In-wall/Behind-wall, 180g peninsula, with a basement fish closet

[New&no clue]

Not that I suggest this, but I had pretty bad aiptasia on my 60 gallon and tried everything but only ever got to the point of maintaining a "low" level of them using peppermints and aiptasia x. Then my glass heater exploded while I was on vacation and no more aiptasia. Unfortunately lost everything else with it, but I haven't seen any in my new tank yet and some of the rock was transferred from the 60.

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to totally eliminate them as they are all over my overflow and in my sumps. But if I can just keep them at bay in my DT I’d be happy.

Where did you get your peppermints from? I see a lot of places sale them online claiming they eat aiptasia, but you never know.

 

[zbryant91]

I don’t think I’ll ever be able to totally eliminate them as they are all over my overflow and in my sumps. But if I can just keep them at bay in my DT I’d be happy.

Where did you get your peppermints from? I see a lot of places sale them online claiming they eat aiptasia, but you never know.

I got my current ones from my LFS but hard to say if they are doing anything in the new tank as I haven't seen any so far.

I've bought them from various vendors online during live sales before but never really had any luck with them staying alive. not sure why, even now I only have 1-2, hard to tell since they only come out at night.

At one point in the old tank I had some aiptasia that were so big they ate the peppermints. that was really disheartening during the battle

 

[zbryant91]

But I don't think i've ever specifically bought any that said "Aiptasia eating"

At one point in the old tank I did have a aiptasia eating filefish and did see it actively hunting them. So if I ever see one pop up in the new tank, i'll definitely add one of those.

 

[fishguy242]

Reeftopia ,order XL peps, they do a great job.

 

[Sleeping Giant]

Reeftopia ,order XL peps, they do a great job.

I need something to kill my apstatia, I don't think I have Berghia nudibranches in my tank anymore

 

[New&no clue]

But I don't think i've ever specifically bought any that said "Aiptasia eating"

At one point in the old tank I did have a aiptasia eating filefish and did see it actively hunting them. So if I ever see one pop up in the new tank, i'll definitely add one of those.

I was debating a filefish, TSM has some in stock, but I worry about it going after corals after eating all the aiptasia. Also, because they are all over the sump and overflow, I think it will be an ongoing battle, so I'd like to have something in the tank to eat them when they appear.

Reeftopia ,order XL peps, they do a great job.

I checked them out; I think I will order some from here and maybe a couple from Algae Barn.

I need something to kill my apstatia, I don't think I have Berghia nudibranches in my tank anymore

I wanted to go with Nudi initially, but then I read my wrasse will eat them. He will probably eat the peppermints as well, but at least they are cheaper.

 

[zbryant91]

I was debating a filefish, TSM has some in stock, but I worry about it going after corals after eating all the aiptasia. Also, because they are all over the sump and overflow, I think it will be an ongoing battle, so I'd like to have something in the tank to eat them when they appear.



I checked them out; I think I will order some from here and maybe a couple from Algae Barn.



I wanted to go with Nudi initially, but then I read my wrasse will eat them. He will probably eat the peppermints as well, but at least they are cheaper.

you could put the nudis in the sump if somewhere you are buying from has both already. Just a thought

 

[New&no clue]

you could put the nudis in the sump if somewhere you are buying from has both already. Just a thought

I'd be worried there wouldn't be enough in the sump to sustain them until they reproduced and got to the DT. Also, I want something that can live in the DT forever and get any rouge aiptasia that shows up. They are also sooooo expensive; however, if I could find a good deal on them, it might be something to try.

 

[New&no clue]

Mystery Anemone looked happy this morning when I was leaving.

And I have a new friend in QT, hopefully an actual H. Magnifica this time.

 

[New&no clue]

Ummmm… I think I bought too many shrimp

Added some emeralds too

 

[New&no clue]

Also guess who ended up in the sump again…

both the Yellow Watchman goby, and the Green Clown goby. Seriously you two. I’m not even sure how to get them out this time as they are under the roller mat

 

[New&no clue]

Came downstairs and discovered there is a leak… somewhere

 

[fishguy242]

what was it ?

 

[Sean Clark]

Oh no... Hopefully it is not too bad.

 

[New&no clue]

what was it ?

It was where the drain lines connect with the sump. I think I fixed it, but now I am assuming I need to replace the shelf the sump sits on as part of it was soaked.

 

[fishguy242]

did notice it looked like waferboard, just dry ,and put small fan on tonight.
will not swell enough to cause probs overnight .
assess tomorrow, then go from there.

 

[New&no clue]

When I checked this morning, the spot where it was leaking was still dry, so I think it's fixed. The space between the first and second shelf is almost exactly the size of a salt bucket. I stuck a couple on the second shelf, just in case the first one buckles; there is support below. However, overall I do think I will replace that board, mainly for peace of mind.

 

[New&no clue]

There are several things I have dreamed about for my tank (tech-wise). One was automated testing, and the other was automated water changes. When starting this build, AWC was high on my list of things to add in the future. I added an AWC to my office tank and saw a vast improvement in growth and algae control. Granted, this is a much smaller tank. However, the office tank has no skimmer, no reactors, no dosing, just a small amount of chaeto, some chemi-pure, and the AWC of 10% a week spread out. The GHA has disappeared, and some of the corals I wasn't getting much growth out of took off. I am not expecting to see as significant a change in this tank; however, taking one maintenance thing off my plate helps.

I went with the Kamoer AWC. The reason for going with this is the amount of water it moves at a time and the length it can move water.

X2SR Auto Water Change Pump

The Kamoer X2SR is a WiFi-controlled, peristaltic pump designed for auto water changes and auto top-offs in your aquarium. Instead of manually transferring large buckets of water on maintenance days, you can program your X2SR to replenish water at whatever time or speed you like. You can change...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

It was reasonably easy to set up. I have the line drawing from the refugium sump running across my basement and taped into my sewer line. The freshwater comes directly from my mixing station and into the return section of the mechanical sump. The only hang-up I had was with the tube sizing. I had seen on several youtube videos that people had bought extra tubing, size 3/8". I did the same, but when I used that on the pull side, it wouldn't work. I had a brief breakdown as this stupid thing is supposed to have head pressure of 32 ft, and it can't get 5 ft up? After I used all the bad words I knew, I switched out the tubing I purchased for the tubing that comes with it, and it was fine. Stupid metrics vs. imperial, I'm over it.

 

[New&no clue]

It's time to get serious about this GHA.

First, an update. The peppermints appear to be eating the aptasia on the rock they currently hid on. However, they have not yet started to venture out into the tank much. I am currently impatiently waiting.

Now back to the GHA. I reached out to John at reef cleaners to see what he recommends for my tank. I sent him a couple of pictures of the algae in question and a list of CUC I currently have. He theorized that it might be "filamentous cyano algae." He recommends Emeralds and Nerites. I bought five emeralds and thirty nerites from him.

Next is my least favorite part... manual removal. I zip-tied some tubing onto a toothbrush and started a siphon. Then I scrubbed the rocks, and the tubing sucked up all the loose algae. I got a good portion of the rocks cleaned off, but this will probably be a weekly thing until the CUC can get it under control.

The other issue is my nem guards on the powerheads are getting so clogged that I have very little flow on the far side of my tank. I have been cleaning those off weekly as well, but I am tempted to go back to the old covers and hope the anemones stay still.

I had plans of taking before pictures and then progress photos each week of the algae and the tank... but I got in a "Mom Cleaning Craze" this weekend and just started in on it before I remembered. I do have a couple of pictures here and there.

 

[Beau_B]

Yikes. I haven't found anything that will eat it when it's long. My last tank I battled and finally did a 7 day black out and it knocked it down, but also had some coral deterioration.

I'm surprised he didn't suggest urchins, but I think you already have some (3?)

I have one patch of UFA (Unidentified messing Algae) that's about golf-ball sized and I just leave it out of frustration. My foxface and tang just look at me like "What? We're saving it for later."