Reducing like leakage from display to sump

[drawman]

I'm in the process of removing (almost complete) my sandbed and now there is a good amount of light leakage from my display to my sump and I'm getting a few aiptasia to pop up. I'm trying to think of a clean way to cover up the bottom glass of my display any thoughts?

I'm thinking I could pick up some black plastic from a craft store or something and try to tape it up there but I worry about the tape holding up and I definitely don't want that falling into my sump. Anyone have a creative way they've tackled this?

 

[Bodabo]

Paint the outside of the bottom. Black.

 

[drawman]

Paint the outside of the bottom. Black.

Yeah it's a good solution but I'm looking for an alternative as this tank is already up and running :)

 

[mcarroll]

Hm....kill the aiptasia instead? (I know, I know...)

 

[drawman]

Hm....kill the aiptasia instead? (I know, I know...)

Lol someday. I have containers full of seachem matrix there as well so it would be like climbing an uphill battle trying to get all of them if they fluorish.

 

[mcarroll]

Man, that's a persistent problem for the display if the sump is rife with them like that.

I understand laziness....have a Master's Degree in Lethargy, so I sympathize....but the aiptasia are your real problem. Take the Matrix out. Scrape/clean the rest of the sump and bake the Matrix in the oven at 250-300ºF for a few hours to take care of the remainder. Use good ventilation. Done.

Keep in mind they can take a certain amount of drying – you need desiccation. I imagine you could try higher temperatures too....it's a ceramic.

 

[drawman]

Man, that's a persistent problem for the display if the sump is rife with them like that.

I understand laziness....have a Master's Degree in Lethargy, so I sympathize....but the aiptasia are your real problem. Take the Matrix out. Scrape/clean the rest of the sump and bake the Matrix in the oven at 250-300ºF for a few hours to take care of the remainder. Use good ventilation. Done.

Keep in mind they can take a certain amount of drying – you need desiccation. I imagine you could try higher temperatures too....it's a ceramic.

Actually I only see a couple of aiptasia in the sump (maybe 2-3) at this time but I can assume that they will reproduce very quickly without predation there. Only real population I have at the moment is in my overflow. An aiptasia eating filefish and peppermint shrimp keep them at bay in my display.

Without light they have been nonexistant in my sump but now that is starting to change. Just trying to pull the trigger on some prevention :)

 

[mcarroll]

You're really gonna think I'm crazy....the only thing this changes is that I'd replace your plumbing (or clean it if you can somehow) too.

You really don't want to live with these things if you can help it, and it sounds like yours are still at the point you might be able to eliminate them without a complete breakdown and rock replacement.

You have animal control in the display.....replace the plumbing, clean the sump and bake the matrix (which will have to be a process).

 

[drawman]

You're really gonna think I'm crazy....the only thing this changes is that I'd replace your plumbing (or clean it if you can somehow) too.

You really don't want to live with these things if you can help it, and it sounds like yours are still at the point you might be able to eliminate them without a complete breakdown and rock replacement.

You have animal control in the display.....replace the plumbing, clean the sump and bake the matrix (which will have to be a process).

Ha no you're not crazy. I've dealt with tanks with aiptasia problems before and they make you want to pull your hair out! Thankfully, in this tank I've been lucky with control in the display. When I have light blockage the aiptasia do not grow well in the sump either so I think I'm going to still go the light blockage route and am not ready to sound the alarm just yet.

I went to hobby lobby today and picked up some foam board. I believe I will be able to mount it at the top of my stand (right below the bottom of my display) to get good light blockage. Wish me luck!

 

[drawman]

Just put up the board and I'm actually getting pretty good results. It probably blocked out 95% or more of the light so hopefully no more aiptasia down there :)

 

[mcarroll]

Good luck! ;)