Beginners reef tank, found these, will they do harm?

[Andy Bliss]

Thanks all for your help and advice.

the 1st trap is now set, lets see what it catches ?
I removed the rock with the worm in and immersed it in r/o water (fresh) and 2 smaller worms emerged, no sign of the bigger one tho, with any luck the trap will attract them too?

Tank is now all clear and awaiting livestock, gona leave it turning over for the rest of the week and see if i can carch the hitchikers in the meantime.

Also interested to hear any opinions (i think?) on the whole set up so i’ll include some details and latest photos then hold my breath .........

So main tank is a 180ltr bow front 40” long, it has a sump i built into corner with a 40mm downpipe and 20mm return pipe, sump is a 39” plain glass tank with divisions cut and sciliconed into place, downpipe has a sock, first chamber has the heater and skimmer, Bubble Magnus curve 5, 2nd chamber is all live rock (internal foam filter in there temporary to help the debris), third chamber is a 1000ltr ph pump (to be upgraded to a low voltage variable as it is too noisy) and the last chamber is a top up resevoir with a low voltage pump wired to a float switch in the pump section.

Light in sump is a 6500 led and lights in tank are 2 x flouresent, one aquarium daylight and one blue tinic, night light is a blue led.
Daytime lights on from 13.00 to 23.00 and sump and blue tank light on from 22.00 to 04.00.

 

[Andy Bliss]

 

[reef lover]

Looking good! Just make sure the sump can hold the extra water from the tank when the power goes out.

 

[Salty Lemon]

I can't wait to watch you fill this up. It is going to be gorgeous. Your tank is lovely.

 

[Flippers4pups]

My opinion on bristle worms is that they are a important part of your clean up crew. Their size and numbers will depend on available food. They are great at cleaning up small particle food that is left from fish eating.

Here's a great read on "hitchhikers":

https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

 

[Hemmdog]

Thanks all for your help and advice.

the 1st trap is now set, lets see what it catches ?
I removed the rock with the worm in and immersed it in r/o water (fresh) and 2 smaller worms emerged, no sign of the bigger one tho, with any luck the trap will attract them too?

Tank is now all clear and awaiting livestock, gona leave it turning over for the rest of the week and see if i can carch the hitchikers in the meantime.

Also interested to hear any opinions (i think?) on the whole set up so i’ll include some details and latest photos then hold my breath .........

So main tank is a 180ltr bow front 40” long, it has a sump i built into corner with a 40mm downpipe and 20mm return pipe, sump is a 39” plain glass tank with divisions cut and sciliconed into place, downpipe has a sock, first chamber has the heater and skimmer, Bubble Magnus curve 5, 2nd chamber is all live rock (internal foam filter in there temporary to help the debris), third chamber is a 1000ltr ph pump (to be upgraded to a low voltage variable as it is too noisy) and the last chamber is a top up resevoir with a low voltage pump wired to a float switch in the pump section.

Light in sump is a 6500 led and lights in tank are 2 x flouresent, one aquarium daylight and one blue tinic, night light is a blue led.
Daytime lights on from 13.00 to 23.00 and sump and blue tank light on from 22.00 to 04.00.

I’d put the heater in the live rock chamber of your sump. There’s also no need to run a light down there until you have a need to start a fuge and grow chaeto. The blue led moon light use more of a sunrise sunset light and not an actual moonlight. The tank needs to be fully dark most of the night. I love your scape! It’s going to be an awesome reef!

 

[Deiblerj]

My guess is if you found 2 additional worms then you’re most likely going to always have bristle worms. They are fine. Good part of your cuc. Coral banded shrimp have been known to make a snack out of them so you could always toss one of those in to control the population. I have a bunch but never see them so I don’t mind. Personally I have had bad luck with coral banded shrimp but others enjoy them. To each their own.

The aptasia will be the death of you trying to control it. Get it out will you can!! There are a variety of methods you’ll read about on here. Peppermint shrimp, aptasia-x, filefish to name a few. One that has stood out to me recently is Berghia Nudibranchs. These are natural little critters that only eat aptasia. They can be a little pricey but will do the job (from what I have read). I would only really do this option if you have a bad problem because without aptasia they will starve and die.

Lots of good advice on here! Happy reefing!

 

[BadFish619]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Andy Bliss]

Looking good! Just make sure the sump can hold the extra water from the tank when the power goes out.

Hi there, yep, done the power out test and all good, had to add some glass between pump and previous section to make sure it didn’t overflow

 

[Andy Bliss]

I’d put the heater in the live rock chamber of your sump. There’s also no need to run a light down there until you have a need to start a fuge and grow chaeto. The blue led moon light use more of a sunrise sunset light and not an actual moonlight. The tank needs to be fully dark most of the night. I love your scape! It’s going to be an awesome reef!

Thanks for that, another timer it is then! I am planning to use the sump for a fuge so thats the reason its there. Cant wait to populate!

 

[Andy Bliss]

Welcome to R2R!

Thanks!

 

[Andy Bliss]

My guess is if you found 2 additional worms then you’re most likely going to always have bristle worms. They are fine. Good part of your cuc. Coral banded shrimp have been known to make a snack out of them so you could always toss one of those in to control the population. I have a bunch but never see them so I don’t mind. Personally I have had bad luck with coral banded shrimp but others enjoy them. To each their own.

The aptasia will be the death of you trying to control it. Get it out will you can!! There are a variety of methods you’ll read about on here. Peppermint shrimp, aptasia-x, filefish to name a few. One that has stood out to me recently is Berghia Nudibranchs. These are natural little critters that only eat aptasia. They can be a little pricey but will do the job (from what I have read). I would only really do this option if you have a bad problem because without aptasia they will starve and die.

Lots of good advice on here! Happy reefing!

Look like i just found my first additions, lets see what they have on sat!

 

[Andy Bliss]

I can't wait to watch you fill this up. It is going to be gorgeous. Your tank is lovely.

Thanks, excited to get going but don’t want to rush, god, i hate/love this part

 

[mdbronco]

My opinion on bristle worms is that they are a important part of your clean up crew. Their size and numbers will depend on available food. They are great at cleaning up small particle food that is left from fish eating.

Here's a great read on "hitchhikers":

https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

I’ve heard the same and hope it is true. I’ve had a population boom since increasing my feeding regime due to adding anthias and still trying to find the right feeding schedule. I have manually removed about 5 per day over the course of the last few weeks and I still see a lot more. They are creepy and fast but I don’t see anything bothered by them. They should also taper off based on food source availability.

 

[Andy Bliss]

Interested but didn’t fall for it yet

 

[ScottR]

This is a blue damsel and it is the result of a gorilla crab slashing him. The damsel did a vertical jump out of the tank, flapped out of the fish room and did a U turn into my hallway.

Gorilla crab bad.

And welcome to R2R!!!

 

[Katrina71]

I had a gorilla crab that ate about 1/3 of a coral. Despite not being tank friendly, they are beautiful creatures. I think you will find him to be an awesome Sump Lord.

 

[ScottR]

I had a gorilla crab that ate about 1/3 of a coral. Despite not being tank friendly, they are beautiful creatures. I think you will find him to be an awesome Sump Lord.

I came home from vacation to find a star polyp colony completely eaten. Found this little guy just sitting in the forest he ingested, looking proud as can be. Not even sump worthy. He found a new home in the trash.

 

[Andy Bliss]

Hi all,

A quick update on my way to work!

1) Gorilla crab Has taken the bait and currently resides in my trap, didn’t have time to get it out this morning (hope he stays there) but will transfer to the fuge tonight, he’s happily munching on the cod i added!
2) Bristle worms removed to the best of my ability, (just keep fingers crossed on that one for now).
3) Apitaisa Have all been removed (with a mini torch) and holes sealed.

Fingers crossed were ready for fish/invert on Saturday subject to water test tomorrow.

Next pictures may just have life in tank!

 

[Hemmdog]

Hi all,

A quick update on my way to work!

1) Gorilla crab Has taken the bait and currently resides in my trap, didn’t have time to get it out this morning (hope he stays there) but will transfer to the fuge tonight, he’s happily munching on the cod i added!
2) Bristle worms removed to the best of my ability, (just keep fingers crossed on that one for now).
3) Apitaisa Have all been removed (with a mini torch) and holes sealed.

Fingers crossed were ready for fish/invert on Saturday subject to water test tomorrow.

Next pictures may just have life in tank!

Nice nice, mini torch? Do tell.