Mayja's 90 Gallon Reef Experience

[Mayja]

Your Friday FTS got me to check out this thread. Your comments were very funny! And, You have a great Cardinalfish!

Sorry to hear things have been rough, but a new tank can be fun and exciting!

I've been doing (freshwater) aquariums for pretty much my whole life and I've had my share of times when real life made sure my aquarium wasn't my highest priority and it showed. It's a cycle.

Thank you very much for your kind words. As you can see from earlier photos and video, I can actually have a pretty reef. Divorce is a killer for maintaining a tank. I was so upset when I lost my jawfish and kole tang due to my move.

But, I've got big plans for the new tank, and my boyfriend is all on board with learning about this fabulous hobby. Life is good.

Cheers

 

[puffermike]

As far as your choice with live or dry rock it's really a matter of what you want in the tank. I use to get live rock all the time but realized I pay more for it because A - It's live and B - It weighs more because its soaking in water. You do pay for water weight with the more porous rock. Live rock can cycle a tank a bit faster and it can come with beneficial organisms as well.

On the flip side... When purchasing dry rock you receive a lot more rock for your price because it's bone dry. However there are no beneficial organisms that come with dry rock but you also have to remember there are a lot of pests that come with live rock too. The only downside to some dry rock is that depending on where it's from it may leech a bit as it's cycling in your tank. Algae growth in the end is unavoidable during a cycle though. I purchased 100lbs of reef saver rock from BRS for the first time last year and was impressed with how much rock I got. If you do get dry rock just run GFO during the cycle to help absorb the PO4. I did this and after about 6 weeks of the tank running all the GHA died and my tank for the new year looks great!

With my journey further and further into this hobby I quit doing live rock and sand beds as well. As much as I love a sand bed I see way too much detritus that collects over the years causing a tank crash later on or algae blooms out of no where. You won't see it until you take the tank down! It's unreal how much crud they collect. My newest idea for a sand bed is to make a white cement mix and coat the bottom of the tank so it has the appeal of "sand" but can never collect waste. That or a sort of pond foam that you can dust with sand.

If you don't mind getting your hands dirty here is an interesting DIY idea this guy uploaded. Looks amazing at the end!

And here it is a year or so later..

 

[Pat24601]

Thank you very much for your kind words. As you can see from earlier photos and video, I can actually have a pretty reef. Divorce is a killer for maintaining a tank. I was so upset when I lost my jawfish and kole tang due to my move.

But, I've got big plans for the new tank, and my boyfriend is all on board with learning about this fabulous hobby. Life is good.

Cheers

I'm 1000% clear you are an excellent reefer. Sorry, if I implied otherwise. You are way better than me, I know. I just thought your sense of humor in your FTS Friday was funny.

Like I said, I've gone through life cycles where my tank has had to take a bit of back seat to other things in my life. It sucks, but it's great to see you back on the path!

 

[Mayja]

I'm 1000% clear you are an excellent reefer. Sorry, if I implied otherwise. You are way better than me, I know. I just thought your sense of humor in your FTS Friday was funny.

Like I said, I've gone through life cycles where my tank has had to take a bit of back seat to other things in my life. It sucks, but it's great to see you back on the path!

Oh, I didn't take it that way. No negative vibes at all.

You see, I used to post stuff about my tank all the time. So, for me to not show off my work had people asking about my tank updates and I was just so embarrassed to show them what happened to my once beautiful tank. Now that I'm getting a new tank, it takes some of the pressure off the old one.

Can you believe that my new tank is an early 40th b-day present?? I have an amazing boyfriend.

 

[Mayja]

Final rock/sand verdict:

100 pounds of Marco's Rock - $215 total (free shipping).
160 pounds CaribSea Special Grade Arag Alive sand - 8x 20lb bags @ $19.98/bag = $159.84 and free shipping from Drs. Foster and Smith.

Not bad for under $400.

 

[Mayja]

Next question: How do I remove a gorgeous colony of zoas from one piece of live rock that is also infested with GBA? I don't want to introduce any of my old live rock to my new system, but I don't want to lose my beautiful zoas! Will I need to frag this sucker into a bunch of pieces, or can I put it onto one of my new dry rocks?

 

[Frankie]

Shoot a picture of it. If they are matted you may be able to just peel off sections. It will look like crap for a few days but should recover. Either way, you still risk introducing the unwanted stuff.

 

[Mayja]

Shoot a picture of it. If they are matted you may be able to just peel off sections. It will look like crap for a few days but should recover. Either way, you still risk introducing the unwanted stuff.

I'll take a picture once I get back to the tank. I saw their structure when I blasted them with some water to close them up. The best way to describe it is that they looked connected by an Elmer's glue matrix.

 

[Frankie]

Yeah that's the matting it should peel off once you get it going

 

[Wrangy]

The one thing you can do that helps and works AMAZINGLY to stop pests and algae is a hydrogen peroxide dip! I've done it to all my zoa's as I've been moving them across and nothing but zoa has entered the tank! They all look happier and healthier for it too!! I would highly recommend it if you're transferring stock and don't want any nasties

Also you've got yourself a keeper if a tank is your present

 

[Mayja]

Here are my zoas as the lights go down.
I can't believe this started with only 4 heads.

 

[Mayja]

@Wrangy, can you be more specific about the peroxide dip? How much? How long?

 

[Wrangy]

I used 6% H2O2 from the pharmacy to ensure it's purity. I then diluted it 1:5 with tank water, any stronger and it was too harsh on the zoa's. I gave them 3 minutes each in the dip then rinse them off in another container and then I had a separate holding container while I fragged and such before going back into my tank everyone was open within hours

 

[StirCrayzy]

There's a couple threads somewhere here at RS, on dipping,

I do mine as standard in 25% for 5-10 minutes. I've successfully treated in 50% for 5 minutes as a last resort also.

 

[Mayja]

This past weekend we tore down my tank. My poor boyfriend got his first taste of saltwater reef keeping by tearing one down. Poor guy! On Saturday, he helped me catch/corner my fish for transport, and then made sure to speed across town, heater blasting in the car, with the fish in buckets, to get them back inside and warm to get ready for acclimation to the temporary tanks (they all made it, btw). Saturday night, he installed the RO/DI and auto shut off systems into the house. I can make 150 gpd now.

On Sunday, that man cleaned my powerheads with toothpicks to get all the algae and crud off of them. While he disassembled the rockscape, I showed him how to locate/frag/dip corals. He helped scrape the glass clean, and I'm talking about some serious coralline algae. He stood outside in the freezing windy cold weather to hold the hose to drain 120 gallons into the sewer while I managed the pump from my second floor apartment. He helped me scrape the bottom of the tank clean. He hauled all the LR and sand away so I wouldn't hurt my back carrying it. He helped me soak/clean all the equipment.

At the end of it all, he asked, "Will your new tank eventually get this bad?"
"No," I replied. "Only if I stop doing regular water changes."

He nodded, and commented that if I say I need to do a water change, he'll know exactly why. He added that he never wants to have to do a clean up like that again, and will gladly take the few minutes to help with a simple water change.

Nothing like trial by fire!

 

[Pat24601]

Wow. Moving/transferring a tank is SOOOOOO stressful. Glad to hear it's done. I do feel bad for your boyfriend. That's a rough way to be introduced to the hobby.

On the bright side, it's all downhill from here!

 

[Mayja]

Wow. Moving/transferring a tank is SOOOOOO stressful. Glad to hear it's done. I do feel bad for your boyfriend. That's a rough way to be introduced to the hobby.

On the bright side, it's all downhill from here!

He can't wait for the new tank to get here so we can start cycling it. I'm still waiting for a delivery date. Every morning, he goes downstairs to check in on the fish. He's learning how to take water samples for testing, and how much to feed them, and how to watch for any abnormal behavior. He got the worst of it out of the way. Now he gets to learn all the fun stuff!

 

[Wrangy]

Good that you were able to rope him in for the massive task because it is not easy breaking a tank down and cleaning it out and redoing it! At least from now on he'll appreciate it a LOT more knowing how much work they can be lol can't wait to see things up and running again Mayja

 

[Mayja]

Tragedy this morning. Came downstairs to check the fish and feed them. Tank one hosting the two clowns and the chromis were fine. Tank two hosting my basslet, cardinal and all my corals was completely empty of water.

It must have sprung a slow leak over night and quietly drained out. I lost both fish, my hammer, possibly my leather. We'll see if the zoas and mushrooms make it. I'm completely devastated. It was the saddest scene to witness. Those poor fish.

 

[Pat24601]

Oh man.

Nothing else to say. That sucks.