120gal mixed predatory reef tank

[whatcaneyedo]

Yeah the brittle star came from my tank, not from the frag. I bought a piece of liverock at our LFS around 5 years ago because it was covered in the little things. Now my tank is full of them. I probably have thousands. I also have a big green 'death' brittle star that I bought 7 years ago as a bad impulse purchase. Fortunately I've never had the desire to keep any small fish with it so it has not caused me any problems. But it is huge... heres a pic of it in the bottom of an IO bucket (the white balance is off on the camera) so that you can see the size.

[whatcaneyedo]

Those who are familiar with my tank know that I've had a minor bryopsis problem for a few years. By decreasing the phosphate level in the system I've been able to get most of it under control. However a few areas still remained. Most notably along the spraybar that extends across the lower back of the tank. Some of it can been seen just to the right in the picture of the the platygyra if you scroll up the page.

On RC I had read about some impurity in Kent Tech M that for whatever reason kills bryopsis. So after watching a friend experiment with it on his own system I gave it a shot too. I purchased a 64oz bottle and added 200ml daily for about two weeks until I ran out. This brought the Mg in the system up from 1300ppm to 1500ppm (the total system volume is just over 200gal). Some of the bryopsis I pulled out manually which I would do monthly anyways and the rest yellowed and disapeared.

Here is a picture of the spray bar now bryopsis free:

[Madreefer]

Tank looks great as always. Good to see the Kent Mag worked for you. I ended up using 6 liters of it.

[abcha0s]

+1 on the tank looking great.

Was it the "impurity" that killed the bryopsis or was it simply the elevated mag levels?

http://austinreefkeeper.wordpress.co...f-of-bryopsis/

Brad

[corpusse]

Tank looks really great, while I have seen this thread before I went through it today for the first time in a really long time, it's great to see the changes throughout the years.

What is almost equally impressive is that you wear gloves! I've never seen a refer wearing them! I used to wear smaller gloves sometimes when fragging, but I can't tell you how many times I've been stung by bristleworms and other things, and once even stung by my own dwarf lion fish. Your hands must love you!

[whatcaneyedo]

The lionfish hasn't stung me yet but bristle worms have pricked my figures a lot in the past. I've also been bitten by the clownfish a couple of times too so I find gloves to be necessary when putting my hand in the tank.

I've attempted elevating the Mg in my tank to 1500ppm and above in the past using a conventional 9:1 magnesium chloride and sulfate salt mix. Even after several weeks the bryopsis still persisted. Take a look on RC and you'll find many reports of people successfully getting rid of it with Kent Tech M. Here is one of them: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...esium+bryopsis I tried to find a thread with one of Randy's posts in it but I'm running a little short on time. This product doesn't seem to work for everyone but for whatever reason it worked for me and Madreefer.

Edit: here is the original Tech M treatment for bryopsis thread from RC: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1113109

[benzzz]

Just went through the whole thread. Great tank and many nice changes. I have had a dwarf lion for about 3.5yrs and he eats like a champ. frozen mysis and he knows when I enter the room as he comes to the glass and sits on a toad stool and looks at me until i come over to feed him.

Thanks for sharing!

[whatcaneyedo]

I recently picked up a couple of new additions when a local shut down his tank.

This powder blue tang is now enjoying itself as the king of the castle in my lit 140gal stock trough sump.


Although I've been wanting a nice derasa and maxima to partially replace the seven clams I lost last year I couldn't resist this moderately sized 6" squamosa.


While attempting to take a half decent pictures of the top two I did manage to get a pretty clear shot of the ornate wrasse.


The tail spot blenny is in better focus than last time but its still no award winner.


The first picture I've been able to get of the reclusive female mandarin dragonet that lives in my sump. She was pretty slim when I bought her from the LFS several months ago.


19 month old elegance that was fragged 11 months ago.


Not bad for 10 months growth don't you think? From roughly 10 polyps to this in that amount of time:


Heres the pic again from September last year.

[spawn]

Sweet Pics