User experience with Reef Delete?

[MikeTheNewbie]

Starting a thread to collect experiences and recommendations on the use of ReefDelete.
I got mine yesterday and I hope it can help me deal with a dino bloom I recently got.
I don't know when will I be able to tell if it works or not but so far there are a couple of things that I think could improve.

• Having to push the button to activate the light gets old pretty fast. After a minute of pressing it underwater through thick gloves my finger got tired.
  I understand it is part of the safety features but I think they could have approached it differently, more like a toggle where 2 presses toggle it on and 1 press or removing it from water toggle it off.
• The user guide included in the box is very limited, it doesn't show what part of the lamp to turn to access the battery or how to charge it. I went to the website but it only shows marketing info, not a user guide. After a little fidgeting I realized that the bottom half of the lamp (not just the lanyard cap) comes apart and the 18650 battery has a micro usb port just below the positive contact (for a minute I thought I was going to need a 18650 battery charger).
  In any case, for the people that get one, you might want to watch this video where they show how to open it and charge it

I'm thinking I might design and print a clip to hold the button while underwater.
Something else I noticed is that although the included battery is taller than regular 18650s, the spring contacts are long enough to hold a regular 18650, that might come handy in case you already have some of those batteries and a charger and the included battery drains or just to be able to get a new battery when the included one no longer holds charge.

Hope the info is interesting and others can share their experience, tips & tricks.

 

[blaxsun]

What's the size of the area affected when you turn it on? Is this a fixed size or can you otherwise adjust or control it?

 

[MikeTheNewbie]

It is difficult to estimate the affected area since the light is not visible but you can use it in 2 ways, with the cap that reduced the beam to just a bit over 1/4 inch or remove the cap and use the full area. I would say 2 to 3 inches wide but the area that is not directly below the light gets reduced intensity.
Overall after using it for 3 of days, with no visible effect on dinoflagellates I'm not convinced it is an effective way to deal with them, even for small areas. Maybe it is more useful if you only need to delete a very small number of aptasia.

 

[aquaalgae]

I thought this product was a great idea at first and nearly bought one. As I love to DIY, I started looking at what UV-C LEDs were on the market and came across this:

265nm UVC LED - Chip-on-Board (COB) Packages - High and Medium Power

Description Tech Specs Download PDF Item Description We offer 265nm UVC LEDs on chip-on-board (COB) packages with medium and high output. COB size, power and field of view vary, providing you with multiple product options. See the Tech Specs tab above for a summary table of product features...

shop.boselec.com

I purchased the medium power LED and added a Mean well LDD driver at 700mA. I placed the package into a waterproof container with the LED approximately 1 inch from a glass flat "lens."

I tried it on both Aiptasia and Xenia. I held it for a minimum of 60 seconds with each treatment and tried it over the same pieces of Aiptasia and Xenia for 3 times each. One of the Aiptasia pieces died - it has not returned in two weeks. Another piece of Aiptasia is still alive and well. I tried two different pieces of Xenia as well, neither look to be harmed.

What I have found to me 100% effective (do at your own risk!!!), is to add 10N NaOH to a 10mL syringe with a fine needle. I then inject it into the base of the Xenia or Aiptasia. I have just started doing this a couple weeks ago, and am limiting it to 10mL of 10N NaOH per week to limit the pH impact. As long as you are injecting it into the tissue and are doing it in a high flow area, there is no impact to nearby corals.

 

[dmiki]

Hi fellow reefers. I just wanted to pass on my experience with Reef Delete.
-I rented it from a local fish store for 2 days, in the first week of March,2022.
-I had 50+ aiptasia, ranging from a 1/4 of an inch to an inch in diameter, in a 50 gallon tank.
-I read the reviews carefully and tried to accept that it will not be a "magical wand" but will require patience.
-First day I treated 4/5 of the aiptasia I could see, each with 3-4min.bursts. (except for the smallest ones I think you should forget about the 60sec.long treatment)
-Second day, about a third of the treated ones never showed up again, I write this up to the fact that those were more easily accessible and that I literally burned them to a black smudge on the rock. I treated the other ones that showed back up, some severely damaged some somewhat damaged, 3min bursts.
-Third day I could see no aiptasia in the tank. I had to return the Reef Delete to the LFS.
-Fourth day I ordered the device to be shipped to me from the UK. (I live in Europe).
-After three weeks+ I have a dozen aiptasia in the tank. ALL OF THEM are from areas I could not reach well or the battery was emptying or my finger got too tired and "thought" it was pressing the button. A thought on this. When you hold the button, make sure to hold it in a way that you can see if the light is flashing and WHAT color it is flashing, the second day it was flashing red and green, which means the battery needs to be recharged. [thx LFS for not giving me the manual ]
- I received it today and the battery is still charging. Do not forget to charge the battery when you receive the product, it is not fully charged from the factory.
Resume:
It is a very,very effective product, you just have to make sure:
-the battery is charged ergo only green flashes when you burn the pests
-you are pressing the button, your hand will get tired and you will think you are pressing the button, while actually your finger slipped
- it needs a 120 sec burst at least, for the smallest ones. the bigger ones(1 inch) need at least 2x3min, read below lines for sure success.
- keep it on until you see the aiptasia is only a black spot on the rock, that one will never come back for sure....

I think it is a very effective product, I have tried RS Aiptasia X, and from one I wound up with several dozen ......
This is way more effective, BUT it is not a magic wand, it requires patience if you have plenty of Aiptasia.... in the end you will be in control, not the Aiptasia.
I have a lot of Zoa's and other corals which can be food for Copperbands(which can or will not eat aiptasia), Bergia nudibranches are not availabe in my part of Europe (in Europe from what I know) and peppermint shrimp are either hit or miss or they sell only the impostors in my country. So much for the best and natural way of getting rid of them.