ToxicPoison

Wow ok...glad people are onboard. I guess I just need to know who is interested and what day/time works... I'm pretty open for the most part, just have a bunch of visitors coming to town the 19th-24th or so, I forget the exact dates... Sunday may not be do-able for me..I kinda feel like I promised the wife I'd do something, but damned if I can remember what right now... Who else is down?

Mind clarifying who Frank is? I'll admit I'm not 100% sold on the buttefly but I am getting desperate (and it IS a pretty fish..). My peppermint could care less and I'm pretty sure the aiptasia has enough of a head start for Berghia to be fairly ineffective... At this point I think I may have more Aiptasia then coral so, I may just take my chances...

I actually took 3 weeks off starting next Monday so..I wouldn't mind to be honest. It's not nearly impressive as a lot of the tanks on here though. I'd also need to clean up the "fishroom" in the basement too... (whistle)

Holy crow! Wow...I am impressed, both by the clownhouse and his dedication... 43 tanks? Really?! (crazy) In the words of a great philosopher of my time.. "We're not worthy! We're not worthy!"

Ok...which leads me to question #2...Who is Dave and where is his clownhouse? (Ok, I guess thats #2 and #3)

Hopefully this isn't out of line, but I was wondering if local meet-ups were ever discussed? I know we have monthly meetings for PNWMAS, but I thought it would be cool for people in the same area (Portland, in my case) to meet up and maybe check out other member's tanks? This wouldn't replace the monthly meetings, but perhaps supplement them? Maybe have 2 or 3 people volunteer to show off/discuss their tank setups every month and other people could give feedback/suggestions/comments/drooling jealousy/etc. I also see this making "Help! I have a mouse stuck in my overflow" posts a lot easier to deal with since people will know how tanks are set up, and won't have to rely on (sometimes blurry) pictures. Thoughts? Comments? People with flaming pitchforks ready to ride me out of town on a rail?

That's quite the compliment, thank you I have been debating switching job fields...something to think about I suppose (scratch)

Oh it is SO on. (kneel)

OK foks, thanks for the tip. I have a nice new X-Acto knife that I haven't even busted out it's package yet, so I'll use that. I'll let you know how it turns out. As far as I'm aware, it's not "fresh off the boat" so hopefully it'll be pretty tough.

I was just joking, don't take anything I say too seriously I 100% agree with you about adding chemicals. My hand was forced though. Nothing else I was trying worked. I really need to get a picture of the giant aiptasia in my overflow so you guys understand what I'm dealing with here... It's aiptasia on steroids..

Uhm...probably showing my ignorance here, but what's a clownhouse? Hopefully much less scarier than it sounds....

Since you refer to it as a "lump" I don't think we're correctly envisioning the problem. I think most of us are just picturing a fat fish, and when you say Lump, I'm starting to think its restricted to a small area... Can you take a picture of it? Might be easier to diagnose that way.. Just the word "lump" seems scary...

Enjoy Eric! Just try not to disturb your neighbors with your loud cackles of glee as they melt away...not that I know anything about that... (whistle)

That is what I'm afraid of. The poor thing has been through so much, it seemed to be recovering and then this... Removing the plug shouldn't be a problem. It should be small enough to scrape off, but...what should I use? A plastic knife? Thanks for the quick response.

We seem to be of the same mind.... Its very hard to cool a tank that is sealed. Could you maybe remove the glass that is on top and get a small room dehumidifier?

This is exciting stuff for my first competition ever =) Those look really pretty...

I think your best bet is what you said about using bulkheads, with capped PVC instead. They do sell metal bulkhead plugs that might work at boating supply stores but...I've never seen them in plastic and they're quite spendy ($10 or so apiece if I recall correctly)

I was recently given a tiny acro frag that has been growing quite nicely. The other day I noticed what seemed to be a polyp, that was much longer than the others. Then, I realized it was Aiptasia (flame) It is actually growing on the coral itself, where it appears to have had RTN previously. It is recovering nicely, but the area around the aiptasia is polyp-less. Should a freshwater dip kill off the aiptasia? It is pretty tiny at the moment, so I'd like to kill it off quick, without harming the coral. I tried taking a picture, but it's too small to be seen clearly. (Also, it should be noted the aiptasia most likely came from my tank, and wasn't present on the Coral previously so, it's my own fault.) HELP!

Wow, glad this was so well received... So, just a few clarifications: The aiptasia was introduced to my well-established refugium on a bad piece of Chaeto (Why oh Why didn't I do a freshwater dip first?! DOH! ). The refugium is filled with about 75lbs of reef rubble and a 5" deep sandbed. So, "washing" the rock wouldn't have worked, and probably would have led to another cycle. I tried joes juice, Aiptasia X, boiling water, lemon juice and all the other "nice" things. They were all not so great, as I mentioned. I decided to bite the bullet and use a 10% solution of Muriatic acid (OMG!!!). I fill a shotglass with it, use a 2mL syringe to deliver it to the aiptasia and that's it. It's quite a small amount and doesn't seem to have a negative effect on the main tank. I still have some MASSIVE aiptasia in my overflow(5" long and like a 2" diameter mouth)...Think im going to attack them with a day-long freshwater dip this weekend. I can't reach them with the syringe. Oh, I believe...just looking for a LFS that has one in stock...any tips? The pepermint shrimp I have could care less about the aiptasia. I seem to have some in the main tank, but not nearly as bad as the refugium was.

I had the same problem. My light is fan-less...apparently the light won't overheat without the fan. However, my tank will. I was debating a chiller and decided to use a powerful clip on fan instead. It worked really well and my temps don't go above 81 anymore (They were hitting 84 this summer pre-fan) Might be worth looking into a small clip on fan, before you start dropping big bucks on a new pump or drilling your tank.

I won't lie to you, either. I rather enjoy it. I take a syringe full of acid, gently spray it in their face and they greedily slurp it down, thinking it's food...then comes the moment of realization. When they recoil in horror, realizing what just happened. They shrivel up, turn black and die. And I laugh. I do. I enjoy it immensely, knowing they are gone and will never bother me again. It gives me a deep, satisfying happiness, watching them waste away... Look, I know what you're thinking. You're sitting there, judging me, asking yourself, "How could he do something like this? How could anyone be so cruel?!" Well I'd simply respond, "You don't UNDERSTAND!". I tried...truly I did. I try taking the "nice" route...getting rid of them in "acceptable" ways. But they wouldn't leave. They wouldn't stay away. Sure, they'd disappear for a while...probably hidden in the shadows, biding their time. Sooner or later though, they'd come back. They always did. I tried ignoring them, enclosing them in darkness 24/7, hoping they'd lose the will to live. But they are pure evil. And evil does not die easily. So ENOUGH! I said. They pushed me to the edge. I snapped, and tumbled over it...into the abyss of madness. And so it came down to the syringe, and the acid, and the silence. They're not gone yet. Oh no, not quite yet. They won't go quite that easily, but they're learning. There is consistently less of them...and smaller. Possibly not so wise as their older brethren, but that matters not to me. They too, must be destroyed.... I make no apologies for my actions, and I have no regret. I did what had to be done. Anyone would do the same, faced with their seemingly never-ending onslaught. They had to be executed. I am the executioner. Now, as I slip down the stairs, anxiously anticipating the demise of my next victims, I leave you with this final comment: I really, really, really hate Aiptasia.

Can I bump this? Anyone else interested? Are we still only halfway there? Am I asking enough questions?

Man..I leave for 24 hours and this thread takes a wicked left turn.. Focus! This thread is about ME! As for the Chromis..I was mainly getting them due to the fact I have a $25 gift certificate to liveaquaria.com (Thanks mom.) I'm thinking of going with the Kleins Butterflyfish instead since my aiptasia is getting nuts (flame) WOULD THAT MAKE YOU CHROMIS HATERS HAPPY?! Thanks, much appreciated. The acro is doing FANTASTIC (mostly). There seems to be a small aiptasia growing at the base...I was going to post in the SPS forum for tips on cleaning it off, but I'll take suggestions in here too.. I'll try and get a picture of it shortly, but the polyps are fully extended and the tips are VERY pink =). Yep, I'm aware of that. Tank was set up about this time last year and the Pods are crawling everywhere. It's also why it's last on my list, since I plan on adding it last. I appreciate the tip though

Thanks for the quick replies I've always heard the opposite. If you keep them in even groups, there is no "odd fish" out that gets the brunt of aggressiveness. The dominant fish(es) will pick on a couple of the less dominant ones, rather than a single one. Feel free to correct me.. I saw his post about set hours, and planned on checking his place out but I didn't know he also had fish. Good to know, thanks!