Welcome to the Dark Side of Reefing... Closing Down

[GrimReefer]

WOW, just found this TJ and am hooked! Will be following this one with great interest!

Great work Dan

[Dan]

hi dan must be time for an update need my nps fix ...

hi dan must be time for an update need my nps fix ...

dendro must have filled the tank by now given your growth rates

sorry guys, been busy lately but here is a small update.



Tank has been plodding along doing its thing. I have gone back to manual feeding as I can't get the magnetic stirrer to work and don't have enough time to make the plan B a reality. Also since the last update my shellfish diet concentrate (phytoplankton) went off so the last 3 weeks the dendro's have not had any phyto which has halted any growth but has proven that this is what nourishes them and makes them grow.

This tank was always a little bit of an experiment and I have decided that I am going to slowly start closing it down and running as a fish only tank. This tank has been running for 3 years now and I am ready to start planning a new build which will hopefully be bigger and better than the current tank & stand.

The new start is also an easy way to rid the tank of Aptasia which has well and truly taken hold and starting to really impact on some weaker corals in the tank.

On a positive I have fraged a dendro and it has taken hold and looks to be through the critical recovery stage after the cut.


this dendrophyllya has added about half a dozen new polyps now - amazing how quickly they grow when they are fed properly


Thanks for following along

[DSR]

This is absolutely beautiful, especially the blue sea fans.

Why do they have to be so difficult to care for...

Subscribed!

[Aqueous]

I am ready to start planning a new build which will hopefully be bigger and better than the current tank & stand.

Woohoo, look forward to seeing what you come up with next man! ...no pressure

[Byronredsea]

Dan how is the tank going ?

[Dan]

Good Jason, just added a xxsml threadfin butterfly to help with the aiptasia war but otherwise things are going well. Oldest dendro is now at 11months So far i have not lost a coral in this system and have managed to frag 2 gorgs, 1 dendro & have numerous baby sun corals.

[ssbk23]

Good Jason, just added a xxsml threadfin butterfly to help with the aiptasia war but otherwise things are going well. Oldest dendro is now at 11months So far i have not lost a coral in this system and have managed to frag 2 gorgs, 1 dendro & have numerous baby sun corals.

Well done Dan
Tank is looking amazing

[Byronredsea]

Congrats Dan

[Dan]

Well my Threadfin Butterfly has decided from day one that he not only likes Aiptasia but also happy to smash any frozen or flake food with gusto so I guess its effectiveness in Aiptasia control has somewhat gone out the window... just my luck to pick up a notoriously fussy fish who smashed flake from the start

might do a big photo update tonight as it has been a while

[Dan]

update time, nothing really has changed though since the last update apart from adding the Threadfin.





















and some comparison shots of my hammer frag which I've been growing for a while now

Dec 2011


Feb 2012


current - can no longer see the frag plug

[zeebull]

Looking Awesome as always Dan
Looking to good to pull down, think you might have to run 2 tanks

[ssbk23]

Absolutely amazing photography Dan
Love the detail in the one of the purple tang

[ClayLutt]

Wow Dan! nothing short of amazing as per usual with your tank and photogrpahy!

[MeLLeR]

Well my Threadfin Butterfly has decided from day one that he not only likes Aiptasia but also happy to smash any frozen or flake food with gusto so I guess its effectiveness in Aiptasia control has somewhat gone out the window... just my luck to pick up a notoriously fussy fish who smashed flake from the start

might do a big photo update tonight as it has been a while

Gees, cry much? "oh no, my notoriously hard to keep long term fish has adapted to long term food availability " lol

Typical that you'd be able to get long term survivability again.... Lol
Tank is far too good to be getting rid of your stock!

[pazz]

looking amazing as usual

[Dan]

Thanks guys, appreciate the kind words

Greg I know I shouldn't complain but it's really murphy's law, I really didn't want this fish to feed so it would plow through those damn aiptasia. I bet 9 out of 10 butterflyfish wont eat without training

I spent some time on the tank this afternoon doing a water change, killed some aiptasia and cleaned off the back wall again. Looks so much better with a clean back wall

[ssbk23]

Definitely looks better with a clean back wall
What are you using to kill the aiptasia?

[pebbles]

Hey Dan

Some of those corals look absolutely stunning! Not to mention the photography!

But FYI you're taking quite a risk introducing a threadfin; fortunately its still small enough to do negligible damage.

. I bet 9 out of 10 butterflyfish wont eat without training

That's true but yours is the 1 in 10 that will. The reason its such a good butterfly in captivity is that its a generalist feeder in nature, meaning it eats a bit of everything. While that's good I think you'll find as it grows it will chow down on some corals.... you better make sure it keeps a full belly as it will soon discover corals are tasty too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm willing to take some risks too..
Just think this fish would be best in either fowlr or if you're lucky, with acro.

BTW I feel your pain so Good luck getting that damn aptasia under control


cheers
angie

[Dan]

Definitely looks better with a clean back wall
What are you using to kill the aiptasia?

Shane I was using Joes Juice which wasn't really effective so on Robthepom's advice I made up a really thick paste solution of bicarb and vinegar and have been covering the oral disks of them with this paste. Seems to be working so far. I am hoping to just get on top of the larger ones and the butterfly can take care of the small ones as they pop up.

Angie, thanks of the chat last night. As I said I knew the fish would eat corals and know of their risks. He does pick at the corals which I expected and will need to manage this as it grows. I have really lowered the available food in the tank for the last week or so to a) encourage the butterfly to pick and b) reduce food sources for the aiptasia so we'll see how it goes. Once I ramp up the food again the tank gets 8+ feeds per day which should help keep it full.

You've got me obsessed with Arabian butterflyfish (C. melapterus) now but I could never provide the right nutrition for one sadly

[ssbk23]

Thanks Dan, I haven't heard of using bicarb and vinegar before. How do you make it up? Just add vinegar to dry bicarb?
I've tried red sea aiptasia x, salifert aiptasia exit, straight vinegar all with no luck.
I'll give anything a go if it will work

[DAY1]

Dan
Try kalkwasser paste or Builders lime , Tone put me on to it a while a go , works a treat , if you can remove the rocks from the tank into a tub of old tank water , and then mix up a thickish past , then using a syringe with a ridgid riser on the end , cover the disc and watch them melt

[Dan]

Thanks Dan, I haven't heard of using bicarb and vinegar before. How do you make it up? Just add vinegar to dry bicarb?
I've tried red sea aiptasia x, salifert aiptasia exit, straight vinegar all with no luck.
I'll give anything a go if it will work

Yeah Rob was just using an alk paste with water but I figured I would boost its potency by swapping water for vinegar. Possibly not such a good idea as I think I might have thrown the water chem out of whack, Purple Tang has a few white dots on it today and it hasn't shown any for 12+ months so obviously it didn't like something I did use 5-6 full 5ml syringes of the paste so maybe just start with small doses

[Dan]

Dan
Try kalkwasser paste or Builders lime , Tone put me on to it a while a go , works a treat , if you can remove the rocks from the tank into a tub of old tank water , and then mix up a thickish past , then using a syringe with a ridgid riser on the end , cover the disc and watch them melt

Thanks Geoff. Won't be taking the rocks out but might give it a go. It is so therapeutic killing the buggers

[ssbk23]

Thanks Dan, I'll make some up and give it a go

[Jaguar]

Update, Update!!!

[fishwhisperer]

[reefsecretsaquariums]

i have good luck injecting 6% liquid hydrogen peroxide ... never more than 2 mil per 100L . per day ... they just dissolve ,,,its cool..

otherwise you realy can't beat peppermint shrimp .

[locuus]

i have good luck injecting 6% liquid hydrogen peroxide ... never more than 2 mil per 100L . per day ... they just dissolve ,,,its cool..

otherwise you realy can't beat peppermint shrimp .

I need some of this, mine are driving me nuts

[Dan]

Not really much to updade on at this stage guys apart from that i am aiptasia free

The i covered the oral disks of the larger ones (10mm + sized) with the bi-carb slurry and the threadfin butterfly took care of the rest. He is still being very well behaved and only occasionally has a nip at the cyphastrea otherwise has left everything else alone

[Dan]

Bloody sweeper tentacles you can actually watch the hammer slowly and methodically move its sweepers along the line of undamaged flesh.