Tank birthday, 47+ years

Paul B · Feb 13, 2023

I removed about a quarter of the rock on one side of my tank to try to remove as much sponge as I can

I cut the corals off the rocks and put them back in the tank. The rocks I removed, about 10lbs I scraped as much sponge off as I could and used a stainless steel brush on the really encrusted stuff. I didn't use fresh water so I didn't kill any microscope life. This is one piece.

That skinny piece is a DIY piece and I will have to bleach that as it was completely covered in sponge and it needs a bunch of repair anyway. Some of the cement fell off exposing the PVC and it bothers me so I will repair that.

All the "cleaned" rock I removed I have outside in a closed vat in the dark and cold. It will get into the 30s tonight so I hope that will kill most of the sponge. If that works, I will do it to all the sponge covered rock.

Now I will suck out the detritus in the gravel on that side of the tank using a diatom filter. I will try to do this a quarter of the tank at a time. Then when it is all finished, I will remove all the rock into big vats and immediately put it back in with a new aquascape because that can't be done piecemeal. Then I will glue back all the corals that are left as they will be removed and put temporarily held in a bucket.

Then I will change the water with mostly ASW to see if any of the remaining sponge spores die. Wish me luck.

In 3 weeks the tank will have lasted for 52 years. I am not 100% sure it will make it but this cleaning needs to be done.
Even if the tank didn't have an encrusting sponge problem I like to do this about every 5 years anyway just to re aquascape and clean out the gravel over the UG filter which I will not be removing...Hopefully. :rolleyes:

vlangel · Feb 13, 2023

Wow, that's a job and a half! A lotta work for sure. Again good luck!!!

atoll · Feb 14, 2023

Subsea said:
Paul,
Your granddaughter is beautiful; if she had fins, she would be a mermaid.

Takes after her mum and grandmother, not Paul.of course lol

atoll · Feb 14, 2023

My motorbiking days ended about 3 years ago. Far to many idiot drivers trying to kill me, 2 almost did a few years back but I cheated them.
Sold this1960 BSA Shooting Star 3 years ago.

And now have this.A JBA Falcon Tourer.

vlangel · Feb 14, 2023

atoll said:
My motorbiking days ended about 3 years ago. Far to many idiot drivers trying to kill me, 2 almost did a few years back but I cheated them.
Sold this1960 BSA Shooting Star 3 years ago.

And now have this.A JBA Falcon Tourer.

Very nice bike and car, atoll! I know what you mean about the dangers of motorcycling, I have had some very close calls myself. I do feel that with Dave, my husband and I riding together that we are more visible than just a lone motorcycle. Also I have a mohawk on both of my helmets to make me more visible,,,that and I like the attention, ha ha!

atoll · Feb 14, 2023

vlangel said:
Very nice bike and car, atoll! I know what you mean about the dangers of motorcycling, I have had some very close calls myself. I do feel that with Dave, my husband and I riding together that we are more visible than just a lone motorcycle. Also I have a mohawk on both of my helmets to make me more visible,,,that and I like the attention, ha ha!

Both my accidents were the car drivers fault. Had my headlight on hiviz jacket riding sensibly within the speed limit. Typical cases of " sorry mate didn't see you" 3rd could be my last. My car is fun and replaces the bike to some extent.

Eagle_Steve · Feb 14, 2023

atoll said:
Both my accidents were the car drivers fault. Had my headlight on hiviz jacket riding sensibly within the speed limit. Typical cases of " sorry mate didn't see you" 3rd could be my last. My car is fun and replaces the bike to some extent.

I still ride on the road, but only out in the country. I also ride my KLR on road to off road spots. That bike sees lots of fire roads, gravel roads, dirt bike trails, and we have quite a few dirt roads just south of me to ride. I do stay out of the bigger cities now, as too many idiots driving around.

Timfish · Feb 14, 2023

Happy Birthday again! (Don't know when what the exact birthday for your system is. :D)

Paul B · Feb 14, 2023

This is getting to be a lot of work. I have to get a 10 gallon tank for some of my corals that are encrusted with sponge because I can't get the corals off without killing them. I can remove as much visible sponge as I can and put it with the corals in a small tank with ASW in the hope that the ASW kills the sponge for lack of nutrients especially silicates.

If that doesn't kill the sponges in a week or two, I will have to cut those corals off and hope for the best.

Paul B · Feb 14, 2023

Morning walk around an old defunct farm

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

I now have about half of the rock out of my tank so I have vats all over the place. My fish are all looking for new homes and they are giving me dirty looks. The rock I cleaned pretty good will be going outside in sea water. It is very cold and dark in the hopes the sponge will die but not any of the other livestock in the rock.

Rocks with no sponge will just stay in my tank and I am not sure yet how I will deal with those.
The biggest piece of rock

This one as I was building it 5 years ago is covered in corals which I will have to "rip" off will be a problem because I can't lift it by myself so I am going to have to look for some help. That one will also go in the dark outside in seawater.

A weird thing about this is that this tank used to be loaded with bristle worms, especially under the sponge. With all this cleaning/scraping I have not found even one bristle worm. They are gone as are the snails and hermit crabs.

That sponge toxin is very selective in that it killed those things along with the SPS but the brittle stars, anemones, leather corals and fish are thriving like they like the stuff. Maybe it's like hot pepper to them and they like it.

One of my bottles. I think I have 9 of them in my tank.

vlangel · Feb 15, 2023

Paul B said:
I now have about half of the rock out of my tank so I have vats all over the place. My fish are all looking for new homes and they are giving me dirty looks. The rock I cleaned pretty good will be going outside in sea water. It is very cold and dark in the hopes the sponge will die but not any of the other livestock in the rock.

Rocks with no sponge will just stay in my tank and I am not sure yet how I will deal with those.
The biggest piece of rock

This one as I was building it 5 years ago is covered in corals which I will have to "rip" off will be a problem because I can't lift it by myself so I am going to have to look for some help. That one will also go in the dark outside in seawater.

A weird thing about this is that this tank used to be loaded with bristle worms, especially under the sponge. With all this cleaning/scraping I have not found even one bristle worm. They are gone as are the snails and hermit crabs.

That sponge toxin is very selective in that it killed those things along with the SPS but the brittle stars, anemones, leather corals and fish are thriving like they like the stuff. Maybe it's like hot pepper to them and they like it.

One of my bottles. I think I have 9 of them in my tank.

My hubby is a bottle collector. I better not let him see your reef!

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

Vlangel, I have bottles from all over the place. I found many of them diving. :)

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

I can go on. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

For sale......Free. I have this beautiful 5" Koran Angelfish. It is much nicer looking than it looks like in the photo. It is just to big for my tank and in about a week I am going to remove him and if no one wants him, I will give it to the LFS for his show tank

atoll · Feb 15, 2023

Good luck with the sponge elimination Paul. That is one labour of love. Question is can you remove every single little piece of it so it doesn't return, I do hope so.

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

Atoll, I will never be able to remove every trace as it is also on the corals. I am hoping the ASW kills it as I think it is thriving on my NSW because it is loaded with silicates. After all the sponge is gone, in maybe a year, I will again use NSW

Subsea · Feb 15, 2023

Paul B said:
Atoll, I will never be able to remove every trace as it is also on the corals. I am hoping the ASW kills it as I think it is thriving on my NSW because it is loaded with silicates. After all the sponge is gone, in maybe a year, I will again use NSW

In my experiences with ornamental & cryptic sponges, the cold will not kill them, however, hydrogen peroxide is their kryptonite.

YoubetyourWrasse · Feb 15, 2023

This thread is quite impressive....outstanding husbandry and commitment.

Paul B · Feb 15, 2023

Sub I realize that but my fish frown when they swim in hydrogen peroxide. :grimacing-face: I don't want to kill everything in the rock, just the sponge. It is also in the dark and this photosynthetic sponge hates that..

I realize I won't be able to kill all the sponge and keep the tank going so I am hoping the ASW kills whatever is left. That stuff is toxic o_O

I want to keep my 51 year old bacteria and pods intact so I won't be killing those as that would be akin to starting a new system and at my age, that ain't gonna happen. :)