Silver97's Official tank chronicle

[silver97]

Just in case you were wondering
So that pic of the urchin wouldnt load, but if you zoom in on the FTS you can see him in the bottom middle of the tank, below the gorgonian and to the left a bit. He looks like a ball of the dragons breath algae
And now for the big news...
My parents said we could be moving within the next 6 months, and I am not allowed to buy any of my upgrades until we know for sure what we are doing.
So. FREAKING. frustrating.
... and this hit me today: what if I have to take the tank down? this would open doors to many other things, namely:

• I could buy a proper stand for the tank at the new house and get a proper sump for it. OR
• I could get a bigger tank and use my 40b as a sump (I like this option!) AND
• I would have a chance to start over and get my nutrients under control before they become a problem and make hair algae grow everywhere

Plus if I get a bigger tank (I'd go somewhere in the 70+ gallon range) I could buy some tangs and maybe a trigger. These 2 species are the fish that ultimately made me want a saltwater tank in the first place, so if I could finally get them I'd be so happy.
This also poses a few problems. I know some people have no problem giving their fish back to a store when they get too big or are moving(like I might be), but I am extremely attached to my 4 fish. So I thought of this quick fix method for when I am in between tanks to keep my fish. I have 2 smaller 10 gallon tanks, and if I put 2 fish in each one I think It would be perfect. I would still have the heater, and I'd have to buy another one, but if I'm going to get a bigger tank anyway I might buy a second one to more efficiently heat the tank. Doing maybe a 2 gallon water change a week on each sounds like it could work, and I could technically have 2 nano tanks while I get my bigger one ready!
Wouldn't have to buy another filter for the nano's due to the small area, but what I would most likely do is grow a bunch of macro algae in each tank and then use the rocks and algae from both tanks and put them in my sump (hopefully my 40b sump) on the new tank. This to keep nutrients under control, and to help with extra filtering. Please be aware this wouldn't be a long stay for the fish, probably under 2 months at the most just until the bigger tank is done cycling. I would probably buy a bacteria booster for the beginning to speed it up and seed the tank with coraline algae early to kick start everything.
Ok I just wanted to put this up here so I could kind of look back on it in a while, I'll keep giving normal updates for the time being if anything happens

 

[Oxylebius]

Do you know how far away the move will be? You could arrange to take the fish with you. It is extra work, but can be done and done in a way that the fish would survive. But, it all depends on how far the move is and where.

If it is possible to set up a tank in the new place first, and then transfer fish over, that would be ideal.

If the above is not possible and the move isn't too far away, you can ask a lfs or friend to house your fish while you move and get the new tank set up and then get your fish back.

I'm just throwing options your way to see what sticks.

 

[silver97]

Yeah, I know that if I were to move, which I'm still not sure if I am going to, it would only be like 30 minutes away from my house right now at the most, so distance isn't much of a problem. Its just the thought of 'Will I use my 40b as a sump and have a 70+ gallon tank with that sump ready in time?'
I think setting up the 2 10 gallons in the new place first might be the best option right now if I end up moving. I'd set those up first, then sell all the coral I don't want and take down the main tank.
The other thing that is still up in the air is what size my parents would let me move up to, I'm thinking they wouldn't mind much as long as the footprint of the whole thing wasn't so big, but again, it's all still up in the air at this point.
I know of a LFS that I am pretty sure would house the fish for a while. This would be a last resort, I'm thinking the 10 gallons would be fine temporarily. Sadly I don't know of anyone who has a saltwater tank anywhere near me I could lend my fish to for a while. It'll all work out eventually.

 

[Oxylebius]

Ok. Well, keep us posted. And let us know if you have any questions about moving critters around.

 

[silver97]

Thank Oxy! I will be sure to ask here first for any kinds of questions like that.

So an update on the moving, we are moving the probability from 'possibly' to 'probably'. Not much of a change really, but from what my parents are sounding like they are leaning towards the moving side more. Honestly there are a few nice houses they found that we can afford, so I think it's just a waiting game at this point. I still think this could happen by the end of the summer, but again it's still all up in the air at this point.

I am already planning stocking lists and different things for my 'probable' new tank. I have watched so many videos and read so many things on my computer about different fish the last few days. If I get a new tank, I am going to plan on one that is at least 75 gallons, bigger though if I can find one. Main reason for this is so I can get a tang or 2. I am thinking a Kole yellow eye tang at the very least, from what I've read people have kept them in as small as 55 gallons, so if I get a big enough tank I think it would be a great addition. A tang might also be the answer I've been looking for as far as algae control. I know they eat a lot of algae off the tanks walls, and that I should give them a sheet of nori, but if it eats the hair algae too I might just keep alternating rocks from my fuge that have hair algae on them and have it clean them!

If it is possible I would also like a yellow tang, so I would have to find them both at the same store to introduce them at the same time. I would only get both if I had a tank that was 90+ gallons.
I list such big tank sizes because I am finding EXTREMELY cheap deals on huge tanks near me through craigslist. I think the best deal I saw was an 125 gallon w/stand for ONLY $200! I know to take these with a grain of salt, but if it works out then it works out!
The other great deal I found was a 75 gal. for $125, still amazing considering if I got either of these sizes at a regular store they would be over $300 easily.

I'm expecting to hear more definite news on the moving later next week, so I think I'll give my next update then, but if something develops before that I'll post then.

 

[Oxylebius]

Here are a few things to look out for... for tangs you should look for length of tank over volume. Tangs like to swim back and forth, so the longer the tank the better (not necessarily volume of tank). And if you are buying a used tank, if you can, please make sure the seams of the tank are good and that the tank didn't have heavy metals (like copper) used in it. Sometimes you won't be able to determine this. But, it doesn't hurt to ask how the tank was used and if/how it was treated.

 

[silver97]

Yeah over the past few days I have found numerous accounts of people's struggles and arguments over what size tank is best for tangs. From what I have gathered, an 125 gal. tank at 6 feet long would be ideal for 2-3 tangs max, and the smaller ones at that.
I figure since the inventory on craigslist is changing all the time, by the time I'm ready to buy it (if I ever get the chance to buy it) there will be a bunch of different offers and options. I know to inspect the tanks carefully, but even so I would clean the inside out thoroughly and do a leak test just as if I were buying the tank new. Which for me, it would be new anyway haha
Just 4 days after I found that one 125 with the stand for $200 it's already gone, but looked again today and there's a guy selling 7 separate 125 gal. tanks for $125 each, but no stand.
If you noticed I am not mentioning the 75 gallon, it's because my parents said that as long as we have the room for it I can go up to 125 gallons! Too happy
I probably wont get lucky with a stand again, but who knows. I just need to make sure that my 40b can fit under it so it can work as my sump. Might just have to make my own, which shouldn't be too hard. I have enough people in my family that can help me build an effective one.
Just going to list a preemptive stocking list for my 'probable' new tank real quick
Current inhabitants i will transfer:
orange oscellaris clown
black oscellaris clown
six line wrasse
bicolor blenny
Hopeful additions if I make the upgrade:
Kole yellow eye tang
Yellow tang
Foxface?
Possibly some sort of anthias (multiple)
possibly another wrasse

And maybe a few others, but really I'd be happy with just the 2 tangs if I could get them at the same time. This is a very flexible list and probably wont go with everything on here. Still have to wait to hear if we are going to move though, going to be a bit disappointed if we don't now....

 

[silver97]

A bit of an update on the move
So we had the realtor come and look at our house, and will hear back from her within the week. If the number is around what my parents want or higher, were moving. If its lower, were not. Again, I'll be disappointed if we don't move at this point.
And now I have a solution for moving my current tank. My parents said they would pay an aquarium moving company to take care of it and transfer the tank to the new house. There are a few stores around me that will do it, so I think it sounds like this whole thing just got a whole lot easier. Still might be a bit of trouble getting this thing turned into a sump and keeping the fish alive at the same time, but I at least have a bit more of a game plan now. Again, I will work it out if we get to that point.
I think what sounds good is letting the new tank cycle and then hooking up the 40b sump after with its current water? I mean if my current tank is cycled like it has been for a year, and the new tank is cycled completely for a few weeks, it would be fine to mix the water, right? Again not too keen on this, if anyone has any better ideas please share
So if we are going to be moving, the process of actually moving stuff to the new house could happen as early as July. I'll give another update once I know for sure if we are moving or not.

On a side note, all the current tank inhabitants are doing well as usual. No increase/decrease in hair algae that is noticeable. Cant really pull it off the rock, its in there pretty good. Regardless of if we move or not, one day this summer I am going to take a day where I take each 'infected' rock out and scrub it clean. It will disturb the tank a bit, and maybe it will allow me to move my rock structure around a bit, but either way I cant take much more of this algae issue.

 

[silver97]

Soooooo I'm a bit relieved and a bit disappointed. We are not moving, so I don't have to worry about my tank getting moved into a bigger tank. But now I don't get a bigger tank for the foreseeable future.... Oh well. Pipe dreams, am I right?
So now I am going back to the plan of getting the crystal cube sump, classic 110s reef octopus skimmer and the few other things I had planned out before. My motivation going forward will be to make the most out of my current tank and strive to make it look better than someone else's with a bigger tank. Not that I'm sad that I have to keep this size, but after getting my mind in the process of moving I need a bit of motivation.
One good thing that came out of this situation is that my parents said if we were moving I was allowed to put in a koi pond at the new house. But now that were not, I have them partially convinced to do one in my backyard! So I guess I do get a bigger 'tank' after all (hopefully).

Went out to the store today and restocked on a few things. I picked up some more vita chem, got a bag of the reef crystals salt mix, a jar of Omega one pellet food, and a bottle of magnesium. I still have a bit of the regular salt mix left from my last bag, and I'm debating whether or not to mix the 2 or not. I think I only have 2 weeks left of salt in the used bag, but I'll see how it goes.
I tried feeding the omega one pellets to my fish and they did not try to eat them at first. They picked at them, but didn't eat them. Well, the blenny ate a few, but I didn't see the other 3 swallow any of it. I am just going to keep giving it to them until they eat it. I know they'll get hungry enough eventually to try it. What I might do the nest 2 days is mix it with a bit of flake food to entice them more. I at least saw the zombie snails and hermit crab get a few that fell to the bottom.
I got the magnesium mainly to help get rid of the hair algae. I keep reading that high levels can kill it, so I am going to slowly dose my tank over the next few months and hope that it helps along with the other upgrades I am going to apply to the tank.
I saw this pair of gold stripe maroon clowns today at the store that were the most adorable little things ever. Yes that is the most apt description possible. The were both barely less than an inch long and only $40 for the both of them! If I had a nano tank ready to go they would be living in it right now. I think I might try to do that in the future, if I come across another good tank deal again. A nano just for 2 maroon clowns.

 

[Oxylebius]

Went out to the store today and restocked on a few things. I picked up some more vita chem, got a bag of the reef crystals salt mix, a jar of Omega one pellet food, and a bottle of magnesium. I still have a bit of the regular salt mix left from my last bag, and I'm debating whether or not to mix the 2 or not. I think I only have 2 weeks left of salt in the used bag, but I'll see how it goes..

I wouldn't recommend mixing the two salts mixes together. Use up the old one first. Then open the new bag and use it.

I got the magnesium mainly to help get rid of the hair algae. I keep reading that high levels can kill it, so I am going to slowly dose my tank over the next few months and hope that it helps along with the other upgrades I am going to apply to the tank.

I wouldn't dose anything w/o testing as well. If you are already testing, then great! If not, I'd suggest picking up a test kit.

 

[silver97]

So as I was doing my water change the other day I noticed that I was able to pull a large amount of hair algae off this one rock. I was surprised to say the least at the amount I got off, probably a baseball size amount from one rock. I think this was in part due to the magnesium, because trying just the week before I had no luck pulling any off at all. So if 3 days of dosing small amounts of magnesium let me do that much, I wonder what a few months and a refugium will do! I am going to possibly be buying a Mag. test kit tomorrow, but not sure if they'll have one at the store I'm going to.
My fish still aren't eating the new pellet food, and I think it's due to the fact that they are too big for my fish. I looked to see what the measurements were on their website, and they were 1.5mm. I found out the Omega One brand also makes a smaller 'micro' version that is only .5 mm, so I am going to buy those tomorrow too. I'll still keep the one I bought the other day, they'll probably be big enough to eat it in a few months, and no point in wasting it if they can eat it eventually. Once I have them hooked on the mini food I will be tossing the flakes entirely.
Little nervous right now because I will be on vacation for a little while and my grandfather will be watching the tank. I marked with a sharpie on my tank where I want the water line to be most of the time just so he knows when to top it off. It's actually helped me remember when to do it a couple of times this week too. I am doing one more big water change before I leave and will be replacing the carbon and any other filter media I need for my tank before I go to ensure the optimum conditions while I'm away. I don't have any reason to think it would crash as long as the water level is maintained and they are fed the right amount of food, so I think everything will be safe.

 

[silver97]

So back after 2 weeks and the tank was not as bad as I thought it was going to be. Hair algae was out of control, which was expected, but I was able to remove all the new growth. I can't believe the amount of change that happened in my corals though. The gorgonian grew what looks like a half an inch on one branch, and definite growth on the other 2 also. One of the mushrooms moved and revealed another little mushroom growing. Zoas seem to have gotten at least 10 new heads each on the bigger 2 colonies. The xenia spots have definitely gotten bigger . GSP has encrusted over the one rock even more. The thing that shocked me the most was the anemone. It got up and moved about 4 inches higher on the rock it was staying on. It's now effectively swaying in the powerheads current and looks healthier, although it still doesn't have it's bubble tips. I am going to feed it today and see how it reacts. I was really shocked by this because it has been in the same spot hiding away since I got it, so if it's finally getting healthier after almost a year now I would be thrilled.
The fish seem to like the new micro pellet food. When I feed it, the clowns go for it right away, the wrasse will go for it a little bit, and the blenny doesn't really jump at it. The wrasse and blenny instead wait for it to land on rocks and on the sand to pick at it and get their fill. I also see the bristle worms in my tank come out and eat it whenever I feed with the pellets, which I find funny considering they hate the light usually.
A lot of new corraline algae growth too. More spots on the back of the tank and the rocks seem to be pretty purple, minus the spots my blue tux cleaned and the spots with hair algae.
While I was away I also got my hermit crab some new shells to try out. The smallest one I got was barely too big for him and he walked away from it, but he showed definite interest in it because as soon as I put it in the tank he ran up to it. I am going to be getting more soon, and hopefully they will be big enough for it.
And after all of that I am going away again, but only for another week and my family will be here to make sure the tank is in good condition. Hopefully it stays just as good.

 

[silver97]

And the tank stayed just as good more or less. One big thing that will be concerning me in a few days though...
I think my nass snails have laid yet ANOTHER batch of eggs. This time on the top of my tank near the water line and on the magnetic glass cleaner I have in my tank. It's going to push their numbers into the high 200's at the least. I really might have to start taking some out and selling them back to pet stores.
They are at least some sort of snail eggs, they are clear on the outside with a pale pink center, so I know they aren't clownfish eggs. I really hope they are the kind that eats hair algae!
I may be getting a new job soon because my current one isn't giving me enough hours, so I'm not making much money to save up for the sump upgrade. Really anything at this point is going to be better than what I have right now, so hopefully I will be able to get the supplies needed for my upgrade soon enough. The possibility of moving is still on the horizon but won't happen soon (to my knowledge), so unless something drastically changes in the next few months I am going ahead with the upgrades.

The anemone is looking better than usual, so I think the feeding is working. I am going to actively try and feed it every 3 days for a few weeks and see how it does. It has a lot of color back, so it isn't bleached anymore really, but I'm hoping it starts extending into bubble tips soon enough. I say it's not bleached, what I mean is it still has a few signs that it is but right now it just looks overall dull, I guess that's the best way to put it. Right now I take 2 of the freeze dried shrimp, soak them in Vita-chem, and feed it to him. It eats it every time that I feed him now, so that's got to be a good sign.
I think I am going to go and buy a sea hare one of the next few times I am out and see one. Honestly the hair algae is just ridiculous and I am tired of looking at it. I don't know how much is in there to sustain it, but if it gets the job done I'll be happy with it. This won't be for a few weeks because I will have to do a load of research on which one I can get around me and which one will be the best, but I think I can get a good variety around here so we'll see what happens.

 

[silver97]

The eggs still haven't hatched yet... wondering if they died due to me continuing to use the glass cleaner while they are on there. The vibrations from it moving might have 'scrambled' the eggs if you know what I mean...lol..... But they seem to have developed more color in the past few days, the outside being mostly pink and the inside a blackish spot sort of. I also found a further 2 more patches of the same eggs up along the top of the tank near the water line... I think they were laid at the same time just because they show the same signs of development as the one I noticed first. Either way I am getting some more snails out of this
I am happy to report that after a few months of weekly water changes I have now got nitrates to an acceptable rang of 5-10 ppm. All living things in the tank seem to be doing good minus the hair algae problem. The xenia spots have grown bigger and are starting to turn into stalks like the parent colony is. I think I am able to frag them perfectly off the rock due to how they are positioned. I will only be doing this if it gets out of control though, right now I'd rather have a nuisance xenia problem rather than a nuisance hair algae problem, and I still think the xenia can start to take off and take more space so the hair algae can't. Just a thought but still... I am not tired of how the xenia looks yet so I'm still happy with it.
Back to the nitrate problem, I am looking for solutions to help keep it down at these levels. Reading a lot of info about some different media's to help, I got interested in Seachem's Matrix and Purigen products. These would seem to be a great addition to my tank in it's current condition. I'd use the purigen along with the GFO and carbon, and replace my fluval ceramic media rings with the Matrix rocks.

And on to bigger news, I may be getting a bigger tank after all, but still have to work towards it.
Right now I'm still in 'job limbo' where I still have the job I hate because I don't get a normal amount of hours, and I am still looking for something else. So not making much money at the moment. I had the equipment for the hopeful upgrade planned out in a couple posts before this one, and I got an email from pretty much every aquarium website yesterday that I get emails from about their 4th of July sale with ridiculous discounts on stuff. So some of the equipment was on sale (the sump and overflow box), and I figured while I have at least half the money why not buy what I can now at a discounted price? Makes total sense to me.
Told my mom about it and she had to have me lay the plan out for her again in my room about adding the sump, getting rid of the canister filter, all the mechanics of it. Then she said I could have my grandfather build me a proper stand, we could move the furniture around and make it nicer. I immediately told her that it I got a proper stand then I would want to use the 40b as the sump and get a bigger tank on top. To not freak her out right away I only went as high as 60 gallons. She said that it's entirely possible so now I just need to come up with a rough plan for that. I am going to see what the biggest tank I can get is at roughly the same footprint as my current one and hopefully plan for that.
My dad wasn't too thrilled when I told him about that conversation, but I think once I get a steady job and some more money, plus with the rough plan, he will go for it.
So I am still not doing any upgrades any time in the near future, but I might be getting a bigger tank (AGAIN). Seeing as how this plan has already changed numerous times in the past few months I am not expecting it to go anywhere anytime soon, so it's just a waiting game at this point.

 

[Oxylebius]

The eggs may slowly get eaten by other critters in the tank. That is usually what happens to my snail eggs.

Glad to hear you were able to get your nitrates under control.

Keep us posted on the new tank upgrade.

 

[silver97]

So a bunch of stuff has happened in the past week & 1/2.
Finally quit my job, currently looking for another one, but for right now I'll have enough money to get anything small if I need to.
The eggs might have hatched? Not really sure if they did or if they were all eaten. I forgot about the ones on my glass and accidentally went over them with my magnetic glass cleaner. They came right off and straight into my clowns mouth. Oh well. The batch that was on the glass cleaner may have hatched, but I haven't seen any little snails anywhere, so not entirely sure yet.
The anemone has responded well to the feeding every 3 days, it eats the vita chem soaked brine shrimp every time I offer it, so I think things are starting to look up for it. It has moved up a few more centimeters on the rock, and is kind of right in the flow of the powerhead, but not directly being affected by it. It can at least move a bit more if it needs to.
Hair algae hasn't noticeably increased or decreased, just continues to be an eyesore.
Still a bit hazy on if I'm able to do any upgrades or anything. Parents won't give a definitive answer so all that is still in a state of limbo.
My 6 line wrasse and orange clown have been fighting a bit lately I've noticed. They'll have little bouts every now and then taking turns biting at each other. Before I went on vacation the clowns right fin actually had a good size tear on it from the wrasse and when I came back it was still there, but it had healed a bit. Then when I came back after the other week of vacation the fin on top of his head was pretty severely damaged. His other fin was still split a little too. After a week of feeding the tank the vita chem enriched food, both fins healed really fast and he's doing ok now.
The wrasse hasn't taken any noticeable damage, except he is developing a pink spot on his back that breaks one of the blue lines. It's not a different colored pink than the rest of his body, and it doesn't look like some external parasite, but I am getting a bit worried just in case it is something bad. He isn't swimming differently or anything, and maybe it's just how the pattern develops as they get bigger, but I'm going to be researching diseases that it could possibly be just in case. I also think it could just be stress caused too, so maybe I need to really try for that upgrade to a 55 gallon or larger.
I think the fighting has ramped up a bit in the last few weeks because the wrasse kind of took over the clowns' cave as his own now. They are now hosting outside the cave and at the filter intake pipe instead of in and around the cave now. The wrasse sleep in there now too from what I can tell.
So if I do get to do the upgrade I am going to get some new rocks and redesign my boring aquascape to better accommodate hiding places and caves. Might also add a flower pot just for the clowns. Hopefully I get to be able to do that soon.

 

[silver97]

Been thinking a lot about the possibility of an upgrade, read a bunch of different posts on here. I was looking at a bunch of different systems for how to run a reef tank more efficiently and then I finally decided to look at the Red Sea website.
I am SO mad I didn't start there in the first place. I now know why everyone is obsessed with it.
Yeah, I can't believe I didn't look at them more closely before today either.
The one I'm looking at would take practically the same footprint as my tank does now, and I wouldn't necessarily have to worry about buying all the different equipment. Getting this would also allow me to use my current set up as a quarantine system. This is a rough possibility. I may try and sell some of the current equipment to get some extra money for it. Mainly the canister filter and lights, because they would get sidelined pretty quickly if I got either of the new tanks.
I am looking at the Max E 260 and the Reefer 250. I see the obvious appeal of each, and I am having a hard time deciding. The ultimate test will be springing this on my parents to see if they'll allow me to get it!
Price is an issue, and that's why I'm already leaning towards the reefer, but I might end up spending as much as the e-260 anyway if I have to buy the equipment that isn't included. I'd definitely be happy with the size, seeing that it has pretty much the same footprint as my current 40 b I don't think it will be a problem space-wise. I will be doing some more research on each one and see which would be more worthwhile.


In current tank news...
Nothing has really changed. Still no notice of new snails, but a noticeable amount of nass snails are dying off because of the new food I think. By this I mean they aren't getting the amount of food they are used to since I switched to the pellet food. I consider this kind of a good thing because I think it means that I am not overfeeding in a sense, hopefully the numbers will run down a bit soon. I know that the live ones will eat the dead ones along with the bristle worms. There haven't been any fluctuations in levels of anything lately that would be causing die off either.
The anemone continues to be healthier. While feeding it a brine shrimp the other day my fingers touched the tentacles and felt that they were definitely sticky again. I didn't feel any pain from any kind of a sting, so maybe it hasn't grown its stinging cells back yet, or maybe the sting just doesn't affect me. I hear it varies between people so maybe I'm one of the lucky people immune to BTA stings lol.
No noticeable fights between the wrasse and clown in the past week. Maybe they made up.

 

[silver97]

Yesterday and today have been crazy. A long line of events have stressed me and the fish out a bit.
It all started yesterday when I saw my urchin doing something weird. He had begun spawning and releasing his 'stuff' into the water. I find that stupid considering there are no female urchins anywhere in the tank and the parameters were fine. I read online that they do it sometimes as a last ditch effort to ensure that if they die there will be offspring to replace the dying one. Where I hope this isn't the case with my urchin, he continued to release it until it clouded the tank pretty well. I had to do a water change anyway so I wasn't too worried about it, but then the power went out. A freak microburst came through with a thunderstorm and killed the transformer for my whole area. This was at 3 p.m.
After the first hour with no power I was a bit anxious. I decided that if it stayed off for another hour I was going to have to do something to keep up the gas exchange in the water. So every hour until the power came on I spent a few minutes taking the plastic spoon I do my water changes with and literally stirred the tank. The temp. has been at a constant 80+ degrees the past few weeks, and although the circulation has been great during that time, it began to rise a bit with the lack of circulation and stayed more at around 84 for all of yesterday during the outage. My fish didn't act too scared at first, they are used to the tank having no circulation for an hour or so while I do the water changes, so it didn't really noticeably affect them until way later. They were almost stir crazy from the lack of movement, and I was really nervous. Finally at 1 a.m. the power came back on and I set everything back up. The clowns seemed a bit manic with the tank running again, mostly because I think it woke them up and startled/blinded them a bit, but all else seemed good. Just in case there was still a build up of ammonia or any other chemical I threw in a little Amquel to ease the tank back to balance.
I did the water change today and everything seems to have checked out, it's just that the urchin decided to release more of his 'stuff' into the water and clouded the tank again literally right after I turned on the pumps and everything again. I had replaced both the carbon and GFO in my filter today, so I'm hoping that it helps the tank out a bit.
All of my fish are breathing heavy and seemed stressed out a bit today though. I figure that's a bit normal after circumstances from yesterday, so I' going to guess that is the cause and evaluate it day by day if it is something more. None of them show any obvious signs of illness right now, so I think it just has to be a combo of stress and more stress. My 6 line wrasse hid for so long this morning that I thought my anemone had eaten him, couldn't find him anywhere. He is currently in one of his hiding spots and trying to stay away from everything right now.
There is another severe thunderstorm system going through my area right now, so I am praying the power doesn't go out again. Can't open the windows so the temp is still up pretty high and I might have to float some ice packs in the tank to bring it down.
I will update soon again if anything significant happens to the tank in the next day or so.

Also my parents say they are impressed with the RSM tanks, and I'd say the upgrade is on a good path to getting approved by them.

 

[silver97]

The power outage the other day screwed my lighting schedule up and i reset the clock wrong (forgot it used a 24 hour clock), so the lights were on for way longer than they were supposed to be yesterday. This in combination with the power outage the day before stressed the corals a bit. No noticeable degeneration among any except for my biggest xenia frag, which was deflated and shrunk up today. It also had a huge bubble forming near its base, so I was pretty worried. I noticed this and the fact that the other corals weren't opened up all the way, so I tested the tank for ammonia/nitrite/nitrates. I need to get a new test kit, mainly because I hate the API one. Too hard to narrow down the colors to really tell what the levels were at, but the ammonia was definitely in between 0 and .25, and upon seeing that I took the xenia frag out and threw it away. After just 20 minutes of it being out of the tank I can see a noticeable difference in the other corals, as they are all more extended than when it was in the tank. Amazing how a little change can change their mood so quickly.
The fish are all fine, didn't notice any of them breathing heavily today, so I hope they are all going to be alright.
Power did not go out again yesterday, thank God, but the thunderstorm cell is still in our area and is about to start up again, so I'm hopeful it will just be a regular storm with no outages.
Still looking into all of the RSM tanks, and even though I like the look and convenience of the E 260, I see that the actual tank volume is something around 54 gallons, which isn't a big upgrade from my current situation. I think I might have to go with the Reefer 350 so I'm around the 70 gallon area. If I'm still going to shoot for an all in one though (which would be preferable) the S 400 is probably the one I would end up with, but the price tag is crazy. And considering I still don't have a job at the moment I am going to be 'window shopping' for the time being anyway.
I will be pricing out the costs this week with the different tanks. I am also going to do quite a bit of research on a few different LPS corals, which I plan to have as a majority for the first few months, and then SPS corals, because if I got the space, why not, am I right?

 

[silver97]

Was out for the weekend and had my grandfather watch the tank again, everything seems to be alright with the water chemistry, but now I have noticed a recurring problem with the lights.
I am almost positive the power outage screwed the whole timer up. The clock no longer advances, staying on one continuous minute. Say I saw it at, 10:30 a.m., when the lights should have been on at their most. They hadn't even turned on because the clock was stuck at 1:30 am , which is when I set it last, and they are supposed to turn on around 8. I worked out a way to get it back to a somewhat normal schedule, but I have to manually do it and it is becoming a PITA to remember when to turn it on and off and mess with the intensity. I am going to contact the company about the warranty and see if they will either replace them or give me a full refund. The Current Orbit Marine LED's are what I am using, and they pride themselves on the Ramp Pro timer , of which mine is broken, so I'm hoping things will go my way. I figure they will also have a lifetime warranty due to the fact that most LED setups like it are supposed to outlive the tank.
In other news, I am happy to announce that my tank is one year old! I think the official day it turned one was around the last time I posted, but still exciting nonetheless. Still after a full year of experience I consider myself a rookie and only hope to get better as this goes on.
And on that note, I may have yet ANOTHER window on when I would be moving. My dad is possibly up for another job, working with my uncle, but all the way in Indianapolis. So that would include tearing down this whole tank and setting up another new one in the new house, leaving me with the answer to my current space problems. Plus my uncle could hook me up with a better paying job than before out there, so I would have money to start buying everything for my possible new Red Sea tank. The move time would possibly be as soon as November-January depending on how things go. Out of all the moving attempts in the past few months, this one seems the most promising, so I am staying hopeful.
After I'm done with this post I am going to be drawing out a potential pricing plan for the Reefer 350 and compare it to the S-400. I might start another post just so I can get input from others who have these and compare notes with them. I am also going to be reading a lot more threads on these tanks and see the ups and downs(if any) of owning them.