Updates -
Some sad news - the longnose went after something that must have been around the mp10 in the QT and got his face blendered off.
It was too bad, as ones that eat readily at that size are generally not found without some difficulty. It was weird, since there isnt much in that tank at all, but something must have spooked him or there was something really tasty that was hiding therein.
Anyhow, sad news aside, Ive been working upto the apitasia remediation project for the tank.
- Acquire some berghia nudis and get them started working on the rockwork thats in the sump.
- Once aiptasia population begins to wane, then transfer rock from the DT into the sump to provide more munchings for the berghia and maintain bacteria populations in the tank so I dont nuke my biofilter.
- Remove some larger fish from the tank (Tangs, Rabbitfish, Melanurus wrasse, etc) I want to lessen the bioload in the tank a bit and getting rid of some of the big poopers ought to help that out.
- Scrape walls, vacuum sandbed, manually remove all aiptasia from glass/overflow/sand
- Move all remaining fish into QT (treat for flukes and ich - not sure what is happening but there appears to be something causing pop eye in my fish my guess is flukes - but once they get a bulgy eyeball, they show some salt grain like spots)
- Run DT empty for three weeks
- Move newly cycled rock from the storage bins and into the DT with a new aquascape
- Continue QT on fish for another three weeks
- Mount remaining corals, stabilize water chemistry (should be fine, but new rock = weirdness sometimes)
- Add fish back into DT
- Enjoy an adult beverage
I had already added about 100lbs of rock to my sump when I built the rack for that tank a few months ago. Its underneath the eggcrate rack, so I cant see it, but there is a few brittle stars down there that I see once and a while and they seem to be doing just fine down there. I was a little concerned that I would be able to fit all of the DT rock into the sump, as its another 100-130lbs of rock. I moved it all the other day, kicking off as many bristleworms and snails/crabs off as I could. Some corals (mostly zoas) ended up as sump sacrifices, but given that the fuge light hits the portion of the sump the rock is place at, maybe they'll keep growing
I cut frags of what I could though, so once things get back to normal, I should have some ready to put down in a new place.
What has stumped me, is that in order to get ALL of the rock out of the system, I have to get my minimaxi and rock anemones to get off of their current rocks, but Im not sure how to do that without killing them. I'll make a seperate post, but thats whats holding me back at this point.
I have a pair of newcomers that will be put into QT with all of the other DT fish once I get back from business travel this weekend - a copperband butterfly and a yellow pyramid butterfly. One of the local places had both in while I was picking up live blackworms and I couldnt pass up either. Both have an intense feeding response and even the copperband was going after pellets in the shop. Since Im tearing it all down anyhow, they got acclimated and then placed into the DT in my Synergy FallOut Shelter (social acclimation box) so the tangs didnt go gangbusters on them and yesterday I let them loose. The copperband immediately went after a few rogue aiptasia that were connected to the glass and overflow, so I was pretty happy to see that. Theyve been eating mysis like crazy and both are quite thick through the belly, so Im cautiously optimistic about these ones.
Anyhow, the tanks in transition, but hopefully with the plan outlined above I'll start seeing the turn around I hoped for and by the time MACNA rolls around, I can bring home some goodies for the tank!
Oh, and the cyano I was seeing in my fuge was spreading like wildfire (black slimy wildfire) and had covered everything in a matter of a week. It was forming a mat that wouldnt allow light to penetrate through and the macros were starting to die because of it. I read through a lot of forums posts, but came across a lot of the work that
@twilliard has done using peroxide, and I started dosing 30 ml of H202 every 12 hours and WOW... what a difference. The cyano in the fuge is almost completely gone in 12 days. There's still some stranglers in the corners where the flow isnt much, but the macros in there have never looked better. A little bit has reared its ugly head in the DT (well, now sump, since I moved the rock) but I think its because thats the farthest away from the fuge (when looking at the water path) that it can be. I might have to dose in two places in the future if it doesnt resolve itself. Still, amazing what $1.09 will do in 12 days. Thats why this forum is so great - people can learn so much just from spending a few hours reading the experiences of others and applying their experience to their own tanks. Its simply wonderful.
Wall of text completed - pictures of things below!
