Cali Kid Corals

Vincerama2's 180 gallon "Wifebane" reef project!

I HAD a Klein Butterfly that would eat them, but a pump failure killed him. Then I replaced him with a younger one and that dummy jumped up and got stuck on top of a cover for my overflows and HORRIBLY was baked by the metal halides. BUT from my experience they will mow down aiptasia...but maybe other things too.

I had the first one in my 58G tank and (again on vacation) I left the tank on auto-feeder-mode. When I came back after 2 weeks vacation ... he had eaten all visible aiptasia!

However, you can't guarantee they won't also eat other corals and I think my little frags, when transferred over, will need all the advantages I can give them, including not being eaten!

V
 
Coral reefer said:
Start over with new rocks?
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Pointless, they are in the overflow, in the sump. I started this tank fresh and like one aiptasia molecule got in. I tried dumping pieces of rock in the past and never got it all. I'm just going to keep nuking them as they appear. I guess just mitigating them is my current easiest option.

To be honest, I admire their tenacity. If any organism had a great survival strategy, it's aiptasia.

V
 
That aiptasia thing is tough... I mean I absolutely went batshit loco and nuked a bunch of rock chemically (acid and bleach), then moved the fish into the 300g "temporary" tank with some built up rock (hiding) places for them, then nuked the rest of the rock, got rid of the tank (sorry guy who got a free 375g tank if there's any aiptasia molecules on it :D). And so far looks good *knocks on wood*, then again I can only see stuff from the top down and that's a bit harder to notice those buggers than from the side.
 
roostertech said:
turn it into survival of the fittest tank. Add in blue clove, kenya tree, mohawk zoa, gsp and let them duke it out.
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Fish only, or super hardy soft corals and fish only. Then toss in a klein or filefish to deal with the aiptasia and call it a day and say that's your tank. Less lighting needed, so if your ballast bursts again no big deal.
 
I dealt with nitrates for a while and found a sulfur based reactor to be the answer to my ongoing battle with nitrates.
I do have a dual 175w mag ballast, I was looking for electronic ones but no luck, did find a couple 250ARO; I'm almost sure to have a couple 175 electronic somewhere, will keep looking.
I'd skip the aiptasiax and make a kalk paste you can inject over the buggers, eventually the aiptasia killing hobby gets pricey just for having an X and yes, you would need to be constant to defeat them or at the very least controll them
 
I hope i never have to deal with aiptasia, sounds horrible. Saw a nice frag at neptunes, but it had some small aiptasia, so i had a worker there saw off some skeleton that it was attached to. Saw it come back on same frag about a month later, scraped it off with my fingernail, it came back the next day, then i scraped it off with a razorblade and havent seen it since
 
something in my 180 gallon, not sure what, eats them. i moved a birdsnest colony and there were like 10 underneath, next day all gone. wish it was the case in my 28....
 
I've never had much luck with peppermint shrimps staying alive, but I've tried a few times and they do eat aiptasia if you are lucky. I'll likely try them when the tank stabilizes. Currently, I think bombing the aiptasias with aiptasia-X (or kalkpaste) will make the tank too hostile.

V
 
Yearly update;

I hate this tank.

The End.


The long version ...
The Aiptasia is larger than anything else. They are the size of my thumbs. I have not checked any of the levels, and I dispise the "biopellet reactor" that I have, which is more accurately described as "Skimmer pump and nozzle clogging pellet dispenser". I've turned it off, I regret buying it.

Anyway, I'm back to using my Ancient AquaC EV-120 again, since the expensive, but DC motor driven one died. I bought a replacement AC pump, but it doens't quite fit and I haven't gone through the trouble of making it fit.

One exciting thing I've discovered is that if my arm is immersed in the water, like when I'm cleaning the glass, and I accidentally brush up against the reflector of my metal halide lamp, I get electrocuted. Happened twice with TWO of my halide lamps, so using a multimeter, I see a potential between the "grounded" reflectors of BOTH halides (which are on different ballasts) and the water, but no potential to the Kessil lamp.

I bought three LED fixtures off of Amazon, I can't remember the name, but my friend uses one on his 30 and says they are good.
I will replace the Halides with these. I think that makes it about $3000 I've spent on lights over the years now.

Anyway, an ugly tank is no fun and as a result I tend to ignore it a lot. I'm trying to get excited and fix it up again.

There are only some RBTA and GBTA in the tank, along with twenty thousand aiptasia. My frags are lingering in a small aiptasia infested QT tank for the last year.

I wish I could go to the frag trade, but have nothing to offer except aiptasia.

But I gotta get this mess under control before I start stocking with corals again.

Man, I really miss my life filled 58. Stupid Wifebane ... I should rename it Vincebane, or AiptasiaHome.

V
 
So with my Majano problem, I can definitely empathize.
Pests hit critical mass, and there is almost nothing you can do.
You get so frustrated that you don't want to look at the thing.

My total reboot made me feel so much better.
And still does, even though it looks like a total brown algae mess.
At least I see the potential, as opposed to endlessly fighting a losing battle.
 
Got so much to say but I hate thumb typing on a phone, so I'll just plus 1 on a start over. Downsize your tank dont keep anything rhat might have aiptasia on it and start over. Smaller tanks are easier that way too if you have to reboot or something, and I hate to say this but larger tanks really take a special type of lunatic to run them successfully. Need to let go of the notion that you are throwing money away because unless you are willing to take care of this problem you are effectively throwing money away
 
So catch fish, extract the BTAs to a holding tank, then suck out all the water and let it dry out for a week?

Hmmm... I suppose if I'm going on vacation for at least a week, it would make it easier for a fish-sitter to deal with a bare, fish and BTA only tank.

It's actually a good idea, but it's a daunting undertaking. I will consider it though, now that you've mentioned it...
 
Vincerama2 said:
So catch fish, extract the BTAs to a holding tank, then suck out all the water and let it dry out for a week?

Hmmm... I suppose if I'm going on vacation for at least a week, it would make it easier for a fish-sitter to deal with a bare, fish and BTA only tank.

It's actually a good idea, but it's a daunting undertaking. I will consider it though, now that you've mentioned it...
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Week? No. It is more work than that.
But that is the general idea.
You can also very carefully make pest-free crags of coral you care about, and QT to double check for pests.

Key:
Take it slow.
Clean the rocks really well. Not just to kill Aptasia, but to get rid of dead organics.
 
Aaaaaaarrrggggh. I know what that is like, but with the green wormlike algae neomeris.
Starting over can be so great. If you start with new rock or do something extreme to your aiptasia rock, you can watch it come to life which is rejuvenating. You will love it again and be ready to deal with new issues that arise because they always do.
Also, come to the frag trade and hang out with me in the contaminated area. : )
 
I would take Arnold up on the file fish offer. I've seen those guys do wonders on aptasia infested tanks. (as long as you get one that loves the taste of aptasia).
If that doesn't work. I agree with the ideal of total reboot. There is something magical about a new set up. It rejuvenates your reefing, brings the excitement back into the hobby. Plus, it feels so good to not have to look at that eyesore old tank anymore.
 
With my Majanos:
Once you get a mass of them, as opposed to a few scattered ones, things seem to change.
Maybe they protect each other? Maybe it is ideal for growing little one among big ones?
Perhaps there are babies in the mass that drop off and spread.
Not sure.
But the standard methods just don't seems to work. They grow back instantly and spread like crazy.

So one filefish ... doubt it would help.
 
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