1000 gallon tank for a beginner!

[SlowAndStupid]

Love it! Any updates?

Sure! Things are coming along nicely. Some of my corals are growing better than others. My scrambled egg zoas have already started growing onto the rock.

My long polyp toadstool is growing quickly as well.

I noticed that 2 of my small live rocks that came from Tampa Bay came with majano anemones and aiptasia. I pulled those out and have them in my 40B quarantine tank. I have tried to kill them multiple times but they keep coming back. With lots of good guy hitchhikers on these rocks I really want to save them. May ultimately buy a nudibranch.

Speaking of buying, I'd like to put in another order of corals as well as some more fish but am waiting for the weather to improve. I lost fish last winter and don't care to do that again.

One of my 4 maxspect gyres died on me within the past month and when I tore it down found that the rotor shaft magnet had split and was rusting into the tank. Always fun to see. I tried to purchase a replacement shaft for this 16-month old gyre but support came back saying they've since upgraded the part and I would just have to buy a brand new gyre instead. They received a less than pleasant response back about what support I would expect to get from buying name brand. I'll just buy jebao gyres instead for that kind of response! Then they came back saying ok we do actually have the part but it's on backorder til March.

 

[TheWB]

Sure! Things are coming along nicely. Some of my corals are growing better than others. My scrambled egg zoas have already started growing onto the rock.

My long polyp toadstool is growing quickly as well.

I noticed that 2 of my small live rocks that came from Tampa Bay came with majano anemones and aiptasia. I pulled those out and have them in my 40B quarantine tank. I have tried to kill them multiple times but they keep coming back. With lots of good guy hitchhikers on these rocks I really want to save them. May ultimately buy a nudibranch.

Speaking of buying, I'd like to put in another order of corals as well as some more fish but am waiting for the weather to improve. I lost fish last winter and don't care to do that again.

One of my 4 maxspect gyres died on me within the past month and when I tore it down found that the rotor shaft magnet had split and was rusting into the tank. Always fun to see. I tried to purchase a replacement shaft for this 16-month old gyre but support came back saying they've since upgraded the part and I would just have to buy a brand new gyre instead. They received a less than pleasant response back about what support I would expect to get from buying name brand. I'll just buy jebao gyres instead for that kind of response! Then they came back saying ok we do actually have the part but it's on backorder til March.

Is the Aiptasia really big? If it is then it’s a lightbulb anemone which is in the Aiptasia family but it doesn’t spread like the plague the way Aiptasia does. I got some on some TBS nano rock. I tried to kill mine, I have 5, with Joes Juice and it did not work, it looked like they were gone but they came back. I’m going to try a modified nem cannon at some point to see if I can get them that way. I want to get them completely off the rock so there’s no chance they regenerate.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Is the Aiptasia really big? If it is then it’s a lightbulb anemone which is in the Aiptasia family but it doesn’t spread like the plague the way Aiptasia does. I got some on some TBS nano rock. I tried to kill mine, I have 5, with Joes Juice and it did not work, it looked like they were gone but they came back. I’m going to try a modified nem cannon at some point to see if I can get them that way. I want to get them completely off the rock so there’s no chance they regenerate.

I have two rocks with these buggers. Several are around dime size and keep coming back. Then there's a bunch of millimeter sized aiptasia scattered around the rocks as well. It is like two distinct species.

 

[twentyleagues]

I have two rocks with these buggers. Several are around dime size and keep coming back. Then there's a bunch of millimeter sized aiptasia scattered around the rocks as well. It is like two distinct species.

One of the reasons I went dry rock. But of course I was not careful when transferring corals from my infested lfs live rock tank so I still got nems and bubble algae. I thought I was being careful but I must have missed some. Berghia for nems and pitho crabs for bubble algae helped me. I also missed the little blue/purple clove polyps that got brought in on I am guessing a frag..... Getting old sucks, I miss my better than 20/20 vision. Time to break out the readers when I do the next transfer or coral add.

 

[TheWB]

I have two rocks with these buggers. Several are around dime size and keep coming back. Then there's a bunch of millimeter sized aiptasia scattered around the rocks as well. It is like two distinct species.

Did you take any pictures? If you've got aiptasia then some peppermint shrimp should help if you get the right ones. I like to see them eating aiptasia at the LFS before I buy them. I also had good luck eliminating the small ones with an Aiptasia eating filefish from Biota. I don't know if berghia would be very effective in such a large tank but I could be wrong.

 

[lubeck]

I have two rocks with these buggers. Several are around dime size and keep coming back. Then there's a bunch of millimeter sized aiptasia scattered around the rocks as well. It is like two distinct species.

I have two rocks with these buggers. Several are around dime size and keep coming back. Then there's a bunch of millimeter sized aiptasia scattered around the rocks as well. It is like two distinct species.

There is a quick fix for these type as I had them on my TBS rock as well. Do you currently use kalkwasser? If not you can buy a small jar for cheap. You create a thick paste suck up in a syringe and slowly apply to the head covering the entire head. When it closes on the syringe eep squeezing and it dissolves.

Be sure all your pumps are off.

I had dozens of these guys and feel like they were easier to kill then aptasia

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I have the offending rocks in a small tank right now. I have plastered Joe's juice all over it multiple times to no avail.

 

[lubeck]

I have the offending rocks in a small tank right now. I have plastered Joe's juice all over it multiple times to no avail.

That’s not strong enough. Use kalk and make a paste. They will dissolve before your eyes. I was doing about 6-10 per week directly in the tank. I was surprised how well it worked because I never could kill aptasia. Shrimps won’t touch the big ones. You need to do that manually

 

[TheWB]

I have the offending rocks in a small tank right now. I have plastered Joe's juice all over it multiple times to no avail.

The Joe’s Juice definitely doesn’t work on the lightbulb anemones.

 

[RJKain-777]

How do you like those lights? Debating them for a large build

 

[SlowAndStupid]

How do you like those lights? Debating them for a large build

The lights are great. The atlas lights with their reflector punch down all the way to the bottom. The corals are noticeably growing. I use the atlas for full spectrum during the day and for seeing the fish in their true colors. They dim down through the course of the day while my 2 helix blue lights come on. At the end of the night it's just the blues and the corals pop very well under them.

 

[RJKain-777]

The lights are great. The atlas lights with their reflector punch down all the way to the bottom. The corals are noticeably growing. I use the atlas for full spectrum during the day and for seeing the fish in their true colors. They dim down through the course of the day while my 2 helix blue lights come on. At the end of the night it's just the blues and the corals pop very well under them.

I like a day light look, so these may be perfect.

Was considering them on all my frag tanks as well.

 

[Bucrob]

I went from a 60g freshwater tank directly to a 500g saltwater tank. It really wasn't that big a change in terms of manageability. I would stay away from live corals unless you really want to make a big commitment to the hobby. A FOWLR tank is WAY WAY easier to manage. You should probably consult a pro regarding what size return pumps, size of wet/dry sump, UV sterilizer and other equipment necessary, but you need way less complicated equipment if you stay away from corals. I have a dedicated RO unit that automatically tops off the aquarium as water evaporates making it effortless. You'll need a nearby water line and drain line to do that. If you need a Chiller consider a split system; the heat exchanger sits right next to the tank but the noisy, large compressor sits outside or in your garage. The installer will run the refrigerant lines from the garage to the tank via attic space. It sounds complicated but really isn't and is the best way imo to run a Chiller for such a big tank, assuming you need one.

I wouldn't say corals make it WAY harder; you just simply have to watch other parameters than salinity nitrate and phosphate which honestly isn't that much harder to do. I've personally only ever kept saltwater, had a 15g nano tank for about a year with corals and anemones then upgraded to a 150g. I've never had a problem with any of the other parameters corals need in those tanks, and if there was any parameter I struggled with most it would definitely be phosphates. I think all tanks need corals unless you're getting puffers and stuff

 

[breathing underwater]

I've been meaning to post an update for some time now. I have successfully beaten my dinos followed by treating my heavy cyano outbreak with chemiclean. The sand has been clean and no further signs of dinos or cyano. The typical green algae covers the rockscape without any GHA in the tank, and I have scraped the first signs of purple coraline from the acrylic as well.

The tank is now officially a reef tank!

I finally climbed in and glued down the frags about a week ago after almost 2 months of quarantining the frags. I'm starting to think quarantining may have done more harm than good. I lost several frags in my 20 gallon long when the ones that have made it to the main display seem to be thriving within it. I suspect they all would have done well if I had not kept them in the QT for as long as I did.

I did successfully find and treat aiptasia on the frags however I have noticed several manjano anemones as hitchhikers from my tampa bay rubble, so again, not sure if the quarantine was worth the coral loss. I have to think on that more for the next rounds of corals.

I had been dosing nitrates and phos during my dino battle and am now trying to bring those numbers down some. I am carbon dosing with vinegar and am now running GFO. Nitrates have come down to about 10 from the previous value of 20 and phosphates around 0.1 from 0.2 and higher. I would love to aim for 5 and 0.05 in the future. I am considering dosing PNS bacteria to see if it helps with nutrient export as well.

Fantastic.

 

[Daniel Doherty]

Could we see a full tank shot? Or do you have YouTube?
Also a copperband could be handy to take care of aptasia, just get one that’s eating from a reefing group. That’s what I did and mine eats like a pig

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Could we see a full tank shot? Or do you have YouTube?
Also a copperband could be handy to take care of aptasia, just get one that’s eating from a reefing group. That’s what I did and mine eats like a pig

I need to clean the glass and then will try to load up a video later this week. Last week a shipment of torches, hammers, and frogspawn arrived and went into the quarantine tank. All came in healthy except one that came in entirely retracted and was completely dead by the next day. I removed it and started some cipro. Yesterday I had a second torch bail while everything else still looks healthy.

Temp, salinity, nitrate, phos, and alkalinity have been stable and are similar to my main tank so I'm not sure what's going on.

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Really struggling with my torches in quarantine. I have slowly been losing them over the past couple of weeks 1 at a time every few days. The first loss was a torch that came in retracted and by the following day had bailed out and there were signs of brown jelly. I immediately removed it and began dosing cipro daily. I continue to dose cipro daily.

Daily I am also doing approximately 2 gallon water change in my 20 gallon quarantine tank. I also continually monitor temp and daily check salinity, alkalinity, nitrates, and phos (about 15-30 mins after the water change) and dose back up my nitrates to keep them at 8 and phosphates at 0.1. When I check daily the nitrates typically are at about 5 and phos of 0.06.

I am now in the process of losing my 4th of 10 torches. It's first head showed signs of brown jelly disease so i excised it. The remaining head is beginning to lose its flesh band and the polyps appear to be bailing out. I have removed it from my QT as well. I'm not really sure where to go from here. I fear quarantining is doing more harm the good but worry about putting my corals into my main tank and then seeing them spread something into it. My hammers and frogspawn in the QT continue to look healthy and unphased.

 

[Rhetoric]

Ive enjoyed your build thread for awhile now, very neat project. Sorry to hear about the torches dieing off.

I often wonder what the real survival rate of torches in the hobby is. Ive had nothing but awful luck with them. Whether its a quarantine issue is hard to say, as I believe there is just a % that wouldn't make it period.

My bigger consern for you would be that moving them again potentially resets the success rate, and you will face another % loss.

Whether quarantine for coral is required is certainly a debatable topic. I honestly dont think you can keep aptasia/verm snails out of a displays with quarantine. What is it your trying to prevent?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

Whether quarantine for coral is required is certainly a debatable topic. I honestly dont think you can keep aptasia/verm snails out of a displays with quarantine. What is it your trying to prevent?

This is where I'm at today? Im starting to think quarantining corals has caused me more harm then good. I was hoping to avoid the addition of pests to the main tank but I've managed to get them from my tbs rocks and sand anyways! Now I'm just trying to decide if I move forward with putting them in the tank this weekend or not.

 

[Idech]

I loved reading your build thread, it reads like a book. Why not just dip your corals and place them in the tank ?

About aiptasia, you could get a UV sweeper, put the rock in a small plastic container and go at it for a minute. It will kill everything it touches on the rocks but the aiptasia should die fast.