Seafurn's Old School Pico Gets An Upgrade - 365 Day Challenge

[SeaFurn]

Day 43

 

Tonight’s test results:

Nitrates: 1

Phos: 0.03

Alk: 8.9

 

I haven’t dosed nitrogen or phosphorus in quite a while now - maybe 2 weeks. 

 

Here’s a pic from this morning of some of the growth I was talking about yesterday. These Solar Flare zoas have 4 baby polyps that have suddenly appeared.

(I couldn’t quite get the colors right on this photo - there was a lot of natural sun shining in the window and heavy actinic from the Mini Tide.) 

 

 

[SeaFurn]

Day 44

 

So I thought I killed the one aiptasia I knew of last weekend..but today, there it was again. 😡

I guess I’m going to need some advice as to how to get rid of it. It’s situated in a bunch of zoas and is very small. It’s location and size seem like it will make most methods I’ve read about (and the one I’ve tried) ineffective.

Should I let it get larger and then try to kill it? I don’t want it to spread. 

Should I get some Aiptasia X? - but for just one tiny one? 

Help! 

[A.m.P]

I had one on the base of a chalice coral, the only way I was able to get rid of it was boiling lemon juice and vinegar piped onto it. It detached its' foot from the rock and I was able to pick it up and throw it in the sink with a toothbrush.

 

It would be difficult to take the same approach in your situation without damaging the zoas however, not to mention the risks involved in seriously irritating or scrubbing zoanthids.

 

I've heard of mixed reviews on aip-x from those who claim it spreads the animal's, but I don't have any experience myself - perhaps an aiptasia laser or some nudibranchs might be on loan from a local?

[Wingy]

I had an aiptasia in a really bad spot and a manjano in the zoas.   I used a super small syringe and shot it with hydrogen peroxide.  I dug what was left out with a toothpick.  It worked for me and I haven't seen any more.

[William]

I have Berghia nudibranchs if you are near nyc 

[SeaFurn]

21 hours ago, Amphrites said:

perhaps an aiptasia laser or some nudibranchs might be on loan from a local?

That’s a possibility as soon as I can get out of lockdown and if @Wingy ‘s syringe trick doesn’t work. I think I’m gonna try that next. 

 

6 hours ago, William said:

I have Berghia nudibranchs if you are near nyc 

Atlanta - glad I’m not near NYC right now. You’re in the medical field aren’t you William? Please be safe. My thoughts and prayers are with you there. 

[SeaFurn]

Day 45

 

The cyano is back. So interesting how the tank can be pristine for days and then suddenly the rocks turn red. Well, at least the snails will eat well tonight. 

I did change 5 cups of water this evening. That will help a little. 

 

Had another snail escapee last night. He’s safe and sound back in the tank.  I really need to figure out what I’m going to do for some kind of lid. What are some of you other Lifegard tank owners using? 

 

[Wingy]

I was able to get a syringe with a fine needle thanks to a co worker with a diabetic cat.  I was able to take out the zoa colony rock and put it in a bowl of tank water on water change day.  The zoas closed but after a bit the aiptasia opened.  I slowly inserted the needle while depressing the plunger until I hit rock.  I let it sit for a minute in the bowl of tank water to rinse before I dug it all i could see out with a toothpick.  Neither the aiptasia or manjano ever came back and the zoa rock opened right up when I put it back in the tank.  I haven't seen any more either.

[SeaFurn]

Day 46

 

This hermit thinks he’s a clownfish! He’s started “hosting” the digi over the last few days. And the digi doesn’t seem to mind! 

At first I thought he was just sleeping on it, but he moves around on it and always comes back to it if he leaves it. Crazy times. 

 

[Gravity]

Not sure if this is the one you want but it’s available on LiveAquaria Diversden

[SeaFurn]

55 minutes ago, Gravity said:

Not sure if this is the one you want but it’s available on LiveAquaria Diversden

Yeah! I think that’s it - or really close. Thanks!

[SeaFurn]

Day 47

 

It appears that this damn thing is growing from the crack between the frag plug and the rock that was glued to it. So...do you think I could just fill that crack with super glue to solve the problem? 

 

[Wingy]

It will just come out on another side.

[ef4life]

Get some Safety glasses, Razor blade, super glue, and tweezers. I would cut the zoas off carefully polyp by polyp and attach them to a new frag plug (or a piece of rock) and then throw the old plug away to get rid of the aptasia. Then do a dip before putting back in your tank.

[SeaFurn]

Day 48

 

Make that 2 aiptasia...I spotted another one on the opposite side. 

Damn. I think the second one has been there awhile and I just hadn’t spotted it. But how quickly do these spread anyway?

 

@ef4life I think I may have to do as you suggested. May take a crack at that this weekend. 

 

In other news:

Hermit crab is still hosting the digi.

Cyano still coming on strong. 

Frogspawn is looking better. 

 

Tonight’s test results:

Nitrate - 2 (while not extremely high it’s a 100% increase over the last couple of days and I haven’t fed the tank or done anything that I know of to increase it)

Alk - 9.3 (most likely higher due to the water change the other day - although I didn’t think my new water even mixes that high, the tank was only in the 8’s at last check, and the water change volume wasn’t that much - so I’m a little confused why it’s that high)

Phos - 0.03 

 

[SeaFurn]

Day 49

 

Cyano everywhere. I have no idea why this is coming on with a vengeance. There’s red algae everywhere and so thick now the snails won’t touch it. 

This pic is even after I just blasted the rocks with a turkey baster.

i guess I’m going to change more water tomorrow. 

 

[SeaFurn]

Day 50

 

Late last night I went looking around the tank with a flashlight and found 2 more small bright red spaghetti worms. Those things freak me out. I think I’ve read they are harmless but I took them out anyway. Seeing that one eating away at the bottom of the frogspawn recently has me skeptical. 

Changed 5 cups of water today. Cyano was about the same but 

the snails were making their way to the rocks right after the lights went out tonight so maybe they will take care of some of it. 

May change 5 more cups of water tomorrow depending on how the corals look by mid-day. 

[SeaFurn]

Day 51

 

Zoas are so weird. Any experts out there know why a single group will sometimes spend the entire day all stretched upward while all the others in the tank just lay there like normal? Is this part of the pooping process?  It’s definitely not due to the lack of light.

Today, the zoas pictured below were all stretched like you see. And one day last week, the pink ones below them did the exact same thing. Some zoas, however, don’t do it at all. 

 

[debbeach13]

I don’t know if it’s because they came from different locations or aquacultured. I can’t figure them out. Side by side and react/respond so differently. For a coral considered easy I have a found them some what temperamental. So colorful and can spread so nice. Almost heart breaking when they just melt away. Especially since prices are ridiculous. You have a nice collection. 

[SeaFurn]

Day 52

 

This hobby can be so damn frustrating...and challenging as you all know. I’m really stewing today because I just want there to be some consistency with how all the corals look day to day - especially when the parameters are stable. 

Today’s parameters are exactly what they were yesterday but look at the difference in the digi from yesterday to today....

 

Yesterday 4:30pm - and this is pretty typical

 

All day today - no PE at all. 

 

Nothing has changed.

So why why why does it look like this today? 

Do I assume something is wrong?

Should I change more water?

Should I see how it looks tomorrow?

Should I just expect that something in the tank is gonna look like crap day to day? 

Something like this always makes me want to mess with the tank but I’m sure that’s probably a bad idea. 

 

Someone give me some perspective please.

[debbeach13]

I am definitely a if your not sure what to do don't do any thing. I also have never had one of those corals so I hope some one with experience helps you out.  

[William]

21 minutes ago, SeaFurn said:

Day 52

 

This hobby can be so damn frustrating...and challenging as you all know. I’m really stewing today because I just want there to be some consistency with how all the corals look day to day - especially when the parameters are stable. 

Today’s parameters are exactly what they were yesterday but look at the difference in the digi from yesterday to today....

 

Yesterday 4:30pm - and this is pretty typical

 

All day today - no PE at all. 

 

Nothing has changed.

So why why why does it look like this today? 

Do I assume something is wrong?

Should I change more water?

Should I see how it looks tomorrow?

Should I just expect that something in the tank is gonna look like crap day to day? 

Something like this always makes me want to mess with the tank but I’m sure that’s probably a bad idea. 

 

Someone give me some perspective please.

Sometimes the best thing you can do is nothing. If your parameters are ok, keep your hands out of the tank and leave it alone. If you are really concerned, send an ICP test when you do your next set of testing so you can see how your hobby test kits compare to ICP testing. 

[A.m.P]

I feel you there, had a bravo favia frag, puffy and pretty - params all in check, new growth with four new eyes. Noticed a pale looking spot two days ago and moved it to lower light, it rtn'd overnight and was bare by-morning, rest of the tank looks fine, wish I knew how I failed the animal - but sometimes it's unreasonable for us to expect to be on top of everything all the time I think, there's too much we cannot test for and compounding factors like flow, light, and allelopathy from algae and other corals. Although I have a hunch that my tank may have parasitic amphipods.

[SeaFurn]

Day 53

 

16 hours ago, Amphrites said:

 wish I knew how I failed the animal - but sometimes it's unreasonable for us to expect to be on top of everything all the time I think, there's too much we cannot test for and compounding factors like flow, light, and allelopathy from algae and other corals. Although I have a hunch that my tank may have parasitic amphipods.

 

Ok - going to get into the mind of Seafurn a bit here - so bear with me....

 

Yes, I get that.  I hate failing these corals/fish/inverts/etc.   I'm not really looking to stay on top of everything all the time.  That's not reasonable. I just get frustrated when things go wrong in the tank and I have no idea why because then I can't learn from the mistake.  I can't make it better for next time.  Here I think I'm doing everything mostly OK, or at least what I have learned to be OK, but it's not enough. 

I know have a lot to learn. Learning more and more will help myself become more successful...but what, there's still ultimately going to be something that goes wrong - that I can't anticipate, that I can't control for, that I can't test for (even after the fact), that I, or anyone else, just doesn't know why??  Well, hopefully whatever it is, isn't so bad that it makes me want to take the tank down.  

Let me be clear - I do realize shit happens.    

So, those with successful long-term tanks have obviously learned a lot, have made mistakes and learned from them. But is the same thing at play with them? Is there still something that will ultimately take something down in their tank or the whole thing crashes and they just don't know why?  I think I've read enough here on N-R and other places to say the answer is yes.  So, I probably need to be OK with that and accept it's just part of the hobby, and I have to get used to it. But that's hard for me. 

I used to play chess and video games against the computer - ones where the levels just got harder and harder until you couldn't get to the next level .  At some point, I'd just stopped playing because I couldn't "succeed".  It wasn't any fun - it wasn't enjoyable knowing I was going to lose.... 

I guess I'd better figure out what success should look like in my reef tank.... so that I can maintain the joy.

 

Tomorrow will be back to the regular scheduled programming.  Thanks for listening....

[A.m.P]

I think just about everyone here feels similarly when in that situation, perhaps all the time, the unfortunate takeaway is that even masters like Sanjay have tank crashes - sometimes even if you know exactly what went wrong, and exactly what is going on - that won't mean you can do anything about it.

I can relate to the last sentiment a fair-bit, mostly because I've had a great-deal of experience with people who have a, decidedly american, mentality which depends on success for gratification.
I used to help run tournaments for tennis, and a handful of video games; one of the first things I tried to communicate to newcomers was the need to work on redefining their ability to enjoy what they were doing, to enjoy the learning process, regardless of the outcome - because the reality was that outcome, 90% of the time, was going to be a loss.

In this context that doesn't mean quite as much since little animals are on the line and in our care, but maybe the perspective helps. 
Some of my fondest memories and favorite matches involved my not winning a single point in a twelve-hour day.

To answer your question, I'm not sure what I would do, I'd suspect it might be getting too much flow or light - but that doesn't seem to be the case there. I might wait it out, check nitrate/phosphate to make sure they haven't bottomed-out or do a waterchange.
At the end of the day I'd be taking a shot in the dark because I don't have enough experience to do otherwise.