Lugubrious
Community Member
I'm looking for dimensional inspiration for building a new tank.
Show me your massive set ups, 350 gallon plus! I can't decide how big/how to style the set up but I want it to feel large and deep (LOL)
Story time; we just bought a house and I want to build a more permanent system.
I've been reefing for 3 years and have by large had tremendous success, but ended sadly. My previous system was a 400 gallons split between two tanks (250,50 frag flat) and two large sumps. It was a beautiful thriving system of high ends, lots of euphyllia, rainbow chalice variants, high end zoas, and of course SPS. I had the mixed reef going well and a HUGE tang gang, I had 6 zebrasomas, Achilles, blue tang pairs. It was a dream.
Well, my greed of wanting a ritteri got the best of me, I could. Not. Keep a ritteri alive period. Hospital tanks, cipro treatments, you name it. They all did exactly the same thing let go, flopped mouth first into the sand overnight and started puking and melting. Like clockwork. I occasionally had some torches decide to bail around this time and looking back I think I had a RTN/STN/bacterial issue either in my sand or generally in the water colum.
Well I got another ritteri this time skipped all the BS just chucked him in the frag tank, and it was doing great for a few days I had my hopes up.
I come home one day to him stuck to my gyre. I totally spaced on putting my nem guards in. I gad been so diligent about protecting them in the DT that I didn't even think about me not doing the frag tanks pumps.
Within 5 minutes of my return, the frag tank was already very cloudy white and I saw distressed swimming in a few fish.
I pulled the nem, trash can had bigger problems to focus on.
Started gathering dead fish and throwing the live guys in the DT.
I had a choice to make, since the tanks were one system I could close off the frag side and trap the toxins dooming everything in that tank to certain death, fish I couldn't see/a whole flat of expensive torches or let it continue to run
I thought that letting the system run would dillute the toxins enough to not be too problematic, at least for the fish, I figured whatever that 1/8th of nem that got chopped wouldn't be too drastic spread over 400+ gallons I wanted to save everyone left.
This was my choice, it was the wrong choice.
Within a few minutes of getting fish out of the concentrated frag tank and into the DT. Fish were dying in the DT. It was heartbreaking knowing this was happening, that I just made the wrong choice and it's too late now it's happening and no reversing. It was the smaller and more frail fish first, copperband, blue tang, small yellow tangs Achilles.
At this point I drove 20 minutes and got 100 gallons of salt water trying to rectify what I could, shouts out to murrmans reef for coming to my aid.
When I returned home it was a catastrophe 90% of everything was dead fish wise, but I still did a water change for the sake of the few and corals.
This was the end of reefing for me. I liquidated my equipment and coral to the store and had them take everything with the quickness. I couldn't stand to see the reminder of failure in my living room, a litteral graveyard.
Upon breakdown we found a few fish living. Some how, all my OG fish buddies survived. The first round of fish I bought after cycling was miraculously still alive. I had a pair of watchmen along with their pistol shrimp, a pair of clowns, and my big purple tang, the king of the tank.
I had extreme mixed emotions about it, I had already committed to getting rid of the tank they were cleaning me out.
I wanted to keep the remaining fish, I felt I owed them a good life, outside if this incident my fish were thriving, it was IMHO understocked for a 250 DT and everyone had their own space I knew I would provide that more then anyone else throwing them in a 10g after buying them.
Ultimately they kept the fish themselves in the shop display hopefully I can return for them after this. I think I'm ready to give it another shot. I'm not stocking the tank until I have a happy ritteri(or two) in it that nem is very important to me, they are the whole reason I got into the hobby. heteractis magnifica.
I'm here to see your big tanks, but I wrote this to help others avoid the same fate as me.
Show me your massive set ups, 350 gallon plus! I can't decide how big/how to style the set up but I want it to feel large and deep (LOL)
Story time; we just bought a house and I want to build a more permanent system.
I've been reefing for 3 years and have by large had tremendous success, but ended sadly. My previous system was a 400 gallons split between two tanks (250,50 frag flat) and two large sumps. It was a beautiful thriving system of high ends, lots of euphyllia, rainbow chalice variants, high end zoas, and of course SPS. I had the mixed reef going well and a HUGE tang gang, I had 6 zebrasomas, Achilles, blue tang pairs. It was a dream.
Well, my greed of wanting a ritteri got the best of me, I could. Not. Keep a ritteri alive period. Hospital tanks, cipro treatments, you name it. They all did exactly the same thing let go, flopped mouth first into the sand overnight and started puking and melting. Like clockwork. I occasionally had some torches decide to bail around this time and looking back I think I had a RTN/STN/bacterial issue either in my sand or generally in the water colum.
Well I got another ritteri this time skipped all the BS just chucked him in the frag tank, and it was doing great for a few days I had my hopes up.
I come home one day to him stuck to my gyre. I totally spaced on putting my nem guards in. I gad been so diligent about protecting them in the DT that I didn't even think about me not doing the frag tanks pumps.
Within 5 minutes of my return, the frag tank was already very cloudy white and I saw distressed swimming in a few fish.
I pulled the nem, trash can had bigger problems to focus on.
Started gathering dead fish and throwing the live guys in the DT.
I had a choice to make, since the tanks were one system I could close off the frag side and trap the toxins dooming everything in that tank to certain death, fish I couldn't see/a whole flat of expensive torches or let it continue to run
I thought that letting the system run would dillute the toxins enough to not be too problematic, at least for the fish, I figured whatever that 1/8th of nem that got chopped wouldn't be too drastic spread over 400+ gallons I wanted to save everyone left.
This was my choice, it was the wrong choice.
Within a few minutes of getting fish out of the concentrated frag tank and into the DT. Fish were dying in the DT. It was heartbreaking knowing this was happening, that I just made the wrong choice and it's too late now it's happening and no reversing. It was the smaller and more frail fish first, copperband, blue tang, small yellow tangs Achilles.
At this point I drove 20 minutes and got 100 gallons of salt water trying to rectify what I could, shouts out to murrmans reef for coming to my aid.
When I returned home it was a catastrophe 90% of everything was dead fish wise, but I still did a water change for the sake of the few and corals.
This was the end of reefing for me. I liquidated my equipment and coral to the store and had them take everything with the quickness. I couldn't stand to see the reminder of failure in my living room, a litteral graveyard.
Upon breakdown we found a few fish living. Some how, all my OG fish buddies survived. The first round of fish I bought after cycling was miraculously still alive. I had a pair of watchmen along with their pistol shrimp, a pair of clowns, and my big purple tang, the king of the tank.
I had extreme mixed emotions about it, I had already committed to getting rid of the tank they were cleaning me out.
I wanted to keep the remaining fish, I felt I owed them a good life, outside if this incident my fish were thriving, it was IMHO understocked for a 250 DT and everyone had their own space I knew I would provide that more then anyone else throwing them in a 10g after buying them.
Ultimately they kept the fish themselves in the shop display hopefully I can return for them after this. I think I'm ready to give it another shot. I'm not stocking the tank until I have a happy ritteri(or two) in it that nem is very important to me, they are the whole reason I got into the hobby. heteractis magnifica.
I'm here to see your big tanks, but I wrote this to help others avoid the same fate as me.
