obrien.david.j

You do some cool stuff. Glad to see your posts.

Nice to meet you yesterday. And I have no complaints if you go the chemiclean route.

I'll PM you.

I've got a microscope, but the opposite side of town from you, if your profile is correct. I'm in Cedar Mill. Maybe someone is closer to you, around Happy Valley.

I'm fairly confident my tank was turned up side down in 2021 due to three things. 1. started Red Sea AB+ (aminos) 2. never measured NO3/PO4 ... 3. I let them go to zero multiple times. (and maybe 4. too much Iron additive) The result, Cyano and then Dinos! Thread attached. As an old school reefer, the goal originally was Zero for both. But in reality, I think it was "zero reading on crappy test kits." I'm now testing with Hanna HI736 and HI782 kits, and very happy with them. I tried make it yourself dosing solutions, and think I screwed up the phosphate. I'm now just using Brightwell NeoPhos and NeoNitrate when needed. They've both worked for me. When I dose, I test daily for 5-7 days afterwards. Amazing to see the tank move around, on it's own. In my quest to get dinos under control, I've done a bunch of reading and moved to the mentality - I never want true Zero. And if I'm close, I better dose a little and be watching like a hawk. Every tank is different. What ever you do, do it slowly, and monitor. But I don't want to say, Just Do This... My suggestion, download two pdf from Moonshiner's reef Webstore. Reef Moonshiner's Handbook (free) Andre’s Reef Guide - Coral Colorization Part#1 ($6) <-- I like this one https://www.reefmoonshiners.com/ My thread on battling Dinos.

Great post, thanks for sharing! I've never seen monti eating nudis, but have seen my share of Berghia (nudis). They look dangerously alike.

I'm pretty sure dosing AB+ got my system in big trouble. Jet Fuel. And I wasn't careful nor controlled in adding it. I haven't added any aminos since getting Cyano and Dinos under control. That's my experience.

I agree, your SPS are unhappy, and melting. I do see what looks like Cyano (red slime algae), but it could actually be dinoflagellates. I made that mistake once, let the "red slime" coat my corals - killed them all, and then figured out I had Dinos. (there are a few varieties fyi) Even if you don't have dino's, do this first step I posted about my battle. It's general good health of your tank for all these conditions. Summary of what to do about Dino's: join the "Mack's reef Dinoflagellates support group!" on facebook goto "Files" on the top row and download "Dealing With Dinos" (currently Rev G - published Feb 2022) read it, top to bottom. Think about it, read it again. If nothing else, just read the index. It covers chemistry, identification, bacteria, phyto, copeopds, UV, hydrogen peroxide, silica dosing, blackouts, ... All methods I'd read about in different forums, in one place.

Welcome Back! Happy to see you again.

Stopped by today to check on the this stage of the remodel. WHOA! Not only are there new tanks, but every tank is Stuffed - with some of the best stuff I’ve seen. Jeff understated the remodel. Ignore the new tanks, go checkout the livestock! Simply amazing. (I didn’t budget enough time today, I need to go back.)

Winner Winner, Chicken Dinner!

I second that. If you didn't get enough, PM me. I can get them out of my frag tank pretty easily.

Put some small rock with aptasia in the sump too. Help train the file fish what the Right Food is to eat.

sweet!

I had the same problem the end of last year/beginning of this year. Berghia failed me, despite using them multiple times in previous outbreaks. I attribute that to my heavy addition of Amphipods, which turns out eats their eggs/offspring. I ended up with Three filefish and a CopperBanded butterfly, that wouldn't touch them either. Punch line, they were going for the easier food I was providing every night for the rest of the fish. I suspect my technique would work with any aptasia predator. No feeding, until the aptasia are gone. My thread is below. On a side note, Its really cool to still have three filefish. Fun to find and see them blending into what ever is around them. An under appreciated fish.

My goto heaters have been; Eheim JAGER Aquarium Heater. BRS is not the cheapest place to get them. I just checked, BRS has 100W for $27, amazon has it for $20.

Glad to hear things are settled in! One pile gone, one ~pile remaining. They're growing on a few things (tank bottom, walls, frag rack) - so there may be a bit of easy scraping getting them off for someone. But there's still a bunch to go.

Pending.

I think it's a great idea. For lighting, you could hang 400W MH lights from the ceiling. I'm sure there's a bunch of those around used and reasonably priced. Are you thinking something like 4'x12'? Could setup the flow in the long direction of the lagoon, even slow flow. Oh, this would make a great Banggai grow out setup!

Big piles, 4-ish inches around. (I think of them as big piles)

bump. $30/pile?

Is this video too big to post... IMG_9076.MOV

Look what I found in my filter sock tonight... Baby Banggai! He made it out of dad's mouth, through water column of 250 gallon display tank, to coast to coast overflow, through overflow pipe, and eventually into the filter sock. Luckily I'd seen a black basket a few years ago and thought, That will be handy some day. Today's the day. Last picture, you can see little guy in upper left corner. Filter Socket Cleanout Surprise! Basket setup in calm frag tank Upper Left Corner-ish of picture. Little one in his new home.

Harvest #22 update: Same result.. Dark good looking Phyto!

Is this the whole planned change, or just step one with more to come?