LFS

[SeanG1]

Hi All,

I have two main LFSs in the area. One of which has been around for some time but I rarely visit.

I went in to other day to look for some unique zoas . They have a lot of pretty and unique corals and fish that appear to be doing well. However, they seem to have a lot of aiptasia in their tanks as well as a lot of algae/growth but people were buying livestock.

This seems a bit obvious but should't I be leery of purchasing anything from them even if I don't see any aiptasia of other undesirables on the coral frag/plug? I have dipped the few corals I have in my tank but I don't want to take undue risk.

Any thoughts regarding this?

Thanks in advance!

 

[melypr1985]

My lfs has one tank in particular that has a lot of aptasia in it. I never buy corals from that tank and have told them I never will. The other tanks are fine despite a little algae here and there. I know i got bubble algae from them, but it was my own fault for not checking the frag well enough before putting it in the tank.

 

[lewis.maryann08]

Same thing happened to me I got bubble algee and this black aglee that I can't seem to get rid of they have it all in there tanks.. he has a lot of this black algee does anyone know how to get rid of it?

 

[twilliard]

Same thing happened to me I got bubble algee and this black aglee that I can't seem to get rid of they have it all in there tanks.. he has a lot of this black algee does anyone know how to get rid of it?

Careful application of peroxide will kill it

 

[steve&mari]

Agree a dip and inspection use peroxide to kill any algae you can't remove. Works great for zoas.

 

[oldsaint]

Good QT practices will help with any unwanted pest.

 

[twilliard]

Agree a dip and inspection use peroxide to kill any algae you can't remove. Works great for zoas.

Ever since i have been talking with @brandon429 i have found so many uses for peroxide. I am still working with it for a lot of common issues.

 

[melypr1985]

@twilliard could i use peroxide on this? Im going to scrape it and use a tube to suck out what i can, but Im really not wanting to because of the spores. Got any tips?

 

[twilliard]

@twilliard could i use peroxide on this? Im going to scrape it and use a tube to suck out what i can, but Im really not wanting to because of the spores. Got any tips?

On the way Meredith!

 

[brandon429]

In my opinion I'd still the tank pumps to avoid casting about, hand scrape every buildup of the algae including pick rasping with siphoning so that 100% of the algae was removed and siphoned by hand

The spots literally made clean by rough hand cleaning with mild scouring if needed and a bunch of good siphoning/ water changes during the job to prevent sending bits of it around the tank.

Lastly, I'd drain the tank to expose those former algae holdfast areas that appear to have no algae but would nonetheless grow back if left alone

Hit them with peroxide when there is no algae there, purely as holdfast work. It's the most thorough form of peroxide removal there is. The key to all peroxide work is not having to use more than needed for having made a simple choice to leave algae mass in the tank. If you reduce the amnt of peroxide needed to prevent grow back its safer than the usual act of leaving algae purposefully in a tank. The result of this crazy behavior is my ten yr old pico reef is immune to every invader in reefkeeping I'd buy frags from anywhere, but without room for a legitimate reef fish it's still a not very cool pico reef.

 

[melypr1985]

In my opinion I'd still the tank pumps to avoid casting about, hand scrape every buildup of the algae including pick rasping with siphoning so that 100% of the algae was removed and siphoned by hand

The spots literally made clean by rough hand cleaning with mild scouring if needed and a bunch of good siphoning/ water changes during the job to prevent sending bits of it around the tank.

Lastly, I'd drain the tank to expose those former algae holdfast areas that appear to have no algae but would nonetheless grow back if left alone

Hit them with peroxide when there is no algae there, purely as holdfast work. It's the most thorough form of peroxide removal there is. The key to all peroxide work is not having to use more than needed for having made a simple choice to leave algae mass in the tank. If you reduce the amnt of peroxide needed to prevent grow back its safer than the usual act of leaving algae purposefully in a tank. The result of this crazy behavior is my ten yr old pico reef is immune to every invader in reefkeeping I'd buy frags from anywhere, but without room for a legitimate reef fish it's still a not very cool pico reef.

Alright. So I can drain that area that in the overflow (its a corner overflow and I'm able to drain that without draining the tank). Scrape off all the bubble algae and remove with suction. Then wipe the areas with peroxide to kill off any residual algae stuff (totally technical speak I know) then refill with clean water. Done and done right?

 

[brandon429]

Yes truly that's how thorough I like to be on targets.

If you wanted to mist that drained algae first, well, before rasping it's clear that might help on cast abouts~ the peroxide is specifically a reef controllable algae sanitizer spray lol just like mr clean spray on a counter heh that makes some people uneasy to read as a statement

Runoff can be controlled if creatively applied, but runoff isn't particularly harmful, we document gigantic reef tanks on here dosed with 10x planned overdoses. Minor runoff from cleaning isn't impactful but again easily reduced in creative applications.

to me small areas of algae growth don't indicate problems, productive reefs on earth must produce them in balance to feed metric tonnes of grazers the peroxide is simply a cheat to head off any quick growth as opposed to a takeover. Naturally any reef keeper wants to strive for a tank low in organic waste stores contributing to plant loading in a tank...try to avoid cheats. But when a cheat is needed, we have some yrs established documentation to analyze.

http://reef2reef.com/threads/reef2reef-pest-algae-challenge-thread.187042/page-4#post-2578589

 

[lewis.maryann08]

Ok how do you use peroxide?
And will it hurt the fish or corals?

 

[brandon429]

check that thread I linked real quick at work cant speak but ill check back in two hours, its such a fun cheat lol. algae killa

http://reef2reef.com/threads/reef2reef-pest-algae-challenge-thread.187042/page-4#post-2578589

catch me some before and after pics!!