which is why i was asking about the peppermints.

thanks for the info about cyanobacteria... havent run into it in my tanks or any of my room mates over the past couple years but thats prolly cause in all those tanks things were taken care of.
 
Could you start one of the zooplankton cultures for the seahorse? Or maybe put some peppermint shrimp in with the seahorse (once it's in a bigger tank) and the shrimp larvae can provide additional food for the seahorse.

Peppermint shrimp may or may not eat aiptasia. There are 2 types of shrimp sold as peppermint shrimp. I don't see the "real" ones for sale very often. They have wider, brighter red lines and may eat more of the aiptasia.

How much live rock is in the tank now? Perhaps you won't need the biofolter that is in the sump.

Check out the skimmer. It may need a real good cleaning. It doens't sound like these tanks get much care. Hats off to you for stepping up to the plate and taking an interest in them:) Good luck.
 
There are nudibranchs that eat aptaisia and are excellent at removing it... the only thing is after they eat it all they will die off as that is all they eat....Rick at New England Aquarium services is raising the berginia (SP?) He is in your area too, Biddeford.

As far as the seahorse goes, I think a 55 maybe too big for 1 seahorse,, it is best to have a small herd as they are social and maybe in a smaller tank...they do not swim too fast or much and any uneaten food will foul the tank. If that is all you have then go with it... I had 4 seahorses in a 29H that worked out right... they do not require a lot of flow altho one I had used to hang on the end of a powerhead and ride the flo..I removed it thinking it was not good for it, but he frequented that spot so I am thinking it was enjoyable for him. You have to be careful with tank mates, if they are agressive or fast, they will eat the food before the horse has had it's fill..... so be aware of his tankmates. I had a pearly jaw and a dartfish wiht mine and it seemed to work okay

I agree with the pH and red slime....I think i t is more like a bacterial thing, isn't it? Not a true algae?

good luck
denise
 
Red Slime is cyanobacteria.

Definitely clean the skimmer, it will make a major difference if it hasn't been done in 3-6 months.
 
ok, the skimmer will be my project for today... and i think that the amount of live rock is very close to what the tank is supposed to have. Ill ask my teacher what the tank is and how much live rock there is, it would be nice to get rid of that biological filter so stuff doesnt build up there again (it was disgusting the other day when i cleaned it)... as for the sea horse i have a culture of phytoplankton going that should be ready in 3 days and then i can start the zooplankton (they eat the phyto) so hopefully within the week i should be able to start offering live food. How many gallons would you recommend for the horse? Theres a bunch of smaller tanks laying around from 3gal to 55 and anywhere in between.

Also thanks for the info on the nudibranch... im going to look into getting one or two of them for all of the smaller aptasia... and after they clean that tank all out ill move them over to the Alfond tank (if i can get in... they hire someone to take care of it and dont let the students do anything). Its a 400 gallon tank that basically houses tons of halimeda and aptasia with like 3 clowns and one angel (i think... he never comes out of the rockwork)


Thanks for all the advice
 
Aquatic Concepts in Westbrook sells live brine shrimp.
I add a small amout of selcon, vitamins and feed them
pure Spirulina flakes before adding them to the tank.
This enriches the brine shrimp. There is an algae that
is good for raising brine shrimp, rotifers and other cultures.
Matt knows the name of it. I just can not remember it.
I will post when I find out.
My opinion of the Nanochloropsus algae is it is not very good for
raising cultures. It is smaller than many phytoplankton and has
less nutrients.

Nanochloropsus, green, non motile, 6 µm dia.
Tetraselmis, green, motile, 10 x 14 µm
Isocrysis, golden brown, motile, 8 µm dia.

There are a couple good books on it here.

https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi?cart_id=9115007.9311*bh2IY3&product=BOOKS_MANUALS

https://3kserver7.com/~frank/secure/agora.cgi
 
No, Rick services the new aquarium in the Alfond hall. This one is a small (75 gallon) reef tank that is on display at the Marine Science Center. I went down to New England Aquarium services today and was introduced to the guy who is breeding the aptasia eating nudibranches through a mutual friend... in january I may be working with him part time just for the expierence on my resume... but back to the topic he doesnt have any avalible for sale at the moment since the ones that he offered were bought about the time that he raised them. Guess im gonna have to go with the peppermints.

So which type of phyto would you recommend... I can get any type of phyto and zoo through the MSC for the sea horse since he is living there.
 
Pauline, at Atlantis over by the mall was selling berghia's for Rick in her store. Not sure how much but, I think she still has a couple. I bought 4 from him a while back and noticed some disappear but now I'm using a kalkawasser paste. All you have to do is feed them a small chuck and they're done. Keep an eye on ph though and only do a little at a time, don't try to get all of them at once.
For Phyto I use DT's but, I don't have seahorses.
 
Frozen msysi are a great food source for seahorses. Much more nutrious than frozen brine. I reccomend enriching frozen brine with Selco. Brine are fairly easy to raise on Tet. I could never get them to grow on Nano. Again, enrich these if they are the primary food source.
 
You know, I was just reading this, and I would add that it may be a good idea to introduce some chaeto into that tank to out compete the algae for free nutrient sources,- especially if the skimmer is pooping out. I'd tell you to use the halimeda, but it is calcium based and it doesn't sound like you would be doing that in a clown tank, possibly. Caulerpa outcompetes cyano quickly, ime, but if no one is watching that tank and you leave, I wouldn't want it to go sexual when it runs out of room.

:D
Laurie
 
I feed Hikari Mysis to my ponies and they are doing well. Aquatic Concepts in Westbrook carries the Hikari brand.
 
Your bio filter is the most probable case of the slime, most "bio filters" will create nitrates and in time will become an issue. IMO, get rid of that filter what ever it, bioballs, wet/dry, ceramic media, whatever, but get rid of it slowly and let your LR catch up in processing your nitrates, maybe run carbon. Maybe boost up your LR with some more. Clean your skimmer weekly.
Are you using RO/DI water? Tap water will give you issues in time, even living up here where the water is pretty good.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

vinstr
Anyone need a Harlequin shrimp?
Replies
1
Views
121
vinstr
vinstr
B
Ritteri Swollen Mouth
Replies
8
Views
438
Bakeman
B
Ab129
Replacing a clown
Replies
11
Views
108
Uncle99
Uncle99
T
New 55g setup. Advice for fish appreciated
Replies
6
Views
182
Uncle99
Uncle99
B
  • Question Question
Soft Water
Replies
13
Views
327
wvned
wvned
Back
Top