What is your tank's current nemesis?

[becks]

Mine is vermetid snails. My last tank had hundreds of these that came and went. My current tank that's 6 months old started with mostly dry rock, dry sand, and a few pieces of carefully inspected live rock. All corals and frags were also inspected and dipped, yet I'm now experiencing a booming population of them.

Last week I got an Apex alert that my backup ATO float switch was on. Went in for inspection and saw the main float switch still in the low position. Pulled the switch and notice a vermetid snail had grown on it and jammed it. Also today I decided to do a frag mounting session as all the frags were doing good where I placed them. Didn't pick up a piece of live rock or frag that didn't have a snail on it.

I think they're multiplying because of my increased feedings to try and raise nutrients. Hopefully once I achieve that and find a nice balance I can back off and the population will be more manageable like my last tank.

What are you currently dealing with and how do you plan on remedying?

I went on holiday for 9 days and my friend only came over to feed the tank twice during that period...I came back to an explosion of the population

 

[Florida Sunshine]

I am plagued by colonial hydroids and aiptasia. If I could manage to get a handle on the hydroids I would just get some Berghia and take out the Aiptasia but so far no go on the hydroids so I guess they are the worst.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I’m dealing with hydroids too. It’s a first for me I think and I’m still playing the waiting game to see what becomes of them

 

[Ramiro Casal]

For me it was a diamond goby if I fed him pellets instead of frozen for more than 2 days in a row (keep in mind he would still eat all pellets i gave him) he would take all the sand and spit it out into my torch and other corals.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Oh OK. I know that my RODI reservoir has bacteria in it with the slime like coating on the walls of the container, but it hasn't gotten to that point yet. I think before my next refill I'm going to clean it out.

Just don’t use the water if it smells or has nasties in it.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

For me it was a diamond goby if I fed him pellets instead of frozen for more than 2 days in a row (keep in mind he would still eat all pellets i gave him) he would take all the sand and spit it out into my torch and other corals.

Hahahahaha god I want one so bad but that’s sounds terrible

 

[Flippers4pups]

Palythoa's. I've been manually removing them every water change by ripping them off my rock work. Using proper PPE, water change and GAC. I'm winning the battle so far.

 

[Ramiro Casal]

Hahahahaha god I want one so bad but that’s sounds terrible

Yeah they are beautiful, mine was the alpha of the tank she was so active but yeah the sand thing got really annoying

 

[SashimiTurtle]

My golden dwarf moray... Just realized where my missing fish have been going. Gotta move him tonight.

 

[TangingOut]

I'm now realizing that there's a whole lot more that reefers have to potentially deal with.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Yeah they are beautiful, mine was the alpha of the tank she was so active but yeah the sand thing got really annoying

Dang. You kinda hit Home when you mentioned it was all over your torch coral. How long? Was it like a daily thing haha

 

[Ramiro Casal]

Dang. You kinda hit Home when you mentioned it was all over your torch coral. How long? Was it like a daily thing haha

Since I am in college I didnt always have time to give frozen all the time and the days i didnt I would come back from class to find my torch corals buried in sand. At first I had no clue why it was doing it so it was a daily thing but when I discovered it I started feeding frozen everyday and he kinda stopped

 

[NowGlazeIT]

I'm now realizing that there's a whole lot more that reefers have to potentially deal with.

Man it never ends. I just started to QT everything and now I got 4 tanks all over and only one is a DT haha but reefing is not just a pet for me anymore it’s becoming my obsession.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Since I am in college I didnt always have time to give frozen all the time and the days i didnt I would come back from class to find my torch corals buried in sand. At first I had no clue why it was doing it so it was a daily thing but when I discovered it I started feeding frozen everyday and he kinda stopped

Crazy. that’s cool you found a fix that didn’t require removal or separation

 

[PiscesPower]

I have been trying to catch a diamond gody for a few weeks. He is spitting sand on everything. I have trapped him once and lost him back into the tank while transferring him to another container. Now he taunts me...

 

[NowGlazeIT]

@PiscesPower @Ramiro Casal would you guys ever try a watchman goby? Or are they all pretty much the same

 

[PiscesPower]

@NowGlazeIT Once I have this goby out of my tank I won't have another sand sifter. If I didn't want to have sandbed corals it would be fine. It is very entertaining and my sand looks great. I just want to add some scolys and I have some Trachyphyllia that I want on the sandbed instead of in dishes. He swims up and drops sand from mid-tank as well. So no corals are safe from the sandstorms. I do have an Orange Spot goby with a pistol shrimp, the shrimp moves sand too, but mostly near their burrows and it never makes a big mess in the tank. I thought that this goby would move sand in a similar fashion, I read so many different reports that I went ahead with it. I think every fish is different. This guy gets picked on my Kole Tang as well, so he is constantly diving and kicking up more sand when the tang chases it. Rehoming him, I think, will be good for him and I.

 

[revhtree]

Dinos and no not dinosaurs!

 

[Susan Edwards]

I don't think watchman goby's are sand sifters. My barber shop goby doesn't shift sand. I have a gold head sleeper goby who moves sand by the pound...

 

[Ramiro Casal]

@PiscesPower @Ramiro Casal would you guys ever try a watchman goby? Or are they all pretty much the same

yeah my diamond sadly passed away so I got a small yellow watchman