Reef Builders appears to be on an enviable field trip to Live Aquaria's coral facility in Wisconsin. Having grown up around various aquaculture initiatives that my dad was involved with, I've got an appreciative eye for the fish lab. And you don't get much more high tech than Live Aquaria's coral setup.

Like the smart bloggers that they are, the trip has been broken up into a half-dozen bite sized posts. Here are my favorites:

• Photo gallery of the facility
• Filtration systems
• Packing and shipping process
• Coral gallery

Labels: Coral, Equipment, Link

I have made some small progress against the cyanobacteria, primarily through manual removal. And by manual, I mean scrubbing things with a tooth brush. The scarlet hermit crabs added recently showed absolutely no interest in consuming cyano, so I think we can safely say they are not to be considered an effective solution for those dealing with this problem. The snails that I added are doing well for the most part. Upon their introduction to the tank, Boris made his first appearance in months, immediately slaughtering a turbo snail and taking over the new, larger shell. Several other hermits followed suit.

Suffice to say, I could not rely on this half-assed janitorial crew to solve my problems. I half expect them to unionize and demand four day work weeks in the near future.

Although nitrates continue to test at or close to zero, my working assumption is that the algae is consuming these nutrients prior to testing. The rampant algae scrubbing I have been performing on a daily basis has led to a detritus build up that my filter capacity is simply not equipped to deal with. Regular turkey basting of all surfaces results in a cloud of debris, but my skimmer is not readily capable of dealing with the volume, especially in the larger form of snail poop and dead algae.

Water changes can be effective at removing debris, but I am hesitant to perform more than a small change each week. This is simply not enough turn over to remove all detritus from the tank. As such, I've decided to increase mechanical filtration.



The H.O.T. Magnum from Marineland is an interesting filter, specifically designed for powerful mechanical filtration in a temporary capacity. With standard filter pads, the detritus is trapped in the filter, and presumably broken down for bacteria to consume. I want to avoid a situation where mass amounts of organic material is broken down within the tank, as that would presumably create a rise in nitrates and dissolved matter, fueling algae growth.

The trick is to get this stuff out of the tank quickly. The Magnum filter includes a micron-sized filter core, surrounded by a larger filter pad. It is frequently used to polish the water of multiple aquariums, and is designed to be quickly and easily setup on the side of a tank for temporary filtration. My hope is that a daily ritual of scrubbing algae and basting the rock to suspend organic matter and waste, combined with this filter for quickly removing it, will get my tank back to a pristine state in a hurry.

Labels: Algae, Equipment, Maintenance, Reef Aquarium

The algae war in my reef tank continues. Despite some recent success, specifically in taming a rise in nitrates, the nuisance persists. Dosing AlgaeFix has greatly reduced forms of green algae on the rock and tank walls, but cyanobacteria continues to be an issue.


Cyanobacteria from my freswater planted tank

Also known as 'red slime', cyanobacteria is an obnoxious problem within the aquarium. It first appeared on the substrate, and not fully understanding how difficult it is to remove once it spreads, I was lazy on removing it fast enough. Scooping it off the substrate is simple, as it forms a tight mat that can be removed by hand. Once it spreads into the rocks and corals though, it starts to create strands that are extremely difficult to completely remove from the tank. Leftover pieces quickly spread across the tank mere days after cleaning.

While my water chemistry is good in regards to nitrates, a primary food source for algae and bacteria, the tank still has quite an issue with detritus build up. To rule this out as a possible source of energy for the cyano, I've decided to add some new snails to my tank. I'm hoping the combination and numbers that I've selected with be able to efficiently trim down new algae growth, while contributing to stirring up the sand bed and consuming waste and detritus.



6x Nassarius Snails (Nassarius sp.)
An effective detritus consumer, that will hopefully remove quantities of uneaten organics from the rock and substrate.



6x Bumble Bee Snails (Engina sp.)
Smaller in size, they can get into crevices within the rock, in addition to burying in the sand for food. Plus they look cool.



6x Turbo Snails (Turbo fluctuosa)
An algae removing workhorse for the marine aquarium.

When I dealt with algae issues in my freshwater aquarium, the ultimate solution ended up being the addition of a dozen Amano shrimp, which quickly and efficiently removed all traces of nuisance algae from the tank within a few weeks. Looking for an equivalent silver bullet to deal with marine cyanobacteria has turned up mixed reports. Conventional wisdom states that nothing common to the aquarium trade will consume red slime. However, a few livestock dealers make the claim that scarlet hermit crabs, Paguristes cadenati, will eat it. Being in their commercial interest to market livestock as cures for common frustrations within the aquarium hobby, I remain skeptical.



As an experiment, and because Live Aquaria offers free shipping from Florida when you order $60 worth of 'clean up crew' animals, I am also bringing in 8 of these crabs. I'll monitor them carefully for any evidence of wether they eat this pest or not.

Labels: Algae, Invertebrates, Maintenance, Reef Aquarium