 State
of the Tank (cont.) |
| they
had 'hunkered down' between
the branches and were killing it. As
for now, the battle with them still
rages and I'd appreciate any
tips on other effective methods of
eradication… especially ones
that make them scream in utter torment
before they die. Thank you.
|
| As
far as the mushrooms go, I am convinced
that one day medical science will soon
discover what I have: That the key
to eternal life is locked somewhere
in the genomes of Actinodiscus mushrooms.
Not the really cool frilly ones. Just
the Actinodiscus. I have battled these
guys since I (yeah…I) introduced
them to the tank about four years ago.
I've tried razoring them, kalking
them, injecting them with 'pH
Down', and even tossing away
pieces of live rock that they had completely
infested. I guess I should be thankful
that they've only taken out ONE
of my frags in the last six months.
It was a piece that had fallen off
another larger colony of mine. But
it just as easily could have been one
of, say, Steve Tyree's Limited
Edition frags (which I DO have coming.).
Of course, if that were the case, I
suppose this update would've
begun very differently…no doubt
as a lead story on the six o' clock
news. By the way, I really don't
lose much stuff to mushroom 'predation' but
that little bugger literally came up
from underneath the frag and killed
it from the bottom up. |
| |
|
| I
hadn't even noticed the problem
until it was too late. If I weren't
so upset, I'd really be fascinated
how these creatures can move behind
the rockwork so well. But I am, so
I'm not. |
Now,
I’d guess most of you are surprised
that I would still fighting Aiptasia
at this point because when last we ‘spoke’,
I mentioned my new Copperband Butterfly  who
would be stepping in for my less-than-reef-safe
Heniochus. Well, he did. Then he died. |
| Maybe
three days out of quarantine (Yep,
got a QT tank now. More on that in
the Fish Section). But this story has
a happier ending because about a month
later, I purchased a Muellers’ Copperband
Butterfly that
has not only survived, but has gone
on to completely wiped out the Aips.
You hear that, everyone? I AM TOTALLY
AIPTASIA FREE, BABY!!! Woo-Hooo! More
on him later too. |
| Anyway,
because of all these problems AND
quite frankly because the tank was
beginning to look overgrown, I embarked
on a fairly substantial fragging
and overhaul of the tank's
livestock. Planning just what (or
how much of what) was to stay or
go took about a week. And because
of the sheer volume of corals I was
moving, I had the LFS I usually deal
with come on site so they could take
them quickly. Remember, this was
still February, so not surprisingly
it was snowing. |
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