The Official Asylum Reef Tank Thread

[shilala]

I was showing the pics to Lisa this morning and caught that the last pic was an LPS.
We have a cow's tongue, a pretty big one, and I get that it's an SPS, but I can see it might fall into a different category cause the discs that resemble it move around the tank.
I'm getting there.
I have a book, it's called the 100 best corals and 33 bad ones, or something like that. I've been reading on it for awhile. I'm going to go back through the critters to further familiarize myself with what's what.

My new guts for my ro/di come in a day or two and I'm gonna be a mad water changer for the next month. I've also decided I'll completely quit using my diatom filter, as I think the silicates are what's driving my algaes.
For the first time in 14 or 15 years I'm starting to gain some confidence in this stuff, and all my critters are thriving. The ones I brought home that were all brown and nasty have gained some nice color, all except a radioactive eagle eye coach purse paly I bought. It was teenage girl raised, it'll take awhile to get it some color and move it up in the lights.
Another thing I found is that folks don't use lights as strong as me, or they don't tend to them like I do. I'm super anal about how clean they are and how clean my lids are and how new the bulbs are.
I had to move everything I got way down in the column, they couldn't stand the light.
I'm feeding live phytoplankton, frozen brine shrimp, and one of five other frozen foods daily. Soon I'll have live phyto that I grew and live brine shrimp (phyto packed) that I grew.
So things are just gonna get better as long as I can keep getting things to add up.
I just got the phytoplankton book I was waiting for, so we're moving ahead.
Thanks buddy!!!

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

The first picture is of acans the last picture is of trumpet or candycane coral. both are LPS

Gorgonians fall into a different category because they dont create a hard calcified skeletal structure. They are actually sea fans.

Other than that you've got it down pat. One thing to differentiate zoos from pallys is the size. Palythoas are generally much larger the Zoanthids form more of a mat where you cant see their bases.

Side note: Be careful when handling zoanthids or palythoas. After fragging or even moving them be sure to scrub your hands and arms with soap under hot water. They are very poisonous if you rub your eye or eat food and this toxin gets into your body your boned. There is no antidote for them either. Easiest way is to just use latex gloves when fiddling with them.
This is meant for information only, dont be scared to hack apart a colony to send to your reef buddies.

[OLS]

I would agree Scott, if you are getting stable, a diatom filter is useless. You are going to have a diatom bloom most times
that you dick with your sandbed or make major changes to something, but normally there should be imperceptible amounts
in the water column. I would think that diatoms are excellent food. Fanworms gotta eat, too. If the way the filter works
is giving you hair algae, haha, pull that junk.

[OLS]

I think I also confused Scott, I tend to call Protopalythoa by the name Parazoanthus. It has been a long time since
I cared about the nomenclature, lol. What I actually have is Protopalythoa. (And Zoanthids) HERE is a scary one for
you. What would you think if you saw THIS: (click pic from online, not my own)

I have some pest anemones that look ALOT like that, but I still think they were aiptasia and not NEOzoanthus,
as these are called. For sure not Majano. I am sure I have been killing aiptasia, based on how they multipled and where.

[Wolfgang]

careful with the frozen foods. In most cases they are littered with nitrates and phosphates.
When your RODI stuff comes in i would recommend rinsing the frozen food in it to remove the nasties.

I always let the cubes thaw in a shot glass then moved it to a small fish net and ran freshwater over it. then into the tank it went. Turning your pumps and powerheads ff during feedings makes it easier to spot feed your inverts.

[OLS]

A double word of warning, SOME zoanthids are extremely dangerous to handle, not nearly all, in fact only a few
species can kill. The palythoa and protopalythoa are the most likely to be toxic, and all have the potential, so obviously like
wolfie said, this might be a time when safe is better than sorry. It is always a good idea to clean up or use gloves when
messing with zoanthids, but I do it all the time barehanded with my species and it hasn'tdajsflkd effectedoir;aljsd me yetasdjaksjd

[OLS]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

asking if star polyps were hard to keep. His response was "You could scrape them off with a paint scraper, put them in your back pocket, and drive home and they will still be fine."

You will cringe when you hear this, Wolfie, but last night I took a toothbrush to
some that had gotten into my Palythoa, and after reading your warnings about seamat in general,
I had to re-read an article describing the paly and protopalythoa as the most toxic of all, haha.
The purple base was easy to peel off of the polyps of seamat, but on porous rock it can be tougher.
Hopefully a toothbrush is more damaging than a back pocket, haha.



http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/2/inverts

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

I would agree Scott, if you are getting stable, a diatom filter is useless. You are going to have a diatom bloom most times
that you dick with your sandbed or make major changes to something, but normally there should be imperceptible amounts
in the water column. I would think that diatoms are excellent food. Fanworms gotta eat, too. If the way the filter works
is giving you hair algae, haha, pull that junk.

I usually use a brush and gather up the hair algae when it gets bad enough. Then I hook up my diatom filter and scrub the water.
Another strategy is to leave the crap and let it tie up whatever nutrients it's tying up. That's what I'm gonna do for a bit.
I'm just gonna do water changes and be done stressing. Everything is doing great, the hair will be gone soon enough.
I got zero patience with it all. I just moved this tank from PA to OH in January. The weather was crazy cold and I had lots of die-back. I should be thanking God that I have anything left, rather than b1thching about doing as
well as I am.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

I think I also confused Scott, I tend to call Protopalythoa by the name Parazoanthus. It has been a long time since
I cared about the nomenclature, lol. What I actually have is Protopalythoa. (And Zoanthids) HERE is a scary one for
you. What would you think if you saw THIS: (click pic from online, not my own)

I have some pest anemones that look ALOT like that, but I still think they were aiptasia and not NEOzoanthus,
as these are called. For sure not Majano. I am sure I have been killing aiptasia, based on how they multipled and where.

Those things are flat out hideous. Probably just cause they're colored like aiptasia, I suppose.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

careful with the frozen foods. In most cases they are littered with nitrates and phosphates.
When your RODI stuff comes in i would recommend rinsing the frozen food in it to remove the nasties.

I always let the cubes thaw in a shot glass then moved it to a small fish net and ran freshwater over it. then into the tank it went. Turning your pumps and powerheads ff during feedings makes it easier to spot feed your inverts.

Marc, I got those rubber gloves today at Target. It's a good idea, I'm tired of getting stung and burned every time I get in the tank. :d
I've thought about messing with the frozen food, and I'll start doing it if you think it matters, after this...
My tank is a 90 gallon. There is about 3-4 inches of crushed coral/sanded in there. There's easily 200 pounds of live rock, I'd be afraid to really know. The tank is full to the top, half way out to the front (and further). I estimate there's 40-50 gallons of water in there.
I change no less than 10 gallons of water a week. If I see any amount of particulate, I change 20. Now that it's settled from the move, I'll change 10 gallons a week from now to eternity.
With that amount of change, and so much stuff to feed wouldn't it be better to leave the goo?
Say the word and I'll get some real close fabric and strain it and rinse it before I add it to the phyto and feed it with that 36" baster thing I got.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by OLS

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2003/2/inverts

Excellent article, Brad. I started reading but I'm suffering zero retention right now. I saved it to my iPad home screen, I'll read it tonight when I can't sleep, or at coffee tomorrow morning.
It looks awesome, thank you!!!

[Wolfgang]

Im kind of on the fence Scott. You have such a large system that a few forzen blocks / week shouldnt make a HUGE impact. I have a setup pretty similar to yours but in one of my smaller tanks it became a nightmare. I always just used one of the fish nets I had laying around to rinse off the frozen foods even if you put the blocks in the net and run tap water over it it will significantly reduce the nitrates and phosphates you are putting in the tank and after that the coral, fish get fed. With the phytoplankton dont go overboard. When I used it i would fill a 3cc syringe and target the sps and gorgonians (with the pump off).

BEFORE


After

Originally Posted by OLS

I think I also confused Scott, I tend to call Protopalythoa by the name Parazoanthus. It has been a long time since
I cared about the nomenclature, lol. What I actually have is Protopalythoa. (And Zoanthids) HERE is a scary one for
you. What would you think if you saw THIS: (click pic from online, not my own)

I have some pest anemones that look ALOT like that, but I still think they were aiptasia and not NEOzoanthus,
as these are called. For sure not Majano. I am sure I have been killing aiptasia, based on how they multipled and where.

Aiptasia don't have the "mouth" that those things have. Majano don't either.
A clue about Aiptasia is that their common name is Glass Anemone. They can be very fast at reacting to touch and even a large one can disappear quickly. Zoas and Majanos are very slow by comparison.

I had star polyp almost take over my tank, then disappear suddenly. Then it was the Xenia, which is now ok. Now it's the Rhodactis (hairy mushrooms) that are taking over. These things would be $25 apiece at the LFS but I take them out and flush them down if ever I can pry one loose. They slowly carpet other things and the divide. Even funnier is he Sarcophytons (toadstool coral) that are going for $50 that are constantly dropping fingers that grow into new units. I throw these out sometimes too. I have a pineapple coral that is starting to overgrow everything around it but I don't care. I have no time to worry about the appearance of my tank now. Maybe sometime I will just turn all the top rocks to the bottom and let everything start back again and get some new stuff. Let the strong survive. My fish are doing fine. I wish I could work more on my tank.

[shilala]

I use a great big syringe and target the critters directly with the food soup I make. I feed every other day. All my pumps and power heads turn off with one switch. When I find time to hook up the wave maker I got, it has a feeding button on it that shuts everything off.

How'd you kill all your stuff, man?

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

Im kind of on the fence Scott. You have such a large system that a few forzen blocks / week shouldnt make a HUGE impact. I have a setup pretty similar to yours but in one of my smaller tanks it became a nightmare. I always just used one of the fish nets I had laying around to rinse off the frozen foods even if you put the blocks in the net and run tap water over it it will significantly reduce the nitrates and phosphates you are putting in the tank and after that the coral, fish get fed. With the phytoplankton dont go overboard. When I used it i would fill a 3cc syringe and target the sps and gorgonians (with the pump off).

BEFORE


After

[Wolfgang]

feeding too much with frozen cubes. This tank was a 23 gallon tank. Algae grew and whe i went on vacation the fish sitter didn't understand my instructions and double fed. when i got home the rocks were not visible underneath all of the algae. the lack of light killed everything.

Currently I only feed Spectrum pellets to both the fish and my coral. Im adding a solid media reactor to my tank this weekend. Next reef SMR1. Wonderful product.

[shilala]

That's painful.
I'd like to put a stock tank under the steps in the basement for a sump, something that'd give me a nice 2 or 3 hundred gallon buffer. Just jam it full of sand and plants.
I just worry that the more equipment you get going on, the more chance for problems there are. I'll give it some time and see how things go. I think I'll be fine once the ro/di guts get here. That should put a halt to the little trouble I do have in a month or two. If not, I'll start thinking about options.

[Wolfgang]

Hows this for a sump?

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

Hows this for a sump?

Part of it needs lighting to set up a refugium.

Just kidding.

Not that refugiums aren't a good idea. They act as a nutrient stripper and 'pod breeder so if you have one in your system they're great.

[OLS]

Man when I think of the trouble and automation I had going on my 40 gallon. Now I am 1/4 the power
consumption, but twice the work. Fair trade, I guess. I DO miss my auto top-off a little. And I miss
the extra 20 gallons of sump capacity. And the space. And my wrasse.

[shilala]

Originally Posted by Wolfgang

Hows this for a sump?

That is exactly the nightmare I had imagined, I just couldn't put it to words.
If you took off all that stuff except a hose coming in and one coming out, and add a light, that's what I want.

I've always wanted my sump/cooler/refugium/etc. in the basement. Then there would only be the two pipes and a lot less electrical stuff.