I have been neglectful and am trying to get better :-D

[A;exr54]

I am making this post so I can express my thoughts to people who may understand. No one in my house really does. Same with close friends, which I don't have many of.

I would like to apologize in advance for this post of mine being so long winded. And I do thank and do appreciate anyone who bothers to read through it all. I truly can understand if I get a bunch of TL;DR.

So I basically suck. I know I do. I fell off. I stopped taking care of my aquarium for a while now. I know I need to do better . I am trying now. This long winded post should prove it .

There was a point in the past year that I really started ignoring/neglecting my aquarium. Mainly after my father unexpectedly passed away. I just haven't been in the mood. Besides being my father he was also my best friend. We spent every weekend together working on all sorts of crazy DIY projects, for at least the last 10 years. And I am not a child, I am in my 40s.
He even helped me do the aquascape for my aquarium. Although salt water aquariums were never his hobby, but he did appreciate what he saw in mine. Expensive as it may be.

I still am not over it and don't think I ever will be - but I have started to get on top of my aquarium again.

I did not do a water change for at least 4-5 months (until 3 weeks ago). I didn't change the RODI filters for at least 8 months (until 2 weeks ago).
I did take care of these things very recently and do have a new RO membrane on order.

I didn't clean my ATS for at least a year now .
My ATS was a DIY I built with my father.
I still haven't cleaned it, but will do it soon. Its cold out. When its not that cold I'll do it .
--
Unfortunately I did have some losses in my time frame of neglect. I have also had some growth explosions.

I lost a beautiful purple tip frogspawn. It started from 2 heads, and it grew to about 15 heads. I noticed it wither away and die in about a week .

I lost a cookie monster SPS frag which was really starting to grow nicely before I fell off. It is not 100% gone yet. But I don't have very high hopes for it now. I was never great with SPS to begin with.

None of my fish died. They all look very healthy. Including a green mandarin I have had for about 8 years and a Blue Spotted Jawfish I have had for about 2 years now. Plus many others.
--
Had a AOI zoa frag gifted to me from an awesome reefer I met from these forums. It has exploded into a full pledged colony now. Probably about 100 or so polyps now.
--
Before I fell off and started neglecting my aquarium I fragged a cantaloupe sized branching neon green hammer, about 16 branches. The mother hammer is still about the same size (does not help that clowns have hosted in it for years). The frag is now about half the size of the mother colony.
--
I added a RBTA about 18 months ago to try to get my clowns away from the hammer. The clowns refuse to leave the hammer alone anyway. But now I have about 15 RBTA's. Which I am currently selling off slowly to locals for super cheap.
--
I am basically giving away Pulsing Xenia to anyone who will take it (except stores).
--
My finger leather has grown from about 5" across when open to about 20" across when open. I am planning on fragging that very soon. To either give away or sell if I can.
--
So many other things...
--
My ricordea's have started growing out of control.
I have several other Zoa colonies that have exploded. One main colony must be over 400 polyps (i didn't count, its a lot).
--
There is some more I'm sure, but I've already probably bored most of you who got this far so I'll stop.
--
To the nitty gritty;
My Neptune trident stopped working at least 4 months ago. So my Alk,Cal,Mag readings were - I have no idea. Yet my DOS kept on dosing 2 part.

So I fixed the trident a few days ago. The sample line was clogged and needed to be replaced and the little adapter for the sample line was clogged, I unclogged it with a needle.

Then I recalibrated it, made sure all solutions were good and full, and let it run its tests.

CAL 600
Alk 7.9
Mag - 1380

Ran Hanna tests and they corroborate the trident test results.

I also tested for PO4 and NO3.
Phosphate 0.10
Nitrate 13.4
PH swings from 8.35 down to about 8.0 daily.
Temps never swings more then 1 degree. Between 76 and 77.
Salinity stays at about 33.5ppt
Par is at about a max of 300 at top shelf. (I need to replace my T5 bulbs)

So just today my wife showed me a picture of an amazing looking Goniopora (Pixie Dream).
Needless to say, I haven't added any new live stock to my tank in a long time.
But I may. After i do a few water changes, clean the ATS, target to get my PO4 down to 0.05. Raise Alk up some and lower Cal down some. Then I may.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my recent experience in this wonderful, crazy, unpredictable, laborious, rewarding, life long hobby.

-Alex

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

Dont worry about it. Life happens. It sounds like overall the tank is doing pretty well. Ime most peoples tanks tend to ebb and flow a bit, as life allows us to spend more or less time on our tanks. Sounds like you have a good handle on the corrections you need to make. I have no doubt with a little attention things will bounce right back.

 

[DanyL]

Hey and welcome back to hobby!

I'm sorry to hear about your father passing, it is a great loss to lose a parent.

Generally it sounds like your tank survived this period well enough to evolve and grow during this time, which is good.
Some corals, mostly SPS can be finicky, LPS and softies usually do well even when our params aren't spot on, especially when they drift slowly.

We don't need to chase certain nutrient numbers unless our corals aren't healthy, which in your case sounds like the exact opposite. The main thing I would take care of is your high Calcium levels, decrease it down to around 420-450, do an ICP test and see what else may have depleted during this time and make sure to supplement it back into the system. Make sure your TDS stays on 0 and do weekly WC of 20%, and you should be able to introduce LPS/SPS rather quickly, a month or two worth of water changes sounds about right.

Good luck

 

[TnFishwater98]

I am making this post so I can express my thoughts to people who may understand. No one in my house really does. Same with close friends, which I don't have many of.

I would like to apologize in advance for this post of mine being so long winded. And I do thank and do appreciate anyone who bothers to read through it all. I truly can understand if I get a bunch of TL;DR.

So I basically suck. I know I do. I fell off. I stopped taking care of my aquarium for a while now. I know I need to do better . I am trying now. This long winded post should prove it .

There was a point in the past year that I really started ignoring/neglecting my aquarium. Mainly after my father unexpectedly passed away. I just haven't been in the mood. Besides being my father he was also my best friend. We spent every weekend together working on all sorts of crazy DIY projects, for at least the last 10 years. And I am not a child, I am in my 40s.
He even helped me do the aquascape for my aquarium. Although salt water aquariums were never his hobby, but he did appreciate what he saw in mine. Expensive as it may be.

I still am not over it and don't think I ever will be - but I have started to get on top of my aquarium again.

I did not do a water change for at least 4-5 months (until 3 weeks ago). I didn't change the RODI filters for at least 8 months (until 2 weeks ago).
I did take care of these things very recently and do have a new RO membrane on order.

I didn't clean my ATS for at least a year now .
My ATS was a DIY I built with my father.
I still haven't cleaned it, but will do it soon. Its cold out. When its not that cold I'll do it .
--
Unfortunately I did have some losses in my time frame of neglect. I have also had some growth explosions.

I lost a beautiful purple tip frogspawn. It started from 2 heads, and it grew to about 15 heads. I noticed it wither away and die in about a week .

I lost a cookie monster SPS frag which was really starting to grow nicely before I fell off. It is not 100% gone yet. But I don't have very high hopes for it now. I was never great with SPS to begin with.

None of my fish died. They all look very healthy. Including a green mandarin I have had for about 8 years and a Blue Spotted Jawfish I have had for about 2 years now. Plus many others.
--
Had a AOI zoa frag gifted to me from an awesome reefer I met from these forums. It has exploded into a full pledged colony now. Probably about 100 or so polyps now.
--
Before I fell off and started neglecting my aquarium I fragged a cantaloupe sized branching neon green hammer, about 16 branches. The mother hammer is still about the same size (does not help that clowns have hosted in it for years). The frag is now about half the size of the mother colony.
--
I added a RBTA about 18 months ago to try to get my clowns away from the hammer. The clowns refuse to leave the hammer alone anyway. But now I have about 15 RBTA's. Which I am currently selling off slowly to locals for super cheap.
--
I am basically giving away Pulsing Xenia to anyone who will take it (except stores).
--
My finger leather has grown from about 5" across when open to about 20" across when open. I am planning on fragging that very soon. To either give away or sell if I can.
--
So many other things...
--
My ricordea's have started growing out of control.
I have several other Zoa colonies that have exploded. One main colony must be over 400 polyps (i didn't count, its a lot).
--
There is some more I'm sure, but I've already probably bored most of you who got this far so I'll stop.
--
To the nitty gritty;
My Neptune trident stopped working at least 4 months ago. So my Alk,Cal,Mag readings were - I have no idea. Yet my DOS kept on dosing 2 part.

So I fixed the trident a few days ago. The sample line was clogged and needed to be replaced and the little adapter for the sample line was clogged, I unclogged it with a needle.

Then I recalibrated it, made sure all solutions were good and full, and let it run its tests.

CAL 600
Alk 7.9
Mag - 1380

Ran Hanna tests and they corroborate the trident test results.

I also tested for PO4 and NO3.
Phosphate 0.10
Nitrate 13.4
PH swings from 8.35 down to about 8.0 daily.
Temps never swings more then 1 degree. Between 76 and 77.
Salinity stays at about 33.5ppt
Par is at about a max of 300 at top shelf. (I need to replace my T5 bulbs)

So just today my wife showed me a picture of an amazing looking Goniopora (Pixie Dream).
Needless to say, I haven't added any new live stock to my tank in a long time.
But I may. After i do a few water changes, clean the ATS, target to get my PO4 down to 0.05. Raise Alk up some and lower Cal down some. Then I may.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my recent experience in this wonderful, crazy, unpredictable, laborious, rewarding, life long hobby.

-Alex

I’ve been there. You walk by the tank/tank room and it’s like your head can’t even turn to look in its direction. It happen to me after I had almost back to back visits from the vacation tank boogey man. Once you get it back to better shape you might realize it’s not as bad as you think. Hope you took pics when it was in bad shape. I would like to see the progress. Sorry to hear about your father.

 

[A;exr54]

I’ve been there. You walk by the tank/tank room and it’s like your head can’t even turn to look in its direction. It happen to me after I had almost back to back visits from the vacation tank boogey man. Once you get it back to better shape you might realize it’s not as bad as you think. Hope you took pics when it was in bad shape. I would like to see the progress. Sorry to hear about your father.

I didn't take any pics. Even if i did i doubt anyone would make anything out behind the glass that was full of diatoms and coraline.
First thing i did when i said screw it im taking care of it again was i took a razor and cleaned the glass. And that took about an hour to do.

I am also ashamed to admit, I had to google "vacation tank boogey man"

 

[vetteguy53081]

I am making this post so I can express my thoughts to people who may understand. No one in my house really does. Same with close friends, which I don't have many of.

I would like to apologize in advance for this post of mine being so long winded. And I do thank and do appreciate anyone who bothers to read through it all. I truly can understand if I get a bunch of TL;DR.

So I basically suck. I know I do. I fell off. I stopped taking care of my aquarium for a while now. I know I need to do better . I am trying now. This long winded post should prove it .

There was a point in the past year that I really started ignoring/neglecting my aquarium. Mainly after my father unexpectedly passed away. I just haven't been in the mood. Besides being my father he was also my best friend. We spent every weekend together working on all sorts of crazy DIY projects, for at least the last 10 years. And I am not a child, I am in my 40s.
He even helped me do the aquascape for my aquarium. Although salt water aquariums were never his hobby, but he did appreciate what he saw in mine. Expensive as it may be.

I still am not over it and don't think I ever will be - but I have started to get on top of my aquarium again.

I did not do a water change for at least 4-5 months (until 3 weeks ago). I didn't change the RODI filters for at least 8 months (until 2 weeks ago).
I did take care of these things very recently and do have a new RO membrane on order.

I didn't clean my ATS for at least a year now .
My ATS was a DIY I built with my father.
I still haven't cleaned it, but will do it soon. Its cold out. When its not that cold I'll do it .
--
Unfortunately I did have some losses in my time frame of neglect. I have also had some growth explosions.

I lost a beautiful purple tip frogspawn. It started from 2 heads, and it grew to about 15 heads. I noticed it wither away and die in about a week .

I lost a cookie monster SPS frag which was really starting to grow nicely before I fell off. It is not 100% gone yet. But I don't have very high hopes for it now. I was never great with SPS to begin with.

None of my fish died. They all look very healthy. Including a green mandarin I have had for about 8 years and a Blue Spotted Jawfish I have had for about 2 years now. Plus many others.
--
Had a AOI zoa frag gifted to me from an awesome reefer I met from these forums. It has exploded into a full pledged colony now. Probably about 100 or so polyps now.
--
Before I fell off and started neglecting my aquarium I fragged a cantaloupe sized branching neon green hammer, about 16 branches. The mother hammer is still about the same size (does not help that clowns have hosted in it for years). The frag is now about half the size of the mother colony.
--
I added a RBTA about 18 months ago to try to get my clowns away from the hammer. The clowns refuse to leave the hammer alone anyway. But now I have about 15 RBTA's. Which I am currently selling off slowly to locals for super cheap.
--
I am basically giving away Pulsing Xenia to anyone who will take it (except stores).
--
My finger leather has grown from about 5" across when open to about 20" across when open. I am planning on fragging that very soon. To either give away or sell if I can.
--
So many other things...
--
My ricordea's have started growing out of control.
I have several other Zoa colonies that have exploded. One main colony must be over 400 polyps (i didn't count, its a lot).
--
There is some more I'm sure, but I've already probably bored most of you who got this far so I'll stop.
--
To the nitty gritty;
My Neptune trident stopped working at least 4 months ago. So my Alk,Cal,Mag readings were - I have no idea. Yet my DOS kept on dosing 2 part.

So I fixed the trident a few days ago. The sample line was clogged and needed to be replaced and the little adapter for the sample line was clogged, I unclogged it with a needle.

Then I recalibrated it, made sure all solutions were good and full, and let it run its tests.

CAL 600
Alk 7.9
Mag - 1380

Ran Hanna tests and they corroborate the trident test results.

I also tested for PO4 and NO3.
Phosphate 0.10
Nitrate 13.4
PH swings from 8.35 down to about 8.0 daily.
Temps never swings more then 1 degree. Between 76 and 77.
Salinity stays at about 33.5ppt
Par is at about a max of 300 at top shelf. (I need to replace my T5 bulbs)

So just today my wife showed me a picture of an amazing looking Goniopora (Pixie Dream).
Needless to say, I haven't added any new live stock to my tank in a long time.
But I may. After i do a few water changes, clean the ATS, target to get my PO4 down to 0.05. Raise Alk up some and lower Cal down some. Then I may.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my recent experience in this wonderful, crazy, unpredictable, laborious, rewarding, life long hobby.

-Alex

Do NOT apologize for setting life's priorities- In a sense of speaking The most important thing IS Y O U and not your tank. The tank will be there but it takes a whole person to manage a tank and family and youve taken care of that part.
Allot a 1/2 hour each evening doing one task each day - If you watch the news, listen to the news and o that step
By weekend you will have a whole different tank.
Mon - Start with algae if any.
Tues - Do a small water change
Wed - Take trident cover off and blow through all the lines to assure clear.
Thurs- Do a water test
Fri- Do another small water change if test results suggest to do that
Sat - Feed coral and see how theyre looking
Sun- add or change carbon and any other expired media

 

[A;exr54]

Do NOT apologize for setting life's priorities- In a sense of speaking The most important thing IS Y O U and not your tank. The tank will be there but it takes a whole person to manage a tank and family and youve taken care of that part.
Allot a 1/2 hour each evening doing one task each day - If you watch the news, listen to the news and o that step
By weekend you will have a whole different tank.
Mon - Start with algae if any.
Tues - Do a small water change
Wed - Take trident cover off and blow through all the lines to assure clear.
Thurs- Do a water test
Fri- Do another small water change if test results suggest to do that
Sat - Feed coral and see how theyre looking
Sun- add or change carbon and any other expired media

I appreciate this!

I am just this type of person. I have expectations of myself. And I am typically harder on myself than others are on me (some social media platforms excluded).

The thing is I know what I need to do. If you did manage to read through my long winded post, you might have noticed i did not really ask for advice on the aquarium itself. To be honest, i have been keeping a reef tank since I was a teenager living with my mom in an apartment in Brooklyn. I haven't gone without one since.

Now I own my own house in Florida. Wife/Kids/Dogs.. The whole 9 yards.

Over 30 years now.

And that's just it. I know what I need to do. And I haven't been doing it.

 

[Auquanut]

I am making this post so I can express my thoughts to people who may understand. No one in my house really does. Same with close friends, which I don't have many of.

I would like to apologize in advance for this post of mine being so long winded. And I do thank and do appreciate anyone who bothers to read through it all. I truly can understand if I get a bunch of TL;DR.

So I basically suck. I know I do. I fell off. I stopped taking care of my aquarium for a while now. I know I need to do better . I am trying now. This long winded post should prove it .

There was a point in the past year that I really started ignoring/neglecting my aquarium. Mainly after my father unexpectedly passed away. I just haven't been in the mood. Besides being my father he was also my best friend. We spent every weekend together working on all sorts of crazy DIY projects, for at least the last 10 years. And I am not a child, I am in my 40s.
He even helped me do the aquascape for my aquarium. Although salt water aquariums were never his hobby, but he did appreciate what he saw in mine. Expensive as it may be.

I still am not over it and don't think I ever will be - but I have started to get on top of my aquarium again.

I did not do a water change for at least 4-5 months (until 3 weeks ago). I didn't change the RODI filters for at least 8 months (until 2 weeks ago).
I did take care of these things very recently and do have a new RO membrane on order.

I didn't clean my ATS for at least a year now .
My ATS was a DIY I built with my father.
I still haven't cleaned it, but will do it soon. Its cold out. When its not that cold I'll do it .
--
Unfortunately I did have some losses in my time frame of neglect. I have also had some growth explosions.

I lost a beautiful purple tip frogspawn. It started from 2 heads, and it grew to about 15 heads. I noticed it wither away and die in about a week .

I lost a cookie monster SPS frag which was really starting to grow nicely before I fell off. It is not 100% gone yet. But I don't have very high hopes for it now. I was never great with SPS to begin with.

None of my fish died. They all look very healthy. Including a green mandarin I have had for about 8 years and a Blue Spotted Jawfish I have had for about 2 years now. Plus many others.
--
Had a AOI zoa frag gifted to me from an awesome reefer I met from these forums. It has exploded into a full pledged colony now. Probably about 100 or so polyps now.
--
Before I fell off and started neglecting my aquarium I fragged a cantaloupe sized branching neon green hammer, about 16 branches. The mother hammer is still about the same size (does not help that clowns have hosted in it for years). The frag is now about half the size of the mother colony.
--
I added a RBTA about 18 months ago to try to get my clowns away from the hammer. The clowns refuse to leave the hammer alone anyway. But now I have about 15 RBTA's. Which I am currently selling off slowly to locals for super cheap.
--
I am basically giving away Pulsing Xenia to anyone who will take it (except stores).
--
My finger leather has grown from about 5" across when open to about 20" across when open. I am planning on fragging that very soon. To either give away or sell if I can.
--
So many other things...
--
My ricordea's have started growing out of control.
I have several other Zoa colonies that have exploded. One main colony must be over 400 polyps (i didn't count, its a lot).
--
There is some more I'm sure, but I've already probably bored most of you who got this far so I'll stop.
--
To the nitty gritty;
My Neptune trident stopped working at least 4 months ago. So my Alk,Cal,Mag readings were - I have no idea. Yet my DOS kept on dosing 2 part.

So I fixed the trident a few days ago. The sample line was clogged and needed to be replaced and the little adapter for the sample line was clogged, I unclogged it with a needle.

Then I recalibrated it, made sure all solutions were good and full, and let it run its tests.

CAL 600
Alk 7.9
Mag - 1380

Ran Hanna tests and they corroborate the trident test results.

I also tested for PO4 and NO3.
Phosphate 0.10
Nitrate 13.4
PH swings from 8.35 down to about 8.0 daily.
Temps never swings more then 1 degree. Between 76 and 77.
Salinity stays at about 33.5ppt
Par is at about a max of 300 at top shelf. (I need to replace my T5 bulbs)

So just today my wife showed me a picture of an amazing looking Goniopora (Pixie Dream).
Needless to say, I haven't added any new live stock to my tank in a long time.
But I may. After i do a few water changes, clean the ATS, target to get my PO4 down to 0.05. Raise Alk up some and lower Cal down some. Then I may.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my recent experience in this wonderful, crazy, unpredictable, laborious, rewarding, life long hobby.

-Alex

I do understand. Still trying to bounce back from a few very hard blows over the past couple of years. They have effected my tanks, my presence in this community, my health, and my relationships with those around me.

I already knew, and am relearning that this hobby can be a balm to the painful chaos that life can throw at us. Here's hoping that rejuvenating your interest in your tanks will provide a bit of the balm that it seems to be giving me. God bless.

 

[A;exr54]

I do understand. Still trying to bounce back from a few very hard blows over the past couple of years. They have effected my tanks, my presence in this community, my health, and my relationships with those around me.

I already knew, and am relearning that this hobby can be a balm to the painful chaos that life can throw at us. Here's hoping that rejuvenating your interest in your tanks will provide a bit of the balm that it seems to be giving me. God bless.

Thank you. I knew that if anyone could understand it would be people here, on this forum.
I am sure so many of us here have gone through very similar situations in life.
And have at times felt ashamed at things we left in the wake of neglect because of those situations.

I am thankful my aquarium still seems to be thriving in some aspects and it wont take much to make it even better then before. Which is my goal now.

 

[A;exr54]

Hey and welcome back to hobby!

I'm sorry to hear about your father passing, it is a great loss to lose a parent.

Generally it sounds like your tank survived this period well enough to evolve and grow during this time, which is good.
Some corals, mostly SPS can be finicky, LPS and softies usually do well even when our params aren't spot on, especially when they drift slowly.

We don't need to chase certain nutrient numbers unless our corals aren't healthy, which in your case sounds like the exact opposite. The main thing I would take care of is your high Calcium levels, decrease it down to around 420-450, do an ICP test and see what else may have depleted during this time and make sure to supplement it back into the system. Make sure your TDS stays on 0 and do weekly WC of 20%, and you should be able to introduce LPS/SPS rather quickly, a month or two worth of water changes sounds about right.

Good luck

Thanks for your reply

A lot of us do things a bit differently. I tried ICP tests in the past. After a few really bad experiences I don't do them anymore.
I know the TDS was not at 0, which due to my neglect of not changing my RODI filters. That's since been taken care of. And after a few water changes it will be fine I am sure.

However weekly 20% is not something I would do personally. It may work great for others. I do about 20% a month. This particular tank has been running for over 10 years and still has inhabitants from even older tanks of mine. Last thing I want to do is shock anything.
I am in no rush. Before my period of neglect started I was always adamite of taking things slow, I don't see that part changing.
I don't think i'll be adding any SPS, at least not in the foreseeable future.
But i may try my hand at a nice Goni, per my wife's request

 

[grr410]

I am making this post so I can express my thoughts to people who may understand. No one in my house really does. Same with close friends, which I don't have many of.

I would like to apologize in advance for this post of mine being so long winded. And I do thank and do appreciate anyone who bothers to read through it all. I truly can understand if I get a bunch of TL;DR.

So I basically suck. I know I do. I fell off. I stopped taking care of my aquarium for a while now. I know I need to do better . I am trying now. This long winded post should prove it .

There was a point in the past year that I really started ignoring/neglecting my aquarium. Mainly after my father unexpectedly passed away. I just haven't been in the mood. Besides being my father he was also my best friend. We spent every weekend together working on all sorts of crazy DIY projects, for at least the last 10 years. And I am not a child, I am in my 40s.
He even helped me do the aquascape for my aquarium. Although salt water aquariums were never his hobby, but he did appreciate what he saw in mine. Expensive as it may be.

I still am not over it and don't think I ever will be - but I have started to get on top of my aquarium again.

I did not do a water change for at least 4-5 months (until 3 weeks ago). I didn't change the RODI filters for at least 8 months (until 2 weeks ago).
I did take care of these things very recently and do have a new RO membrane on order.

I didn't clean my ATS for at least a year now .
My ATS was a DIY I built with my father.
I still haven't cleaned it, but will do it soon. Its cold out. When its not that cold I'll do it .
--
Unfortunately I did have some losses in my time frame of neglect. I have also had some growth explosions.

I lost a beautiful purple tip frogspawn. It started from 2 heads, and it grew to about 15 heads. I noticed it wither away and die in about a week .

I lost a cookie monster SPS frag which was really starting to grow nicely before I fell off. It is not 100% gone yet. But I don't have very high hopes for it now. I was never great with SPS to begin with.

None of my fish died. They all look very healthy. Including a green mandarin I have had for about 8 years and a Blue Spotted Jawfish I have had for about 2 years now. Plus many others.
--
Had a AOI zoa frag gifted to me from an awesome reefer I met from these forums. It has exploded into a full pledged colony now. Probably about 100 or so polyps now.
--
Before I fell off and started neglecting my aquarium I fragged a cantaloupe sized branching neon green hammer, about 16 branches. The mother hammer is still about the same size (does not help that clowns have hosted in it for years). The frag is now about half the size of the mother colony.
--
I added a RBTA about 18 months ago to try to get my clowns away from the hammer. The clowns refuse to leave the hammer alone anyway. But now I have about 15 RBTA's. Which I am currently selling off slowly to locals for super cheap.
--
I am basically giving away Pulsing Xenia to anyone who will take it (except stores).
--
My finger leather has grown from about 5" across when open to about 20" across when open. I am planning on fragging that very soon. To either give away or sell if I can.
--
So many other things...
--
My ricordea's have started growing out of control.
I have several other Zoa colonies that have exploded. One main colony must be over 400 polyps (i didn't count, its a lot).
--
There is some more I'm sure, but I've already probably bored most of you who got this far so I'll stop.
--
To the nitty gritty;
My Neptune trident stopped working at least 4 months ago. So my Alk,Cal,Mag readings were - I have no idea. Yet my DOS kept on dosing 2 part.

So I fixed the trident a few days ago. The sample line was clogged and needed to be replaced and the little adapter for the sample line was clogged, I unclogged it with a needle.

Then I recalibrated it, made sure all solutions were good and full, and let it run its tests.

CAL 600
Alk 7.9
Mag - 1380

Ran Hanna tests and they corroborate the trident test results.

I also tested for PO4 and NO3.
Phosphate 0.10
Nitrate 13.4
PH swings from 8.35 down to about 8.0 daily.
Temps never swings more then 1 degree. Between 76 and 77.
Salinity stays at about 33.5ppt
Par is at about a max of 300 at top shelf. (I need to replace my T5 bulbs)

So just today my wife showed me a picture of an amazing looking Goniopora (Pixie Dream).
Needless to say, I haven't added any new live stock to my tank in a long time.
But I may. After i do a few water changes, clean the ATS, target to get my PO4 down to 0.05. Raise Alk up some and lower Cal down some. Then I may.

Thank you all for taking the time to read my recent experience in this wonderful, crazy, unpredictable, laborious, rewarding, life long hobby.

-Alex

Hey man you’re getting back and that’s most important. My condolences on your father passing, I’m 40 myself and my dad helps me out a lot with my tank, actually took him to his first coral show yesterday. When you work on the tank think of your dad looking down smiling at you continuing doing something you both shared and loved. Best wishes!

 

[Rusty_L_Shackleford]

Do NOT apologize for setting life's priorities- In a sense of speaking The most important thing IS Y O U and not your tank. The tank will be there but it takes a whole person to manage a tank and family and youve taken care of that part.
Allot a 1/2 hour each evening doing one task each day - If you watch the news, listen to the news and o that step
By weekend you will have a whole different tank.
Mon - Start with algae if any.
Tues - Do a small water change
Wed - Take trident cover off and blow through all the lines to assure clear.
Thurs- Do a water test
Fri- Do another small water change if test results suggest to do that
Sat - Feed coral and see how theyre looking
Sun- add or change carbon and any other expired media

Excellent advice. Im still building my tank, and i try to do just 1 small thing every day. Its amazing how fast things come together, when you make a little consistent progress. Dont get overwhelmed with how far you think you have to go. 1 small thing a day and it wont be long before you go, wow things are comming together and its lookin good.

 

[A;exr54]

Hey man you’re getting back and that’s most important. My condolences on your father passing, I’m 40 myself and my dad helps me out a lot with my tank, actually took him to his first coral show yesterday. When you work on the tank think of your dad looking down smiling at you continuing doing something you both shared and loved. Best wishes!

My dad always thought its way too expensive, this hobby. He never really got into this hobby. Or he just really couldn't afford to. Although he really did enjoy looking at my tank and he did help me with a re-aquascape about 5 years ago. I did offer to set up a pico for him all expenses on me. But he refused because of electricity costs. He was not well off. And he would never accept handouts. We did have a complicated relationship. Which really blossomed when I moved to Florida in my 30s. Unknowingly we really were so alike and had same ambitions and I learned so much from him since then. That's when it was more then just father and son. It was really best friends.
So yea, I am not exaggerating when I say I lost my father and best/closest friend in one fell swoop. For me its not just pretty words. Its the truth.

With the tank he always helped when it came to plumbing issues or automation ideas.
Like my ATO.
I use the Neptune ATK, but he helped me with the source.
We built a shed ourselves (14'x20') in my side yard. Installed the RODI in the shed, ran a pipe from the main water line to the shed (underground), hooked it to a zone valve which turns on using a 12v power line run underground to my house to the Apex, based off the ATK values. The clean water line is run the same way into my refugium from the shed, the waste line is run underground as well but into my pool.
I have never had a problem with the way we did the ATO/RODI like this.

Just one of many, many, many DIY things we have done.

With my dad it was mostly building, electronics, and mechanics.
We built a summer kitchen in my back yard pool enclosure, with sink and grill.
We built a 1978 Jeep CJ7 from the frame up. Literally.
We converted a walk in closet into a walk in shower (on 2nd floor). You can fit a horse in there. It has an amazon echo in the ceiling and water proof speakers. Jets coming out the tiled wall, etc. Cool stuff.
He made the dual sink vanity for the master bathroom with the new walk in shower.
We rebuilt about 5-6 car engines and transmissions together.
The shed I already mentioned.
We've painted cars
The last thing we were working on before he passed was doing reupholstery for a 99 eclipse spyder i have. We were in the middle of it. Its still sitting in my shed half done with the same thread still in the sewing machine. Before the upholstery we just replaced the convertible rag top on it and we painted it. In my garage.
There is always more... But i will never be able to write it all down nor will how i describe any of it do it any justice.
IE
He also turned a 12kw portable generator (pulsar dual fuel - i have a 250g in-ground propane tank) into an auto stand by whole house generator for me. We laid the concrete block. He did the sub-panel, wired it to a Generac auto transfer switch. He was a master electrician. Normally Open/Normally Closed relays, timers, etc... Its all in there.
Last hurricane that hit us took out the power in my neighborhood for 6 days. We didn't lose any power because of the generator. And i didn't need to lift a finger.
He helped me install a new outdoor LPG tankless water heater for the house.
We built another shed on the other side of my house for all my pool equipment (which there is ALOT of).
Although there is so much more this is my last one - We redid the entire plumbing schema for the pool equipment (dual filter, dual pump pool/spa) and installed a new pool heater.

Its nuts, I know!!

Without him I would not have been able to do any of these things.

 

[grr410]

My dad always thought its way too expensive, this hobby. He never really got into this hobby. Or he just really couldn't afford to. Although he really did enjoy looking at my tank and he did help me with a re-aquascape about 5 years ago. I did offer to set up a pico for him all expenses on me. But he refused because of electricity costs. He was not well off. And he would never accept handouts. We did have a complicated relationship. Which really blossomed when I moved to Florida in my 30s. Unknowingly we really were so alike and had same ambitions and I learned so much from him since then. That's when it was more then just father and son. It was really best friends.
So yea, I am not exaggerating when I say I lost my father and best/closest friend in one fell swoop. For me its not just pretty words. Its the truth.

With the tank he always helped when it came to plumbing issues or automation ideas.
Like my ATO.
I use the Neptune ATK, but he helped me with the source.
We built a shed ourselves (14'x20') in my side yard. Installed the RODI in the shed, ran a pipe from the main water line to the shed (underground), hooked it to a zone valve which turns on using a 12v power line run underground to my house to the Apex, based off the ATK values. The clean water line is run the same way into my refugium from the shed, the waste line is run underground as well but into my pool.
I have never had a problem with the way we did the ATO/RODI like this.

Just one of many, many, many DIY things we have done.

With my dad it was mostly building, electronics, and mechanics.
We built a summer kitchen in my back yard pool enclosure, with sink and grill.
We built a 1978 Jeep CJ7 from the frame up. Literally.
We converted a walk in closet into a walk in shower (on 2nd floor). You can fit a horse in there. It has an amazon echo in the ceiling and water proof speakers. Jets coming out the tiled wall, etc. Cool stuff.
He made the dual sink vanity for the master bathroom with the new walk in shower.
We rebuilt about 5-6 car engines and transmissions together.
The shed I already mentioned.
We've painted cars
The last thing we were working on before he passed was doing reupholstery for a 99 eclipse spyder i have. We were in the middle of it. Its still sitting in my shed half done with the same thread still in the sewing machine. Before the upholstery we just replaced the convertible rag top on it and we painted it. In my garage.
There is always more... But i will never be able to write it all down nor will how i describe any of it do it any justice.
IE
He also turned a 12kw portable generator (pulsar dual fuel - i have a 250g in-ground propane tank) into an auto stand by whole house generator for me. We laid the concrete block. He did the sub-panel, wired it to a Generac auto transfer switch. He was a master electrician. Normally Open/Normally Closed relays, timers, etc... Its all in there.
Last hurricane that hit us took out the power in my neighborhood for 6 days. We didn't lose any power because of the generator. And i didn't need to lift a finger.
He helped me install a new outdoor LPG tankless water heater for the house.
We built another shed on the other side of my house for all my pool equipment (which there is ALOT of).
Although there is so much more this is my last one - We redid the entire plumbing schema for the pool equipment (dual filter, dual pump pool/spa) and installed a new pool heater.

Its nuts, I know!!

Without him I would not have been able to do any of these things.

Hey man sounds like all of us who have relationships with our fathers. Good, bad, and the middle, but they’re still our dads and it sounds as though you guys did have a relationship which is great. Just know what didn’t work and hopefully you can change that for you and your children, at least that’s what I have done. All the best man!

 

[Dbichler]

My before and after. We’ve all been there if your in the hobby long enough with family and kids and other activities.

 

[A;exr54]

Hey man sounds like all of us who have relationships with our fathers. Good, bad, and the middle, but they’re still our dads and it sounds as though you guys did have a relationship which is great. Just know what didn’t work and hopefully you can change that for you and your children, at least that’s what I have done. All the best man!

Yep we all have had experiences and stories.
Due to circumstances he wasn't really around much when I was growing up. He did not have an easy life. And neither have I.
But as things turned out, we were very close. And I am immensely thankful for that. And I think he was too.

Not to say i am a better or worse father then him or anyone. But I do pride myself on being a good dad. Its not only monetary for me. I am lucky, I work from home full time and have a great career. I get to spend so much time with my kids they need a break from me

My kids LOVE the aquarium. I have had them do water tests, I taught them all about the ecosystems, nutrients, chemistry, and elements involved. I let them pick out corals and fish in the past, explain what they are picking, if its doable, and if its not, I explain why.
I hope to start doing this again.

We are also lucky to live very near the ocean in a mostly warm climate. Although its cold as @#$ today!
I have gotten them summer camps for the past several years to a marine biology laboratory. They get to do dissections, help nesting turtles, canoe down creeks to do conservatory stuffs. But their highlight is they get to swim with dolphins.

Just last week they found a dead beached killer whale about 10 minutes from my house. That was insane. It made the news I think.

 

[DanyL]

Thanks for your reply

A lot of us do things a bit differently. I tried ICP tests in the past. After a few really bad experiences I don't do them anymore.
I know the TDS was not at 0, which due to my neglect of not changing my RODI filters. That's since been taken care of. And after a few water changes it will be fine I am sure.

However weekly 20% is not something I would do personally. It may work great for others. I do about 20% a month. This particular tank has been running for over 10 years and still has inhabitants from even older tanks of mine. Last thing I want to do is shock anything.
I am in no rush. Before my period of neglect started I was always adamite of taking things slow, I don't see that part changing.
I don't think i'll be adding any SPS, at least not in the foreseeable future.
But i may try my hand at a nice Goni, per my wife's request

Indeed, we all do things a bit differently from each other, there is no one correct way to maintain a reef tank, but many.
I'm a huge advocate of doing things slowly and as consistent as possible, so we aren't as far apart from each others views

I had bad experiences with ICP tests as well, mostly when the service was still new in the hobby, but they come a long way since than and I found it to be a very effective tool in the past couple of years to ***** the state of my system.
May I suggest you giving it another chance? you might find it useful like I did too.

I've been reefing for 15 years, a shared hobby between my father and I as a matter of fact, with both fish and coral inhabitants from our first tank still with us today. We do mainly keep SPS these days, but we also have our fair share of LPS and softies, which is why I was comfortable enough to suggest weekly WC of 20% for a period of a month or two as a means to decrease your Cal levels as well as a replenishment for depleted elements.
But our experiences may differ in these aspects and I respect your way of doing things, especially if you've been doing it for this long.

No matter the path you choose to go with, I'm sure you'll bounce back

 

[A;exr54]

Indeed, we all do things a bit differently from each other, there is no one correct way to maintain a reef tank, but many.
I'm a huge advocate of doing things slowly and as consistent as possible, so we aren't as far apart from each others views

I had bad experiences with ICP tests as well, mostly when the service was still new in the hobby, but they come a long way since than and I found it to be a very effective tool in the past couple of years to ***** the state of my system.
May I suggest you giving it another chance? you might find it useful like I did too.

I've been reefing for 15 years, a shared hobby between my father and I as a matter of fact, with both fish and coral inhabitants from our first tank still with us today. We do mainly keep SPS these days, but we also have our fair share of LPS and softies, which is why I was comfortable enough to suggest weekly WC of 20% for a period of a month or two as a means to decrease your Cal levels as well as a replenishment for depleted elements.
But our experiences may differ in these aspects and I respect your way of doing things, especially if you've been doing it for this long.

No matter the path you choose to go with, I'm sure you'll bounce back

Which ICP vender would you suggest?

I’ll look into it, read reviews, and think about it.
I'm very hesitant after my previous experiences.
I paid a lot of money for a bunch of delays and wrong readings.

 

[DanyL]

Which ICP vender would you suggest?

I’ll look into it, read reviews, and think about it.
I'm very hesitant after my previous experiences.
I paid a lot of money for a bunch of delays and wrong readings.

I used 3 brands so far, all with great results:
Triton - The oldest one in the game, had some issues with misreads at the beginning of their service but not in recent years. It's also probably the most expensive one out of the 3.
Fauna Marine - Great results and good price.
Oceamo - Direct communication with the technician that tests your water with personal care and recommendations, that's my favorite these days. They also provide a higher grade ICP tests (ICP-MS, compared to the regular one ICP-OES), as well as a high grade RODI test included with the regular one.

There are a few more brands that offer ICP tests like API and Reef Factory however I have no personal experience with them, perhaps others can chime in report.

As for delays, I live in Israel and ship my tests to Europe.
Sometimes customs will indeed hold my package for further inspection and require duties to be paid, but it isn't the norm and usually it takes up to about 1 extra week to be cleared. Also, since I'm located outside of Europe I'm not able to use the free shipping label all brands provide, which I'm sure contributes to the way my package is treated vs shipping inside of Europe. That being said the norm for me is around 1 week from testing the water til I get the results.

As a US citizen however, you shouldn't experience any of this since most brands have opened labs right inside US borders, which would speed up and streamline the process for you even more.

Another point to be made about delays - while in emergencies you absolutely want results fast, in most cases 2 to 3 weeks is acceptable and well enough for a periodic test.

As for accuracy - As I mentioned earlier I experienced misreads in the past, thankfully I noticed it and before I even had the chance to email them about it they corrected the mistake and notified me about it. Now days they explicitly note when they had to re-test the water for verification when they notice unusual readings.

As for my own experience with the benefits of periodic ICP tests so far:
- I make sure to make a full set of tests with my home kits with the same water I send, this allows me to verify the validity of my own kits and it was effective in 3 different occasions so far with a faulty Magnesium test kit, bad reference solution used to calibrate my refractometer, and scratched up cuvettes for my Hanna Phosphate checker that had to be replaced.
- Detected metals that led me to find a swelled magnet, twice.
- Detected extremely high amounts of Iodine when some of my corals looked bad for a seemingly unknown reason, it was eventually linked to a rise in Nori feedings due to a new picky fish.
- Detected extremely low levels of Flouride, depletion was linked to the use of binders to treat high phosphates.

Hope you change your mind about it and have a better experience this time around

 

[A;exr54]

Oceamo

Thank you, I’ll check it out.