Hey gang, really love reading this forum but haven't really posted before. Hoping for some advice on a reboot.
FYI, love this post on signs of failure: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/recognizing-the-signs-of-failure.237431
Anyway, not that I "failed" per se but I came pretty close to selling off my RSM 250 a couple of months ago in conjunction with a big move from Utah to Texas. When I realized I'd only be able to sell off my equipment for pennies on the dollar, I decided to keep - and because I love having a tank. I'd had the tank up and running for about 2 years with mixed success. Some corals and fish did great, some not so much. I'd started the tank with the thought of being very specific to a region and ecosystem; reef lagoon in the Indo-Pacific seemed like a good place to start. But, it was very difficult to find information on exactly which corals and fish lived in a specific zone like that. So essentially I wound up with a typical "mixed reef," most of which were Indo-Pacific in origin but who knows what habitat they preferred. I had a gorgeous bird's nest which grew like wildfire and then died suddenly. Zoas that grew like crazy and then were suddenly eaten by shrimp? I think. But I did really, really well with E. paradivisa which fragged and grew into multiple big colonies, some nice mushrooms did well, finger leathers did well, and a nice little frag of Chalice coral which has grown and done super well (if into strange shapes b/c of water flow). Had a Duncan which grew and grew and seemed indestructible for well over a year and then disappeared in a few days. Super sad and frustrating. Then in the end I got a nasty bryopsis infestation and just could not get rid of it, even hired maintenance help... couldn't get it done.
In the end, I tore it all down, sold most of it off, and then did something silly. I got a Fluval Edge tank, transferred a few of my healthiest pieces of live rock to it along with some sand bed, put two big chunks of frogspawn into it, a few small leather coral frags, my 2 clowns and 1 firefish, and my chalice coral, and put them into my truck for the 3-day drive to TX with aeration and a heater. I brought the tank into a hotel room 2 nights in a row. Back to the truck for the next day's drive. All made it just fine, miraculously. So I've now had that lot in this little nanotank, without proper reef filtration, for 2 months now. Ack. They're ready to go back to a proper reef tank. Which is why I need your help.
I want to restart this thing, but with my original intent - to build a proper ecosystem based on real habitat. I'd like to do it based around the E. paradivisa... so to best of my knowledge, an Indo-Pacific lagoon reef habitat. Aquascaping, corals, animals, etc. need to be legit. Do you guys have any info on where I could find accurate lists of inhabitants for that zone? Only legit info I've found seems to be this: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00265006 listing Cauliflower coral as another inhabitant, which I've seen firsthand in Hawaii and makes sense.
I'm also concerned about mixing coral types - would it be better to just limit it to LPS and maybe Zoas vs introducing the SPS Cauliflower?
So to boil it down:
1. What should I keep from the current nano?
1a. Should I even start the new tank using the nano "Noah's ark" tank and risk reintroducing bryopsis and other pests?
2. Where can I find info on fish and corals native to Indo-Pacific lagoon habitat?
3. What's the best way to build an aquascape to allow for bigger corals like frogspawn in a lagoon environment?
4. I have 2 5-gallon buckets with the old sand and live rock, sealed up. They've been out of water for 2 months now, so everything is dead I'm sure. Should I reuse it? Or just chuck it and start over, seeding with the rock and sand from my "Noah's ark"?
Here's a pic of my transfer tank (it also has a few bubble tip anemones which I'm sure would be happier in a bigger, more stable tank):
https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/photo/102910532353147968838/6257674401339481330
Thanks for reading and taking the time to help, if so inclined.
Cheers!
JR
FYI, love this post on signs of failure: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/recognizing-the-signs-of-failure.237431
Anyway, not that I "failed" per se but I came pretty close to selling off my RSM 250 a couple of months ago in conjunction with a big move from Utah to Texas. When I realized I'd only be able to sell off my equipment for pennies on the dollar, I decided to keep - and because I love having a tank. I'd had the tank up and running for about 2 years with mixed success. Some corals and fish did great, some not so much. I'd started the tank with the thought of being very specific to a region and ecosystem; reef lagoon in the Indo-Pacific seemed like a good place to start. But, it was very difficult to find information on exactly which corals and fish lived in a specific zone like that. So essentially I wound up with a typical "mixed reef," most of which were Indo-Pacific in origin but who knows what habitat they preferred. I had a gorgeous bird's nest which grew like wildfire and then died suddenly. Zoas that grew like crazy and then were suddenly eaten by shrimp? I think. But I did really, really well with E. paradivisa which fragged and grew into multiple big colonies, some nice mushrooms did well, finger leathers did well, and a nice little frag of Chalice coral which has grown and done super well (if into strange shapes b/c of water flow). Had a Duncan which grew and grew and seemed indestructible for well over a year and then disappeared in a few days. Super sad and frustrating. Then in the end I got a nasty bryopsis infestation and just could not get rid of it, even hired maintenance help... couldn't get it done.
In the end, I tore it all down, sold most of it off, and then did something silly. I got a Fluval Edge tank, transferred a few of my healthiest pieces of live rock to it along with some sand bed, put two big chunks of frogspawn into it, a few small leather coral frags, my 2 clowns and 1 firefish, and my chalice coral, and put them into my truck for the 3-day drive to TX with aeration and a heater. I brought the tank into a hotel room 2 nights in a row. Back to the truck for the next day's drive. All made it just fine, miraculously. So I've now had that lot in this little nanotank, without proper reef filtration, for 2 months now. Ack. They're ready to go back to a proper reef tank. Which is why I need your help.
I want to restart this thing, but with my original intent - to build a proper ecosystem based on real habitat. I'd like to do it based around the E. paradivisa... so to best of my knowledge, an Indo-Pacific lagoon reef habitat. Aquascaping, corals, animals, etc. need to be legit. Do you guys have any info on where I could find accurate lists of inhabitants for that zone? Only legit info I've found seems to be this: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00265006 listing Cauliflower coral as another inhabitant, which I've seen firsthand in Hawaii and makes sense.
I'm also concerned about mixing coral types - would it be better to just limit it to LPS and maybe Zoas vs introducing the SPS Cauliflower?
So to boil it down:
1. What should I keep from the current nano?
1a. Should I even start the new tank using the nano "Noah's ark" tank and risk reintroducing bryopsis and other pests?
2. Where can I find info on fish and corals native to Indo-Pacific lagoon habitat?
3. What's the best way to build an aquascape to allow for bigger corals like frogspawn in a lagoon environment?
4. I have 2 5-gallon buckets with the old sand and live rock, sealed up. They've been out of water for 2 months now, so everything is dead I'm sure. Should I reuse it? Or just chuck it and start over, seeding with the rock and sand from my "Noah's ark"?
Here's a pic of my transfer tank (it also has a few bubble tip anemones which I'm sure would be happier in a bigger, more stable tank):
https://plus.google.com/u/1/photos/photo/102910532353147968838/6257674401339481330
Thanks for reading and taking the time to help, if so inclined.
Cheers!
JR
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