Our Tbs

[patsan]

I've read many times that a UV sterilizer is great to kill whatever alage problems people have, but it also kills good stuff, and it seems mostly people with sps tanks use them. Most don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

Okay, you're having palps thinking the poor fish is going to die, then you call it a stupid fish?

I just had to run up to HD to get a few things, and I stopped in the LFS to see if they had any fish that might interest me. They didn't. Oh well.....another time.
I'd really love to get a green clown goby, but I am not paying $25 to ship a $6.99 fish. So if I come across one locally, I'll get it, otherwise not.

[lossman]

Yes, it's a stupid fish for stressing me out this way!!! LOL

[Fred_J]

Lossman-- I think your idea of a fish first aid kit is great. I have a few things on hand but I know I'm missing a lot. When you finish your research of what is needed please post a list. In the small town I live in the LFS carries very few chemicals so if something happened I would have to mail order it.

Fred

[lossman]

Thanks, I will def post the list once I compose it tomorrow. When we lost the last fish in qt, I felt horrible thinking that if only I had something on hand to dose the tank with, I might have been able to save it. Perhaps not, but I plan to make sure I have a complete first aide kit on hand from now on.

[bobt2]

dwculp, heres another thought. put the kalk mix in a flexable jug. run 2 lines 1 in and one out, the out line 2/3 down into the jug and seal the top.you can than pressurize the jug with an air pump or hand pump like a tire pump. it will force the calk up to the tank where you set the drip rate.

[phil519]

Originally posted by patsan
I've read many times that a UV sterilizer is great to kill whatever alage problems people have, but it also kills good stuff, and it seems mostly people with sps tanks use them. Most don't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

Okay, you're having palps thinking the poor fish is going to die, then you call it a stupid fish?

I just had to run up to HD to get a few things, and I stopped in the LFS to see if they had any fish that might interest me. They didn't. Oh well.....another time.
I'd really love to get a green clown goby, but I am not paying $25 to ship a $6.99 fish. So if I come across one locally, I'll get it, otherwise not.

The other issue with a sterilizer is that there is no guarantee that you can cycle the critters thru the tube. The floating baddies could be in your tank for months before ever getting sucked into the area with the UV light. At best it may help to mitigate some of the issue but personally I think an increase in water changes would be ideal.

[dwculp]

Originally posted by bobt2
dwculp, heres another thought. put the kalk mix in a flexable jug. run 2 lines 1 in and one out, the out line 2/3 down into the jug and seal the top.you can than pressurize the jug with an air pump or hand pump like a tire pump. it will force the calk up to the tank where you set the drip rate.

That is an excellent idea and I was kicking around that very same idea earlier today. I will experiment when I go into work tomorrow. I can probably get a 1 litter water bottle with a screw cap and drill a hole in the top, insert the tubing and then hot glue the hole shut to seal it off.

[BrianPlankis]

Hey all,

Our local club had a tank tour today and I took the opportunity to get this zoa frag, 4 turbo snails that breed, 2 collonista snails and some cheato with featherdusters for $10. Not too bad

I hope these zoas like my tank, they are very pretty with a purple ring around the gold center under actinics:

Here they are next to my old favorites They are still adjusting to the tank(I didn't quarantine, just did a RC zoa dip). My widsom teeth pulling has made me lazy and I didn't want to setup the QT tank. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me.


A closeup:


I'll try to get a better picture when they are open and happy.

Brian

[patsan]

Brian, what color is the skirt on those new zoas? The orange looks nice and bright! Great price too.

Bob asked me to post some pictures of the algae he's been talking about.


and his condy:

[bobt2]

thanks pat, hopefully someone can tell me what it is and how to fight it.the phospate at zoro doesn't seam to change it's growth. dwculp,a bigger jug with more airspace will help a lot 1 liter isn't big enough to get any pressure. 1 gal would be better.

[H2OLUVSME]

Originally posted by CirolanidHunter
Here they are next to my old favorites They are still adjusting to the tank(I didn't quarantine, just did a RC zoa dip). My widsom teeth pulling has made me lazy and I didn't want to setup the QT tank. I hope that doesn't come back to bite me.

Brian

FWIW, i never QT corals unless there is something bothering them that i cannot remove.
nice zoas!


Bob, how bout a full tank shot. that hardly looks like the infestation ive been picturing in my head.

[drk70]

Bob, that looks like the same red algea I had, just not that much of it. My blue tang ate all of it and I have no sign of it what so ever.

[bkelley02]

Any suggestions on how to remove an anemone? Everytime I try, it feels like it's already cemented to the rock and I can't move it. I have a flower anemone that keeps walking closer to my plate coral and the coral doesn't like it. I don't really have a good place to move the plate because of it's size, so it's pretty much stuck were it is.

[patsan]

Try aiming a powerhead on it. That might make the foot release, and you'll be able to get it easy. If you don't want it to live, than just scrape it off.

[bkelley02]

I'll try the powerhead. I'd much rather sell/trade it in at the LFS then kill it. It's grown quite a bit in the 2 1/2 months I've had it though, and don't know how much bigger I could let it get in my tank either.

[H2OLUVSME]

anenone removal

i really like Pats idea. ive used it before on anemones and soft corals succesfully.

ive also just pryed them up very carefully. if you can get the edge of the foot to lift up, its pretty easy to peel the rest away from the rock.

the easiest (but not always the most effective) way is to remove the rock the anemone is on from the water. when i have anemones attached to small rocks, i usualy lift the rock out of the water. most of the time (but not always) the anemone lets go and falls back into the water where it is easy to retrieve. the drawback to this is if the anemone doesnt let got it shrivels and retracts making it even harder to get under the edge of the foot.

[bkelley02]

unfortunately, it's attached itself to the bottom of the biggest rock in the tank. Takes up about 1/3 of my tank so that last option won't work for me. Thanks for the suggestions though.

[drk70]

I got lucky when I took my condy out. It decided to move onto the sand so I just grabbed it.

[BrianPlankis]

Originally posted by patsan
Brian, what color is the skirt on those new zoas? The orange looks nice and bright! Great price too.

Bob asked me to post some pictures of the algae he's been talking about.


and his condy:

Pat,

The skirts are bright green They are my most colorful zoa now and are colorful under both 10K and actinics.

Bob,

I had that first algae and it flourished when I had excess nutrients, but now that my skimmer is doing a good job it died off.

The 2nd algae was the bane of my existance. I tried pulling it off manually and it kept coming back. My urchins would eat it but seemed to prefer other food. Maybe a blue tang will help you, but I eventually pulled out my three rocks that had that algae and let them air dry because I didn't want it spreading. It wasn't TBS rock so I didn't lose much life.

Brian

[lossman]

Our new fish did not make it. It died today....about 24 hours after we put it in qt. The water param were excellent. The little guy just could not handle the stress. We will wait a month or so before getting another fish.

[dwculp]

Ok, I got my Kalk drip system up and running, dripping about 1 drop every 2-3 seconds, does that sound about right?

[BrianPlankis]

Originally posted by dwculp
Ok, I got my Kalk drip system up and running, dripping about 1 drop every 2-3 seconds, does that sound about right?

Did you go the pressurized route? You might want to test if the rate is correct with just RO/DI water the first couple of times to make sure it isn't too fast or too slow?

Brian

[dwculp]

Originally posted by CirolanidHunter
Did you go the pressurized route? You might want to test if the rate is correct with just RO/DI water the first couple of times to make sure it isn't too fast or too slow?

Brian

No, I just set a small 1 gallon plastic rubbermaid "tea" jar on the back of the tank, drilled a hole in the top and run some airline tubing down. Works really well actually.

[bobt2]

btw the second algea has a clear slime when i pick it. removing the effected rocks is not an option

[dwculp]

I have been feeding my tank sparingly during this brown crud battle, I think I will have to up my feeding. I saw my coral banded shrimp attack a hermit crab tonight, then my serpent star came out and stole the hermit crab from the CBS!!!!