CCOMBS FIRST REEF!

ccombs · Dec 17, 2019

Ok, so another thought here about my continuing battle with Nitrate.

I have tried everything, and I mean everything from a crazy insane husbandry schedule (more than should be required for a tank like mine) to unnatural methods for Nitrate reduction (NoPox, etc.) and think I have it figured out forreals this time.... maybe.....

I think I need more flow because I notice I get a ton of detritus in my rocks that I am constantly blowing out. I have narrowed my choices down to either an MP10 OR MP40. What size do y'all think I need for my 30 gallon AIO? I am hoping to get away with a 10.

ccombs · Dec 17, 2019

samnaz said:
I would ditch the sand and start fresh.

Why would you go that route? Just to get rid of any existing detritus in there? Do you think I would go through a cycle again if I did that?

ccombs · Dec 18, 2019

New tank member!

Side Note, one of our dogs is a very floppy puppy.

samnaz · Dec 19, 2019

Definitely the MP10 will be plenty enough flow.

Reason I’d ditch the old sand is you’ll have to thoroughly rinse it if you wanna keep it, and IMO it’s easier to get new. I guess it depends on how much sand you have, and how “dirty” it is.

You won’t go thru another cycle as long as you’re using all the established rock. Most of the beneficial bacteria is held in the rock (hence why bare bottom is possible) new sand has relatively little effect on cycling.

ccombs · Dec 20, 2019

Here is a picture I quickly snapped today. Tank is really starting to look more mature, bubble algae is present but very much under control now thanks to the crabs and a lot of hard work manually removing. I still have some GHA that I am fighting. LPS looking really good, Acan looking pretty good as well. Zoa patches are spreading pretty quickly. Surprisingly, my worst coral right now is my GSP, but that is because my goby dumps sand on it constantly.

My goby is typically always out, but for the past 2 days he has been holed up in his cave, I hope everything is alright.

I plan on getting the MP10 soon so I can hopefully keep fighting detritus and get my nitrates at around 20. They have been living in the 40-80ppm range no matter what I do seemingly.

Hopefully I can get another purple hammer soon, my LFS has had one on order, but there is a shortage apparently. This hobby has been so frustrating at times, but I am glad I am doing it.

ccombs · Dec 21, 2019

Sudden Fish Death, Need Help ID, Potential Emergency?

I got a new Mandarin a few days back. He had been healthy at the store for awhile and I do not have a place to QT, so I got him since he looked extremely healthy. For the first 2 days he did great, picked pods off the rocks and swam around like normal. This morning I saw him sitting on the...

www.reef2reef.com

Had an emergency today, Mandarin is dying in front of me after being very healthy the first few days. See above thread for details.

ccombs · Dec 21, 2019

Mandarin died tonight. Roughly 4-6 hours between looking 100% healthy and dying of bacterial infection from injury. Bacterial infection from injury is working theory right now, will be watching other fish closely.

ccombs · Dec 22, 2019

This morning an emerald showed up dead as well, I am wondering if the crab was the attacker or maybe took a bite out of the mandarin when he looked pretty dead. I did an emergency feeding this morning to observe the tank and everyone behaved normally and ate, fingers crossed.

ccombs · Dec 22, 2019

Nevermind, I didn't even think about the fact that emerald crabs molt haha. We only realized it when my wife asked if I purchased a new, mega emerald crab and I kept swearing that I didn't, but she didn't believe me haha. I joke so often with her that she didn't believe me lol.

samnaz · Dec 23, 2019

ccombs said:
Mandarin died tonight. Roughly 4-6 hours between looking 100% healthy and dying of bacterial infection from injury. Bacterial infection from injury is working theory right now, will be watching other fish closely.

Noooooo ;-(

ccombs · Dec 23, 2019

samnaz said:
Noooooo ;-(

Yeah, super sad

Luckily the LFS is pretty close so I was able to quickly run over and show the owner some pics and we came to the same conclusion about being attacked based on the fin being shredded. All my other fish are still eating well and showing no signs of spots. While I hate seeing any living thing die, I am glad that this is not something that appears to be threatening the whole tank.

ccombs · Dec 24, 2019

So I have been doing a lot of thinking. I love the size tank I have, and my wife does not want a larger footprint, which I understand, being in our bedroom. However, I really wish I had a sump.

That being said, I looked into buying a new sump, tank, building a stand, new return pumps, skimmer, etc. and it all added up very quickly.

Luckily, things like my APEX and battery back up are all good to move to a new tank.

All this being said, here is my current working idea....

I will build a new stand, and I can promise you guys on here it will be one of the coolest things you have ever seen lol. Next I will remove my AIO divider in my tank and drill for an overflow/new returns.

From there I will bite the bullet and buy a sump, skimmer, return pumps, etc. I looked at the head loss calculations and actually might be able to reuse my current return pumps... we shall see.

If I prebuild the stand, I think I can wire it, plumb it, and drill it in one (long) day as long as I have all my parts and spares ready to go.

I think I could start early in the morning, empty the water/livestock into a temporary tub with a powerhead and heater. From there I could drill my tank/remove divider and transfer onto new stand. Hopefully at that point I can move all livestock back to tank on new stand, temporarily put a light, heater, and powerhead in there while I begin to work on all wiring and plumbing down below.

I would love thoughts/opinions on my plan here. I currently have no timeline to do this, I am in a very early stage of planning.

ccombs · Dec 25, 2019

Here are my initial drawings of the new stand.

samnaz · Dec 25, 2019

Looks good! Why two returns though? For such a small tank you really only need one. Just my two cents.

ccombs · Dec 25, 2019

samnaz said:
Looks good! Why two returns though? For such a small tank you really only need one. Just my two cents.

Just for redundancy. Since I am out of town so much, I like having backups so I am not trying to troubleshoot with my wife over FaceTime haha.

count krunk · Dec 25, 2019

So it would be two returns with two separate pumps? I don't think it's worth it imo.

You would completely drain the tank remove the sand to remove the aio wall and drill into it?

Would be simpler to just get a 40 breeder and start fresh. That would be very similar dimensions.

ccombs · Dec 25, 2019

count krunk said:
So it would be two returns with two separate pumps? I don't think it's worth it imo.

You would completely drain the tank remove the sand to remove the aio wall and drill into it?

Would be simpler to just get a 40 breeder and start fresh. That would be very similar dimensions.

I am currently configured that way and love the redundancy.

It would certainly be simpler to get a 40 breeder, I just don't want to spend the money and love DIY.