Bifferwine
I am a girl
As most of you probably know, I've gotten down in the dumps about my tank lately, and I've been able to identify 2 key factors that have led to this.
1) Majano anemone infestation. Many people do not consider this anemone a pest, and claim that it doesn't have a harmful sting. They say this anemone can be enjoyed and considered part of the reef tank. This is not the case in my tank. I started off holding that point of view, when I found one majano on a piece of rock. I let it be, because so much of what I had read stated that this anemone was pretty much harmless. Well, not so much. A year later, and I probably have close to 50 of these guys now. They have effectively killed off 99% of my fox coral from growing on top of it. They have moved onto my frogspawn, and they have killed off several colonies of zoas from smothering and/or stinging.
Control methods I have used unsuccessfully: peppermint shrimp, kalkwasser paste smothering, salt smothering, Joe's Juice injections, Aiptasia Control injections.
I need to find something to kill these guys.
2) Kenya tree infestation. Probably the biggest mistake I have made as a reefer is introducing one tiny branch of kenya tree to my tank years ago. I have about six square feet of the stuff now. It covers every rock, and has killed pretty much every piece of my SPS (competing for the light, I suspect, as it quickly grows higher than the SPS it surrounds). A few months ago, NDB and I went through my tank by hand and removed approximately 4 lbs of the stuff. Within weeks, it had sprouted back. Manual removal doesn't work, as it just grows back from the stump.
Control methods I have used: manual removal.
My first priority is the majano, since it seems to be actively harming the corals it touches. Kenya tree is a second priority since manual removal, although time consuming, is easy to do and can give my tank a reprieve at least for a couple weeks. And I have no more SPS left for it to kill.
This thread will be for me to explore other options for getting rid of these two unconventional pests.
Oh how I long for the days when I had aiptasia!!!!!!!!!
1) Majano anemone infestation. Many people do not consider this anemone a pest, and claim that it doesn't have a harmful sting. They say this anemone can be enjoyed and considered part of the reef tank. This is not the case in my tank. I started off holding that point of view, when I found one majano on a piece of rock. I let it be, because so much of what I had read stated that this anemone was pretty much harmless. Well, not so much. A year later, and I probably have close to 50 of these guys now. They have effectively killed off 99% of my fox coral from growing on top of it. They have moved onto my frogspawn, and they have killed off several colonies of zoas from smothering and/or stinging.
Control methods I have used unsuccessfully: peppermint shrimp, kalkwasser paste smothering, salt smothering, Joe's Juice injections, Aiptasia Control injections.
I need to find something to kill these guys.
2) Kenya tree infestation. Probably the biggest mistake I have made as a reefer is introducing one tiny branch of kenya tree to my tank years ago. I have about six square feet of the stuff now. It covers every rock, and has killed pretty much every piece of my SPS (competing for the light, I suspect, as it quickly grows higher than the SPS it surrounds). A few months ago, NDB and I went through my tank by hand and removed approximately 4 lbs of the stuff. Within weeks, it had sprouted back. Manual removal doesn't work, as it just grows back from the stump.
Control methods I have used: manual removal.
My first priority is the majano, since it seems to be actively harming the corals it touches. Kenya tree is a second priority since manual removal, although time consuming, is easy to do and can give my tank a reprieve at least for a couple weeks. And I have no more SPS left for it to kill.
This thread will be for me to explore other options for getting rid of these two unconventional pests.
Oh how I long for the days when I had aiptasia!!!!!!!!!