New-ish tank: rip it apart and start fresh or go the long haul?

Squibege · 08/28/2016, 01:37 PM

Tank has been up since late Feb/ early March. 90G display tank with 20ish in the sump. Parameters are stable. The few fish and corals I have are doing great and growing well... The problem is all the newbie mistakes I've made along the way.

Started with dry rock and added some LR to get some diversity going. Between that and the LR I got with my corals I've been graced with an invasion of vermetid snails, aptasia, and bubble algae. I also put caluerpa instead of cheato in the sump and have heard lots of awesome horror stories about that.

Got a beautiful piece of GSP and knew enough to isolate it on the sand bed so it wouldn't take over the rock... But the sneaky thing grew faster than I thought it would and snuck up behind the rock work without me noticing. Can't for the life of me get it off.

Only fish are a Bangaii Cardinal, purple firefish, and two clowns. Would it be worth it to move things into my QT tank and bust up the 'scape, kill the invaders, clean everything out, and start over? Or should I keep with what I'm doing- trying to kalk paste the apastia, manually remove the algae, and idk what to do about the GSP.

If I'm going to tear down I should probably do it before I get more critters for simplicity... Thoughts?

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gone fishin · 08/28/2016, 02:47 PM

Personally I think I would just stay the course. Unless your just getting totally over run. IMO with persistence you can overcome these issues. Good luck just my 2 cents.

Squibege · 08/28/2016, 02:53 PM

Thanks! I just hate how there are things I 'should have' done better and I don't want it to be too late to fix properly

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neiltus · 08/28/2016, 03:29 PM

That does not look that bad...I would not tear it down. Maybe throw in a couple peppermint shrimp and give them daily motivational talks about how delicious the apastia is?

If the GSP bug you, just pull them.

nmotz · 08/28/2016, 03:48 PM

yeah don't break it down, these type of issues are what this hobby is about sometimes. You haven't made any grievous mistakes. Everyone has bubble algae or pests from time to time. No reason to break a tank down at all. Looks like you have an encrusting montipora on the back wall, i really like that.

Peppermint shrimp will really help with that aiptasia problem IMO.

Squibege · 08/28/2016, 04:13 PM

I did have three peppermint shrimp for the apastia... The apastia came from ONE LR that my dad (who is almost as obsessed with the tank as I am) insisted he buy me since he liked the shape of the rock and the coraline colours on it. Since we were digging around in the LR tank all the apastia hid and I didnt notice how bad it as covered. Once I got it home I saw the 50+ that were on there and the chunks of bubble algea -_-

After a few weeks of looking up what to do about the pests I decided to move the rock into a QT tank and throw some peppermints in there so they only had apastia to eat. It semi-worked, the bullk of the apastia got eaten, but one shrimp somehow died in the QT tank, one died as soon as I moved them to the big tank, and the third died three days after being in the big tank...

The thing growing up the back is the GSP. Its very vivid and I like it a lot, I just didn't want it getting all over my rocks. So I isolated it on the sand bed. Now that its on the rocks idk what to do about it. The only way to remove the rocks would be to remove almost everything on the left side of the tank since its the bottom rocks that got it. Its a large (ish) area to Kalk paste and I don't want to shock the tank, I do have some epoxy that I could try?

BigEZ77 · 08/28/2016, 04:38 PM

Agreed with above, doesn't look bad. I use Aiptasia X to remove them, pull a piece of rock when necessary and scrape off any bubbles I see. Don't have any helpful advice for the other issues since I've never had them.

Sk8r · 08/28/2016, 04:46 PM

If you happen to LIKE the fish, a matted filefish will (good bet, at least) eat them. And has the virtue of being the easiest fish in the world to catch if he turns rogue with your corals.

kmbyrnes · 08/29/2016, 06:00 AM

Stick it out. You haven't made any fatal mistakes.
One of the most rewarding parts of this hobby for me is learning to overcome issues, especially those caused by my lack of knowledge ( or worse ).
Your tank looks fine and with a little hard work on your part it can once again become something you are proud of.

agiacosa · 08/29/2016, 06:09 AM

I would suggest that you stick it out as well. Your tank will be more mature and better able to support life once you overcome this phase.

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cincyjim · 08/29/2016, 06:28 AM

I say stick it out. You have a very nice looking tank. As others have suggested, get a couple of peppermint shrimp and you can try to use super glue on the Vermetid snails.

Squibege · 08/29/2016, 11:06 AM

Okay. Long haul it is! Now to find a way to get the GSP off the rocks. Any awesome ideas? Or just a firm toothbrush, elbowgreese, and lots of carbon lol?

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ReefsandGeeks · 08/29/2016, 11:54 AM

My first focus would be the vermentid snails. IMO, they are the hardest to get rid of. If I were in your position, I'd take out one rock at a time, and take a good look all over, top to bottom for vermentid snails and getting rid of each one. My tank started off like yours, but the dang snails too koff, and since then my rocks have looked like a cactus. The algea seems easy enough to take care of in comparison, again IMO.

Reeferman1019 · 08/30/2016, 07:03 AM

run carbon and GFO then get a blue spot puffer for snails. I would sell GSP rock or just manually remove it

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08/28/2016, 01:37 PM	#1
Squibege Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Edmonton AB Posts: 157	New-ish tank: rip it apart and start fresh or go the long haul? Tank has been up since late Feb/ early March. 90G display tank with 20ish in the sump. Parameters are stable. The few fish and corals I have are doing great and growing well... The problem is all the newbie mistakes I've made along the way. Started with dry rock and added some LR to get some diversity going. Between that and the LR I got with my corals I've been graced with an invasion of vermetid snails, aptasia, and bubble algae. I also put caluerpa instead of cheato in the sump and have heard lots of awesome horror stories about that. Got a beautiful piece of GSP and knew enough to isolate it on the sand bed so it wouldn't take over the rock... But the sneaky thing grew faster than I thought it would and snuck up behind the rock work without me noticing. Can't for the life of me get it off. Only fish are a Bangaii Cardinal, purple firefish, and two clowns. Would it be worth it to move things into my QT tank and bust up the 'scape, kill the invaders, clean everything out, and start over? Or should I keep with what I'm doing- trying to kalk paste the apastia, manually remove the algae, and idk what to do about the GSP. If I'm going to tear down I should probably do it before I get more critters for simplicity... Thoughts? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08/28/2016, 02:47 PM	#2
gone fishin Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Wyocena Wi Posts: 6,936	Personally I think I would just stay the course. Unless your just getting totally over run. IMO with persistence you can overcome these issues. Good luck just my 2 cents. __________________ Tony Current Tank Info: 180gal DT, BM NAC77 skimmer,3 Maxspect razors, Maxspect Gyre 150, 30g QT

08/28/2016, 03:29 PM	#4
neiltus Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2016 Posts: 415	That does not look that bad...I would not tear it down. Maybe throw in a couple peppermint shrimp and give them daily motivational talks about how delicious the apastia is? If the GSP bug you, just pull them. __________________ Build Thread http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2592260

08/28/2016, 03:48 PM	#5
nmotz Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: FL, USA Posts: 1,433	yeah don't break it down, these type of issues are what this hobby is about sometimes. You haven't made any grievous mistakes. Everyone has bubble algae or pests from time to time. No reason to break a tank down at all. Looks like you have an encrusting montipora on the back wall, i really like that. Peppermint shrimp will really help with that aiptasia problem IMO. __________________ Mantis shrimp are the best! Current Tank Info: 20L Peacock mantis shrimp tank

08/28/2016, 04:38 PM	#7
BigEZ77 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: Ottawa ON Canada Posts: 797	Agreed with above, doesn't look bad. I use Aiptasia X to remove them, pull a piece of rock when necessary and scrape off any bubbles I see. Don't have any helpful advice for the other issues since I've never had them. __________________ Russell Banggai / Yellow Wrasse / Black Ice and Davinci Clowns / Flame Angel / Royal Gramma / Blue Chromis / LPS (dominated) / Monti's / Softies / BTA's Current Tank Info: 45G Rimless, Tunze 9004, Kessil A160WE, Gyre XF130, 50lbs rock, Reef Crystals, Phosguard in reactor, Matrix, Chemipure Blue and NP XL biopellets in sump

08/28/2016, 02:53 PM	#3
Squibege Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Edmonton AB Posts: 157	Thanks! I just hate how there are things I 'should have' done better and I don't want it to be too late to fix properly Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08/28/2016, 04:13 PM	#6
Squibege Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Edmonton AB Posts: 157	I did have three peppermint shrimp for the apastia... The apastia came from ONE LR that my dad (who is almost as obsessed with the tank as I am) insisted he buy me since he liked the shape of the rock and the coraline colours on it. Since we were digging around in the LR tank all the apastia hid and I didnt notice how bad it as covered. Once I got it home I saw the 50+ that were on there and the chunks of bubble algea -_- After a few weeks of looking up what to do about the pests I decided to move the rock into a QT tank and throw some peppermints in there so they only had apastia to eat. It semi-worked, the bullk of the apastia got eaten, but one shrimp somehow died in the QT tank, one died as soon as I moved them to the big tank, and the third died three days after being in the big tank... The thing growing up the back is the GSP. Its very vivid and I like it a lot, I just didn't want it getting all over my rocks. So I isolated it on the sand bed. Now that its on the rocks idk what to do about it. The only way to remove the rocks would be to remove almost everything on the left side of the tank since its the bottom rocks that got it. Its a large (ish) area to Kalk paste and I don't want to shock the tank, I do have some epoxy that I could try?

08/28/2016, 04:46 PM	#8
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	If you happen to LIKE the fish, a matted filefish will (good bet, at least) eat them. And has the virtue of being the easiest fish in the world to catch if he turns rogue with your corals. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%.

08/29/2016, 06:00 AM	#9
kmbyrnes Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2013 Location: Mesa AZ Posts: 2,055	Stick it out. You haven't made any fatal mistakes. One of the most rewarding parts of this hobby for me is learning to overcome issues, especially those caused by my lack of knowledge ( or worse ). Your tank looks fine and with a little hard work on your part it can once again become something you are proud of. __________________ 125g Mixed Reef 5/26/2015; 350 Butterfly Dominated FOWLR 11/26/2015 - 11/17/20217 & 07/31/18 to ??? ; 100g Mixed Reef 11/16/2013 to 06/16/2017 Current Tank Info: Too small

08/29/2016, 06:09 AM	#10
agiacosa Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Miami, FL Posts: 894	I would suggest that you stick it out as well. Your tank will be more mature and better able to support life once you overcome this phase. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ "Patience" is what most of us lack. SPS = "Stability Promotes Success" Slowly building a 60g Zeovit-run SPS reef Current Tank Info: 60g SPS Reef

08/29/2016, 06:28 AM	#11
cincyjim Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 1,147	I say stick it out. You have a very nice looking tank. As others have suggested, get a couple of peppermint shrimp and you can try to use super glue on the Vermetid snails. __________________ Jim Current Tank Info: SCA 150G, 5 inch sand bed, 2 Tunze 6095s, ReefBreeders v2+ 50" with 2 all Blue Reefbrites, and Continuous Water Change System

08/29/2016, 11:06 AM	#12
Squibege Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Edmonton AB Posts: 157	Okay. Long haul it is! Now to find a way to get the GSP off the rocks. Any awesome ideas? Or just a firm toothbrush, elbowgreese, and lots of carbon lol? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

08/29/2016, 11:54 AM	#13
ReefsandGeeks Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 1,708	My first focus would be the vermentid snails. IMO, they are the hardest to get rid of. If I were in your position, I'd take out one rock at a time, and take a good look all over, top to bottom for vermentid snails and getting rid of each one. My tank started off like yours, but the dang snails too koff, and since then my rocks have looked like a cactus. The algea seems easy enough to take care of in comparison, again IMO.

08/30/2016, 07:03 AM	#14
Reeferman1019 Registered Member Join Date: May 2016 Location: Tampa,FL Posts: 536	run carbon and GFO then get a blue spot puffer for snails. I would sell GSP rock or just manually remove it Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk