Carey's Final Reef Upgrade- 180g

[Grizz]

Carey If your going to use those wp40's you can use one ea. of these( DC 5V 24V 4A 48W LED Light Dimmer Adjustable Bright Controller | eBay )to turn down the power) im using them on mine and they work great they plug in between the power supply and power head and give you more control over the wave

[redsea]

Originally Posted by carey

Soon enough redsea, you'll be making those same posts! LOL

Hopefully very soon! I am working on it!

Did you end up with any new creatures today?

[carey]

Well juts got home and settled in! Didn't have time yesterday to get to a fish store but made it today!

I got 6 polyps of cinnamon paly's, I have been wanting these for like 3 years! So, yay!!!!

I also picked up another copperband butterfly for the 125g. This one was eating in the store and isnt thin at all plus its a decent size so I figured he would be perfect for that tank! So far the tangs are leaving him alone and he is swimming all over the tank hopefully getting acclimated. My fingers are crossed for this guy. Added bonus this guy was only $35 which is $15 less than what I paid for the last two butterflys.

I also picked up some rods food, hoping that might do the trick with the anthias, AND I got a small bag of live brine which I added to the tank. Here's hoping he finally starts eating. It sucks to just sit by helplessly and watch a fish starve itself, but he has to be eating something as it's been two weeks since I got him.

That's all for now, I expect to make some more purchases this upcoming week when I get paid. Just not sure what to get next, maybe the powerheads.....I can install them in the 125g for now I figure so I can get double duty from them until I get the big tank.

Thanks for following along everyone, I appreciate it and all your comments and help.

[redsea]

Congratulations on the new Butterfly! Copperbands are so pretty and graceful.

Good luck with the Anthias!

[Gregcoyote]

Did he eat the live shrimp?

[carey]

I didnt see him eat any. :-( But I just dumped them in and didnt stick around that long to watch, I was getting the butterfly ready to go in.

I will try some rods food in a little bit as well, as well as some more cyclopeeze.

This fish is making me stress out! LOL

[Gregcoyote]

They just stop eating sometimes. IMO I have them in my top 10 fish to not buy at the LFS. Some folks have spectacular luck with them. But not me.

Hope he comes around.

[Cichlidjon]

Hey carey how's the copperband and everyone else doing?

[carey]

Well, the anthias went missing yesterday so thats not good. Still have to rip apart the tank to find the remains. :-(

On a brighter note the copperband finally ate some frozen so it should be clear sailing from here.

[Cichlidjon]

I hope so u definitely r proving this hobby is a labor of love!

[RJT]

Which anthias is it?

[carey]

It was a squareback, male. I've had them before but they always were eating up til this one. :-(

I still havent found him in the rocks yet, he;s gotta be in there. he was pretty big.

Just sitting here and messing with the biocube. Pulled some algae out and removed the rocks that had it and put them in my "blackout" tank til it goes a away. lol Changed out some filter pads and gonna go kill some aipastias in a few minutes. I am getting convinced to buy all new rock for this large build, not sure how much of my live rock is salvageable. The aipastia is in every single tank really bad except for the 90g. There was one like 2 years ago but it never came back, I think one of the fish prob ate it. lol

So that would mean I'd have like 300lbs of live rock that I would be stuck with....

Any thoughts guys?

[Gregcoyote]

Here's how you "reboot" your rock; no real cooking required, but a clothespin for your nose is helpful.


http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f1...ock-66551.html

[carey]

Awesome read! I bookbarked it so i can go through all the posts. Does that really work, he mentioned he got rid of algae but aipastia? They can survive in some harsh conditions. LOL

How long do you think I would cook them for it to work?

[huma-huma]

Unless aptasia is photosynthetic i wouldnt count on that method killing it off. You ever think of possibly going a bit overboarf with a cuc?? I believe reefcleaners sells cuc that they guarantee Will eat aptasia. Id just get a whole bunch of them and give them a few months to clear out the tank

[carey]

They only carry the peppermints i believe and I have tried that. :-( Put in half a dozen in the biocube and within a week or so they all had disappeared. And no munching on the aipastia before they went mia. lol

There are berghia nudibranchs but they are very expensive. I put another copperband in the 125g so I'm hoping he will handle that tank.

I just want a guarantee that i won't be moving aipastia over to the new tank i guess. They are the only challenge I havent' beaten yet.

[Gregcoyote]

Aptaisia isn't photosynthetic and it can survive sewer water. Leaving the rock outside for a few weeks in the sun, then a thorough scrubbing will probably do it, otherwise bleach and a long soak to remove the bleach, then reseed the rock either way. Boiling it in a pot works, but can be dangerous if any zoas are attached.

Just bought some 18 gauge 3.5" long spinal needles (EBay). They work great for stabbing aptaisia and dosing it with lemon juice.

[RJT]

^+1
That's what I did years ago when I got them. Dry, scrub, bleach and rinse with rodi.

I got one head recently from a frag, Zap tasia works perfectly. It was overkill since I used an entire syringe of it for a 1/2inch head.

[RJT]

I'm surprised the squareback isn't eating. I remember you had a large one before. Maybe putting the food in front of a powerhead to have the food moving fast. A lot of anthias like to eat fast moving food.

[redsea]

I'm sorry about the Anthias, Carey.

I am really happy about the Copperband though! Congratulations!