Myka's 20 gallon Zoa reef (pics Nov 15)

[Delphinus]

I found plenty of things that will decimate valonia ... they just don't fit in a small tank. I shutdown my 20g zoanthid tank over it being a losing battle to valonia. Emeralds did nothing - I think once it gets to a certain point those little crabs can't touch the rate of spread of those things in the same way a ravenous tang can.

I have a similar problem with my 40g at the moment but instead of valonia only it's a mixture of valonia and caulerpa. I rotate some of the rocks into my tank with tangs but for the ones I can't move easily I prune as much as I can with tweezers but it's like draining the ocean with an eyedropper.

I tried a few different urchins in the hopes that maybe that was an idea but so far no luck with that. However I haven't given up on the idea altogether just yet. In my other tank I have 2 green urchins that seem to go after valonia, I am hoping to find more of these but I don't know the species ID. If you google green urchin you can find some coldwater species that look sort of correct but I've had one of them for 5 years now easily so if it is a coldwater species, it seems to be one who can adapt to warmer temps but I suspect it's probably a different species.

Anyhow I nod very sympathetically in your direction Myka. Good luck!

[Myka]

I finally won the battle against Valonia in my 90 reef. It was very much plague proportions. So in April I ditched the Zeovit additives and was just using Bak and Start. Then in June I ditched Zeovit completely, added a PhosBan reactor with 300mL of GFO, and added 8 small Emerald crabs. Nowadays you would be hard pressed to find any Valonia in my 90. I even had the dread red bubble algae which make the green stuff seem easy! I would manually prune the Valonia (and Caulerpa) a couple times a month when I was home, but I never got anywhere near all of it. The Emerald crabs aren't very hardy though, I think I only have 2 left in the reef now. I did re-home 4 of them due to their huge size. So I guess that's only two that are unaccounted for.

So, I recently did the same thing with my Zoa tank. On Oct 3rd I added a bag of carbon passively, on Oct 10th I added 2 small Emerald crabs and a Phosban reactor with 60mL GFO. I have already noticed a difference. I'm going to add a couple more Emeralds as soon as I can find some small ones...I'm not sure either of the Emeralds are still in there. Could just be hiding.

Valonia survives off very little nutrients. People starting off ULNS will find Valonia is the last algae to leave. The red stuff is even worse. I found adding the large number of Emerald crabs was the straw the broke the camels back. Not many of the Emerald crabs will actually eat the Valonia. I think the secret is to just keeping adding a couple here and there until you have enough in there that will eat it and can keep up.

Oh, and yes Tony I had Caulerpa in both tanks as well, although it is gone in the 90 now, and on its way out in the Zoa tank.

[sphelps]

Have you tried an urchin? I've always had good success with them for controlling bubble algae. Emerald crabs never did much for me but a couple urchins kept a 50gal tank I had completely under control and without them it was bad.

[Myka]

Steve, I think the Diadema urchins are most likely to eat Valonia, but they grow way too huge way too fast to go in to my 90 (or the 20). I did add a Tuxedo urchin to my 90 to see if he would help at all, and I don't think he eats anything other than coralline. An urchin in my Zoa tank would be a disaster since nothing is glued down in there! Which urchin are you thinking of in particular?

[sphelps]

Originally Posted by Myka

Steve, I think the Diadema urchins are most likely to eat Valonia, but they grow way too huge way too fast to go in to my 90 (or the 20). I did add a Tuxedo urchin to my 90 to see if he would help at all, and I don't think he eats anything other than coralline. An urchin in my Zoa tank would be a disaster since nothing is glued down in there! Which urchin are you thinking of in particular?

I had a tuxedo and a short spine white/multicolored one (not sure of the name), both ate the bubble algae but the white one did eat way more but it also grew pretty big, pretty fast. I stated with both in my 50 and once the bubble algae was almost gone I gave away the bigger white one and the tuxedo was able to keep things under control. The tuxedo definitely worked for me as I didn't have anything else in the tank that ate algae but perhaps these things are hit or miss or it may depend on what other food sources are available as I didn't have much Coraline. I did however often move the urchins into places with lots of bubbles manually and usually the area would be clean the next day.

If everything is loose maybe the best solution would be to take out all the corals and clean everything manually, with such a small tank how hard could it be?

[Myka]

Levi, the Emeralds aren't bothering any of my Zoas so far. *fingers crossed* If they do, I can just move them to the 90.

Steve, time is the issue. I have been working out of province since February, and I am only home for about 30 hours every couple weeks (6 hour drive each way), and am usually pretty burned out when I get home. I just added the Phosban reactor and crabs a couple weeks ago, and I can see a difference already so I'm hoping it will take care of itself. So far, in that tank there is 1 Astraea snail, 2 Emerald crabs, and some Stomatellas. I plan to rip the tank apart at some point anyway since I don't like the rocks that are in there...but when? I have no idea!

[Myka]

Current fish are True Perc and Blue Assessor.

Ok, here's some pics...

Oct 2:




Same as above today...I guess they aren't RPEs!




Look at the closed polyps...what do you see? Grrr! I just rinsed them under the tap and put them back. Tough ole Zoas.




Blue Steels and Darth Mauls:




Purple Death and Tubb's Blues:




Blow Pops:



???




The uhm...greenery...




FTS from today...not impressive! I need to put different rock in there, and clean it up. I'm looking for some Tonga branch for it.

[Zoaelite]

Mindy the tank is looking sweet, I'm having a very similar problem in the zoa tank I just can't seem to get the pest algae under control.

Finally broke down and purchased a tiny convict and 1 spot rabbit fish (Which will be re homed shortly after my problem is fixed). I would recommend them (as they have been working wonders so far) but the tank might be a tad bit small. Have any of the emeralds irritated your zoas? I stopped buying them after I watched one mow on my expensive candy apple greens , the whole colony melted shortly after too.
Levi