Rain's Reef Tanquito: New additions! New pics! :D

[Rain24]

A little help that's pico/reef bowl specific, please?

 

I have dinoflagellates. I did some research after I fed the jar for the first time last night. The algae is a little hairy, sort of brownish green strands with bubbles and it grows fast. They were growing on the birds nest's exposed finger and the pocillopora's exposed skeleton. I started to see some questionable blobs on the sand too.

 

So, I pulled the birds nest and pocillopora and snapped off the bits that had dinos. I'm about to tackle the sand.

 

I keep reading that I'm not supposed to do a water change, BUT - this is a reef jar without a filter and I just fed the jar last night. (Some mysis for the hammer and Reef Roids).

 

Do I do a full water change? Just partial? Lights out or reduced photoperiod? I have a pocillopora, a hammer and a bird's nest in there as well as a corynactis hitchhiker and a stomatella snail. I want to suck out some of that sand. The lights are on for now. Didn't want to stress them too much after the emergency "fragging."

 

I'm also annoyed that the new premixed water that I got from the LFS store is testing at 1.013 and 1.021SG (I got two 5 gallon containers.) Thankfully, I have a third one from a different store that's at 1.026.

 

 

[Weetabix7]

I got just a small amount of that at one point on a rock, and I just removed the rock, brushed regular OTC  peroxide & let it sit on there for a couple mins, then rinsed & returned to tank. (my 35% peroxide was in the mail.)

I had to do it one more time a few days later & it hasn't returned since then. 

I think you were good to frag where you did. 

Most people with Reef Jar Picos are doing 100% WC's once a week, and that's what I'm doing on my Waterfall Pico as well. Have you done any WC's in here yet?

 

@natalia_la_loca, do you have any Reef Jar specific suggestions for treating dino's?

[Rain24]

7 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

I got just a small amount of that at one point on a rock, and I just removed the rock, brushed regular OTC  peroxide & let it sit on there for a couple mins, then rinsed & returned to tank. (my 35% peroxide was in the mail.)

I had to do it one more time a few days later & it hasn't returned since then. 

I think you were good to frag where you did. 

Most people with Reef Jar Picos are doing 100% WC's once a week, and that's what I'm doing on my Waterfall Pico as well. Have you done any WC's in here yet?

 

@natalia_la_loca, do you have any Reef Jar specific suggestions for treating dino's?

 

Hi Weetie! I've done a 100% WC last Sunday and today would have been the second WC. I need to suck up that sand. It's making me antsy. I just need to know how much water I can change. I don't want an outbreak. I also have to make sure my water is at 1.026 because of the SW I got from the LFS. I need to give them a call about that.

 

And what is the thin film of pale green stuff that I'm finding on my suction cups and the plastic part of my heater? Film algae? It's not bubbling, so I hope that's not dinos either.

 

I wasn't posting in the regular pest/disease forum since our picos sometimes don't have any filtration. I don't have a temporary HOB that I can use (I don't know of a filter that would fit around the round lip of the jar).

 

And how did you do that nifty tagging of a user? Just @username?

[Weetabix7]

yep, just @username

 

The green stuff is just normal film algae that everyone gets, most use an algae magnet cleaner to wipe it off every few days to a week. I use my reef toothbrush. 

 

I personally don't see any reason you can't suck up the sand. 

It sounds like it's time for the weekly WC anyway, I'd just go ahead and do 100% although you might have to "blend" some of your water to match the SG already in your Pico. 

That's a little annoying, hope you get it straightened out. 

 

I don't claim to be a dino expert, so if someone who is tells you different, listen to them. 

However, the above is what I would do in your shoes.

[SeaFurn]

2 hours ago, Rain24 said:

I have dinoflagellates. I did some research after I fed the jar for the first time last night. The algae is a little hairy, sort of brownish green strands with bubbles and it grows fast.

I had the same thing happen...brownish green strands with bubbles were all over - the rocks, the acan at the time.  The bowl looked horrible - it made me crazy.  About that time I got two small trochus snails and they went to work. My bowl was brown with those things for at least two weeks and all the while the snails were trying to keep up.  I stuck to the weekly 100% water changes during this time though and eventually it all went away. Now I mostly just have the green algae on my rocks that @Weetabix7 mentions above.  I'd just do your 100% water change and stir up the sand real well before siphoning out and replacing all the water.   Be prepared though - they'll come back for another week or two.

[brandon429]

Agreed with all

 

pico reefs are fine if we change out the water 100% twice a day for years as a gross example, water changes are pico reef cpr they're good not bad 

 

all the bad things we may read about water chngs are from pouring back in the water and stirring up crud in the sandbed

which leads to sandbed maintenance in the pico reef: have one that cannot cloud the water no matter what you do with it, that clean.

 

post pic lets see if this is spirulina or cyano, much more likely.

[HammerLover]

When I had nasty hair algae outbreaks, all I did is spot treat each portion in the rock or sand using h2o2 (then leave it for 5 mins), then I did a 150% wc to remove any h2o2 inside the jar.

 

it was during the first few weeks when I had nasty algae problems and my film greenish algae is always covering the glass walls even though I clean it weekly. 

 

When the setup starts to mature, the corals will soon compete the algae with growth and the continuous spot treatment will totally keep them away or in control (some bryopsis can get really tough!)

[brandon429]

Fact √agreed

 

 

The sole cure that works on every tank in this forum but you have to believe it will work, and permit no early growth, knowing it lessens with more purple and more coral

[natalia_la_loca]

I don't have any specific suggestions beyond what's already been said. 100% water change, aggressive detritus removal, Trochus snails. Be sure to really blast the rockscape and sand with a turkey baster, it's amazing how much detritus can hide there.

[HammerLover]

I totally agree! One of the reasons why I had minor reset was due to too much detritus hiding in the rockwork. It can definitely foul up the tank if left unchecked, that's why regular light sand cleaning is what I do. 

 

Even though these setups are mostly fishless, you'll be amazed how much crap and detritus accumulates in certain areas throughout time

[Rain24]

Just a short update.

 

I changed the water on Monday and the lights are off today. Maybe I'll keep them off tomorrow too. The bird's nest and pocillopora have been fine after their emergency fragging. All the corals looked happy yesterday but then I had to do lights out when I noticed a brown dusting on the sand and a few new bubbles on the rocks.

 

I might try some H2O2 if lights out doesn't clear it up.

[Weetabix7]

No worries, you got this!!

[Rain24]

47 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

No worries, you got this!!

I really, really hope so.

 

Okay corals...stay healthy during lights out! You guys were perfectly happy after your Reef Roids! LOL. Planning on 48 to 72 hours of lights out. Not covering the tank much, just turned the lights off.

[Weetabix7]

They can totally take that much lights out, really. 

[Rain24]

On 4/3/2017 at 10:50 AM, SeaFurn said:

I had the same thing happen...brownish green strands with bubbles were all over - the rocks, the acan at the time.  The bowl looked horrible - it made me crazy.  About that time I got two small trochus snails and they went to work. My bowl was brown with those things for at least two weeks and all the while the snails were trying to keep up.  I stuck to the weekly 100% water changes during this time though and eventually it all went away. Now I mostly just have the green algae on my rocks that @Weetabix7 mentions above.  I'd just do your 100% water change and stir up the sand real well before siphoning out and replacing all the water.   Be prepared though - they'll come back for another week or two.

I might have to get a trochus or an astrea. My only CUC is the hitchhiker stomatella and a couple of bristle worms. LOL. I was just trying to avoid getting a larger snail that might knock over frags. Are your snails behaving?

 

On 4/3/2017 at 0:51 PM, brandon429 said:

Agreed with all

 

pico reefs are fine if we change out the water 100% twice a day for years as a gross example, water changes are pico reef cpr they're good not bad 

 

all the bad things we may read about water chngs are from pouring back in the water and stirring up crud in the sandbed

which leads to sandbed maintenance in the pico reef: have one that cannot cloud the water no matter what you do with it, that clean.

 

post pic lets see if this is spirulina or cyano, much more likely.

I wish I had taken a photo, but I snapped off the affected parts before they spread even more. Good to get confirmation that the 100% water change I did on Monday was fine.

 

On 4/3/2017 at 6:11 PM, HammerLover said:

When I had nasty hair algae outbreaks, all I did is spot treat each portion in the rock or sand using h2o2 (then leave it for 5 mins), then I did a 150% wc to remove any h2o2 inside the jar.

 

it was during the first few weeks when I had nasty algae problems and my film greenish algae is always covering the glass walls even though I clean it weekly. 

 

When the setup starts to mature, the corals will soon compete the algae with growth and the continuous spot treatment will totally keep them away or in control (some bryopsis can get really tough!)

Yeah, I'm considering using some H2O2. I read about someone dosing their tank with some hydrogen peroxide after a dino outbreak. 

 

Oh, and clearly this means I need more corals to compete with the algae, right? LOL

 

On 4/3/2017 at 6:37 PM, brandon429 said:

Fact √agreed

 

 

The sole cure that works on every tank in this forum but you have to believe it will work, and permit no early growth, knowing it lessens with more purple and more coral

Purple = coralline?

 

On 4/4/2017 at 4:35 AM, natalia_la_loca said:

I don't have any specific suggestions beyond what's already been said. 100% water change, aggressive detritus removal, Trochus snails. Be sure to really blast the rockscape and sand with a turkey baster, it's amazing how much detritus can hide there.

I turkey basted and blasted as much as I could get to. Interesting how tight a jar is! And I thought it was tight quarters in my 14g Biocube! I'll just have to keep at it. For now, it's lights out for the tank. That algae grows a little too fast for my liking!

 

8 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

They can totally take that much lights out, really. 

 

Hurray! I feel so much better. I've half covered the bottom of the tank with a towel and the upper half with the frags are exposed.

 

Interestingly, my corynactis is VERY happy and is larger now than when I first noticed it. He's living up to his name - "The Thing."

[Weetabix7]

Just to be sure you understand, you use peroxide as a spot treatment for algae, don't dose the entire Jar with it. 

[Rain24]

4 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Just to be sure you understand, you use peroxide as a spot treatment for algae, don't dose the entire Jar with it. 

I was actually reading about a guy in the peroxide thread that dosed his small tank with 0.1ml per gallon for his dinos and allegedly it worked. I have used peroxide as a spot treatment before but since my frags aren't glued down they keep getting knocked over when I try to take the rock out. Oh, and I only have the 3% kind from the drug store.

[Weetabix7]

22 minutes ago, Rain24 said:

I was actually reading about a guy in the peroxide thread that dosed his small tank with 0.1ml per gallon for his dinos and allegedly it worked. I have used peroxide as a spot treatment before but since my frags aren't glued down they keep getting knocked over when I try to take the rock out. Oh, and I only have the 3% kind from the drug store.

 

I think you can do it with 3% kind. 

With small picos like ours, it REALLY helps to have long tongs for working in them. 

I got some reptile feeder tongs at Petsmart, I think they were only $9. 

[HammerLover]

3 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

Just to be sure you understand, you use peroxide as a spot treatment for algae, don't dose the entire Jar with it. 

I somehow did it, though what I did is soaked my liverocks in H2O2. All my cespitularia and anthelia perished

Never gonna do it again!

Regarding the lights out, if there is some sun available your corals can manage to pull through

When my LED lights got busted it took a week to get them repaired and I didnt lost anything, though I had to acclimate them for awhile before bringing the lights back to full intensity

[Rain24]

On 4/5/2017 at 3:35 PM, Weetabix7 said:

 

I think you can do it with 3% kind. 

With small picos like ours, it REALLY helps to have long tongs for working in them. 

I got some reptile feeder tongs at Petsmart, I think they were only $9. 

I have a pair of tongs but I haven't used them yet. When I pulled them out of storage, they had little rust spots all over. I didn't want to risk sticking them in the tank without asking if that was safe. I was guessing not, so maybe it's time for new tongs.

 

I've been trying to use a very long pair of chopsticks, but I'm not as great with picking up corals with them as I am picking up food.

 

On 4/5/2017 at 6:30 PM, HammerLover said:

I somehow did it, though what I did is soaked my liverocks in H2O2. All my cespitularia and anthelia perished

Never gonna do it again!

Regarding the lights out, if there is some sun available your corals can manage to pull through

When my LED lights got busted it took a week to get them repaired and I didnt lost anything, though I had to acclimate them for awhile before bringing the lights back to full intensity

 

I'm coming out of my 72 hour lights out period today! Just waiting another 8 minutes for the lights to come on again. I'll be running them for maybe 6 to 8 hours (hopefully 8 today) and see how everything looks.

 

I haven't dosed yet. I didn't want the corals to have the stress of both lights out and 3% peroxide dosing.

 

My rocks are kind of brownish. I'm going to see if I can wheedle a trip to the LFS today to pick up a little snail.

[Weetabix7]

Brownish rocks probably means you're having a diatom bloom, which is perfectly normal and will go away on it's own before long. 

Snails still aren't a bad idea.

[Rain24]

Tank Journal Entry

 

 

 

More new "rescue corals" and a new astrea!

 

April 8, 2017 -  Just finished 72 hours of lights out and my rocks are turning brown. @Weetabix7 mentioned getting a snail, so off we went to the LFS. I had badly mixed SW from the last time I visited, so they said I could get free water this time around. While they were filling my 5g containers, I found a tiny astrea that looks like he'll do. I named him Herbert. And while he looked super tiny in the store, he sure looks big enough inside the jar!

 

The girl at the store saw me staring at the cheap frag tank and said to pick one out as an "I'm sorry we messed your water up." Saw a single red blastomussa frag that I wanted and she urged me to pick up another neon blasto frag that I was a little iffy on due to algae on the frag plug. But she said it was also free, so it came home with me. I call the neon one "Experiment One" since it was my first time taking a frag off its plug. I also scrubbed the heck out of its skeleton to get most of the algae out with a tiny gum brush. I also gave it a little 3% hydrogen peroxide. I was afraid I was probably getting some peroxide on the tissue too. I kept telling myself that this was an experiment since I wasn't sure I wanted the frag anyway.

 

I got my new inhabitants in the jar and out came Benjamin to spread his um...JOY around again. Really, Benjie? I thought this was a rare thing. I guess this is how he welcomes new tank mates?

 

April 10, 2017 -  Water change. Still lots of bubbles. I wonder why? Also, does anyone know if I can just leave the astrea in the tank when I do a 100% water change? I felt bad having to pick him off to put him in a cup while I changed the water.

 

I also need to learn to coax my hammer to close before I change water. It was all fat and happy when I drained the tank and all of a sudden it was a gelatinous bag hanging pendulously off its skeleton. Yikes. Thankfully, its inflating so I may have been forgiven.

 

Ugh. Water was only at 1.024. Jar was at 1.025 before the water change.

     

Photos!

 

 

Benjamin's "I welcome you with my JOY" stance

(note that he's standing on the new astrea)

 

The new red blastomussa.

I like its blue center and green mouth.

 

"Experiment One" green blastomussa

Okay, I'm glad I took this one home. I'm kind of in love.

 

Aaaaand, a FJS/FBS

I had to move and glue the pocillopora. An amphipod was irritating it.

 

[natalia_la_loca]

Don't worry about getting a little peroxide on the edge of the tissue. The 3% especially is pretty benign.  I often get small amounts of 35% peroxide on my corals if a little bit of hair algae is growing right next to them. They foam up and close but don't suffer long-term ill effects.

 

Yes, you can leave snails in the tank when doing a 100% water change.

 

Also no need to bother your hammer to get it to close before the water change.  The tentacles on mine turn into a gelatinous hanging mass every water change. It's doing fine after nearly a year.

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

11 minutes ago, Rain24 said:

 

The new red blastomussa.

I like its blue center and green mouth.

 

"Experiment One" green blastomussa

Okay, I'm glad I took this one home. I'm kind of in love.

 

Those blastos!!!   The green one is awesome but the red and blue one I LOVE!!!  ReefGardener has one like that and I was planning to get it soon till plans changed.   I basically love blastos now and can't believe I never tried them before!

[Rain24]

20 minutes ago, natalia_la_loca said:

Don't worry about getting a little peroxide on the edge of the tissue. The 3% especially is pretty benign.  I often get small amounts of 35% peroxide on my corals if a little bit of hair algae is growing right next to them. They foam up and close but don't suffer long-term ill effects.

 

Yes, you can leave snails in the tank when doing a 100% water change.

 

Also no need to bother your hammer to get it to close before the water change.  The tentacles on mine turn into a gelatinous hanging mass every water change. It's doing fine after nearly a year.

 

 

Thanks, natalia. I thought the hammer's skeleton would rip that gelatinous blob. It looked bad there for a while. I think I hurried my water change just so I could get it under water again. Whew.

 

And awesome, I am no longer going to pluck the astraea off when I have to change the water. Also, good to know that small amounts of peroxide on the corals are okay.

 

How is your flucon dosing coming along? I keep seeing tiny whitish strands of I don't know what in my jar. I need to get used to changing water so I can pull the rock out and peroxide those spots. Also, there are tons of tiny bubbles that are driving me bananas.

 

12 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Those blastos!!!   The green one is awesome but the red and blue one I LOVE!!!  ReefGardener has one like that and I was planning to get it soon till plans changed.   I basically love blastos now and can't believe I never tried them before!

 

The red and blue one is my baby. When it recedes, you can totally see it's skeleton, so I'm going to try to nurse it through. When it's fat though, it looks okay. I wonder how long before blastos make new heads?

 

These are my first blastos too! I looked them up because one of the local reefers sells frags of it. I was like "what's a blasto and can I take care of it?" I was so excited when they all took small pieces of mysis yesterday!

 

The green one isn't opening up as much today. I wonder if it's my SG. I could only get the new water to mix up to 1.024. It was about 1.025 before the water change. I have the lid off just to see if I can get it to evaporate a bit to 1.025.