obrien.david.j

Victim 6, Second Morning (Thursday) What's more fun than a barrel of monkeys? A tank full of 24 peppermint shrimp, and no where to go than a single aptasia infested rock! They've been busy already. Open aptasia are no longer visible, and this is just Day 2. I circled multiple gut piles, obviously work in progress Multiple Aptasia gut piles. Works in progress.

Victim 6, First Morning (Tues Eve / Wednesday morning) Step 3 - drop in first rock Shrimp have no other place to go, so they're swarming all over this rock Tank is Barely dep enough for the peak SPS. Top Down looks pretty interesting. First Morning, Aptasia are more open/comfortable. Ready to be munched.

Phase 2 of this project has begun! Frag tank only has ~10" water depth. Remaining four display tank rocks are > 10" tall, and have SPS on them. Solution, set a 20g long tank Into the frag tank. Pump water up into it, let it overflow back - kind of like an infinity pool. Step 1 - Catch all shrimp. 24 of original 26 remain. Step 2 - get 20g tank situated Step 3 - drop in first rock.

I'll take him. Another tool in my Aptasia killing toolbox. PM sent.

Only if the shrimp will stay in one place multiple minutes. Otherwise, as soon as it realize it's getting sunburnt, I expect it will move out of range. You need to be ~1" from it. Impressed is too strong a word. It takes work, it takes time, it's another tool. Watch the 2nd Mr Saltwater video. His answer is ~2minutes, twice a day, for three days - per aptasia. This is not a volume killer. But I'm still happy I have it as a cleanup item.

Updated impressions from SaltwaterAquarium.com. Basic repeat of last time. This isn't SunCrestReef's 4W laser. Must use multiple times, over multiple days to finish zapping. View this email in your browser [VIDEO] SECOND LOOK - Reef Delete UV Aiptasia  Killer - Mr Saltwater Tank - Raw, Uncut, and First Impressions

I saw the laser option. And the implications of a laser reflection out of the tank didn't excite me. Reef Delete is not a laser, one drawback is you can't see it. They give you a plastic test card which enables you to see the results, and get a feel for beam width and distance. Wattage isn't documented. It takes ~1min per aptasia, and they're not destroyed. Just visibly harmed, need to repeat another day/time. Direct line of sight is required. And a couple retracted out of sight, thus couldn't finish them off. I didn't get it to "solve" my problems. I got it as another tool in the toolbox. Peppermint shrimp are my current bulk consumer. F-Aptasia can cover 2-3 "right side up" Aptasia. This can beam upside down aptasia. Plus I've got a couple of clove polyps in misc places I want to blast. Your laser may just be too strong for that. Or too focused. Like a pressure washer with that really narrow tip. Reef Delete isn't that focused. hold it closer, you get ~1/8", pull back and it can widen to ~3/4". And assume less intensity.

Pulled the trigger, bought a Reef Delete! It works as described in Mr. Saltwater overview video. I zapped a few misc aptasia. You need to apply it for ~1minute. They clearly retract. I even came back and re-did a couple. My main use is for cleanup of Aptasia that show up after the Shrimp Fest of Death. And for a few other misc items I'd like to kill in the future. A fun do one or two or three toy. Not to clean up a whole tanks worth! [VIDEO] REEF DELETE UV Aiptasia  / Algae Killer - Mr Saltwater Tank - Raw, Uncut, and First Impressions I zapped This specific one.

Congratulations to the winners. Happy Valentines Day!

Victim(s) 5, Sixth Morning (Sunday) I'm claiming success again! (again) All visible aptasia are gone. Caveat, history has shown there are still a few lurkers hidden down in the rocks that take a few more days to ferret out. But nothing visually interesting. The next step is to clean the last four rocks from the main tank But, they are taller than my 10" frag tank and have the bulk of SPS on them. My solution, I need to pull rocks out of the frag tank, and I'll set a taller glass tank temporarily side. A small pump up/into the glass tank will create an infinity look as I let it overflow the rim back into the frag tank. Needless to say, this may take a couple of days to get going. Before the cleaned rocks can go back into the display tank - I want to glue them into some kind of rigid structure. That's where the time is going to go. Today's interesting photo - Feeding the shrimp with this many aptasia, in a tank with zero other preditors and generally low flow rates - almost all the shrimp look like "This". (pregnant with eggs) Today's documentation.

Well, I made it in yesterday morning. Apple maps screwed up and delivered me to your old location, which is now a burned out building. But Google maps to the rescue. Thanks for the pods. I bought some extras as well, added them to my tank when I got home, poured into my thank through a 1/2" pvc pipe down to the bottom/into the rocks. Nevertheless, I got them all through the water column and the fish all say Thank You.

Thanks! I'll be over tomorrow to pick it up.

Victim(s) 5, Fourth Morning (Saturday) Aptasia reduction continues. This morning the Aptasia under the Ricordea are missing

Victim(s) 5, Third Morning (Friday) Third Morning, and Some Removal visible! (Left side reduction picture included, Right Side w/Ricordea looks like no change)

Share the Pods Thanks

Victim(s) 5, Second Morning (Thursday) As expected, 2nd morning is boring. Aptasia are still loud and proud. On a positive note, corals don't seem bothered. How many of us have heard a story of a peppermint shrimp that's gotten a taste for someones corals and ... It's Got To Go.

Victim(s) 5, First Morning (Wednesday) New phase of the experiment. I'm out of bare rocks from the main tank. Starting to bring in rocks with various corals. One has easy SPS, one is a ricorda rock, and last a gorgonian rock. Shrimp are supposed to now be trained to like Aptasia, Not Coral! Okay, these rocks went in late last night (white pictures). First thing this morning (red pictures), and check out the three shrimp just enjoying themselves at the top of the purple monti digitata. (last photo)

Victim(s) 4, Sixth Morning (Tuesday) We've moved to the phase were I can't find any aptasia remaining. A few are likely left in some crack/crevis. But 6 days seems to be the trick to Bulk Eradication.

yes, more water than bleach. And It's a guestimate, I fill a container with water and add a "pour" of bleach. (not a capful, a pour) My idea behind bleach is to oxidize/sterilize the bio junk left on the <sponge, in your case>. A quick wikipedia read just taught me that hydrogen peroxide, specifically the peroxide, does the same. Except bleach costs <$10 for a gallon at costco, and the high quality (>10% H.Peroxide) isn't as convenient nor cheap for me to pick up. The $2 brown bottle H.Peroxide I can easily get at the drug store is <1/2 gallon, and is the weak 3% stuff. Slow and wimpy. Simply stated, Bleach gets the job done for me, every time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bleach

Me, I'd just mix up some bleach water (like 10:1 kind of ratio) - soak it overnight. Rinse well, put it back the next day.

Amazing Pictures! Fantastic corals.

Victim(s) 4, Fifth Morning (Monday) Just keeping photo documentation up to date. Looks the same this morning, as last night. a bunch of shrimp are on the rock this mornig, in different spots

Thats one heck of a price.

Chopping an acrylic tank or sump that's too big down to size isn't too bad. I used a used 24x24x48" tank to make a ~39" sump out of. You could start by looking for a 48" x 24" x 20" used tank, and chop it. Yes, you have to be a bit handy. Here's picts of my chop. I also had to grind off twin external overflows, but thats not common.

Victim(s) 4, Fifth Afternoon (Sunday) We were out for the weekend, so no Sat/Sun morning pictures. But Sunday afternoon checkin, and the Shrimp Have Been Busy. There are still some Aptasia visible, but amazing how the bulk are either in hiding or gone.