Switching to Bare Bottom - Need Advice!

[Patow]

Hey everyone,

I have a couple of issues with my tank right now. Admittedly, my husbandry has been sub-par the past few months for various reasons.

I now have an aiptasia outbreak (I'd say about 100+ of varying sizes in my 90 gallon display), along with spots of nuisance algae on rocks including red hair and green hair algae, as well as some other unsightly macro-type algae. Prior to my neglect, the tank was quite beautiful, however, I kind of regretted adding the sand in hindsight (it is a pain to get enough flow to prevent dead-spots).

I want to switch my display tank to bare bottom as I want to focus on SPS and really beef up the flow in the tank. I am running a DSB in my sump, and have lots of room in the sump for extra live rock if I need better filtration. I also have a "bad-boys" 38-gallon tank (hooked up to my main system) running in my sump room where I add creatures I don't really want in the display, but are still cool to have and observe. My coral-banded shrimp and pistol shrimp will be moved here once I catch them as they've taken out a few of my fish (2 fire fish and a diamond goby). Not sure which one is the bad-boy, but they are the only creatures in the tank capable of getting the fish, and the fish are gone.

I don't have any signs of nuisance algae or aiptasia in my DSB or bad-boy tank; only my display.

I'm debating whether it is really worth the effort to try to rectify all the algae and aiptasia problems as well as siphon out the sand (which will prove difficult with my rock work) individually? I have a feeling I'm going to do a lot of work, and probably not rectify the issue in the long run.

I think it would be more advisable to shut down my display (I only have a few fish and inverts that I'd need to move to my sump in the basement), scrub/boil and re-cure the rock, and set the display back up bare bottom. My sump is in the basement, display upstairs.

I'm leaning toward the latter, but am interested to hear if anyone has any downsides to this approach?

When I first set up this display when I moved in to this house about a year and a half ago, I was in a rush, and didn't cure the rock long enough after the move. The rock sat outside for a few days. I then scrubbed it and pressure washed it and cured the rock for about 2-3 weeks. Evidently not long enough as the aiptasia and algae problems I had at the old house came with me to the new house. I guess I'm paying now for my impatience last year. Lesson learned.

If I choose to remove all the rock, what is the best way to ensure I get rid of this stuff for good? I will be as patient as necessary this time. Should I boil the rock? Bake it? Scrub it? Anything else? Should I consider curing the liverock in my DSB (2 large pieces) and my bad-boy tank (about 20-30lbs) to be on the safe side? I could put my fish and inverts in a quarantine-type tank if need be.

How long should I cure the rock for after I've "cleaned" it?

Thanks for your help and advice. If you need any further details, please let me know.

Here are some pics:

Sump (Bad-boy tank on the left, Sump on right (DSB on far right, return middle and skimmer left):



Display (prior to issues):



Cheers,

Dave

[John Zillmer]

Tear-downs never made sense to me. Seems the same as buying a new car every time the old one breaks down because you don't know how to/won't fix it.

A big part of the hobby, IMO, is dealing with problems in the tank. Kill as many aiptasia as you can, get some shrimp or filefish to eat the rest, get nutrients under control and get some herbivores to eat algae. Takes time and effort, but that's what makes it a hobby.

Whatever you decide, best of luck to you!

[wiz224]

I had luck with peppermint shrimp eliminating the aiptasia in very short order in my 75g.

[dragon76mom]

peppermint shrimp worked great for me

[Sisterlimonpot]

I used a copperband to rid my tank of aiptasia.

[wab]

+1 for peppermint and imo its no fun if it dont break ever once and a while. Good Luck

[Patow]

Thanks guys!

I decided to see how bad it was, and nuked a whack load of aiptasia with Joe's Juice, scraped the glass completely, and pulled out a bunch of the algae to start. Doesn't look nearly as bad as I thought it would be. The algae is pretty bad, but I think with a few water changes, and better husbandry over the next few weeks, I can get it under control.

I'll do a big water change tomorrow morning, and boost my Magnesium to try to get rid of some more algae (has worked for me in the past).

I'll get some peppermint shrimp soon to help with the aiptasia. I too have had success with them in the past. I'm just afraid that my coral banded shrimp is going to get them which is why I haven't gone that route yet. I'll have to find a way to get him out of the display and moved downstairs.

Any suggestion for catching him? Some kind of trap?

Also, I want to beef up my clean up crew with some more herbivoies to chomp away at the algae. I have hermit crabs, and all kinds of snails as well, but they don't really do much. I've had success with emerald crabs before, so I might crab a few of those to see if they help. Any other suggestions for herbivores to help with the algae?

Cheers,

Dave

[Zestay]

mexican turbo snails. where there shells spin off to the side not off the top.. can mow down some grass..
let me find a pic or 2
these are the snails you want

[John Zillmer]

+1 on the Mexican Turbos. I'd put about 10 of them in an overrun 90g at the most.

Not sure about catching the CBS, but if you do try a trap, try it now while you are in the 'starve out the algae' stage -- he'll be easier to catch if you are not feeding anything else in the tank.