Restarting 120g Reef Tank?

K

kiMxD

New member
Hello folks,

I am in need of your opinions and experience on this one.
I have not been happy with one of my tanks lately and so I decided to create this thread.

My reef tank has been setup for about a year and a half and it has gone through different changes and adaptations, but lately I have been struggling with two major pests: Aiptasia and Vermetid Snails.

I know that I could remove all the rock and manually remove the snails, I know I could use many products to kill aiptasia (and I did and they came back), I know I could buy shrimps to kill aiptasia (which I have 12 and they are not working on it) and, I know I could also buy Aiptasia Eating File Fish (which I have one and he has not touched them at ALL).

Having all that said, I feel like restarting the tank, literally removing everything and setting up again. Reason why is I feel that just removing the rocks to manually remove these pests won't do it, as they are probably everywhere (sump, overflow, etc) and they'd come back sooner or later.

I have recorded a video of my reef, it is 1 minute long and I'd appreciate if you could take a look at it.

The only thing that is holding me back a little is that it took so long for this tank to establish itself (not having algae issues and so forth) that I feel bad resetting it.

Can you please let me know what would you do in my case? Also, what do you think of my rockwork, lightining fixture, powerhead positioning and whatever you want to tell me about.

Thank you so much, I really need your help on this one.

Have a great new years!


VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9ZgCRoTz8k
 
Hard to see with the blue so strong from the lights. Ive had good success with lemon juice for aiptasia. If a select rock is a problem, you could remove it. Rockwork looks good. I wouldn't reset, you can recover from snails and aiptasia.
 
Vermetids are harmless, but annoying when you get cut and scratched. A butterfly, i.e. raccoon butterfly. et al., should eat all the aiptasia (and every other invert). You might move the desirable inverts to another tank while the butterfly does his thing. I was quarantining assorted butterflies once and they ate the legs off a large red star.

I'm not sure how you can acquire a butterfly and then get rid of it later - maybe a trade?

I wonder if you really have aiptasia and not something else?

The intense blue is hard on the eyes. It looks to be at least 20,000 k. I'd go to 12,000-14,000k. That might be part of the problem.
 
WVfishguy thank you. These lights are the VIPARSPECTRA 300W, running them on 90% blue and 20% white. Should I lower it? They are 16 inches above the tank.
 
Coincidentally, I have been looking at Viparspectra 300 watt myself. Came very close to getting two for my 90 gal, but went with Kessil 360WEs.

Why 90% blue? I've never understood why people want their tanks to look like somebody butchered a smurf in the water. I'd keep it closer to something more balanced with white light.

A lot of coral reefs are pretty close to the ocean's surface, where they get white light.

I had some customer's FOWLER tanks with bad, unsightly aiptasia outbreaks. I'd take out a couple rocks, give them a hot water bath and then scrub them with a hard bristle brush, rinse and place back in the tank. I'd do a couple of rocks every other day, so it wouldn't disrupt the tank's cycle.

If the rock has corals on it, you can't use hot water. I've used a lot of lime paste. That's simply a thick paste made from Mrs. Wage's Pickling Lime and distilled (or RO) water. (I thinks that's what Joe's Juice is.)

Using a small paint brush, I smear the aiptasia with the past, and it kills the pest. You can also squirt a bit into the aiptasia and that will also kill it.
 
WVfishguy said:
Coincidentally, I have been looking at Viparspectra 300 watt myself. Came very close to getting two for my 90 gal, but went with Kessil 360WEs.

Why 90% blue? I've never understood why people want their tanks to look like somebody butchered a smurf in the water. I'd keep it closer to something more balanced with white light.

A lot of coral reefs are pretty close to the ocean's surface, where they get white light.

I had some customer's FOWLER tanks with bad, unsightly aiptasia outbreaks. I'd take out a couple rocks, give them a hot water bath and then scrub them with a hard bristle brush, rinse and place back in the tank. I'd do a couple of rocks every other day, so it wouldn't disrupt the tank's cycle.

If the rock has corals on it, you can't use hot water. I've used a lot of lime paste. That's simply a thick paste made from Mrs. Wage's Pickling Lime and distilled (or RO) water. (I thinks that's what Joe's Juice is.)

Using a small paint brush, I smear the aiptasia with the past, and it kills the pest. You can also squirt a bit into the aiptasia and that will also kill it.
Click to expand...

I was just trying to emulate what other people were running their lights at. I have a 120g 4ftx2ftx2ft, do you think I should get another VIPARSPECTRA 300W for this size tank?

I was thinking on bleaching the entire tank (removing livestock first, obviously), what are your thoughts on it?
 
WVfishguy said:
Why 90% blue? I've never understood why people want their tanks to look like somebody butchered a smurf in the water. I'd keep it closer to something more balanced with white light.
Click to expand...

I run 100% blue 50% white and it is not terribly blue at all. It always looks worse on camera phones because they can't handle blue light intensity well. I would say it has no affect on aiptasia growth thats for sure.

I wouldn't worry about vermitids, rarely do we see cases on here that get to a level that is truly plague pest proportions. Aiptasia can. If the tank isn't too predatory, maybe try some berghia nudis. They are the only creature guaranteed to eat them, but it may take adding a bunch, plus waiting a while for them to really crank into gear. I have some aiptasia in my tank, they seem to come and go. One time they got bad and I went through a whole bottle of AiptasiaX killing them. They are still around though. Can't kill them if you can't see them. Manage nutrients and they stay in check I've found.
 
My reef has been set up for 10 years, it went through many times of greatness and some some other not so good times. 2 years ago, I couldn't give away my hammers and candy corals they grew so fast. Then last year and a half corals started declining with no reason. I had to move everything into my sump for a new tank coming. While in sump I found these vermatid snails covering everything!! I thought about starting from scratch, but you will get the same problems. I did not add anything new to may tank for at least 5 years, and now I have these tiny tube snails covering everything!! I think your better off fighting through the problems. Its a lot of work to start new, and just have the same problems again and again. I am using a small butane torch to cook the snails , and If I see a aptasia, I toast it also, then put the rock back in the tank. I am doing that to corals and rocks with corals attached. Other large rock pieces I am putting outside to dry out. A few pieces a month. Hope this helps
 
sde1500 said:
I run 100% blue 50% white and it is not terribly blue at all. It always looks worse on camera phones because they can't handle blue light intensity well. I would say it has no affect on aiptasia growth thats for sure.

I wouldn't worry about vermitids, rarely do we see cases on here that get to a level that is truly plague pest proportions. Aiptasia can. If the tank isn't too predatory, maybe try some berghia nudis. They are the only creature guaranteed to eat them, but it may take adding a bunch, plus waiting a while for them to really crank into gear. I have some aiptasia in my tank, they seem to come and go. One time they got bad and I went through a whole bottle of AiptasiaX killing them. They are still around though. Can't kill them if you can't see them. Manage nutrients and they stay in check I've found.
Click to expand...


Do you also have a VIPARSPECTRA?
 
I'm not familiar enough with VIPARSPECTRA 300W to tell the OP if he should add another one to his 120. It seems his 120 is a 4 or 5 foot tank, so I'd think one should do it, but, like I said, I'm not familiar with the brand. I do NOT recommend tearing the tank down. Won't some shrimps also eat aiptasia? It's been so long since I had these critters I've forgotten what eats them.
 
What kind of shrimp do you have? Every time I put a Peppermint shrimp in my tank they eat all aptasia. I have heard of people being duped by being sold a different shrimp. Also vermitids will eventually go away if their food source goes away. Had an explosion in my 90 and then like that they were gone.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Have you tried super glue over the snails? I couldn't see how bad the aptasia was at the speed you moved the camera around even with pausing.
 
Not sure how you expect to get rid of vermatids...or why?

I have a tank that's been running for 12 years with vermatids in it. They don't seem to bother anything...they just make the rockwork a bit pokey. The population seems to rise and fall from time to time.

So, lets say you restart - you're going to throw away all your rock, and all your corals and hope the new rock/corals doesn't have any vermatids? And then hope no frags you ever buy have a vermatid?

Seems unrealistic.

Aptaisia is easy to get rid of. Joes juice syringe, or some peppermint shrimp. A few days of zapping every aptaisia you see with joes juice and they'll be gone.

Tanks are work. "Restarting" may seem like the easy way out...but you'll just have a different problem next time.
 
sslak said:
Not sure how you expect to get rid of vermatids...or why?

I have a tank that's been running for 12 years with vermatids in it. They don't seem to bother anything...they just make the rockwork a bit pokey. The population seems to rise and fall from time to time.

So, lets say you restart - you're going to throw away all your rock, and all your corals and hope the new rock/corals doesn't have any vermatids? And then hope no frags you ever buy have a vermatid?

Seems unrealistic.

Aptaisia is easy to get rid of. Joes juice syringe, or some peppermint shrimp. A few days of zapping every aptaisia you see with joes juice and they'll be gone.

Tanks are work. "Restarting" may seem like the easy way out...but you'll just have a different problem next time.
Click to expand...


You're right, I got rid of the aiptasias I could see (there were only three in my main display, and a whole bunch inside the overflow corners).

I spoke to Jeff from Reeftown last week and he advise me to leave the aiptasias in the overflow alone, that they would not spread as much if I didnt touch them. I will take his advice and see what happens.
 
I did not have a single vermatid in my latest 90 reefer when I set it up last year. But I (apparently) got some with a coral I purchased. In a few months, I now have hundreds. If I tore the tank down, and got rid of them, it would just be a matter of time before I got them again.
 
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