IOWL's 50g frag tank

[IOnceWasLegend]

How much do you have? I found some growing at the base of 2 sps frags so I removed the frags and was able to manually remove the bubble algae. When the frag was out of the tank I used my curved edge bone cutters and got the tips under a bubble and they then all popped off the plug in one group of bubbles. I may have been lucky with how they grew, but manual removal ended up being easier than I would have expected. A good option for a bb frag tank where you can theoretically see everything

Not a ton, but I've tried removing the bubbles several times from one of the pieces (the eagle eye zoas) and it keeps coming back. I've typically taken a sample of tank water, placed the frags in that, removed the bubbles in the container, put them in a new container/fresh tank water sample to 'rinse' them off, and put it back...but it keeps coming back.

 

[ashburn2k]

+1 manual remove


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[NanoCrazed]

+2. Manual

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

+1 manual remove


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+2. Manual

How do you keep them from coming back with manual removal? I've tried removing the bubbles from my eagle eye zoas probably 3 or 4 times, being as careful as I can each time, and it keeps coming back. I remove the algae in a separate container of water, 'rinse' the frags in a clean container to try and remove any spores, and then put it back in the tank, but it still grows back.

 

[NanoCrazed]

do it enough times, they go away

 

[max_nano]

Would dipping them after doing the manual removal help? Zoas are pretty hardy so could you do a peroxide dip? I believe that’s what people will do for frags overgrown in GHA so it may help here?

 

[Patio]

if too nervous to fully dip in peroxide, you could use a paint brush to apply just to the spots you choose. I was surprised by the effectiveness of the brush method.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

if too nervous to fully dip in peroxide, you could use a paint brush to apply just to the spots you choose. I was surprised by the effectiveness of the brush method.

Much appreciated! I'll have to try this.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Update, 1/30/21

Bad news, and good news.

Bad news: it looks like I have dinoflagellates in my frag tank.

Good news: I have dinoflagellates and this lets me perform some a priori hypothesis testing.

Hypothesis: I have been feeding two to three cubes of spirulina-enriched brine shrimp and mysis daily for a medium kole tang, a clown, a sixline wrasse, and a couple peppermint shrimp. Upon further reflection, my skimmer has not been pulling a lot of skimmate out. Based on a combination of low bioload and low skimmate, I am reasonably certain I have low phosphates and/or nitrates, since dinoflagellates thrive under limiting nutrient conditions.


Results: Nitrates were at ~20 ppm. Phosphates, however, were at 0.01 (and the Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker has an error of +/- 0.02, so entirely possible it's zeroed out).

Conclusion: Hypothesis confirmed!

So, now that I have a likely contributing factor to dinoflagellates, I can make a plan of attack:

1. The dinoflagellates I have are ostreopsis. None of my CUC has died, which is good, but they're thought to be one of the more toxic species. So: keep protein skimmer running to remove dead dinos, and run extra carbon to remove toxins.

2. Feed more heavily to up phosphates. This includes feeding Reef Roids every day since, in my experience, that increases phosphates pretty quickly.

3. 3-day blackout. Dinos are photosynthetic, bacteria/other microorganisms aren't. Make my tank less hospitable for dinos while encouraging other bugs to grow.

4. Dose Microbacter 7 every day to increase the amount of competition against the dinoflagellates.

5. If I can find one, hook up a UV sterilizer, since ostreopsis live in the water column and a UV sterilizer would help kill them.

I'll post an update in a few days once I have answers!

 

[RandyC]

Update, 1/30/21

Bad news, and good news.

Bad news: it looks like I have dinoflagellates in my frag tank.

View attachment 23673

Good news: I have dinoflagellates and this lets me perform some a priori hypothesis testing.

Hypothesis: I have been feeding two to three cubes of spirulina-enriched brine shrimp and mysis daily for a medium kole tang, a clown, a sixline wrasse, and a couple peppermint shrimp. Upon further reflection, my skimmer has not been pulling a lot of skimmate out. Based on a combination of low bioload and low skimmate, I am reasonably certain I have low phosphates and/or nitrates, since dinoflagellates thrive under limiting nutrient conditions.


Results: Nitrates were at ~20 ppm. Phosphates, however, were at 0.01 (and the Hanna ULR Phosphate Checker has an error of +/- 0.02, so entirely possible it's zeroed out).

Conclusion: Hypothesis confirmed!

So, now that I have a likely contributing factor to dinoflagellates, I can make a plan of attack:

1. The dinoflagellates I have are ostreopsis. None of my CUC has died, which is good, but they're thought to be one of the more toxic species. So: keep protein skimmer running to remove dead dinos, and run extra carbon to remove toxins.

2. Feed more heavily to up phosphates. This includes feeding Reef Roids every day since, in my experience, that increases phosphates pretty quickly.

3. 3-day blackout. Dinos are photosynthetic, bacteria/other microorganisms aren't. Make my tank less hospitable for dinos while encouraging other bugs to grow.

4. Dose Microbacter 7 every day to increase the amount of competition against the dinoflagellates.

5. If I can find one, hook up a UV sterilizer, since ostreopsis live in the water column and a UV sterilizer would help kill them.

I'll post an update in a few days once I have answers!

UV alone will kill them.

https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/bar-bio-transplants.24945/post-363966

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

UV alone will kill them.

https://www.bareefers.org/forum/threads/bar-bio-transplants.24945/post-363966

Yep; in the process of looking for a UV sterilizer to buy/borrow and doing what I can for now without one.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Well, I just had a dumb idea:

Took the UV sterilizer bulb from my 20 gallon and put it in the overflow as a stopgap measure. Theoretically it should work, since all the water has to pass through that chamber and come into contact with the sterilizer, and ostreopsis all go into the water column at night.

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Update, 2/2/21

Well. Dumb idea appears to have worked.

I diagnosed dinos 72 hours ago and started a blackout, raising phosphates, and dosing bacteria. Last night I checked and (subjective assessment) it looked like there were the same amount of dinos as when I initially diagnosed it.

Put the UV sterilizer in it last night. 24 hours passed and I took a sample today. Subjective assessment, but it seems like there was a marked drop in the concentration of dinoflagellates in the tank (probably 150-250 per field of view before, closer to 10-20 now).

UV sterilizers FTW.

Edit: also, calling back to my fight with dinos last year in my 20 gallon: protein skimmers. Before adding the UV sterilizer, my protein skimmer was acting normally. After adding the UV sterilizer, my protein skimmer went *nuts* (two full cups of skimmate today). Can't definitely say, but seems consistent with the notion that skimmers help pull out all the dead/dying dino corpses.

 

[NanoCrazed]

Dose hydrogen peroxide, 1ml per G, 2X daily for 7 days with blackout or blue lights

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Update, 2/5/21

I am now 2-0 against dinos. And a UV sterilizer will now be a component of every tank I build from now on.

 

[LukeTheReefer]

Congrats, hoping for the same over here


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[IOnceWasLegend]

7/8/21

Long overdue tank update.

Family issues caused me to put the frag tank on 'maintenance' mode for a while. This wasn't helped much by the fact that, when I was out of state, my return pump suffered a catastrophic, kaboom-type failure. Fortunately, @Srt4eric was watching my tanks for me, and was awesome enough to immediately plumb in the Varios S2 pump I had been meaning to install (which I am insanely grateful for).

This maintenance mode also led to an outbreak of bubble algae. It's gotten a lot better thanks to dosing Vibrant and getting a 1.5" foxface rabbitfish who, in addition to being adorable, has been a ceaseless worker in devouring the scourge. I know I'll need to rehome him before too long, but I'm loving his work ethic. (Picture of him at Neptune before taking him home.)

I was also fortunate enough to win the GHL 2.1 dosing pump at the frag swap (thanks again @The_Lazy_Reefer for getting that to me!) and got a KH Director from @Coral reefer shortly afterwards. I've been dialing in my alk and calcium dosing and, subjectively, it's already been having a positive impact on the tank. I'm currently waiting for my All for Reef to arrive from either Germany or BRS (we'll see which gets here first, Germany has a one-month head start); when that gets here, I'll set up the KH Director and hopefully have the chemistry fully automated.

Finally, I'll be doing a big re-organization of the tank soon: removing egg crate, placing everything on frag tiles, scraping off the coralline algae, removing some of the rock, and getting rid of the more...enthusiastic...growers. I want to keep a bunch of the kenya tree, though, since that's been extremely helpful in nutrient export. Also, as this is my first time running a bare bottom tank, I'm definitely seeing how proper flow is important in cleaning up the bottom of the tank...which is also spurring the re-org.

Pictures:

 

[IOnceWasLegend]

Found my yellow-eye kole tang dead in the tank today. Seemed perfectly healthy a couple days ago, good body condition, and other fish are doing fine, so no idea what could've happened. He was my first tang and made me realize why people love them so much. He was terrified of me for the first few weeks, then would swim up and say 'hi'/beg for food every time I passed by the tank.

I'm really going to miss him.

Godspeed, Tangus McFife.

 

[Kensington Reefer]

Sad to hear of the loss

 

[thephoreefer]

Could be the fox face and his spike, fighting over food?