400 Gallon Starfire Build - Mixed Reef
- Monster Build
- Thread starter AJsTank
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Oscaror
Back In It
Have you heard of the dragon face pipefish? They're a great natural way to eradicate redbugs.
However I don't know how much they'd like your other tank mates. Good thing is they stay on the rocks so all that flow shouldn't bug them slithering between those acros.
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
I have not seen any red bugs or signs, but I will keep this in mind if it happens
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
Little bit of an update.. I ended up with turf algae and it completely took over my system while I was gone for 8 weeks. Out of about 120 pieces of really expensive SPS, I'm left with about 30 pieces. I took each rock out my tank and peeled and scrubbed the turf algae off. I tried about 30 chitons and 400 pieces of inverts. NOTHING and I mean NOTHING touches this crap. Chitons will chomp on it, but they are so slow, you need a lot of them to get the job done. Turf grows on low or no light and undetectable phosphates. Tangs, Rabbits, Blennies.. I tried everything.
If you Google a solution for it, you can't find anyone who has eradicated it with animals or phosphate and nitrate removers. I found 30 or 40 posts about it, but no one had solutions and everyone ends up swapping the rock out or taking it out one by one like I did. If you've got it in your system GET IT OUT NOW and don't wait like I did. I saw a tiny little patch of it before I left out of town and I just didn't worry about it. Bad mistake.
All the help you get for it, everyone just thinks it's normal algae and give you the common solutions. "Tangs, low nutrients, cut back lighting, etc etc". They are wrong and it doesn't help. lol
So.. I'm slowly building my collection of sticks back up. I picked up a pair of 3 inch Cross Hatch Triggers and a couple more Angels. I'll update some pics here soon.
If you Google a solution for it, you can't find anyone who has eradicated it with animals or phosphate and nitrate removers. I found 30 or 40 posts about it, but no one had solutions and everyone ends up swapping the rock out or taking it out one by one like I did. If you've got it in your system GET IT OUT NOW and don't wait like I did. I saw a tiny little patch of it before I left out of town and I just didn't worry about it. Bad mistake.
All the help you get for it, everyone just thinks it's normal algae and give you the common solutions. "Tangs, low nutrients, cut back lighting, etc etc". They are wrong and it doesn't help. lol
So.. I'm slowly building my collection of sticks back up. I picked up a pair of 3 inch Cross Hatch Triggers and a couple more Angels. I'll update some pics here soon.
anmscorpio
New Member
thanks for sharing i just got the aquarimate, it's a cool app. thanks again.
EW_Fish
Valuable Member
Bayer / revive wont kill eggs. & sometimes they are hard to spot. Good luck with not getting any bugs but most wild pieces have something. On the good note those sps colonies look great!
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
Yup, I realize that. I just do the best I can with what I've got.
Deep_Six Corals
Active Member
I've just gone through each page of this post and I must say, good freaking job. Question, does your lemon peel nip at your corals? I recently got one and I knew he was gonna nip. Thankfully he only likes one coral, a green digitata. Has had any polyp extension since I put the angel in. I hope he doesn't acquire a taste for any other corals!
EW_Fish
Valuable Member
Not trying to be rude was just saying. I love the build and corals But would hate to see it get demolished by any type of pest. I will love to see this tank grow!
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
No, I have not. They nip, but I've figured out ways to minimize it by getting help and suggestions with others who do the same thing.
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
I've found over the years that the pygmy angels nip way more than the bigger angels with SPS. I'm not sure it it's because the polyps are super small and the perfect size for their mouths or if it's something else.
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
Oh, no worries man! I appreciate the comments and feedback!
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
A handful of people have messaged me about keeping the angels with my coral. Here is what I've figured out over the years and I learned most of what I know from John Copps.
1. I've found that MOST angels nip much less at sps than they do LPS.
2. I can never keep zoas with angels, the bigger ones almost always gobble them up. Although I know several people who have successfully kept zoas and large angels together.
3. Feed multiple times a day. I feed 3-5Xs, very lightly through out the day. It keeps them full and less likely to nip
4. Keep the corals healthy. The minute my corals start to RTN, they start picking at the corals.
5. I have about 150 different types of sticks in my system. The idea is to spread out the nipping as much as possible with a lot of coral.
6. Every time I introduce new corals to the tank, they always nip at the new coral. Most of the time they are getting the algae off the coral and then they generally leave it alone if I'm feeding them a bunch.
7. You can train them with a stick. I learned this from a local reefer in my club who does it all the time. If I see a certain angel who will not leave a certain colony alone, I will chase it around the tank with a stick for a few seconds. The minute he goes up to the colony and nips, I do it again. It takes about 5 or 6 times, but I'm telling you, it works. Fish are VERY smart and they remember.
8. Algae - I try to give them algae 3Xs a week.
9. Keep in mind, you can do everything I've told you, but you can still have that rogue fish that goes crazy and doesn't follow any of the rules
10. I ALWAYS feed out of my hand and/or net, every single feeding. Why? Because of number 9. I can always catch that one fish that doesn't want to follow the rules when they are used to the nets and your hands in the water during feeding time.
Just remember, these are tips I've learned to help out and minimize it. As time goes on, I've found that the angels I've kept for really long periods of times (5 plus years), end up not even nipping at all and will take all the frozen foods nicely.
1. I've found that MOST angels nip much less at sps than they do LPS.
2. I can never keep zoas with angels, the bigger ones almost always gobble them up. Although I know several people who have successfully kept zoas and large angels together.
3. Feed multiple times a day. I feed 3-5Xs, very lightly through out the day. It keeps them full and less likely to nip
4. Keep the corals healthy. The minute my corals start to RTN, they start picking at the corals.
5. I have about 150 different types of sticks in my system. The idea is to spread out the nipping as much as possible with a lot of coral.
6. Every time I introduce new corals to the tank, they always nip at the new coral. Most of the time they are getting the algae off the coral and then they generally leave it alone if I'm feeding them a bunch.
7. You can train them with a stick. I learned this from a local reefer in my club who does it all the time. If I see a certain angel who will not leave a certain colony alone, I will chase it around the tank with a stick for a few seconds. The minute he goes up to the colony and nips, I do it again. It takes about 5 or 6 times, but I'm telling you, it works. Fish are VERY smart and they remember.
8. Algae - I try to give them algae 3Xs a week.
9. Keep in mind, you can do everything I've told you, but you can still have that rogue fish that goes crazy and doesn't follow any of the rules
10. I ALWAYS feed out of my hand and/or net, every single feeding. Why? Because of number 9. I can always catch that one fish that doesn't want to follow the rules when they are used to the nets and your hands in the water during feeding time.
Just remember, these are tips I've learned to help out and minimize it. As time goes on, I've found that the angels I've kept for really long periods of times (5 plus years), end up not even nipping at all and will take all the frozen foods nicely.
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AJsTank
Well-Known Member
WOW... I wish I had heard of this before. I ended up taking 1 piece of rock out, 1 at a time and scrubbing it with a tooth brush in the kitchen sink. I used flat head screw drivers and went through a 10 pack of tooth brushes from Costco lol I logged my hours and spent 23 hours and 18 minutes over 6 days re-aquascaping and scrubbing. It was not fun.
Acrononomus
Active Member
Great build! Excellent size aquarium! Live the empor angel! Great choice on your coral from Jared. I came to the conclusion all frags need to be removed from plugs when u put them into your system, no matter if they look free of alge or aiptasia or whatever, even if u have to loose a 1/2 off the $200 frag. It's just not worth it in the long run with a large system. It makes it incredibly hard to resolve the issue. You've done well my friend and I really enjoy your post and look forward to more updates!
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