Carl August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Does anyone REALLY have a tank with NO undesirables? No aiptasia? None of those asternia star fish that plagued me for months. No unwelcome worms?? If so, I would love to get some sand and/or live rock from you to seed my 70 gallon tank. After my outbreak of aiptasia that took over my tank (over 200 of them), I emptied my entire tank, put the fish in a 20 gallon tank, put 95% of all the rock and my corals in a small tub to attack it with Joe's Juice, removed all the sand, put the pumps and skimmer in a vinegar, then fresh water bath, and am starting the tank basically from scratch. So, I would like to find a willing member to swap a piece of their live rock, for my very dead bleached live rock. Or even put my piece of my very dead bleached live rock in their sump for a few weeks while it collects some good critters. Or perhaps a small amount of cheato would get me some beneficial critters...?? Carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Hey Carl, I've got a system that's aiptasia free and another one that's nearly there. I do have Asterina stars, though they have never been a problem in my system. If you would like to stick some rock in my system as soon as I get my main display up you are welcome to. There's no room in the tub at the moment but there should be as soon as I get the main display up and running since I'm going to move a ton of rock over, leaving me with an empty 150 gallon tub... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 carl- what problems have you had with asterinas? i've had them in 3 tanks with no issues. also, if your problem worms are bristle worms, they aren't really an issue, IMO, until they get large, and then they're usually easy to remove with traps... but especially if you have a sand bed, i think they are essential. i think if you have good live rock, you'll always have things that you don't want... for instance, i hate those little featherduster worms, as they attach to the sides of my lps, and can irritate the polyps... or they end up in the middle of a zoanthid patch, and do the same thing... but most people love them and would think i'm crazy for not wanting them in the tank. aips, on the other hand... well, if you truly want an aip free tank, you'd better have peppermints, and QT every single piece of coral you bring in, as only a smear of an old aip on a frag plug or rock fragment can bring them back. that's going to be the real issue, i think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yauger August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 carl- what problems have you had with asterinas? i've had them in 3 tanks with no issues. also, if your problem worms are bristle worms, they aren't really an issue, IMO, until they get large, and then they're usually easy to remove with traps... but especially if you have a sand bed, i think they are essential. i think if you have good live rock, you'll always have things that you don't want... for instance, i hate those little featherduster worms, as they attach to the sides of my lps, and can irritate the polyps... or they end up in the middle of a zoanthid patch, and do the same thing... but most people love them and would think i'm crazy for not wanting them in the tank. aips, on the other hand... well, if you truly want an aip free tank, you'd better have peppermints, and QT every single piece of coral you bring in, as only a smear of an old aip on a frag plug or rock fragment can bring them back. that's going to be the real issue, i think. I agree I would jump on the GB for the inverts thats going on right now, I think you can pick up multiple shrimps for cheap... I have always had one or two peppermint shrimps in my tank and never had an issue with aps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl August 16, 2007 Author Share August 16, 2007 Charlie97 - You are right about the asternia starfish...I don't mind them too much...and they don't seem to bother anything. At one point, I was able to count 50+ of them in my tank, plus the ones I couldn't see...perhaps because there was a good deal of algae on the sides of the tank they were eating. I've had my tank since 1999 and never had an aiptasia issue until recently. So...Dave...I will take you up on your offer once your tank is aiptasia free. I have learned over the past few months, that a quarantene system is important. I've never had a quarantene setup...but will be using one going forward. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie97L August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Charlie97 - You are right about the asternia starfish...I don't mind them too much...and they don't seem to bother anything. At one point, I was able to count 50+ of them in my tank, plus the ones I couldn't see...perhaps because there was a good deal of algae on the sides of the tank they were eating. I've had my tank since 1999 and never had an aiptasia issue until recently. So...Dave...I will take you up on your offer once your tank is aiptasia free. I have learned over the past few months, that a quarantene system is important. I've never had a quarantene setup...but will be using one going forward. there have been reports of them eating zoanthids... however, usually it came out that the zoanthids were on the decline, perhaps even already dying... and clean up crews go straight for that stuff. when i had a clam, man i had to freakin pull it out when it got hurt (falling powerhead) because my cleaners started going straight for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 I have some sand for you... if you'd like if you make it up this way ever Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl August 16, 2007 Author Share August 16, 2007 I have some sand for you... if you'd like if you make it up this way ever Jason - I may take you up on your offer as well. I'm driving to Butler Maryland for a birthday party on Saturday...will be driving right past Laurel on my way home around 9pm. Will you be around? Is this too late? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jason the filter freak August 16, 2007 Share August 16, 2007 Jason - I may take you up on your offer as well. I'm driving to Butler Maryland for a birthday party on Saturday...will be driving right past Laurel on my way home around 9pm. Will you be around? Is this too late? Thats probably just fine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 August 17, 2007 Share August 17, 2007 Carl, feel free to stop by as well. I have some scoops of sand you can have that are aiptasia free. Also, if you have a couple chunks of rock, I can throw them into the system that has none for you and let them accumulate some life in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl August 18, 2007 Author Share August 18, 2007 Jason - I'm not driving up through MD today...so won't need to get the sand today. I'll keep in touch. -carl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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