110g Business Tank Rescue

[SaltyFoxfish]

I've recently come back to saltwater, specifically reefing, thanks to this tank at a local business. The first time I saw it was five years ago and, despite being established for years, it wasn't very vibrant and was pretty empty though a severe aptasia problem. This summer the tank crashed because the company being paid to care for it, well, didn't. I got volunteered to take over, and am happy to share its progress here. I'll post the "before" pictures later.

Because it's not my tank, I have to work with a lot of what's already here, like the rock and DIY sump, but I have managed to get them to let me add some new equipment, like a new light, additional powerheads, e.t.c.. In the future I'd like to ditch the old, ugly rock, and replace it with better aquascape, but I'll likely propose that when I ask to replace the wooden cabinet in a couple years.

Current livestock:
3x Yellowtail Damsels
1x Yellow Tang
1x Lawnmower Blenny
3x Red Firefish
1x Blue Tuxedo Urchin
1x Harlequin Shrimp (mate died before I started, she dealing with the asternia stars)
1x Peppermint Shrimp
?x various Hermit Crabs
Turbo and nassarius
Kenya tree (2 varieties)
Cabbage coral
Mushrooms
Xenia
Paly colony

 

[Peace River]

I've recently come back to saltwater, specifically reefing, thanks to this tank at a local business. The first time I saw it was five years ago and, despite being established for years, it wasn't very vibrant and was pretty empty though a severe aptasia problem. This summer the tank crashed because the company being paid to care for it, well, didn't. I got volunteered to take over, and am happy to share its progress here. I'll post the "before" pictures later.

Because it's not my tank, I have to work with a lot of what's already here, like the rock and DIY sump, but I have managed to get them to let me add some new equipment, like a new light, additional powerheads, e.t.c.. In the future I'd like to ditch the old, ugly rock, and replace it with better aquascape, but I'll likely propose that when I ask to replace the wooden cabinet in a couple years.

Current livestock:
3x Yellowtail Damsels
1x Yellow Tang
1x Lawnmower Blenny
3x Red Firefish
1x Harlequin Shrimp (mate died before I started, she dealing with the asternia stars)
1x Peppermint Shrimp
?x various Hermit Crabs
Turbo and nassarius
Kenya tree (2 varieties)
Cabbage coral
Mushrooms
Xenia
Paly colony

It sounds like you are doing some good work! Do you have pictures to share?

 

[Mjrenz]

Can't wait to see the pics, following along

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

These are some of the first pictures I took of the tank as I started working on it. I wish I had more pictures from before I started, because I still can't believe the mess this poor thing was. The sump hadn't been cleaned in probably over a year, if ever, with a six inch layer of dead things and debris in the central chamber and a ring of horrendous goo along the waterline. The guy caring for it before me admitted he hadn't cleaned out the skimmer in at least a month and it was so encrusted with slime that I had to scrape the INCH THICK layer out of the neck abs cup before I could even start cleaning it. The ATO was a half-done DIY with a magnet so rusted it literally fell apart as I removed it from the sump and took me a week to get all the rust chunks out. I couldn't salvage the ATO safely, so have had to do top offs by hand until I get a replacement in. The RODI system had a filter so dirty that I'm worried the system itself might be compromised and will be getting it serviced before hooking it up to the new ATO. The live rock inside was basically just a giant pile of junk rock that, when I rearranged it to get better water flow, had an inch thick layer of built up detritus under it.

Inside the tank itself, there were still large aptasia, the worst infestation of asternia starfish I've ever seen, and with the exception of the Yellow Tang, all the fish inside were inappropriate, aggressive, cast offs from the care company's other clients. I removed a large Blue Hippo Tang that was eating all the food, a massive Blue Velvet Damsel that was killing what inverts were left and abusing the other fish, and two of the five Yellow Tail Damsels, with plans to remove the other three.

General equipment maintenance hadn't been done in ages, with the stand and electrical cords caked in thick salt creep. There were cords without drip loops, and not a single surge protector in sight. As for testing... the staff of the business say they never saw the cleaner do more than water changes, and the tests supported that. Amonia, nitrates, and phosphates were high, salinity was low, nothing was controlling the temperature, and overall I didn't have a single result that was even close to good.

Finally, the lights and powerhead. The nice t5 light the tank had for years had been removed(with no reason) replaced by an LED, but it wasn't enough for the tank and wasn't set to a good range. It was also just kind of hanging on the hood, not properly mounted, and one wrong move lifting the lid would have sent it into the water. There was only a single, small powerhead with an output closer to a 20g, not a 110, not really doing anything with the water.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. This tank was an absolute disaster and I seriously considered telling the owners to just tear it down completely. However, there was sentimental value that they wanted to preserve, so I told them I'd give it a shot. I'm kind of glad I did. While it's been a lot of work, it's also been very rewarding to see it come so far in the last couple months.

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Here's some pictures from the last two weeks! I'm getting the refugiaum up next week, so I'll get pictures of the sump then.
Some new softies, lots of growth from the salvaged ones, and new fish and inverts.

 

[Peace River]

Thanks for the details! I took on one of these projects about 18 months ago, but it wasn't as bad as what you are dealing with. Great work on this tank!

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Thanks for the details! I took on one of these projects about 18 months ago, but it wasn't as bad as what you are dealing with. Great work on this tank!

Thank you! Project is a great way to describe these kinds of tanks.

 

[jaxredsoxfan]

Excellent work on that tank, looked pretty bad. Must be very rewarding to see it now after knowing where it came from. Im sure the livestock if super appreciative as well.

 

[xjiang7]

These are some of the first pictures I took of the tank as I started working on it. I wish I had more pictures from before I started, because I still can't believe the mess this poor thing was. The sump hadn't been cleaned in probably over a year, if ever, with a six inch layer of dead things and debris in the central chamber and a ring of horrendous goo along the waterline. The guy caring for it before me admitted he hadn't cleaned out the skimmer in at least a month and it was so encrusted with slime that I had to scrape the INCH THICK layer out of the neck abs cup before I could even start cleaning it. The ATO was a ********** DIY with a magnet so rusted it literally fell apart as I removed it from the sump and took me a week to get all the rust chunks out. I couldn't salvage the ATO safely, so have had to do top offs by hand until I get a replacement in. The RODI system had a filter so dirty that I'm worried the system itself might be compromised and will be getting it serviced before hooking it up to the new ATO. The live rock inside was basically just a giant pile of junk rock that, when I rearranged it to get better water flow, had an inch thick layer of built up detritus under it.

Inside the tank itself, there were still large aptasia, the worst infestation of asternia starfish I've ever seen, and with the exception of the Yellow Tang, all the fish inside were inappropriate, aggressive, cast offs from the care company's other clients. I removed a large Blue Hippo Tang that was eating all the food, a massive Blue Velvet Damsel that was killing what inverts were left and abusing the other fish, and two of the five Yellow Tail Damsels, with plans to remove the other three.

General equipment maintenance hadn't been done in ages, with the stand and electrical cords caked in thick salt creep. There were cords without drip loops, and not a single surge protector in sight. As for testing... the staff of the business say they never saw the cleaner do more than water changes, and the tests supported that. Amonia, nitrates, and phosphates were high, salinity was low, nothing was controlling the temperature, and overall I didn't have a single result that was even close to good.

Finally, the lights and powerhead. The nice t5 light the tank had for years had been removed(with no reason) replaced by an LED, but it wasn't enough for the tank and wasn't set to a good range. It was also just kind of hanging on the hood, not properly mounted, and one wrong move lifting the lid would have sent it into the water. There was only a single, small powerhead with an output closer to a 20g, not a 110, not really doing anything with the water.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something. This tank was an absolute disaster and I seriously considered telling the owners to just tear it down completely. However, there was sentimental value that they wanted to preserve, so I told them I'd give it a shot. I'm kind of glad I did. While it's been a lot of work, it's also been very rewarding to see it come so far in the last couple months.

Wow something like this you don’t see everyday

 

[JumboShrimp]

Love what you did! That skimmer pretty much said it all (lol)...

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Got sent some pictures from the business this morning that I figured I'd share. The ground is finally clearing up, getting the bigger powerhead definitely helped. Fish are active and eating, water is looking more clear but I definitely can't wait to get the reactor and refugium in three! The cabbage that was grumpy has perked up finally, as well. I'll be going in tomorrow for testing and top off, as well as removing the RODI system for inspection and maintenance in preparation of getting an ATO set up.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Very nice progress! And I love Cabbage Leathers. Very underrated.

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Very nice progress! And I love Cabbage Leathers. Very underrated.

Right? And with how hardy they are, I'm surprised at how responsive they are to environmental changes. This big one has been a great way to show how stable things are or aren't so far.

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Well, there it is, the dreaded purple slime. I was expecting this, since my phosphates have been up and I did so much work in the tank, kicking up years of detritus. Doesn't make it any easier to see it. I know it's normal, and I know it can be dealt with, but it still feels like a failure on my part, especially seeing how unhappy the corals become when it gets on them. :/

I've already got a water change planned for Sunday and added some GFO to my media socks to help until I can finish the refugium.

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

On a lighter note, everything else is doing well!

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Well.... I get to redo the pipes because there are leaks and one of the pipes fell off someone in the last two days. Is it normal to not use threaded pipes???

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

I know it's been a while, but here's some updated pictures (from the last few weeks)! With the mobile app gone, I just don't use r2r as much as before.

There's some new additions, mostly just new Kenya Trees, but also some new palys that you can't really see in a picture. Things are coming along well, though I have started having a cyano outbreak that I'm fighting.

 

[Mical]

Good On You for taking on this project. The fish Gods will look upon you humbly and grant you many years of success.

 

[Grape_City_Reefer]

Aren't the threads striclty for the sealing aspect of the bulkhead fitting? All the other pvc looks to be pvc socket fittings.

 

[SaltyFoxfish]

Aren't the threads striclty for the sealing aspect of the bulkhead fitting? All the other pvc looks to be pvc socket fittings.

I'm not sure. I'm used to having threaded for everything so that it's easier to take apart if you need to clean or deal with a clog. I've never built my own so I'm not sure what the standard methods are.