Custom 230 Peninsula Build

[TimSc2013]

The year of 2010 came and went with little effort put into the rebuilding process, only adding three fish.

Minimal funds were expended to keep things limping along:
Livestock (coral & fish) - $85.77
Livestock (CUC, inverts & macro algae) - $0.00
Water (still from grocery store) - $81.03
Equipment/maintenance– $308.14
Food - $117.84
Supplements/salt - $0.00

As the saying goes in Minnesota with all our professional sports - “There's always next year!†or “Next year will be our year!"

 

[TimSc2013]

The year of 2011 continued on with the procrastination theme of “minimal spending to limp alongâ€, and with me turning the ripe old age of 41 in October. Our only daughter had just turned 11 years old and I was going through a what I considered was a “mid-life crisis†and had my eyes on a beautiful, intriguing, desirable, sexy, “blondeâ€â€¦

2012 Ford Mustang Shelby GT 500 Galpin Wide Body!
Custom Paint – Aston Martin Morning Frost Pearl White
Custom Wheels – Three piece wheels made by Forgiato
Custom Interior – Crimson Red Raised Grain Leather Interior
Engine – Power Upgrade/Shelby Supercharger 750-hp
Brakes – Shelby 6-piston Front and Rear
Exhaust – Magna Flow Quad
Suspension – Ford Racing Performance

The aquarium hobby would never stand a chance to thrive against this piece of raw and powerful piece of machinery taking up my spare time. I was planning to “cruise†through life and into my Golden years with this babe! The tank inhabitants swam about nervously wondering what their future beheld. I am sure the whisperings of “What will happen to us and will we end backup in a LFS for our golden years?†could likely be heard if you listened hard enough…

My fish must have “prayed†to the Aquarium Gods hard enough because on the day before Thanksgiving, 2011, as I got in my car to leave for work my live was about to change in ways I never even could have imagined. My wife came out of the house, stopped me in the driveway, leaned into the open car window, gave me a kiss on the cheek while whispering…
â€We're PREGNANT!†reggers:

Umm, what?? Instantly the vision of my dream car went “poof†and was replaced with the images of dirty diapers!

 

[kidtango]

What?!?!? You didn't get the GT500!?!? No way. Sweet ride. I saw a modded Nissan GET the other day.... reef tank or GTR... reef tank!!! So much cheaper... relatively speaking.

I really enjoy your journal so far. Funny as hell. Any progress on the tank? Cant wait for some pics of the tank!

 

[prsnlty]

ROFL! Funny how life finds a way to get in the way Good or bad, there's a reason for everything even if it was just to give all of us your well written entertaining story! Have you ever thought of becoming an author?

Jackie

 

[TimSc2013]

Momma’s “nesting†instinct began immediately and I was tasked with renovating the downstairs so it would be more livable/inviting for our daughter to relocate from her upstairs bedroom. She was likely more shocked than me and was not too fond of the change, being an only kid to this point. The downstairs bedroom and bathroom was kind of dingy with oddball colors consisting of light gray carpet and light brown and purple walls with accent wallpaper featuring deer. The closet was rather small and was moldy and musty due to moisture seepage through basement wall. The plan was to gut the entire bathroom and closet along with the carpet and hanging ceiling, fix the basement leak and rebuild new. The living room and laundry room were going to get new floor, consisting of wood flooring and tiling, respectively, to complete the upgrade from what appeared to be from the 70’s to more of a modern era.

My brother in-law and I began the demolition in December of 2011 and the plan was to immediately tile the laundry room floor, which required grinding off the paint, or what was left of it from years of pealing. This required a “short†temporary move of the 65-gallon into the living room until it could be moved back onto the new tile flooring. Although the tile floor was completed in December of 2011, the 65-gallon tank remained in the living room until June of 2012 as the laundry room became very convenient, clean place to store the new bathroom materials.

On the morning of June 19th, I awoke to a major storm :rain: that blew through town knocking trees over and taking out power. Thankfully nobody was hurt and the damage to the house was minor.

Unfortunately, I had to leave on a business trip to Florida lane: on the following day and the power outage was expected to last the entire day and possibly into the next day. With no back-up power and little time to determine what to do with my livestock, I decided to put them in buckets (with air stones this time) and keep them over at my in-laws house a couple towns over where they were not impacted by the storm. I then moved both tanks outside with the live rock, sand and tank water in buckets all under tarps so as not to smell up the house while hopefully keeping the system “seeded†until I returned two days later to set them back up.

To keep things jovial during this time of crisis, I pointed out to my wife that it was times like these that was why I never threw out ALL those salt and cat litter buckets she complained about taking up space in the shed. She was obviously not impressed at 8-months pregnant, in 95-degree heat with no air conditioning, while I was conveniently leaving for Florida where she envisioned me bathing in the sun on a beach with a “cool†ocean breeze(because that is what you do on a business trip, right?)

Okay, maybe I did find time to hit the beach but at least it was cloudy to ease her envy…

 

[TimSc2013]

Upon return from Florida, I immediately went to the in-laws to pick up my fish and surprisingly but disappointedly had only sustained one death, a yellow tang. The survivors, which consisted of my buddy the Picasso trigger, one flame angel and one mandarin goby (75% survival rate), were sped home to determine where and how fast I could get an aquarium back on-line.

I assessed the condition of the aquariums, live rock, sand and water which had spent two days outside in the sweltering heat and made the determination that it was not a total loss, considering some hermit crabs I had missed were still kicking. As I still needed to finish the flooring of the living room, I cleared the old spot for the 65-gallon in the entry to the laundry room and set it up where it remains today. As I only had three fish and one soft coral, the 20-gallon was set aside to collect dust once again.

Over the next month, I feverously worked to finish the downstairs remodeling, moved my daughter’s belongings to the newly finished bedroom and finished off the baby room just in time for our sweet new arrival who we welcomed on July 23, 2012!

The aquarium, once again, was neglected to build up with nutrients and a considerable amount of algae, both green hair and a lovely pink fluffy specimen. I hadn't seen this "new" algae before which coincidently matched the color and appeared to be as soft as all the new baby clothing and blankets flooding my life. It couldn’t be all that bad, right??

 

[TimSc2013]

Along with lack of sleep, came time, plenty of time being tied-down to the coach :couch2:with the lil’ one! During those late, drowsy and somewhat delusional hours, I had a “Come-to-Jesus†ray:moment (No, not in a spiritual sense, but in a sense of becoming dedicated). This sense of dedication was greatly needed to fulfill my desire to thrive in my saltwater aquarium keeping experience, which had faltered over the last several decades.

Like I had just learned during my recent remodeling efforts, you need the “right†tools to help you get down the road of success with less “bumps-in-the roadâ€. With this new found dedication and available time on the couch, one arm held my new daughter :baby: while the other typed away on the computer :typing: to research and learn as much as I could. I started reading on-line forums such as Reef2Reef, noting on-line vendors, watching DIY videos on YouTube and discovered coral frags being sold on, of all places, EBay. One of those major vendors, who produce educational videos, was also “hiding†in my backyard, Bulk Reef Supply (BRS).

I started to determine what some of the right tools were to help tackle one of my biggest problems (both past and present), nutrient control. After watching a BRS video on RO/DI units, my misconceived concerns of these types of units disappeared and I bought a 6-stage unit in August of 2012. I also purchased a better protein skimmer, an Octopus Needlewheel 110, than my existing “wood-stone bubbler 2000 - uh, yep that’s it†(note that I said better than my existing one as I now know this skimmer is nowhere near as good, umm, expensive as many of you all have)!

Furthermore, the coral bug I had caught just years earlier re-infected me (cough-cough), especially the acro and acan strains. Knowing I could not keep them in the same tank as my buddy, I again set-up my 20-gallon with sump in late September of 2012. Better yet, I connected both systems together to get more water volume, avoid separate system water changes done in the past and used one of the two sumps for a dedicated refugium.
Since the refugium needed a light and all the latest rave was about LEDs, I was on the prowl for some more “toolsâ€. One late night in September while “browsing†EBay, there it was, an “AquaIllumination SOL Blueâ€, and only at a starting price of under $100! Could it be my chance to get into the LED craze (all LEDs are the same, aren’t they)? My impulse buying urge resurfaced, along with the fun of bidding “warsâ€, and got the better of me as I was certainly not going to let those other bidders walk away with this thing for cheap! The price reached over $300 and my palms became sweaty as I thought “just one more bid to raise the price up for that other pesky bidder to win, then I will stopâ€. Ten, nine…, “he’s waiting to bid at the last momentâ€, three, two and one… Darn it, I had buyer’s remorse before I even saw “You Won†:first:flash across the screen!

With an empty but well lit tank, I was again back on a late night EBay prowl. Forgetting the sting of my earlier winner only a month previous, I came across some “Rainbow†acan frags, “Ultra Grade†at that, and two days they arrived at my doorstep!

Winter of 2012 set-in and so did the “cabin feverâ€. To help combat it, the family made various trips on the weekends to the local (within an hour) LFSs, where it was warm and tropical. I tried to bring some of that “warmth†home with us by filling my small tank with additional soft, LPS and SPS frags. This frag tank, however small, would begin flourish with my new found dedication and addition to tools…

My coral collection at the end of 2012 consisted of the following frags:

1 Green Torch LPS
1 Green Candy Cane
6 Ultra Grade Rainbow Acan Aussie Lord
1 Aussie Green Favia
1 Aussie Prism Favia
Lime Green Star Polyps (two large covered plugs)
1 Tricolor Acro
1 Red Planet Acro
Blue Zoanthids (5 polyps)
Green Zoanthids (about 20 polyps)
1 Pink Finger Leather
1 Green unknown coral (pic below if someone can identify it for me)
1 Orange Montipora

Along with an increase in corals and tools, my associated expenses jumped up extensively considering I had minimal spending during the first eight months of 2012:

Livestock (coral & fish) - $427.52
Livestock (CUC, inverts & macro algae) - $196.41
Water (from grocery store through July) - $141.08
Equipment /maintenance– $3,111.57
Food - $330.23
Supplements/salt - $332.59

This will likely the last time I share these figures (gulp)! People say children are expensive, LOL - umm, I don’t think this is supposed to be funny…:neutral:

 

[TimSc2013]

January 1^st, 2013 – My New Year’s resolution was to set and stick to an aquarium budget of $2,000! arty:

 

[TimSc2013]

My other resolution was to stay with the dedication theme in regards to regularly keeping notes of tank conditions and so I bought a log book, or a basic Composition notebook (good old pen and paper)!

The spending hangover of 2012 only lasted eleven days and since I appeared to be okay with the number of frags and equipment, I decided to add to the fish population. Missing the yellow tang I had before, our family made another weekend event of visiting a LFS where I purchased a young but vibrant yellow tang that was shown to be eating well, along with a starry blenny and a mandarin goby.

The hope was that the yellow tang and starry blenny would help control the pink fuzzy algae that was starting to get on my nerves a little as pink was also overtaking my life outside of this hobby. The mandarin goby had always been a desire of mine to keep with all their intricate colors. I felt comfortable keeping one now as I had observed an explosion of pods on the glass and live rock and he would be the only occupant besides the frags in the 20 gallon portion of the system.

The fish were acclimated, place in the tanks and things were looking great. A little aggression was being displayed by the Flame Angel but the little yellow tang seemed to “hold-his-own†ground and began nipping away at another type of algae that had recently sprung up (stringy, well rooted and purplish in color). I was definitely different than the pink fuzzy stuff which could be easily removed and disintegrated into a “million†little pieces if disturbed.

Good picture showing the “stringy†algae which in turn allowed a great place for the pick fuzzy stuff to also accumulate. Tri-colored acro was growing but showed no sign of color at this point, in fact this was the color when purchased.

The new occupants appeared to be right at home as the rest of the day and night went on and I went to bed with confidence. The next morning upon inspection, the yellow tang was observed to be laying on its side at the bottom of the tank still breathing but in the worst spot, behind the middle of the “rock wallâ€. I immediately tore down the wall to reach him and moved him in the frag tank to where he never improved and shortly passed away. I began to think that maybe the flame angel became more aggressive during the night and was the reason for the quick demise.

Being stubborn and still well below my newly set budget cap, I packed the family up during the last weekend of January and went to a different LFS to obtain another yellow tang just in case, or to try and rule out, possible disease from the previous place. Just like the one before, a young, vibrant and eating yellow tang was purchased, acclimated but this time placed in the frag side of the system to avoid any aggression. The tang again immediately started to nip at the purple stringy algae and appeared health the rest of the day and night, only to be observed laying on its side at the bottom still breathing and perish shortly after, identical to the previous one.
I was dumbfounded as I had kept yellow tangs for years previous, the tank parameters where good and the other fish and corals observed to be healthy. Now “gun-shy†:yield: and began to realize at this rate I would blow through my budget in no time, I let the system run through the month of February with no purchases of any kind related to the hobby (I think I actually saw my wife smirk at my frustration and new found spending restraint)… :snicker:

 

[revhtree]

LOl loving the story!

 

[TimSc2013]

March of 2013 came and almost went without a dime being spent as the fish and corals were healthy and my system parameters remained stable.

Then on March 26^th, 2013, I had a moment of weakness while on “surfing†on EBay and fell off the wagon winning the following frags (I like to consider it as a winning event to conveniently ignore the fact that I actually lost to the other bidders by paying MORE!):

1 Green Bird’s Nest
1 Grape Juice Acro
1 True Blue Tenuis
1 Blue Tip Acro
3 Purple Tip Acros
1 Green Slimmer Mille
1 Valida Acro
1 Lemonade Mille
1 Aussie Glow Stick Acro
1 Purple Watermelon Acro
Watermelon Zoanthids (3 polyps)
1 PPE Chalice
1 Clam

I should also note that I became a member of Reef2Reef on March 30, 2013, but would remain silent for some time while continuing to gather knowledge from the various threads. A further stepas made towards embracing the greater “internet†community… :wave:

 

[revhtree]

Looks good!

 

[TimSc2013]

Filled out on frags, for the moment, exactly one month later on April 26, 2013, I set out to support my LFS to buy some more fish. I was looking to buy some grazers to help mow down my algae, primarily a fox face and lawn mower blenny. Upon seeing the yellow tangs, I couldn’t resist trying my luck at yet another attempt at keeping them alive and avoiding the general philosophy of “three strikes, you’re out!†To my surprise and relief, the tang made it and is still strong to this day.
:cheer2:
May and the first part of June of 2013 came and went with no real surprises or changes and the system was running well. The algae seemed to be more under control with the fish but would not completely diminish. Through additional research, I learned that the pink fuzzy algae was known as “Pink Cotton Candy†and was hard to get rid of without the help of Mexican Turbo Snails. I thus added a CUC from Dr. Fosters and Smith to fill-out my system.
Had I reached then end? Am I supposed to enjoy my “completed†system and watch it mature and grow out? Umm, that will be like “watching paint dry or grass grow!â€
The wheels starting spinning in my head…

 

[TimSc2013]

Every Thursday night during the summer of 2013 I played golf with friends in a “mini†league of sorts. I had every intention to play golf on the night of June 13, but was going to quickly stop by a LFS that I had not visited before and was on the way (kind-of, LOL). The store ended up being mostly fresh water but it had a back room where they stocked a lot of tanks.

As I scoped out each tank thinking how I could, if at all, incorporate it into my current system. I came across a Marineland 34 gallon “breeder†tank. It really caught my attention as I knew I had enough space between my 20- and 65- gallon tanks and it was a “better†frag tank as it was longer and deeper (30â€Lx18â€Wx16â€H) when compared to my 20-gallon (24â€Lx12â€Wx16â€H). I really tried to fight my urge to buy it and paced that room a dozen times. :decision:The owner knew he had a sucker and approached me while saying “If you like that tank, I have a deal for youâ€!

Needless to say I missed golf and was heading home trying to think of a way I could sneak another tank downstairs into the laundry room without my wife noticing, all the while forgetting that this would likely be the key event that would “bust†my budget (bare tank with no stand, overflow, return pump, circulation pump(s), sand, rocks, lighting and livestock). Best deal I ever made (right?), so why are the LFSs and vendors the ones laughing all the way to the bank?

To show them all who was going to have the last laugh, I decided to move everything from the 20-gallon to the 30-gallon, including lights, while keeping the 20-gallon in-line and running as an “extra†sump (umm, NO I am not thinking of expansion as I have a budget! It’s going to remain a dark and empty tank only adding volume to the system).

The new 34-gallon Frag tank

In case you weren’t keeping track, my system now consists of three tanks (20-, 34- and 65-gallon) and two sumps (one a refugium) all interconnected, roughly 100 gallons total. Lighting consisted of two AI SOL Blue fixtures over 65-gallon, Coralife Aqualight Pro HQI 36" (two 21†compacts and one double-end 150W MH) over the 34 gallon, JBJ compact fixture (two 21†bulbs) over the refugium and "darkness" in the 20-gal.

 

[TimSc2013]

July, August and September passed with the dark, dreary and “wasted†use of the 20-gallon tank continuing to run as part of my system. During that time I focused on maintaining a stable system while continuing to see success (no deaths) with my livestock. Although the corals were growing, I was not experiencing any significant change of color in my acros from a drab brown. If fact, several of the acros I received with color had quickly change dull.

Through my continued research in October, it appeared that most discussions were centered on low nutrient to obtain “healthy†corals which I attributed to mean “colorful†corals. At the time, my testing kits were showing zero for both nitrates and phosphates but I knew they couldn’t be as I still had algae growing outside the refugium. At this point I was bound and determined to get my nutrients as low as possible with the one way I knew of without buying more equipment, frequent water changes (yes, manual labor, ugh!). As I was now “dedicated†to my system, I decided to start a daily water change program of 5-gallons, the most I could do in one plastic salt bucket.

Although I joined Reef2reef in March of 2013, I only periodically visited the forum website and primarily used Facebook to read some of the interesting threads. Then near the end of October, a thread popped up on my Facebook page titled “A Water Change A Day…†which prompted me to make my first post on Reef2Reef (a “shout-out†:director:needs to go out to ‘mcarroll’ who started that thread thus getting me involved with the greater reefing community, or shall I say involved with my new found addiction - the Reef2Reef mobile app)!

I was also experimenting with my LEDs by relocating some acros into the 65-gallon to see how they would react. I was seeing some bleaching and eventually lowered the intensities down below 30 percent. At this point I was not too keen on these LEDs and was reading all the praise of the latest and greatest models (these LED fixtures upgrade faster than computers or smartphones, and I realized I started out way behind with the purchase of my SOL Blues)!

Some tank views during those months.

Some bleached SPS corals under the LEDs.

 

[TimSc2013]

Then came the month of NOVEMBER (I was in the homestretch with only two months to go to achieve my budget)…

Those darn LEDs were beginning to frustrate the heck out of me (who wants total control?) and I didn’t like how the tank looked or how the corals were reacting under them. Who has time to let the corals slowly adjust to their environment (I haven’t learned the “patients†thing yet)? The darn internet, my worst enemy :evil:, was beckoning me to conveniently shop for new/supplemental lighting for the 65-gallon as I could always move one or both SOLs to the 20-gallon barren tank.

Then I found it, the tried and true metal halide fixture (150W Hamilton Caymun Sun Fixture) that would fit right between the SOLs over the 65-gal and just within my budget). I installed the fixture with a 10K bulb and I immediately liked the look with blue accent from the LEDs.

I can make it a month and a half without spending anymore, right? Then I saw the advertisements for “Black Friday Salesâ€. What, the reefing/internet world got into that? I thought that was just for the commercial retail shopping stores for those who found “fun†in staying up all night in long lines? You mean I can shop from the couch and still save money? As my wife would always say after a day of shopping “But honey, look at all the money we saved!†Hmm…, I could use that logic back on her. Furthermore, I was seeing rumors that both EcoTech and Neptune were going to offer discounts, which was rarely done if at all before. :lalala:
Hmm…:censored:

 

[TimSc2013]

I thought long and hard – “if I just purchase a few pieces of equipment, than that would be it for a while and although I will go over budget next year’s spending would be minimal all the while SAVING money!†Done deal, so I went ahead (overboard) and purchase the following:

Two MP40’s for the 65-gallon
Two MP10’s for the 20- and 34-gallon (one each)
Neptune Systems - Apex Controller with Lab Grade pH Probe
Neptune Systems - VorTech Wireless Module WXM
Neptune Systems - Salinity Module PM2
Neptune Systems - Breakout Box
Neptune Systems - Energy Bar 8


At this this point (budget blown), why not add on another lighting fixture to put over the 20-gallon even though it was not on sale. To make things more interesting, I went with a T5 fixture to see how it looked compared to the MH/Compact and MH/LED systems. I ended up buying a 24" ATI SunPower 6 x 24W Light Fixture knowing it was more than I needed, but just in-case of future expansions…

In addition to the equipment sales, a Reef2Reef sponsored vendor (Unique Corals) was having a weekend sale starting around this time. What better way to fill up the newly lit 20-gallon and so I purchased the following:

1 Maricultured Bali Green 3" Acro
1 Maricultured Blue Polyp Bali 3" Acro
1 Maricultured Bali 3" Acro
1 ORA "Verde" 1.25" Acro
1 UC "Orchid Chalice" 3/4" Echinophyllia
1 "Beautiful Mind" 1" Acanthastrea Echinata


In preparation for their arrival, I had to purchase yet another tank (10-gallon) to set-up a quarantine system as I was now learning that corals have “pests†(really?). I was also becoming, in my mind, a serious reefer and needed to be dedicated (there’s that word again) to the heath of my livestock.

To make matters worse, I became a member of a local reefing club, Twin Cities Marine Aquarium Society (TCMAS), and I learned that there was going to be Frag Swap near the end of November (another great way to get the family out of the house on the weekend)! I made sure we got there right at “doors opened†and stayed till the very end as I, of course, needed to see if I won anything in those darn raffles! Never did it cross my mind that bringing a 16-month who had recently found her legs was a good idea! Fortunately, there was a basement area with tables where overflow venders were located and my wife stayed down there and kept her busy, patiently waiting for the end!:bored:
I greatly enjoyed my time spent with my older daughter while looking at all the corals and meeting new vendors, one of which who specialized in tank maintenance, installations and selling corals/fish (one-stop shop for that large reef tank I always wanted - Hint, Hint). I managed to leave the swap with only the following:

1 German Blue Acro
1 Misc. Tabling Acro
1 Misc. Acro (looked yellow under their lighting but turned out green under my lighting)
1 Miami Hurricane Chalice
Bam-Bam Zoanthids (three polyps)
1 Christmas Favia
1 Red Tip Bubble Anemone
2 clown fish

10-gallon quarantine tank with new arrivals.

Are there any types of addiction groups out there similar to “AA†but for reefers, as I clearly have a problem… :help:

 

[prsnlty]

Haha, if you find one please let me know!

Jackie

 

[danangelo]

Really good story. you're so brave for documenting the expenses..lol..while I read this I was remembering my own story its amazing how this hobby can make us somehow relate to your story..thanks for sharing

 

[TimSc2013]

Only days had passed since experiencing my first frag swap and meeting a vendor I felt a good rapport with in regards to setting up new systems and I could not keep my mind off getting the ball rolling for this new build. I made contact and with the owner about my plans and began working with them on getting dimensions and pricing for standard tanks of around 125 to 150 gallons so I could began laying it out with masking tape on the floor to see how it would fit. I quickly learned that a minimum size of 180 gallons (24†deep compared to 18.5â€) would be needed to avoid a “thin†tank, which was not desirable with the planned peninsula (No problem, the bigger the better, right?). We then set-up a time to meet at my house in a couple weeks on Friday, December 6^th to go over the proposed build and show them the intended area.

One Wednesday December 4^th, I sent out an e-mail to confirm if we were still on to meet that Friday. The weather had been extremely cold and snowy that week and my house was about 45 minutes away so I just wanted to make sure it was still a convenient time considering the weather and as I also had to take time off of work that afternoon. No response was received that day, or the following day so I presumed the meet was off and went to work Friday feeling discouraged with the abrupt halt.

Most of the weekend came and went with me rethinking my plan to move forward with this build. Then on Sunday night I received an e-mail from the Owner apologizing that they had missed my e-mail and wanted to meet on Monday (I should have used the old reliable telephone instead of the now convenient e-mail system to communicate hone.

As I was leaving town for business I responded back that I couldn’t and we would have to look for another time. I left town for the week and tried to get my mind off the build and my recent set-back. I decided I would let things be and not pursue anything further at this point (I must have been feeling sorry for myself, or it was just that time of year with the holidays :violin.

I went back to focus on my existing system and newly acquainted livestock which were transferred from quarantine to their new homes.

34-gallon with some new found space.

20-gallon with mostly LPS and the clowns with their RBTA.

I was starting to see some good growth, especially with the acan and favia corals which began with only two to three heads!