My oldest reef, 7 years since it was first set up. Recovering from being "nuked" due to an infestation of cotton candy algae I could not get under control. I had good success with a sea hare, unfortunately it fell prey to a fulgida worms, which still infest my tanks. So after exhausting every other method, I chose the nuclear option, and imposed a 3-month long total blackout. Wrapped the tank up completely with a black weed barrier, to ensure total light exclusion, but still allow for oxygen exchange, and thankfully it worked.
With all that said, I suppose the reader might wonder why the emphasis on "aggressive" in the title? Simple, this tank is mainly home to more aggressive species. I have three varieties of cactus coral (Pavona), and a Hydnophora colony. There is also a Rhodactis shroom in there, a few monti frags from my 15-g reef, and much of the tank is covered in clove polyps!
Luckily they are of the benign variety, meaning they do not smother other corals, but do take up real-estate, and make it harder for them to spread out.
Now to the good stuff!
Equipment
- Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer 9004
- 2x Tunze Nanostream 6055
- Tunze 7097 Multicontroller
- Aquael Ultra-Heater 100w
- Maxspect RSX 150w
Livestock
- 9x Assorted Hermit crabs
- 4x Trochus snails
I operate the pumps in a tidal-type configuration, alternating the direction of the flow in the tanks, every 6 hours. And I have set randomized pulse durations. I did have to make some adjustments, as these are powerful pumps and I normally use the smallest grain size on my sand. So I scooped back all the 0.1-0.5mm sand to the middle, and added a couple of kilograms of 0.5-1.7mm sand at each end, which stays in place nicely where the currents crash into the wall. I also just started feeding 4ml daily with Red Sea Reef Energy Plus, on account of not having any fish in here for the time being.
A few closeups.![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
![SarcotheliaEggs.png SarcotheliaEggs.png](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2584/2584664-d328e5b13c3bd73fa8debba084ce74f6.jpg)
With all that said, I suppose the reader might wonder why the emphasis on "aggressive" in the title? Simple, this tank is mainly home to more aggressive species. I have three varieties of cactus coral (Pavona), and a Hydnophora colony. There is also a Rhodactis shroom in there, a few monti frags from my 15-g reef, and much of the tank is covered in clove polyps!
Now to the good stuff!
Equipment
- Tunze Comline DOC Skimmer 9004
- 2x Tunze Nanostream 6055
- Tunze 7097 Multicontroller
- Aquael Ultra-Heater 100w
- Maxspect RSX 150w
Livestock
- 9x Assorted Hermit crabs
- 4x Trochus snails
I operate the pumps in a tidal-type configuration, alternating the direction of the flow in the tanks, every 6 hours. And I have set randomized pulse durations. I did have to make some adjustments, as these are powerful pumps and I normally use the smallest grain size on my sand. So I scooped back all the 0.1-0.5mm sand to the middle, and added a couple of kilograms of 0.5-1.7mm sand at each end, which stays in place nicely where the currents crash into the wall. I also just started feeding 4ml daily with Red Sea Reef Energy Plus, on account of not having any fish in here for the time being.
A few closeups.
![25Main-May1st-2022-3.jpg 25Main-May1st-2022-3.jpg](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2584/2584636-a775ddcf1b93827589fe2c9bc30cd63a.jpg)
![25Main-May1st-2022-2.jpg 25Main-May1st-2022-2.jpg](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2584/2584635-541f25c1de5402545b674a4a647a0adf.jpg)
![25Main-May1st-2022-4.jpg 25Main-May1st-2022-4.jpg](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2584/2584637-301a276920435e262ea4886bb0a9f527.jpg)
![SarcotheliaEggs.png SarcotheliaEggs.png](https://www.reef2reef.com/data/attachments/2584/2584664-d328e5b13c3bd73fa8debba084ce74f6.jpg)