35 Gallon Mixed Reef II

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm afraid its all dead. Power outage combined with snow for 4 days meant I was unable to leave the house and get the fish somewhere warm or get a heater started for the tank. Few surviving leather corals but my acans are melting as I type this. It's been a bad couple days. I tried really hard to save the fish especially. I put them in a small bucket (couldn't find the watchman gobies, they are probably dead under a hole) and put hot water in a bigger bucket (we kept some hot water strangely) and then put the small bucket in the large to try to gradually warm them up. I really thought it was working but the the wrasse died, an hour later, my mandarin dragonet (the one I was about to start testing my experiment on) also passed. The past few days have not been good. I still have to sift through the bodies. The water is cloudy (I assume from the dead corals) and smells bad, I already did a 5 gallon water change and will do another later today.

 

[PDR]

Sorry to hear this. I’m surprised we somehow didn’t lose power but almost everyone else I know in the area did. Do you think it would be better to just tear down and start over at this point?

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I may, but its also possible that I get out of hobby for a bit. I had corals in there I had for 3 years. It is not fun at all to see the coral you've grown from 1 head to 10+ die. I'm going to dig out the dead ones tonight and see what I have left, I may stick around and try to redo, but I'm honestly not sure. I've still got to get the watchman gobies bodies out. ATM deaths look like:
- 4 acroporas (all dead for sure)
- 1 birdsnest (dead for sure)
- 1 montipora (maybe will live)
- 1 stylophora (dead for sure)
- 1 frogspawn (dead for sure)
- 1 duncan (maybe will live)
- 2 acans (dead for sure)
- 1 chalice (dead for sure)
- 1 toadstool (can't tell)
- 1 ricordea (dead for sure, literally slime)
- 1 GSP (awesome colony too) (maybe will live)
- 1 corky sea finger (maybe will live)
- carpenter wrasse
- mandarin
- watchman gobies
- all snails (some may pull through, doesn't seem so)
- all crabs

Survivors look like:
- sinularria
- maybe some zoas
- the two cabbages
- the small amount of mushrooms I have

All in all, I lost several hundred dollars and as a college student, it will take a long time to rebuild. Christmas coming up and so is the local trade show (CATS 2019) so maybe I can get some cheap corals there if I do decide to keep going.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Dug through dead corals and removed, here is my math at the moment:
- $495 of corals dead so far
- $125 of fish
- $50 of snails and hermits
= $670 dead so far

Counting the numerous zoanthids and few things left, about $600 of coral left. I may be overvaluing a bit but its hard not to when you've grown it for years. That is years of effort down the drain. Worst part is my favorite coral died and I never figured out the name.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

If anyone manages to get an ID on this acropora please let me know

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Nevermind I just ID'd, rainbow granulosa

 

[Reefpuck]

Wow that's awful... sorry to hear.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Those are some rough breaks. I hope you have some miracles break your way

 

[PDR]

If anything ends up making it, I can keep it for you while you get the tank back on track if it would help.

 

[Corey Shelk]

Oh no that’s terrible, I understand the feeling of wanting to take a break from the hobby :/. Hopefully the rest of the surviving corals make it and those you are unsure about rebound

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

I'm home for the holidays right now and left the coral in the testing tank for my mandarin. Only a few zoanthids, the anemone, maybe the corky sea finger, some mushrooms, the gsp, and oddly enough, a chalice coral survived. I can keep them steady enough in that tank for the month or so it takes for me to get back on my feet. Not sure what I'll do in the reboot, maybe something crazy like an eel, that'd be neato. Any suggestions?

 

[PDR]

I'm home for the holidays right now and left the coral in the testing tank for my mandarin. Only a few zoanthids, the anemone, maybe the corky sea finger, some mushrooms, the gsp, and oddly enough, a chalice coral survived. I can keep them steady enough in that tank for the month or so it takes for me to get back on my feet. Not sure what I'll do in the reboot, maybe something crazy like an eel, that'd be neato. Any suggestions?

That corky is bulletproof. I had a small piece of corky in my (dark) sump for over 2 months. I put that rock back in my DT and within a week is already growing new polyps lol. I'm really surprised the anemone made it! Is this the mini maxi or a different one? The sinularia didn't make it?

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Good News and Bad News
Bad: I have almost nothing left
Current survivors:
- Zero coral, got a few in the 10 gallon, but none opened up sooooooo
- 7 snails
- 1 hermit
- astoundingly, the pistol shrimp looks better than ever

What I have left:
- the aforementioned livestock
- rock (I've washed and I'm drying out now) (so much bubble algae)
- the tank
- all equipment
- chaeto

Good: I will be starting over

What I have to work with: ~$700
My math so far:
- Water ($60) (that includes freshwater for top off for a bit)
- Sand ($50) (I don't reckon I should use the sand that was in the tank, the coral liquidated and made some nasty slime and weird algae)
- Filter media ($50)
- Additives for cycling ($40)
That leaves me $500 to work with for livestock so what will it be?
- There is a big trade show coming up near me, I'd love to get some stuff there
- Maybe I can get some cheap coral on craigslist
- I'm not sure what I'm going to do for livestock in this setup, maybe a little bit of everything like last time or maybe I'll get it a bit more specialized this time, get some wacky fish in there or something

Some questions I have so far:
1. Could I somehow reuse the sand and would it be worth it?
2. I'll be starting with almost entirely dead rock and can't seem to buy live rock at a reasonable price (I mean I coulddddd but don't really want to buy a lot and its expensive as hell), will I be able to achieve the cycle in time for the trade show? It's on the 27th? I mean to get water in the tank this weekend.
3. Any suggestions for livestock, new filter suggestions, etc, nows the time

As always, I appreciate your help and advice, I really haven't been on in a while as theres been holidays, exams, more classes, and my tank-pocalypse

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

The sinularia was one of the last ones to die during the event but withered and then slimed, do you have any more for sale once I get back on my feet? It was an awesome coral.

 

[PDR]

Sorry to hear you lost almost everything

I'll send you a PM.

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

It's a chance for a fresh start I guess, maybe it'll be even nicer this time. I learned some good lessons from the last tank too.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

It's a chance for a fresh start I guess, maybe it'll be even nicer this time. I learned some good lessons from the last tank too.

That's a good way to look at this, still sucks that you lost your stock. If it's any consolation, I'm pretty close to getting my first fish from the QT into the DT.

 

[Corey Shelk]

I’m sorry there were so few survivors but I’m glad you’re getting back on your feet!

 

[ArowanaLover1902]

Just a little update. Lots of progress since deciding to get back into it. Tank up and running with corals and fish. Here's what its been like so far:
- Tank refilled with all new water
- survivors (some snails and hermits, a pistol shrimp, and 3 mushroom polyps) moved back
- live rock dried and washed
- rock added back to tank
- added several snails
- hair algae outbreak
- added emerald crab
- added some awesome live rock (covered in GSP and a rock anemone) as well as a small mushroom I bought from @PDR
- added a bunch of various corals I bought from a show (SPS, LPS, and a few softies)
- decided on fish stocking
- added 2 firefish and a lawnmower blenny
- 1 firefish MIA and presumed dead for unknown reasons (he didn't jump I looked everywhere) (maybe the other firefish bullyed him to death?)

My plans for the future:
- get rid of this hair algae so I can start posting pictures
- add more softies and maybe a few more LPS
- add more cleaners such as conchs and a turbo snail
- hopefully eventually add a bubble tip

Stocking Plan (Fish):
- 2x or more watchman gobies
- 5 red firefish
- 1 purple firefish
- 1 lawnmower blenny

Its basically going to be a tank with a lot of firefish and primarily LPS and softies. It'll be an interesting tank and I look forward to seeing its progression.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

Just a little update. Lots of progress since deciding to get back into it. Tank up and running with corals and fish. Here's what its been like so far:
- Tank refilled with all new water
- survivors (some snails and hermits, a pistol shrimp, and 3 mushroom polyps) moved back
- live rock dried and washed
- rock added back to tank
- added several snails
- hair algae outbreak
- added emerald crab
- added some awesome live rock (covered in GSP and a rock anemone) as well as a small mushroom I bought from @PDR
- added a bunch of various corals I bought from a show (SPS, LPS, and a few softies)
- decided on fish stocking
- added 2 firefish and a lawnmower blenny
- 1 firefish MIA and presumed dead for unknown reasons (he didn't jump I looked everywhere) (maybe the other firefish bullyed him to death?)

My plans for the future:
- get rid of this hair algae so I can start posting pictures
- add more softies and maybe a few more LPS
- add more cleaners such as conchs and a turbo snail
- hopefully eventually add a bubble tip

Stocking Plan (Fish):
- 2x or more watchman gobies
- 5 red firefish
- 1 purple firefish
- 1 lawnmower blenny

Its basically going to be a tank with a lot of firefish and primarily LPS and softies. It'll be an interesting tank and I look forward to seeing its progression.

Have you had multiple firefish before?