I just felt like posting a few photos and talking a little shop. My system has been in a treatment phase of sorts, so I haven't really wanted to take any pictures lately. I've been dealing with Turf Algae, Bubble Algae, and Aiptasia, but things are finally turning around.
None of these uglies got too bad to begin with, but I wanted to get on top of them before things got out of control. I thought that I would try a handful of Emerald Crabs for the Bubble Algae. I never saw them eating any of that, but they did seem to like the Turf Algae. For the Turf Algae, I have been dosing with Vibrant Reef Cleaner. It has been a slow process, but I can definitely say that I am seeing results. I am starting week 7 with the dosing, and my rocks are almost bare. The Vibrant product seems to weaken the Turf, and I also noticed that it has a shrinking effect on the Bubble Algae. Both the Turf and the Bubble are almost completely gone, and I can only really attribute it to the Vibrant.
For the Aiptasia, I tried Aiptasia X, which works, but the same Aiptasia seem to come right back after about a week. So a couple of weeks ago I added 10 Berghia Nudibranch, and I am hoping that they go into berserker mode. I have read that going the Berghia route for Aiptasia can take several months, so only time will tell on that one. For the present though, things are looking a lot better:
Rare photo of all 7 of my fish in one pic:
You can see the remainder of the Turf Algae on this rock. It seems to die off and sort of disintegrate:
Stand front:
Simple sump:
I get an "F" for streamlined cord care
