Maroun.c 400 G build thread

[maroun.c]

Wow. Amazing progress Maroun.
You can teach me some of that chemistry when in Dubai.

I'm based in Dubai now so I'm frequently here. lets catch up soon.

 

[maroun.c]

2-3 months after the tank leak all corals were already in growth mode and colors were popping and all seemed to be going in the right direction. very few additions fish wise except for a couple of wrasses I added around Jan:
flame wrass

and an orange back

so with every thing heading int he right direction it was time for a new tragedy. while all my fish were religiously quarantined (well except for a pipe fish that was added in Jan but doubt this was the cause) around mid march my wife informs me that some of the fish are fully covered in white spots. I had not seen white spots more than a year in the tank and it had been around 3 months after the move to the temp system and move back to the DT so doubt it was the move stress that caused it. couple days later fish few fish start dropping and its confirmed to be velvet.
I was in Dubai at the time and wasn't able to fly back for more than couple of days after a week. and the fish situation was miserable.
Velvet is a very fast killer usually but I guess the fish were too healthy and gave it a fight till most ended up dying at the 3 weeks mark. which was very weird.
it was very difficult to see especially for my wife who has been caring for the tank since Sep and also for the kids. some fish would look as if they won't make it till following day but still stayed alive getting a bit better and then getting re infested over days. a pretty sad sight. the only fish I could catch to quarantine were one yellow and my clown pair but they didn't make it in the quarantine. Having around 60 fish didn't allow for any quarantine option so the tough decision was taken to leave the fish to fight it off and try to help by over boosting their food with vitamins. Tried to source a big UV to handle the system but that wasn't an option on short notice.
So 3-4 weeks later it was all over and I lost all my fish except for all wrasses (more than 20 wrasses) and my hippo tang that I had since 2007 and purple tang that I had since 2009.
Weirdly some of the fish (Lyretails, blotchii) dropped without even showing any spots. others as said stayed infected for days.
so the sad list of fish losses:

2 yellow tangs that I've had since 2008
2 platinum clowns that I've had since 3-4 years
5 Lyretails anthias school that I've had for around 4 years
2 Chocolate tangs
2 Tomini tangs
2 Bellus Angels
1 Yellow eye kole tang
1 Blotchii
2 firefish
1 Majestic Angel
1 Latezonatus clown
1 Gramma loreto
1 mandarin
1 Red Scooter
1 midas blenny
5 blue eye cardinals
2 Swallowtail angels

 

[maroun.c]

 

[maroun.c]

One of the worst affected fish was my purple tang which kept on improving and getting worse through the whole outbreak and for many days form the pics and videos I was getting thought he would die the day after. he even couldn't see food from the cloudy eyes he got on top of the velvet and was following pellets by the smell.luckily he made it back.

throughout the velvet outbreak few wrasses only showed a few spots and they all recovered. as I couldn't keep tank fishless I have decided to stop any fish additions for 2-3 months, as from many discussions I've had it seams that velvet most of the times disappears after an outbreak... plan is to quarantine a few fish and make sure they are clean and then do some water changes while they are in the q tank from the tank water to see if they get any signs of disease and then treat immediately.
I have setup 5Q tanks for an even more strict quarantine regimen for coming fish and hopefully will rebuild the fish colleciton in the coming months.

 

[drernesto]

So sad!!!!

 

[fabutahoun]

Oh Maroun, I am sorry for your lose, all these amazing fish !! OMG !!

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks. Indeed very sad.
Tank still has around 20-25 fish still but looks fishless due to the loss of the mid amd large sized fish. I'll soon start adding new fish hopefully.

 

[maroun.c]

Another sad update about my setosa colony which was growing out nicely and was one of the first corals one would notice while looking at the tank.

Oct 2015

Mar 2016

June 2016

Apr 2017

My wife contacted me few weeks back and told me that the side of the setowas turning white and sent me some pics. and it turned out that blue matrix next to it had grown and touched. was a small burn on the edge so asked my wife to clip either of the corals which she did the following day. yet unfortunately the burn didn't stop before it consumed it all.

First time I see such an aggressive wipe out from a simple burn so not sure if the blue matrix is an over aggressive accro or if the setosa was ticked by something else. Yet I have another smaller piece in same tank and many frags of it in the frag tanks linked to the same setup and all are fine.

 

[maroun.c]

also struggled with electricity at home where I lost many electrical appliances as well as many related aquarium pumps... I finally tested the electricity and found out that the electrical stabilizer we placed to have safety against Voltage fluctuations or surges was giving 270 V instead of 220 which unfortunately also toasted my return pump. this is annoying to fine and replace but luckily found and ordered and I will install when back in 2 weeks. Pump unfortunately died after stabilizer was fixed and after I had traveled out, luckily my wife was able to disconnect the malfunctioning pump, close the valves from and to it and open the valves of 2 spare smaller iwaki pumps I have then turned the flow on and tuned the skimmer and overflow as flow rate was different which changed the water level in the sump.

 

[maroun.c]

one last negative update is that I'm struggling with an algea outbreak which could just be a small cycle after having restarted the tank or maybe lack of grazers as I lost many tangs... believe this will improve in coming period with bacteria dosing, minimum biopellets running and GFO additions although my phosphates and nitrates are at 0.
Now finally for some positive updates.
fish have been doing great since the velvet incident few months back there has been no sign of disease in any of the fish. I have a few fish in quarantine and will start adding to DT in 2 weeks when back.
coral growth and coloration is kicking off. being away and only seeing the tank every 2-3 weeks allows me to notice growth much better than I would when seeing it on daily basis. guess no hands in tank is also helping in stability as well.

purple haze monti was doing very bad but it colored up again.

pics couple months back where it was even whiter than in the pic

coloring up

next to my superman monti where the growth shows a nice blue hidden by the polyps

Efflo still looking bad but I can see some color improvement

now for positive coral updates.
forest fire digitata seen up next to efflo couple months back on its way out has recovered to this:

Blue oregon tort now growing Id say faster and coloring up nicely next to it a nother setosa I have which is starting to grow fast as well.

one last negative update is that I'm struggling with an algea outbreak which could just be a small cycle after having restarted the tank or maybe lack of grazers as I lost many tangs... believe this will improve in coming period with bacteria dosing, minimum biopellets running and GFO additions although my phosphates and nitrates are at 0.
Now finally for some positive updates.
fish have been doing great since the velvet incident few months back there has been no sign of disease in any of the fish. I have a few fish in quarantine and will start adding to DT in 2 weeks when back.
coral growth and coloration is kicking off. being away and only seeing the tank every 2-3 weeks allows me to notice growth much better than I would when seeing it on daily basis. guess no hands in tank is also helping in stability as well.

purple haze monti was doing very bad but it colored up again.

pics couple months back where it was even whiter than in the pic
http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z414/mcaqua390g/Corals%20SPS/DSC_6857.jpg

coloring up
[IMG]http://i1188.photobucket.com/albums/z414/mcaqua390g/Corals%20SPS/_DSC7827.jpg

next to my superman monti where the growth shows a nice blue hidden by the polyps

Efflo still looking bad but I can see some color improvement

now for positive coral updates.
forest fire digitata seen up next to efflo couple months back on its way out has recovered to this:

Blue oregon tort now growing Id say faster and coloring up nicely next to it a nother setosa I have which is starting to grow fast as well.

Montipora hirsuta which I had to place in a shaded spot and worried it might not color up and grow has grown froma frag to this in 3-4 months

 

[justingraham]

I do not see an Oregon tort anywhere

 

[maroun.c]

I do not see an Oregon tort anywhere

thanks for the notification. Corrected

 

[justingraham]

thanks for the notification. Corrected

Pretty

 

[maroun.c]

Pretty

Thanks

 

[fabutahoun]

Nice corals Maroun, when are you going to frag the efflo ? lol

 

[maroun.c]

Nice corals Maroun, when are you going to frag the efflo ? lol

Thanks Fadi.
Will be a long time till it recovers and grows to fraggable size.

 

[maroun.c]

Some chalices coloring up and growing

 

[Janci]

Wonderful updates Maroun.
Can I ask how you keep the tank stable while away for a long time?
I imagine the tank to be more or less selfsustainable, but some tricks and tweeks are always necessary.
I love your photography skills.

 

[maroun.c]

Thanks Janci,
I've been a frequent traveler and on average travel for 2-3 weeks every month for the last 11 yrs . All my setups were planned very simple even if they look elaborate K. Reality it's a very simple setup. Lots of redundancy 2 separate lines with chillers (independent electrical flow and control ) same for heaters . Backup return pumps....
Since I relocated I must admit the tank has been put through the test and I've had more bad luck those year than my 19 yrs of reefkeeping put together . Yet I'm lucky not to have had a single total crash since the start .

 

[maroun.c]

Montis growing

Purple monti getting shadowed

time for a haircut