Were Down The Line, The Next Steps!

[Pheonix]

Well were a few months down the line and things all seem too be going swimmingly pardon the pun! so of course beening the marine geek that i am i want too take things a bit further!

Matt has given me ideas and thats a very bad thing lol thanks matt! lol

After seeing his designs for his sump running two tanks well i like it lol i was going to start up a separate tank anyway because i wanted to try and breed a pair of flame lighting scallops, this tank was to be a smaller 20-40gallon tank with slower flow rate and slightly lower lighting than my main tank with two custom built caves out of live rock ready for the little devils, this was all planned out and was wondering when to start when bam ebay does it too me again! a lovely 35"x20"x24" sump tank comes up for sale practically on my doorstep! i was planning to add a sump to my5'x2'x2' at some point but it seem this process has now been sped up somewhat lol! im now the proud owner of a sump tank! lol i need to clean it all out which i shall do at the weekend and build a cabinet for it too sit in but no problem all in good time, the system will run much the same as matts efforts only difference being my sump tank will be under the small scallop tank rather than my main tank. well thats the plans ill keep you up 2date as plans unfold!

as for now i have a few questions
does any body know what kind of species of snail theres are.. (i will get a pic up asap aswell) the look like small sweets, some sheels are red and white some brown and white in swirley patterns and the shells grow with the snail never seen them before in any of the marine tanks ive had before but these guys are breeding like wildfire! are they similar too the freshwater snails that do the same thing and bug everyone? i probably have at least 100+ of these little guys already!
does anyone know what eats them? or is it manual removal for control, remember this is in a reef so reef safe eating machines only please

flat worms somehow a couple got into my system! grrr!! they are under control for now i hoover em up when i see them but i know from past experience what these things are like! does anyone know a good reliable flatworm eater? same rules as above apply!

coral fraggin! being the environmental reefer i try to be i want to frag my corals for others too share so more dont have to pulled from the wild, im happy fraggin polyps, star polpys, xenia etc no problem, but how do you go about fraggin something like a staghorn leather or a pussy leather? these come from one main stem i cant see how you would frag it without seriously endangering its health?

hmmm thats all my ramblings for now lol

 

[SkiFletch]

hehe, plenty of ramblings. Where to start? How about with the snails... Gonna have to get a pic lol, too tough from that description.

Flatworm eaters. Here is what I know as far as natural predators goes. 6-line wrasses predate pretty well on them and are probably the most likely to do so. Other smaller fairy wrasses will as well. My psuedochromis springeri eats anything he finds moving on rocks including flatworms. And lastly, you might not believe this one, but Dragonets (mandarins, scooter blennies, etc) will likely feed on flatworms. If you have a significant flatworm problem it might be worth it to try one. Of course once the mission is complete, if the mandarin isnt still eating be sure to re-home him, but it might be worth a try . I dont bother treating incoming corals with flatworm exit. Most people scold me but my psuedo and fiary wrasses keep the tank free of flatworms .

As for fraggin soft corals, this may sound scary or barbaric, but the use of a scalpel or razor blad is how you do it. With something like a mushroom, chop the top off just below where the stalk meets the head. Seat the head on a rock in a low flow area and it should re-attach. Most people I know use a small plastic bin to keep it away from current while its re-attaching. With something like a finger leather, chop some fingers off and either put them in some rubble in a plastic bin (again to keep current away) or sew them to the rocks with needle and thread. Sounds barbaric but it works

 

[Ter]

haha nice one

 

[Lynden]

Ahh, fragging soft corals brings back bad memories for me