my sw tank

[chefjamesscott]

been away doing stuff but time to update the thread

so when I showed up to get this guys set up here is the tank that awaited me

nastiness for sure, but I am a chef I can cook something up to reuse it I always say.

this was the filter system

I gave the purple fish to the petstore and kept the clowns

about 3 weeks ago I got a panther grouper and put him in with my scats and got to work setting up that 75g in my bedroom for my smaller fish. I ran the tests tonight and it came out good so I put in the 2 domino, 2 clowns and niger trigger as well as 3 hermits.

I will be redoing the outlay of the live rock as a cross diagonal thing from left front to rear right, I want to somewhat use the left corner as the place to hide stuff behind the live rock and give the fish 3 sort of slow spaces to chill in, left rear, mid valley and right front.

I am converting my 100g lungfish tank to sw in my living room rather than the tank at work, and will be moving gramps to my restaurant.

I pick up this sw set up that is came out of a hotel here in town, to bad I could not get the hotel tank as part of the deal though. Good deal though nice corals, real good light and filter set up and one of the crabs has coral on its shell, and there is also a very nice tang

I will make sure to update this thread in the next week. Would have done it last week but my son ended up in the hospital after having a seizure and ended up not breathing and my daughter had to perform AR on him twice while the ambulance was coming.

 

[chefjamesscott]

So lesson learned, when you are buying a sw tank from someone make sure that they keep up the maintenance routine on the tank.

What I ended up getting from the guy was not what I took pictures of. The yellow tang no where to be seen when I picked up the 65g on saturday, and many of the corals very much troubled.

When I asked him what salinity he was running at he says 1.030-1, and water changes 1/mth @10%. I knew I was gonna have a few issues when I got this home to set it up. Yet, for the price I paid the livestock was a freebie.

I even asked the guy 2 weeks ago if I could transport the fish to the 75g I had set up so that the move day would be stress free for them. Well for sure the move was stress free for the yellow tang because it was no where, 25% of the corals in the above picture same deal, and 2 of the fish bit the dust within a day of the move and one of the anemone as well.

I powered up a 110aqua with 3 chem pure bags and live rock, a cascade 3 basket canister filter with 3 chem pure bags and bioballs, and the skimmer, and began what I feared a fight with dying soft corals and whacked out chemistry.

I transfered the tang to the 75g, lost 2 of the fish, but the clowns seem to be doing fine with the remaining anem. I have done 4 or so wc and have the salinity at 1.029 as per instructions not to drop it to fast and wipe the tank out with a fast change. The temp is ranging from 73.5 evening and 80.4 lights on for 8 hours.

As per my last water test, the nitrite was close to 0 and nitrate one shade above 0, the ammon is .25 and I am wondering if any reefers here can answer a ?. Will a few more wc take the ammon down or should I leave it be and let the cycle spike play its course?

So here are a few pictures for you( I also shut down my basement sw and moved the fish up to the 75g)

75g bedroom high def tv as we like to call it.
4 scats, 1 panther grouper, 1 vilemi tang, 2 clowns, 2 domino damsel, 1 engineer goby, various hermits(I tried to move the clowns to the other tank but the mated pair there would not hear of it. SO GUESS IT'S A REASON FOR ANOTHER SW TANK

65g living room tank
1 Goby, 2 clowns, hopefully what is still alive for corals will stay alive, 1 crab, a few hermit crabs, 3 cucumbers, 1 clam

IF ANYONE KNOWS C4CAT TELL HERE THESE PICTURES ARE FOR HER MUAHHAHAHAHHA psssst I found nemo's parents, just need them to make little nemo's

here is to hoping that I can pull this tank out of the crash it seems to me to be in.

Does anyone here run a salinity of 1.030-31? To me that seems way high, does the .030 = 30% salt to 70% fresh, because that seems to me like making fish pickles.

 

[Sploke]

1.030 is not a salinity, its a specific gravity. It is a dimensionless number, it basically means an aqueous solution of SG 1.030 is 3% denser than pure water of the same temperature. Normal reef tanks are generally run at a SG of 1.024-1.026. 1.030 is a little high.

 

[chefjamesscott]

thanks I have never really understood exactly what that number mean, though I can hit 1.022-23 on the head consitently

 

[chefjamesscott]

ok thought it was time to update this thread.

I decided a while back that I was going to move the sw set ups and consolidate them into a 180g at the restaurant. I really find the shape of the last 2 set ups I bought to be a bit of a problem so I am going to keep my 75g in my bedroom which did not get any of the algae laced sand and the rocks were boiled and scrubbed to take out the algae on them.

The tank in my living room which is the last one I showed has been a ongoing battle, so what I am going to do is frag off the corals that are on the rocks to rocks that are not infested with the red or green algae stuff. Been doing some studying on this. Eventually when I rehome the fish to either the 180 at the restaurant or my 75 in my bedroom I am going to break this tank down and totally sterilize the sand to kill any nasties in it and the rocks as well. I do find corals to be an interesting thing in how they can be transfered to new rocks. I may set up a hospital tank where I give the corals time to repair themselves after I play doctor.

Lesson learned when buying a sw set up from someone if it is not free and clear from red slime and green algae think is it really something you want to take on. I guess the good side is that I have managed to pick up some killer equipment along the way and when I get done cleaning up the rocks and sand it will be very useful.

 

[BadRoma1]

I wouldn't do all that stuff that you do to all those rocks and sand. what kind of light do you have over that anemone. clearly, you are new at all this, even though you are doing good. like you don't know how to battle algae, so you just kill everything. make sure to post another thread if you need help.

 

[chefjamesscott]

I wouldn't do all that stuff that you do to all those rocks and sand. what kind of light do you have over that anemone. clearly, you are new at all this, even though you are doing good. like you don't know how to battle algae, so you just kill everything. make sure to post another thread if you need help.

edit:If I really wanted to deal with the algae it would be simple, hook up the uv sterilzer badda boom badda bing problem solved.

Let's see if I have the right greeting for what your name represents Con San

first the pictures of the 3 sw set ups I purchased

with this picture, this was taken when I put the deposit on the tank. When I actually picked up the tank 1 mth later over half of the corals were dead or dying, the water chemistry was out of this world whereas ammon and nitra/nitri were concerned, and the amount of algae was insane.

this set up was purchased simply because the equipement and stuff that came with it were a sweet deal. I totally sterilized the sand and rocks before I used them in my 75g that is in my bedrooom. I was not going to buy it but when I looked at the 2 clowns they were like please rescue us from this tank.

the very same sand and rocks from the above tank were used in this tank, the only thing I killed was the green carpet algae.

Now I could go about setting up a good uv sterilizer on this 65g and try to get the algae issue under control, but in reality the 65g was purchased with and agreement to be picked up 1 mth past time of deposit. The light alone I was told was bought for $800 bucks which is one of the main reasons I bought it for the intrinsic value of the set up.

Since the origional person I got the tank from let it go to pot, I really don't desire to fight that battle when I can actually take the livestock and place it with ease in the 75g or the 180g. Further, the amount of algae that is in this 65g that has been there since I picked up the tank is basically creeping all over everything and threatens to smother the tank.

Now you may ask why did I set it up when I really had no intention of keeping it up. Well that is a valid ?. I reset the tank up for one reason and one reason only, I know from my experience that it is better to reset a broken down tank with the same filter same tank same water rather than to try to move it to a new tank with new filter etc....

I for one have no love that will be lost in the demise of red slime algae colony or green carpet algae when I sterilize the rocks and sand. BUT WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT KILLING EVERYTHING IN THE TANK??????
The previous owner did a fine job of that considering the water chemistry when I picked up the tank and the state of affairs with the corals. I personally see no issue with putting the livestock and corals into a new world and nuking the algae issue by turning the rock and sand into base rather than live, I intend to actually start the 180 with fresh live sand and some of the rock from the 75g and some of the rock from the 65 that is not so affected by the red slime.

Regarding the light it is a Coralife Aqualight Pro 250w

I am simply taking care of business with a very neglected set up that was allowed to get worse after I had put my deposit on it.

While you may think I am new to this such is fine for we are allowed to think as we wish. I know many things, yet, as I believe I am always open to learning new things for when you cease to learn you are as good as dead.

I believe in many things, but there is one thing that always proves true. It is best shown by one simple kitchen related phrase. THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING! With this being said I guess we will just have to wait and see by the end product of what the 75g in my bedroom and the new 180g.

I will take some pictures and post updates.

 

[kyryah]

Very interesting thread, Chef, as you threads usually are

I can't wait to see the end result of the 180 gal.

Kristina

 

[chefjamesscott]

Very interesting thread, Chef, as you threads usually are

I can't wait to see the end result of the 180 gal.

Kristina

Thanks very much kyryah!!

Well here it is 1053 my time been here for about the past 20 minutes or so.

Have begun the transfer will post the progress later, just wanted to say thanks for the nice comment.

 

[Arturo]

Great pics.