Jhodge

There is nothing like being on a service or feeding visit to this system and having students saying "what are those things everywhere they are beautiful" or "I love how you have that stuff growing on all the rock oooh look its even walls and those swirly things", depending on my mood that day sometimes I just smile and laugh to myself, other days I crack up laughing and then have to explain how bad they are, then I have the days when I breakdown into tears and am ready to call it quits. I sit back and start to question myself, what am I doing wrong, why isn't this working, why isn't that working, what if I do this, nope did that last month and got no results. So I did what I always do and I over researched and just got a bigger headache.

When I took over this system the aiptasia was on the lower end of my priority list, because I knew they were in there, but you couldn't even see through the coralline and hair algae to see them. Once I got that resolved the little......wait some BIG....buggers became my priority and have now also been the cause of many headaches and more than a fair share of 6 packs. There was a point in time where just about every rock had a head of aiptasia. So this blog is going to be a breakdown.........a long breakdown but take a couple minutes as I feel it is worth the read and adds more background to the system, as always please comment with thoughts.

So first off is going very brief breakdown and rating of some of more common commercial made products that are always the first things to pop up on every thread and Google search:

Aiptasia X and Joe's Juice and Kalkwasser mix---Effective when used properly. Lots of false kills which can quickly lead to a bigger problem. Great quick fixes for the one or two heads that seem to pop up in every tank at some point in time. Never had an issue with Joe's Juice or Aiptasia X in regards to other corals other than occasional spill over which seems to cause just more stress than any actual damage. Kalk is clearly a safe alternative just keep in mind to watch that PH if you need to take care of multiples because PH can and will spike, recommend taking it slow and scheduling any of these treatments in connection with a water change. Used these products and continue to use them from time to time on this system, but the infestation is way to vast. The sheer volume of problem areas, amount of time, difficulty reaching head, crossed these off the list really fast as a permanent solution.

Vinegar, Hot Sauce and Boiling water-----yeah, sorry but no! IME these guys will just laugh all of these "treatments" off get stressed and just start spawning. Adding to the issue. Again not suitable to even try for this system. Seriously, if you have had success with these ROCK ON! My thoughts are to just not waste your time.

Copper Sulfate and Bleach----Uh yep that will get the job done! It will also take out the rest of your system. Why do people even say this stuff?


Fire----Never used this on this system but I have had success with it before. If you have the ability to remove the rock and can deal with the stench grab a blow torch and allow yourself to be inhuman for a for minutes and just enjoy getting rid of these. Trick to it just as with fraging Xenia use a tooth brush and scrub the area thoroughly and rinse to make sure you get rid of any left over pieces of the foot and death. ( I don't frag Xenia with fire, I use forceps and carefully pull the stalk away from the rock, then use the brush to scrub any residual flesh)

Ok so those are your most common practices for aiptasia pest control, given the size and scope of this tank, they were not viable options but I figured they deserved to discussed. Same format here on non-livestock options that I actually used or gave some serious thought about trying on the system, in no specific order here we go:

Lasers----A friend/coworker of mine sent me a video that made me giggle like a little school girl. I thought about the hours of fun and enjoyment I could have sitting back and just burning these guys one by one. But as always nothing is quite as safe or simple as it looks to be. With a few hours of reading and a few phone calls I decided that this is bad choice for these following reasons. These lasers are not your laser pointer you use to play with your pets, or piss off your friends. These lasers are very strong and can easily blind you or burn you. The laser has to be focused to an exact point which when going through 3/8 or 1/2 inch glass may not be so hard. For this system I would have to go through 1.5 inches of acrylic that as a semi tinted and slightly reflective protector on the outside to help reduce scratching. So my first thought is ok what happens if one of the fish swims around in front, that could be bad. Second thought, I know me and I know my friends at some point we would end up daring each other to do something stupid. Thirdly what happens if there is a splash back and heaven forbid someone walks by as the tank is located in a very busy hall and walkway of the University. The game killer on this idea was the heat produced, calling the manufacturer of the laser I was interested in purchasing he severely advised against it "well that is not its intended purpose" but he also informed me of the heat that is produced. If one mistake is made it could easily discolor, bow, or deform the acrylic. So sadly I didn't click the submit order button.....yet! I will buy on of these as small aiptasia issues are far to common and I would LOVE to give this a shot. If you have some hands on experience please comment with a breakdown.

Blackouts---Ok so stocking this system with coral is an on going process. At the time I had attempted this I hadn't added any additional coral so I wasn't majorly concerned with giving this a shot. The premise behind it is simple aiptasia are photosynthetic, kill the light, kill the creature, or at least get it to shrink so the copperbands or the redlegs stand a chance. Ok yeah I was shooting really really high here, but desperate times call for desperate measures, I black out the tank for 4 days and walked away (I combined this with a starvation period but we will go over that next). The days pass and I go back for another visit, fingers crossed to see something signs of stress, closed up polyps, a miracle and it would all just be gone. Kick the lights on and BOOM I see some of the largest heads I had even seen. We are talking 3-4 disks some stretching up others completely unphased. I was defeated yet again, and possibly made the situation worse with this unrealistic and feeble attempt. Another useless idea and failed attempt. Patience is running thin, bleach is sounding like a could choice at this point.

Starvation---Another risky, scary and time consuming attempt. Needless to say this tank gets fed rather heavily and is broadcast throughout the entire system, there is no shortage of food for anyone including the aiptasia. Other than some hiccups here and there the system is well established and has a great population of natural food sources. So my thought process is, ok lets cut back on the feeding and become much more targeted on the feeding. No coral foods pyhto, zoo, or snow additives. Cut back on smaller sized foods, brine, cyclops etc.. So for over a matter of weeks the feeding process changed rapidly, instead of just making up the mix and adding it to the tank and enjoying watching the fishes eat, I took my Julian's thing (love this tool by the way) slightly modified it to a larger opening and began attempting to target feed the fish, at first they ran away but luckily we have always fed in one spot and even hand feed nori to them so it didn't take long for them to catch on to the new "menu" and we were back to a norm in about a 2 week. Now clearly a lot of food still made it into the water column and got blown around but I felt this was making an impact. This issue with this was the sad loss of life and stress that accrued. I wasn't expecting immediate results from this and I knew it would have been a long drawn out process and I still feel that I cut myself short as it did appear to be showing positive results. But as this process was going the lack of food reaching the bottom of the tank caused the disappearance of a large 6" sally lightfoot crab, a beautiful male scooter blenny, the yellow watchman and the clean cup crew was dropping off in rapid numbers. So I made the choice to call it quits and find yet another avenue. There were a lot of factors going on in these process as some overlapped some were being done in conjunction with one another, I truly feel had I stuck with this program just made some minor changes it would have been effective as I was seeing results, but the stress, the impatience, the panic and loss of life caused me to just scrape the idea. I slowly ramped up to the normal feeding level, and again took 4 steps backwards for my one forward.

I was truly getting discouraged as I had failure after failure after failure and the problem just continued to get worse. I could honestly see the changes on a weekly if not daily basis the aiptasia was dominating everything in the system. I was making the common mistake that I preach people not to make, don't take information from source A and then source B and C, D, E and F and try and pick parts you like and parts you don't and try and make a goulash of all and expect positive results. But I had never dealt with a true infestation before and I was confused, angry and desperate. So I decided to take my own advice for once and take 3 steps away from the tank. Focus on something and comeback with a clear head. So for a little bit of time I just let the aiptasia do its thing. I took my time fixing other issues, setting up a refugium section in the sump, tearing down species systems, correcting water quality so on and so forth.

Back to aiptasia control in this section we will cover the livestock additions that I introduced to the tank and others that I have been known to eat the stuff but why I stayed away from them. I am a firm believer in letting nature do its thing. For me it is very simple.............the ocean has been around a VERY LONG TIME........it knows what it is doing, and it is the most beautiful and healthy reef system out there. Now clearly we have to cheat somethings to achieve what we do, but if there is a natural approach its a win win. And natural approaches are hands off for the most part, making life so much easier.

Peppermint Shrimp--Always a tricky option as you can easily be sold the wrong one. I have never personally had success with peppermint, that being said I have never used them for this purpose. The issue in this system was the size of the majority of the heads, they would dwarf even a fully grown shrimp. Second issue was the size of some of the other fish, I was concerned with them just getting swallowed whole. So icshnay on the peppermints.

Copperbanded Butterfly--One of my top 10 favorite fish. The coloration, the personality, the movement just a great creature to watch, and it may eat aiptasia........sweet! I have had previous success with the Copperband in a 300 gal system that had a minor issue and he had it cleaned up in just a few weeks..........here he is:

So i introduced one into the tank and the excitement began right away, within about a week I watched him picking his way through the rocks. I again knew it wouldn't be a quick process but again I was seeing progress and doing it the natural way which is the way I prefer to do everything. He was getting fat, and over the course of a few weeks there was finally a noticeable difference. Some rocks were picked clean. The most impressive was the spire which was once almost 100% covered but was picked clean.

Finally relief or so I thought. For an unknown reason he stopped eating, no aiptasia, he wouldn't touch any frozen, he stopped picking on the rocks and I knew that he was in a downward spiral. For 7 weeks he was in the system and happy and health, the next 4 weeks of his life weren't so great. Needless to say I attempted to save him but was unsuccessful. Yes I hate losing fish, but this wasn't my first nor will it be my last so I brushed it off and wasn't about to lose the headway that was gained. So just like that in went 2 more copperbands. And those two copperbands are still in this system now. Its been about 7 months and they are happy as can be, do they even look at the aiptasia.......NOPE! So Copperbands.......awesome love this fish does a great job but just like everything is a hit or miss.

Filefish---Another very common livestock addition for pest control. Wasn't about to add these guys to the tank for a slew of reasons. Future livestock additions. I LOVE LOVE LOVE zooanthids, but so do filefish. Filefish especially the Matted, or more commonly known as the Bristletail have a big taste for some of my other favorite corals, acans, and the euphyllia family (hammer and frogspawn) . So why don't you just add it to the tank and remove it later you ask? This is why !!

Let me introduce Eddie, the Orangespot Rabbitfish. Yep there will a blog about him. Short and sweet version, but try catching a fish out of a 1000 gal display! More to come at a later date about that adventure. But he once lived in this system and now has retired to the 2500 gal pond here at the shop. Needless to say catching anymore fish is out of the question from the get go.

Red leg hermits----Can not confirm this but my hours of looking turned me on to these little guys. They are common and what tank couldn't use a few more crabs. So we purchased some and added them in. I think size is the issue here as well but look into or if you know for sure one way or another, comment.

Berghia Nutibranchs---I give all the credit in the world to these little guys. I mean of course they work, aiptasia is their primary food source! It is awesome how nature builds its own checks and balances. I had debated putting these into the system for a long time but there was a variety of issues. First off the natural predator of the berghia are pods, this system doesn't have any shortage of pods. Second is cost, we work on a tight budget with this system and at $20 bucks a piece with the recommended stocking level at minimum 1 per 10 gal, we are talking thousands for a temporary addition! Third is tied directly into the second as in the survival rate through acclimation and shipping is very low. But I was out of options and I knew that the Berghia would be the answer to the issue, I knew it........they had to be, I had nothing else. So I approached the client with the dollar amount and needless to say it took some explaining. I am trying to keep these as non commercial as possible but there is the business side, the politics that cause..........yep...........you guessed it more issues. Sadly to say not only with care there were some other concerns with the previous maintenance company......$1 per sheet of NORI! and that just starts to scratch the surface. The point I am trying to get across is while I have been working with this client for sometime now, and they have seen the changes and the trust is building, there is still issues with purchases of this amount and on a temporary livestock option that won't ever bee seen, its just another hurdle of running the business side of things. Anywho the purchase was approved, the decision was made so I clicked the submit order button this time.

The next night I loaded up the truck drove to the site, killed the pumps and the lights and started acclimating. Went through a long acclimation and then again loving the Julian's thing (and the fact that they sell just the tips........I use thrdr for EVERYTHING) modified it so I could gently suck up the nutibranchs and easily release them down onto the rock work. I did have a few mistakes and made a few bad placement choices as some immediately floated directly into the tentacles of the aiptasia. Yes aiptasia is lethal to even their predators. I placed the nuti's in groups in separate areas of the tank, some in highly covered areas others in open spaces to maximize my coverage. Within days I could see the progress, it was much much more than the Copperband. It was awesome as you could make out the pathway that they were carving through the fields of aiptasia. Every now and then on the late night feedings I could even make out some of them out as the almost glow under actinic lights...........really cool!.

I thought for sure this was the answer, so as the weeks past and they mowed the lawn I was getting excited and thought I had the cure. But with tears currently in my eyes I remember that I was wrong again. The aiptasia quickly began to regrow in the areas and pathways they had mowed through the tank. I was at a complete loss of words and thoughts.........................so I again bowed to the greatness of the aiptasia. The Berghias are still happily living in the system, and the combination of livestock is keeping the infestation in check, but I am far from happy with the amount. As 1 is unacceptable 400 is about where I am at sure it is better than the 4000, still a disgusting amount.

So with my distraught and lack of ideas again I stepped away. In the near future I was approached by a student named Cami Mckellar (she will also be assisting on the remodel) about an idea the Biology department had. They wanted do some experiments on different invasive species and asked me if I could help. I was elated, so I set them up with some basic equipment and basic knowledge and seeing as clearly I am a professional at growing and sustaining aiptasia, I was more than willing to guide them along. While she cannot release many details of the projects progress or in-depth info on what is going on I was able to receive this quote from her:

"Myself and a few other biology majors have been able to take advantage of the university tank’s ability to grow outrageous amounts of Aiptasia for research purposes. Justin is glad to see the infested live rock go, and I am excited to add it to our experimental tanks. Our research project is an ongoing investigation of certain organic compounds that will integrate into surfaces and possibly inhibit the attachment and growth of some invasive aquatic species without dissolving into the water and becoming toxic. Aiptasia is an invasive species that immediately comes to an aquarist’s mind. Although, this could eventually be applied toward controlling invasive mussels or barnacles at an ecological level."

Needless to say the time came when she asked me for some aiptasia and as she quoted I was more than happy to see it go. As i removed a rock completely covered in aiptasia...........the bombs went off............the light bulb sparked....................and that is reason number 1 of 178,621,134 of why we are here today. I finally figured out how to fix this aiptasia issue. I breathed a sigh of relief..................I AM GOING TO REMOVE ALL THE ROCK WORK!!!!!!!!!!!! UH OH WHAT HAVE I JUST DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And that lead to this remodel. The "beautification" project has been on going even before my time and inevitably I think the staff here at "the company" and the heads at the University knew this day was coming. The day the we stop fixing and repairing the neglect and poor setup of this system and start focusing on the potential that this beauty has. So that concludes reason number 1 for this remodel.....there is much much much more to come...if you haven't already please check out http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...l-The-Begining.....to stay caught up with where we are........I can't stress my excitement about being given the opportunity to rebuild this system the way I see fit. I am going to have issues, there will be more problems, but the goal is to have less than what is existing, which is why I ask that we build a discussion, I am a student of knowledge, I learn more from others and being asked questions, than I ever will reading a books or blogs (while I read way to many........and recommend you do the same!)

So time for another commercial and business plug moment, I think we need to give Marc from Meleve's Reef (http://www.melevsreef.com/) some big thanks for giving us this platform to discuss our systems, to question, to debate, to be hobbyists. I know without ReefAddicts I would have never been documenting this remodel, pictures would have been taken and deleted from my phone 3 months later. On ReefAddicts we have the ability to share our experiences with each other and remember them forever. As I said in the first blog.........1000g--the beginning (http://www.reefaddicts.com/entry.php...0#comment46290), I have remembered so much I left out (I'm not going to share everything with you unless you ask, its scary and embarrassing) I was asked a lot of questions by friends and family, that had no clue how much goes into running a reef system and they are starting to understand why I never, call please keep in mind that I maintain more than 10 systems totaling about 5,500 gal of water. The biggest thing was fellow hobbyist being interested, not even knowing that our little town, nor our own University had a system of this magnitude. I am positive that there are systems in your town, troubled or not that are worthy of being detailed, be it daily, be it weekly or just a single simple breakdown with some pics. We are all hobbyists on here, post your pics, make a comment on someones post, hell blog the success and failures of your tank, god knows we have all had both, and I know we would all love to see them. We can argue, we can debate, we can agree and we can laugh....."orange algae" ........but even with all the drama and the politics, this is how we grow our hobby. I can not stress enough my passion for the hobby and growing our knowledge to save our oceans reefs and enjoy our tanks in the process. There are marine biologist and many other fields that can lay out the plan and assists us, but we are the grunts, the foot soldiers, the workers and the ones willing to do the experiments. Thanks again for giving me your time, and I will continue to post these blogs about these systems and hopefully many more. Not all will be this long, some may just be pics with simple captions, but I hope you enjoy these indepth breakdowns and personal experiences as too often all I see is simple bullet points of tanks. I will post those as well, but I want us to have these as well to give the history and the details of this system. After this remodel is complete..........in which I don't ever think a tank is done, however when the bulk is done I would love to blog about other systems that are here in the shop or other systems that we have built and maintained. I can promise that the next custom system I set up will be blogged from top to bottom right here on ReefAddicts. This is way to much "fun" Thanks again to "the company" for the chance to grow and reinvent some of the troubled systems, you inherited and thank you to Marc for this idea and guidance!



Disclaimer: I in no way advocate animal cruelty....Personal Disclaimer: It is crap that I have to put up disclaimers..............seriously.............com e on PEOPLE......that being said...........if you have ever dealt with aiptasia...............you to would enjoy making them suffer too.

Also the pictures all from different times and just are a collection of pictures that I have taken from different phones, and cameras at different times. Some well before my new found addiction to reef photography thanks to Gary Parr and Marc Levenson, please check out http://www.melevsreef.com/category/a...ng-photography, http://www.gparr.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=13, http://www.gparr.com/photos/thumbnails.php?album=17. I would also recommend some guy with a cheep smart phone pics via my Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/justin.hodge.397/photos, and at https://www.facebook.com/fishandfrags/photos_stream. The first 3 are pros I am a joker with a smart phone but I am learning so please be nice. Enjoy we we will see you shortly in a day or so with the promised current live stock list...................Happy Reefing.............but first let me take a selfie......hahaha!