TeenyReef's 10g Fusion - ATO Disaster

[teenyreef]

Phase 2 of the soft reboot commenced last night!

 

My weapons of choice: flame for the aiptasia, forceps to crush the vermetid snails , and an electric toothbrush for everything else .

 

20161226_132335.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Here's the tank at the beginning:

 

2016-12-24 IM10 FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

I started by removing the monti caps and parking them in the frag tank for the next week or so. They were surprisingly easy to remove, they were growing up the back wall but not actually attached, and the base rock connection was very weak.

 

I too some pictures of the rocks afterwards so I could at least try to put them back the way they started.

 

2016-12-25 IM10 FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

2016-12-25 IM10 Top Down by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

I started by pulling out the rock on the top right, with the red monticap still attached. After that, the interlocked rocks underneath all fell down. I took a picture anyway, but I doubt I'll ever get them back together the same way again. Oh well, I'm sure I can still come up with a new scape that looks decent. I took one more top down just to record what they looked like after pulling out the first rock.

 

You can see Fitzgerald, Oswald, and Doug 2 are very interested in what's going on (hoping for snacks). You can also get a good look at how much crud has accumulated on the rocks.

 

20161225-untitled-008.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[teenyreef]

I drained out a couple gallons of water, then I took out each rock one at a time, and spent a good fifteen minutes per rock just crushing vermetid snails with the forceps. I burned out and scraped out the aiptasia, and then rinsed them really well in the old water.

 

While the rocks were out of the tank, I vacuumed the sandbed in the back half of the tank and pulled about a gallon of really nasty stuff out. Then I blew off the remaining rocks really well and siphoned out another gallon of dirty water.

 

I put back a couple gallons of the old water after the worst of the crud settled, so the overall water change was about three or four gallons.

 

Finally, I put in a little bit of Prime just in case all the crap stirring starts an ammonia spike, and added some MB7 to help with good bacteria. I'll do another two gallon water change today.

Edit: I just noticed the big aiptasia is visible in the back of the tank in the top down shot. Here's a closer view:

 

2016-12-25 IM10 Top Down by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[dropped]

Haha yea saw that in the previous pictures too.

 

I got a new coral the other day and it had a few pest nems on it. So just super glued over them haha wonder if it will work.

 

Dose the puffer not nail the vermite snails?

[Slowtwitch]

I approve of your choice in toothbrush.

[teenyreef]

Haha yea saw that in the previous pictures too.

 

I got a new coral the other day and it had a few pest nems on it. So just super glued over them haha wonder if it will work.

 

Dose the puffer not nail the vermite snails?

If you can, I advise you to remove the coral from the plug or rock it's in, just in case. Good luck!

 

I think the puffer may be slowing down the growth of new vermetid snails, but the ones that were already established are practically half his size

I approve of your choice in toothbrush.

Lol, yeah, I love that thing. This one is an old one that doesn't vibrate when it's held at certain angles, but it works great for cleaning rocks

[dferrari13]

Wow...seems like youve gone through alot lately.....are you still dosing red sea reef energy A and B??

[teenyreef]

Wow...seems like youve gone through alot lately.....are you still dosing red sea reef energy A and B??

Maybe a couple times a week. I dose Acropower regularly, although I've cut it way back since the problems with this tank started.

 

But A&B seems to be a lot better for the corals than Acropower, they seem to respond more strongly to it. But that could just be because I need to dose the Acropower more strongly.

[dferrari13]

Yea.....dosing A and B everyday gets tedious

[teenyreef]

Yea.....dosing A and B everyday gets tedious

It's my favorite amino acid-type coral food of all the ones I've tried, including Acropower and Aquavitro Fuel, plus it has that super cool green color. But I just can't stand dosing it every day in all three tanks. So I do it two or three times a week, and do Fuel once a week, and let the daily dosing of Acropower cover the rest.

 

Someday I'll have the tank stable again and then I'll experiment with just dosing one thing at a time

 

 

I scrubbed the rocks with a regular toothbrush (in the tank), stirred up the gravel again, and did another two gallon water change. I've also been holding a brine shrimp net near the MP10 to pick up the worst of the debris. Just changed the filter floss for the third time in the last 24 hours.

 

Oh, and I just ordered a new clean up crew from Reefcleaners. There are very few snails left in this tank and that's probably part of the reason the rocks have gotten so covered in crud.

[teenyreef]

The monticaps are enjoying a little vacation in the frag tank for the next few days. I've just got all the rocks piled up in this tank so that I can pick them up and scrub them as often as I need to.

 

2016-12-26 CADlights 4g FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[ninjamyst]

wow, you been busy! can't to see this tank again in a month or so!

[jtwisconsin]

The monticaps are enjoying a little vacation in the frag tank for the next few days. I've just got all the rocks piled up in this tank so that I can pick them up and scrub them as often as I need to.

Coral vaca.

 

Thanks for the recommendation on those media bags - those were exactly what I needed!

[teenyreef]

Coral vaca.

 

Thanks for the recommendation on those media bags - those were exactly what I needed!

I'm glad it was helpful!

[FlowerMama]

So much done! I have some aptasia myself and some turf algae for the first time, Good luck w/ eradicating it. I also bought like 6 berghias but I saw them for 2 days, that's it, never saw them again and nothing happened with my aptasia. I think something ate them when I had them in the 34, that's all I can think of as there was plenty for them to eat.

[Sharbuckle]

Damn. Youre putting in work!

[Christopher Marks]

Quite an operation, this is true dedication. Keep up the good work teenyreef! A fresh start for 2017!

[uwdanno]

The monticaps are enjoying a little vacation in the frag tank for the next few days. I've just got all the rocks piled up in this tank so that I can pick them up and scrub them as often as I need to.

 

2016-12-26 CADlights 4g FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

How big is that frag tank? I've been debating setting one up in similar size

[markalot]

Drag tank.

 

I love the algae, looks like veins climbing the glass.

[teenyreef]

So much done! I have some aptasia myself and some turf algae for the first time, Good luck w/ eradicating it. I also bought like 6 berghias but I saw them for 2 days, that's it, never saw them again and nothing happened with my aptasia. I think something ate them when I had them in the 34, that's all I can think of as there was plenty for them to eat.

I've heard berghias can be hit or miss. I know the ones Stella got were hell on wheels for aiptasia, maybe I'll hire hers to do a hit and run

 

Of course, I'd have to move Doug 2 to the other tank, as I suspect he'd really enjoy eating berghias

Damn. Youre putting in work!

It would probably be easier to just boil the rocks and start from scratch at this point, but I don't want to cycle the tank with fish in it, and if I move them to the 40g I'd probably never be able to get them back out without tearing that tank down too. So I'm willing to give this a shot - it's a great learning opportunity

Quite an operation, this is true dedication. Keep up the good work teenyreef! A fresh start for 2017!

Thanks, Christopher, I agree, a fresh start!

How big is that drag tank? I've been debating setting one up in similar size

It's my old 4g Cadlights. I post updates on it every once in a while in my old 4g thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/352749-teenyreefs-picoparadise-4g-evolve

 

I only set up up as a frag tank because I already had everything I needed to run it. But honestly, if I was doing a frag tank from scratch, I'd do something quite a bit larger, probably 20g or more. I'd even consider a sump. It's been very hard to make the 4g work as a frag tank. It constantly bounces between nutrients too low, with SPS all pale and not growing, to nutrients too high, with algae growing like crazy, and SPS all pale and not growing.

 

I think I just haven't figured out the trick of how to keep it. I've tried several different filtration and dosing schemes but just haven't hit on the right combination. I may try adding a small fish next, just to get some fish poop in there and to promote a more natural nutrient export capability.

Drag tank.

 

I love the algae, looks like veins climbing the glass.

I didn't notice that at first.

 

The algae is the sole survivor of my macro care package I got from Stella a year or so ago. Turned out my 10g tank was not a great place to grow macros, but this guy has been unkillable

[uwdanno]

knock it off you two

[teenyreef]

knock it off you two

[teenyreef]

Everything was cleared up today, with the rocks piled randomly in the back, since I'll be pulling them back out again to clean them again in a few days. The corals on the front rocks are doing pretty well, although the rocks themselves need another round of peroxide and scrubbing.

 

2016-12-27 IM10 FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

2016-12-27 IM10 Top Down by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Zoa Garden by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

So after I took these pictures I trashed the tank again, pulling out the front rocks and crushing more vermetid snails, scrubbing, and applying peroxide with a dropper. While the rocks were out I vacuumed the front sand bed and pulled out another two gallons of gunk.

 

When I checked parameters earlier today, nitrates and phosphates were half (8 and .09) of what they were a few days ago, thanks to all the cleaning and water changes and fresh carbon and gfo. So far so good!

 

The fish don't seem to be distressed at all with all that's been going on, and in fact they seem to like the new pile of rocks, they spend a lot of time swimming in between and around the rocks.

[fishfreak0114]

The tank looks so clean! I really admire the dedication you have your tanks. Not everyone would be willing to put in this kind of work. I can't wait to see what it looks like when you're finished and everything is back in there!

[jack1978]

Everything was cleared up today, with the rocks piled randomly in the back, since I'll be pulling them back out again to clean them again in a few days. The corals on the front rocks are doing pretty well, although the rocks themselves need another round of peroxide and scrubbing.

 

2016-12-27 IM10 FTS by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

2016-12-27 IM10 Top Down by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Zoa Garden by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

So after I took these pictures I trashed the tank again, pulling out the front rocks and crushing more vermetid snails, scrubbing, and applying peroxide with a dropper. While the rocks were out I vacuumed the front sand bed and pulled out another two gallons of gunk.

 

When I checked parameters earlier today, nitrates and phosphates were half (8 and .09) of what they were a few days ago, thanks to all the cleaning and water changes and fresh carbon and gfo. So far so good!

 

The fish don't seem to be distressed at all with all that's been going on, and in fact they seem to like the new pile of rocks, they spend a lot of time swimming in between and around the rocks.

Glad to see them Teenyletties are still looking pretty!

[teenyreef]

Glad to see them Teenyletties are still looking pretty!

It's amazing, they seem to be pretty much indestructible. Hopefully when the tank recovers they'll start multiplying again and I can finally frag them