Purchased a 55g "reef" - Aiptasia & how to rebuild

1

1611mac

New member
Hello,
I have 4 FW tanks and I just purchased a 55g reef tank. The 6 fish (2 Clowns, 2 Blennys, 1 Pygmy (cherub) Angelfish, 1 Pajama Cardinal) are in a temporary up and running SW tank. There is also one small crab. Parameters are monitored every other day with API tests. Fish are examined morning and evening for disease, etc. Everyone is doing fine.

The rock, etc...
No nice coral pieces but some of the rock has a nice coating of Coralline alga and other "lesser things" (still learning... excuse me).

This "nicer" rock is in the 30g temp tank. The other rock is in buckets out in the garage.

I have one rock that has a good number of AIPTASIA on it (identified by my son, who has SW tank). I know this has to go...

I'm currently in the process of cleaning and resealing the tank. I also recently acquired (with another tank I'm using for FW) some "dry" rock that's been out of the tank for quite a while. It looks rather "clean."

Summary:
- I have rock in somewhat stable temp tank with some Coralline alga and un-desireables (Aiptasia)
- I have some "base" rock in SW sitting in buckets in the garage
- I have some "dry" base rock.

The wet rock currently has lots of algae, including bubble algae.

QUESTION:
Should I just "start from scratch." killing what's on the rock (how?) and scrubbing it all down completely...
-or-
Should I try to save some of the Coralline alga pieces cleaning as best I can around things?

Any wise words and direction would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

55gallon tank, 10 gallon sump, Reef octopus protein skimmer, 4 stage BRS Rodi system on the way)
 
Buckets.
Rock into buckets.
Bleach over rocks.
Soak for a few days.
Dump bleach.
Add tap water and Prime to dechlorinate rock.
It will take 2-3 dumping and adding more tap water and Prime to completly remove the chlorine.

This kills EVERYTHING. I even like to rotate the rocks in the bleach so it gets into all the nooks. This is the only way to not take anything from that terrible setup. And it was terrible if it has bubble algae and Aptasia. Those are not things you want to deal with in your first SW tank.
 
Thanks. Yes, it was a very neglected tank.

Once up and running how long before I should start to see new growth? It's difficult to see how things can grow from "nothing" even tough I see algae and plants and so many other things grow from "nothing" in my FW tanks each day!
 
i would recommend for you get rid of the rock that has Aiptasia because that will spread out fast , and it is hard to get rid of.
 
Laredotx1987 said:
i would recommend for you get rid of the rock that has Aiptasia because that will spread out fast , and it is hard to get rid of.
Click to expand...

If I removed the rock can I be sure Aiptasia isn't lurking "unseen" on other pieces?

Found THIS on the forum (Rock reincarnation). This tank is so bad I'm sure this is the way to go for me. Plus, being new to SW/Reef I can learn a lot from starting from scratch with dead rock.

Thanks for the reply. I very much appreciate it.
 
I wouldn't be quite so drastic. A few aiptasia is a piffle. A lot on one rock? I'd dip the rock for 30 seconds on all sides in hydrogen peroxide, rinse well, put in tank and watch for aiptasia. Quick, pretty effective, and re-do-able on a given side if it missed one.
 
Hmm... OK... I'll give peroxide a try. This rock is in my temp 30g with stock in it so I'll rinse really really well.

Piffle? I haven't heard Piffle for a long, long, time! That would be a good name for a fish. :)
 
Sk8r said:
I wouldn't be quite so drastic. A few aiptasia is a piffle. A lot on one rock? I'd dip the rock for 30 seconds on all sides in hydrogen peroxide, rinse well, put in tank and watch for aiptasia. Quick, pretty effective, and re-do-able on a given side if it missed one.
Click to expand...

Even with a neglected tank where you are unsure of parasitic creatures that could be present? Personally id rather start from scratch. Coraline algae isnt worth the headache of worms, aiptasia, bubble algae, what if there are dinos on the rock too? Ugh too much of a headache.
 
1611mac said:
Thanks. Yes, it was a very neglected tank.

Once up and running how long before I should start to see new growth? It's difficult to see how things can grow from "nothing" even tough I see algae and plants and so many other things grow from "nothing" in my FW tanks each day!
Click to expand...


Go the your LFS that you trust and you can seed the tank with one piece of LR that has all those nice creatures and algae already growing on it. (what i would do).

You can also add bacteria to the tank, they sell it in the bottle.
 
Will consider... I think I like the idea of starting from scratch just for learning purposes and also the peace of mind. I'm in no hurry, this tank is my first, really an experiment, and watching something come from nothing is appealing to me.
 
So I guess my temp 30g which contains about 1/3 of my rock will become a Fish Only tank while I kill and cure the rock.... I can't imagine the Dwarf Angelfish with no rock. All he does is swim thru and under the rock all day long..... An of course, the Blenny's love it too.
 
1611mac said:
Will consider... I think I like the idea of starting from scratch just for learning purposes and also the peace of mind. I'm in no hurry, this tank is my first, really an experiment, and watching something come from nothing is appealing to me.
Click to expand...

Thats the only thing any of us can do. Take the info and go with what works best for our situation.

SK8R has hoards of really great information and Im sure her hydrogen peroxide solution will work for the aiptasia, just not sure about all the other nasties.
 
OK... another question just came up. I received one lone snail in this neglected tank I purchased. He has been hiding and he finally came out this morning for the first time. He has a lone "bubble algae" on him plus other algae. (The rock in the temp tank has not been cleaned at all yet. It's straight from the original mess.) I'll clean him up a bit but it got me to wondering...

How common is it for inverts to bring undesirables into a good and clean environment? Is that something to worry about for a FOWLR tank?
 
Everything you add to a tank will bring these things in. The trick is to keep 'good' water conditions that won't favor these newcomers 'blooming' into 'a lot' of whatever it is. Do I have aiptasia? About 5 in a 100 gallon. Do I have bubble? I had 3, a while back. Do I have dinos? For about a week. Do I have asterinas? One or two. The only hitchhiker over which I have real worry is caulerpa algae. That stuff is horrid and grows by 3 separate means of reproduction. Most pests just won't grow if you don't have conditions that encourage them to multiply. And no, I did have one tiny sprig of caulerpa, but I did take after it with the hydrogen peroxide dip after a toothbrush scrub, and to my great relief, it didn't come back.

What encourages them? Too much food is the usual answer. A well-balanced tank with proper reef parameters and good lighting is a lot easier to manage than an overfed one with conspicuous detritus.
 
Sk8r said:
I wouldn't be quite so drastic. A few aiptasia is a piffle. A lot on one rock? I'd dip the rock for 30 seconds on all sides in hydrogen peroxide, rinse well, put in tank and watch for aiptasia. Quick, pretty effective, and re-do-able on a given side if it missed one.
Click to expand...

Terrible advice.
Do not put aiptasia laden rock into your tank.
You will regret it.
Do all you can to not introduce pests.
 
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