The saga of the 150

[+ACampbell]

Love the blonde naso! Beautiful shots!

[+dapettit]

Well after 6 months we hit the LFS's to check out what was available with no intentions of buying anything. WELL . . .

We also aquired some zoas's from other members of the forum.

With out further aude here they are!

Unknow looks baby blue under our lights.

Unkown purple tips w/pink polyps

Blasto

Lots of Acans

And the Zoa's

[ysanford]

I love the unknown acros and the acans! It's lookiing gooooood

[Brooks]

I'm loving the unknown with baby blue!

Looks amazing as always, Dave.

[+ACampbell]

Wow great pics. Love the depths. You are getting great pics at f-stop 32.

[+dapettit]

A tripod helps and taking a bizillion shots to get a good one.

[Brooks]

Where'd you get the U/K with Baby Blue?

[+dapettit]

Well, we finally got the DYI calcium reactor built and installed last weekend. Thanks mainly to Robert and Cindy Manning. We installed in the lower cabinet of our entertainment center.

Complete unit before installing the hose barbs:

Installed:

I was having a major problem keeping the dKH up. I would dose a cup of B-Ionic A&B twice a week. Yes I test for dKH and calcium. The calcium would stay around 400 to 420 but the dKH would fall from 8 to 5. I even had it as low as 4! Now with the reactor up and running I hope to see this problem go away along with some outstanding coral growth and polyp extension.

The dKH before adding the reactor: 4°

Calcium before adding reactor: 415

3 days after adding the reactor

dKH - 6°

Calcium – 400

So it looks like things are improving.

Keep your eyes out for the DYI Calcium Reactor post.

[blindside]

saw this up and running in person, great job guys

[+dapettit]

This is not of my design. You can thank the Mannings.

I would like to thank Robert Manning for his inspiration and guidance while assembling the reactor. Also, to Cindy Manning for photographing the progress.

I'm sure I have left something out so if you need additional info please PM me.

I have broken down into sub-assemblies: (photo intensive)

First lets start with the parts. All materails are avaiable at Lowes of HD except where indicated.

Parts list:

(1) External Circulation Pump (I used an Ehiem 1250)

(1) Westinghouse Whole House Filter (model # WHKF-DWHBB purchased at Lowes $59.99)

(1) sq ft Pond filter pad material - Note: needs to be pretty stiff, not floppy, and about 1 inch thick.

1ft of 1" I.D. tubing (must be able to fit "very tightly" over ends of 3/4" PVC pipe)

(1) package 1/4" barb (found in auto-sprinkler section) - contains 4 per pkg.

(1) 3/4 inch In-Line Probe Mounting Gland with Compression Fitting – purchased from Marine Depot. Compression fitting

(1) 4" PVC Cap

(1) 3/4" SOC T

(1) 3/4" to 1/2" Slip Threaded Bushings

(1) 3/4" Ball Valve SOC

(2) Rolls of Teflon Tape

(2) 1" male NPT to 3/4" Female SOC Adapter

(3) PVC 3/4" SOC Unions

(4) PVC 3/4" SOC Elbows

5ft 3/4" PVC pipe

Most pumps have a ¾" to 1" inlet and outlet so how you get to 3/4" is up to you. B)

[+dapettit]

Part 1 - Media Holder

General description: This part of the assembly will be used to melt the aragonite media. This will be the hardest part of the project.

1-Drill 1 3/8" hole in the center of the 4" PVC cap.

2-Cut an 8" piece of 3/4" PVC pipe.

3-Cut a 4" piece of 1" tubing.

4-Work 3/4" PVC Pipe into one end of the 1" tubing (total length including PVC pipe approximately 10".

NOTE: The flex tubing should fit snuggly in the head of the filter.

5-Place 4' cap into the filter housing and slide the PVC tubing assembly into the hole in the cap.

6-Use a pencil and make where the top of the cap comes on the PVC tube.

7-Cut a 1/2" off each end of a 3/4" coupling. These will be used to set the cap at the right height on the PVC tube. (Special note: What you want to achieve here, is the 4" dia cap's skirt to be as tight against the bottom of the filter bowl when assembled as possible – it will not really form a "seal" - but you want as little water to be able to blow past it's outer edge as possible, in order to force as much water up through the bazillion little holes you will drill in it's upper surface later on).

8-Slide the first cut PVC just above the pencil line.

9-Use a q-tip to apply PVC glue to the PVC tube just above the pencil line and slide the first ring into place. Hold for 30 seconds to let the glue set.

10-Slide the 4" cap from the bottom until the top touches the bottom of the ring.

11-Slide the second cut ring on the bottom of the tube leaving enough space to apply PVC glue with a q-tip.

12-Apply the glue and slide the ring to the bottom of the 4" cap until flush and tight. Hold for 30 seconds to allow the glue to set.

Contined in next post. . .

[+dapettit]

13-Apply PVC glue with the q-tip to the bottom and top edge of the cap to completely seal the rings to the cap.

14-Let dry completely.

15-Turn the assembly so the bottom side is facing you and drill several 1/4" holes in the pipe just below the glued ring. (This is to allow water to flow down the tube and out through the 4" drilled plate). This can also be done before you assemble the above, just try not to glue them shut.

16-Once glue is dry drill a bazillon holes in the top of the 4" cap using a 5/64th drill bit. (lubricate/cool the drill with plenty of fluid, if no drill press is available).

17-Using the filter head as a guide cut a piece of the pond filter pad to fit.

18-cut a hole in the center of the pad to fit the 1" plastic tubing.

19-This will be used to hold melt the media in the reactor.

Keep following the posts

[+dapettit]

Part 2 Plumbing (this can be changed to meet the needs of your situation).

General description: This part is just a closed-loop re-circulator, with a ball valve in it to restrict the flow so you have a reactor, and not an aragonite pulverize - you don't really want your aragonite ground into powder, but you do want to be able to move it "a little" sometimes to keep it from just melting into a mass of stone. The unions are for easy disassembly. These dimensions were measured from my final build. You should measure your pieces, and cut them as you go.

1-cut 2 pieces of 3/4" PVC pipe 1=5 1/2", 1=11 1/2".

2-Cut 3 pieces of PVC pipe 1 3/4".

3-Glue two 90 elbows onto the opposite ends of the 11 1/2" pipe facing the same direction.

4-Glue the 5 1/2" pipe to the 90 elbow on the left side of the assembled pipe.

5-Glue a 90 elbow to the 5 1/2" pipe with the elbow facing straight up.

6-Glue one of the 1 3/4" cut pieces into this 90 elbow, then glue a 3/4" ball valve to the other end of the 1 3/4" piece.

7-Glue a second cut 1 3/4" piece to the top of the 3/4" ball valve.

8-Glue the male end of a 3/4" union to the exposed piece of 1 3/4" piece.

9-Glue the last piece of 1 3/4" piece to the 90 elbow at the opposite end of 11 1/2" piece.

10-Cut a piece of PVC tubing and glue into the left end of the above assembly.

11-Glue the female end of a 3/4" union to the exposed piece of 1 3/4" piece.

12-Set aside to dry.

[+dapettit]

Part 3 Pump Connection

Since this section is relative to the particular brand and size of your pump I am only posting photos of my pump configuration:

[+dapettit]

Part 4 Filter Head

1-Run Teflon tape around the threads of two 1" to 3/4" adapter and screw them into the in and out on the top of the filter head.

2-Cut two pieces of PVC 1 3/4" and glue them into the 1" to 3/4" adapter.

3-Glue a 90 elbow the 1 3/4" on the OUT side of the lid.

4-Glue a T to the 1 3/4" piece on the IN side of the lid. (See picture for orientation).

5-Glue a 3/4" to 1/2" slip threaded bushings into the top of the T.

6-Wrap a large amount of Teflon tape around the threads of the 3/4 inch In-Line Probe Mounting Gland with Compression Fitting and screw into the 3/4" to 1/2" slip threaded bushing.

7-Assemble plumbing and connect the pump to the OUT side of the filter head. Also put the pH probe into the gland.(The pump MUST be connected to the OUT side of the filter head in order for the water to be forced down the tube and flow up through your media).

8-Run a leak test (change the water out several times to remove anything in the water and remove the glue smell).

[+dapettit]

Part 5 Connecting water in, Co2 in, effluent out

You can put these anywhere you like in the closed loop system

1-Cut the bottom barb off (3) of the ¼" barb.

2-Determine where you want each of the 3 above connections to be and drill a hole.

3-Using two part epoxy glue each modified barb into place. (It takes very little and make sure the glue does not get in the bottom of the barb.

4-Set aside to dry. (usually 24 hrs)

5-I suggest labeling each barb as to input or output.

5-After the barbs have dried use a T and some silicone tubing to make a temporary closed loop system and water test for leaks.

You will need a Co2 canister, Co2regulator w/solenoid and bubble counter, pH controller, silicone aquarium tubing, 1/4" hard flex tubing, bubble drip counter, and water flow adjustments to get it all hooked up and running.

That's it! I sure I left something out. If you have any questions or need any help please feel free to PM me.

For those of you who would like to have one built I am willing to do so provided you supply the materials. . .

[+dapettit]

I decided to document the destruction of the dreaded RED BUGS in our 150. Caution, this is not for the faint of heart.

Several months ago a fellow reefer was at the house. He noticed small bug like creatures on our tri-color acro. My eyes being as bad as they are didn't see a thing. I dismissed the finding. Later that evening I asked my wife, Robin, to take a look. With her eagle eye, low and behold she didn't see any either. So we blow it off. But it always stuck in the back if mind. I have not traded or sold anything out of the tank since.

About three weeks ago another reefer was at the house and I told him my story. He looked at several acros. He sighted the little buggers too! Dang, do I really have them. He directed me to the spot. Yep, three tiny red looking bugs on the tri-color acro. Three then two, then one. They move very quickly. My Blue Nana, which was brown, was infested. My jerk knee reaction made me pull the nana out and toss it in the trash can.

How could this have happened? I dip everything. Or, did I? Hmmmmm. Needless to say I was devastated! RED BUGS! ACRO KILLERS! TANK DEATH! Whoa is me. . . . . .

As I pondered my predicament several friends mentioned they have had red bugs and that there is a cure. INTERCEPTOR (a canine heartworm treatment) to the rescue! After scouring the net I found a post by Dustin Dorton at ORA. He tested the interceptor on several large tanks along with other volunteers from the reef.org forum.

I suggest reading these two articles first before starting your treatment.

The test: The test thread

The cure: The Cure link

******Disclaimer*******

If you use this medication it is at your own risk. No one but yourself is responsible for your actions with this medication.

------------------

Tank will be treated 3 times one week apart.

My tests included SPS, several soft corals, some zoanthids, clam, starfish, snails and fish. I used my tri-colour acro and unknown blue acro (heavily infested) as my control specimens. I also kept and eye on a cleaner shrimp, black cuc, and snails.

First Treatment 1/2/2010: TIME - OBSERVATIONS

7:00 am – Temp 77.5 removed all mechanical filtration. Turn off air line to skimmer. Cut the interceptor pill in half and crushed into a fine powder. Added one cup of tank water and stirred for 15 minutes, poured the mixture evenly across the top tank water. Timer started, will treat for 6 hours. Upon initial investigation all tank occupants seemed fine. This included snails and shrimp.

8:00am – Temp 77.4, one hour into the treatment. Once again everything appears fine. Fish are fine swimming about. Cucumbers a munching, the shrimp are swaying and the snails are grazing. Corals are not slimming but I didn't expect that. No sign of red bugs. But I haven't seen the buggers for two days!

9:00 am – Temp 77.2, two hours into the treatment, turned on actinics. Several slim covered red bugs floating in water column. Our first casualty – one large Astrea snail. All other inhabitants seem unaffected.

10:00 am – Temp 77.2, three hours into the treatment, broke out the magnifying glass. Not one red bug. Also, broke out the macro lens, no red bug on the control specimens. Hmmm is the treatment working? Just notice slim on several other acros. Upon closer investigation they appear to be dying red bugs. Still no adverse affects from the treatment. No loses this hour. This is the half way mark.

11:00 am – Temp 77.4, four hours into the treatment. Not sure if we lost the cleaner shrimp but we can't find him. We'll see if it appears during feeding. Decide to hit the acros with a turkey baster. No red bugs. Again I ask did I really have red bugs and/or is the treatment working and/or did I dose enough? I'm a little bewildered at this point. . .

12:00 pm – Temp 77.5, five hour into treatment. Found the Skunk Cleaner shrimp. It moved to the opposite side of the tank. Other occupants behaving normally.

1:00pm – Temp 78.1, six and final hour of treatment. No pod activity in the fuge. No red bugs floating in the water. All test specimens seem fine.

After the treatment I started skimming wet. I add carbon and did 40 gallon water change. Acros are slimming. Saw a few slim covered red bugs. All occupants are doing well.

Was it a success? Time will only tell. Will do next treatment 1/9/2010.

[AlexKilpatrick]

You should really try Salifert flatworm exit. I treated with this when i could see hundreds of flatworms. About 5 minutes after putting it in the tank, I saw thousands of dying ones. They came out from everywhere. I siphoned them all up and had no worries after that. No impact at all on the rest of the tank.

[fishypets]

FYI Red bugs will not wipe out your tank nor will they kill SPS. Now would I buy coral from someone with red bugs? No. I've treated with interceptor at least a dozen times with no ill affects other than happier acros! Depending on how big of a pod population you had you might experience a cyano-bacteria outbreak that can be fixed with two or three big water changes.

Alex you must be confusing red bugs with flat worms. The only thing that kills red bugs is interceptor, even lugols, TMPCC and other iodine based dips do nothing for the little buggers.

So what is the lesson we all learn from post like this? Trust no one when it comes to the health of your tank and make sure you dip/inspect every frag you add very carefully. Trust me on this one, I've lost tens of thousands in SPS from one stupid mistake.

Clint

[+dapettit]

Yeppers, always dip.

[+dapettit]

Last week I started the first of three treatments to kill off red bugs. The initial treatment probably killed the off. However through all my reach I can’t find any info on life cycle of the pest so I’m treating again. This treatment is to take care of any eggs or larvae.

Observations during the week are positive. I have not seen one red bug. For the first time I’m seeing polyp extension and the corals seem to pop with color. All inhabitants survived the first treatment.

No pods in the sump. Saw some bristle worms and Nassarius snails. I have a cyano bloom in the sump but not in the tank. There is also a large amount of green algae as well

*******Disclaimer*******

If you use this medication it is at your own risk. No one but yourself is responsible for your actions with this medication.

------------------

Second Treatment 1/9/2010: TIME - OBSERVATIONS

7:00 am – Temp 78.2 removed all mechanical filtration. Turn off air line to skimmer. Cut the interceptor pill in half. Added three cups of tank water and stirred for 15 minutes. Man I forgot who badly it smelled. Poured the concoction evenly across the top tank water. Timer started, will treat for 6 hours. Turn on the actinics to see what’s going on.

8:00am – Temp 78.2, one hour into the second treatment. No change. Everything appears fine. No sign of red bugs. My acans however are still deflated. Been that way for over a month. One note: I seeing polyp extension on my millis. I have never seen polyp extension, ever, on my millis!

9:00 am – Temp 78.2, two hours into the second treatment. Seeing some slim on my mari-cultured corals and on my recovering favia next to it. I think it’s a rock boring worm. I’ll put a tab of superglue over the hole later to suffocate it.

10:00 am – Temp 78.1, three hours into the second treatment. The tri-color valida and acro have colored up nicely. Polyp extension on all corals. The tank water is amazingly clear. Has a nice polished look.

11:00 am – Temp 78.1 four hours into the second treatment. Nassarius snails are out and all over the sand bed and front panel.

12:00 pm – Temp 78.2, five hour into the second treatment. Occupants are behaving normally. I haven’t seen any of the ornamental shrimp yet.

1:00pm – Temp 78.1, six and final hour of the second treatment. No pod activity in the fuge. I do see bristle worms and Nassarius snails along with the algae blooms previously mention. No deaths and all inhabitants are active.

After the treatment I opened the air line to the skimmer. I’m still skimming wet. I changed out the carbon and did 40 gallon water change.

Will do the third and final treatment 1/16/2010.

Dave-

[Chrispar]

glad its working for you Dave!

[+dapettit]

We lost one of our skunk cleaners.

[+dapettit]

*******Disclaimer*******

If you use this medication it is at your own risk. No one but yourself is responsible for your actions with this medication.

------------------

Over all my observations during the week where positive. Not one red bug to be found. For the first time I'm seeing polyp extension and the corals seem to pop with color. Not all the inhabitants survived the second treatment. We lost our Coral Beauty, however I'm not ready to blame the death on the treatment.

Still no pods any where. I'm glad my mandarin eats frozen food and pellets. I did three days of darkness that seems to eradicated my cyano problem in the sump.

After my normal water change and tank maintenance today, I will be reseeding the tank with copepods I purchased from Reef Cleaners.

Now why not do a third treatment. Well I was treating the tank 3 times assuming the life cycle of red bugs included eggs and larvae. I was directed by Muddybluewater to an article by Eric Borneman. Apparently red bugs are live bearers. Since I haven't seen a single red bud since the initial treatment I have to agree.

In conclusion, I believe that doing a double dose just help me to believe the red bugs are dead.

Dave-

Here is the article by Eric Borneman:

""Suggested Treatment Protocol:

Based on my observations and work described here, I suggest the following as a treatment protocol for Acropora colonies that have been colonized by the parasitic copepod, Tegastes acroporanus ("red bugs") as a modification of the novel protocol developed by Dorton. The process is more labor intensive, but should be more effective in preventing any future need to treat Tegastes-parasitized Acropora in the display tank (provided quarantine is utilized for any new coral acquisitions). It should also help to reduce the current epizootic within reef aquaria by limiting the potential for spread between tanks by trading or purchase of Tegastes-colonized fragments or colonies.

1. Assume that every Acropora in the tank is colonized, even if there are not visible copepods on the colony.

Rationale: copepods are cryptic on normally colored colonies, can be cryptic on pale colonies, and are small enough to be easily missed by examination through tank glass or even by direct observation with the naked eye. Furthermore, the copepods are motile, and swim between colonies. Therefore, any colonies removed for treatment may leave unnoticed individuals on other colonies or allow for copepods that abandon hosts being removed for treatment to locate un-colonized Acropora.

2. All Acropora colonies should be removed from the tank and placed into a container for examination. This can be preformed one colony at a time. A magnifying glass, magnifying lamp, dissecting scope or some other method should be used to slowly and carefully examine each colony from every possible angle. The corals will tolerate extended handling periods out of water to facilitate examination. The copepods will be covered with a smooth and somewhat shiny carapace and with coral mucus and a thin film of water. Without examination from multiple light incidence angles, it is possible that individuals will go undetected. If a colony is too large or too densely branched to allow for a complete examination, consider it to be colonized. Any colonies that are determined to be free of copepods can be placed into a quarantine tank without treatment, but I would suggest reexamination prior to reintroduction to the main display tank.

Rationale: Examination by the naked eye is insufficient to detect all copepods.

3. All Acropora colonies found to have copepods present should be treated in a treatment tank or container where dose levels and colonies can be carefully monitored. The treatment tank can be large or small, and can be used to treat many colonies at once or one at a time. The water should be circulating strongly across colonies to not only for drug exposure but to help dislodge dead copepods. Following treatment, each colony should be re-examined in water under magnification to ensure 100% kill rates. Copepods still attached to the coral can be probed with a needle, pin, pipette or syringe and removed from the colony. If copepods are found to still exhibit any motion, retreatment should occur immediately.

rationale: treatment in the tank should be avoided for several reasons: a) it will be impossible to assess whether or not a 100% kill rate has been achieved; b) in tank treatment will result in mass loss of other susceptible species including amphipods, shrimps, lobsters, crabs, polychaetes, nematodes, copepods, and possibly other invertebrates which have not been tested for toxicity to the drug ; and c) repeated treatments can result in resistance making future treatments more difficult.

4. Treatment dosage appears to flexible, if not variable. Given the apparent low toxicity to corals even at elevated dosages, I would suggest a dose level equal or higher (up to 10x) than suggested by Dorton. Dorton suggests three separate treatments of six hours. Upon examination of treated colonies, six hours appears to be insufficient for a 100% kill rate, while 12 hours seems to be more effective. In the one test where coral mortality was observed, the treatment time was only six hours, and in all other tests, no ill effects to the coral were seen with extended treatment times. It appears that time, and not dosage level, is the critical variable towards providing 100% kill rates for the copepods. Regardless of the dose or treatment duration, all colonies should be carefully examined before they are removed from treatment. For colonies being treated that are too large or densely branched to allow for examination, the treatment should be continued for 24 hours with careful monitoring to ensure that the colonies are enduring the treatment well and that the water does not become fouled from excessive mucus production, other fauna killed during treatment, or other stressors. If these conditions occur, treatment tank water should be dumped into buckets, sterilized by the addition of bleach to the water, and disposed down a sanitary sewage line. The treatment tank should then be refilled with tank water and new drug added to the water.

5. All treated corals and completely free of Tegastes acroporanus, as well as those examined and found to be un-colonized (#2 above), should be placed into a quarantine tank filled with tank water filtered through a coffee filter or other filtration apparatus. The quarantine tank should have filtration, water flow and light sufficient to keep treated colonies alive for five days.

6. No Acropora should remain in or be placed back into the main display tank for five days. This is the longest period of time it has taken for any Tegastes acroporanus to survive without a host from observations to date. This assumes that there are no other surrogate hosts for this species, and that the observations of death from 3-5 days without a host are realistic of what would occur in a display tank.

rationale: It is possible, even likely, that during the removal of colonized Acropora, some copepods swim off the colony into the tank. They will seek out other hosts. It is also possible that some are in the tank at any moment seeking new hosts, even without the process of colony removal. As far as can be ascertained, they are direct developers and thus do not have a free-swimming larval stage and they do not lay eggs on the host or substrates that can later hatch. However, they can live without a host for several days. Ensuring that any copepods left in the tank after removal of hosts die requires, at my best estimate, 3-5 days. I suggest five days to be conservative.

7. After five days, colonies in quarantine should be re-examined under magnification and if found to be free of copepods, can be returned to the display tank. If copepods are found on any colonies, repeat steps 3-7."

_____________________

Eric Borneman

[+mcallahan]

bring on the new corals!