My 40 gallon recife build

[gnarlydudecory]

Welcome neighbor. From Mississippi too. Natchez. Reef to reef is the place to be.

Hey good to see you, my friend! I love your neck of the woods. You guys have some of the best food, history, and Deer hunting in the state. I appreciate you stopping by.
Are there any decent saltwater lfs up there?

One greasy water store in vidalia. But no saltwater. I get most of my stuff online. Some stuff from reef coral in Baton Rouge.

 

[gnarlydudecory]

Welcome neighbor. From Mississippi too. Natchez. Reef to reef is the place to be.

Hey good to see you, my friend! I love your neck of the woods. You guys have some of the best food, history, and Deer hunting in the state. I appreciate you stopping by.
Are there any decent saltwater lfs up there?

One greasy water store in vidalia. But no saltwater. I get most of my stuff online. Some stuff from reef coral in Baton Rouge.

Fresh water. Not greasy. Haha

 

[kingranch2003]

Fresh water. Not greasy. Haha

Haha autocorrect is my mortal enemy.
We have an excellent store in Biloxi, I know that's quite a journey from Natchez. I save a lot of money on supplements and equipment there and they have an excellent coral AND fish stock. I definitely buy most of my nicer pieces online as well.

 

[kingranch2003]

One greasy water store in vidalia. But no saltwater. I get most of my stuff online. Some stuff from reef coral in Baton Rouge.

Heard good things about reef coral

 

[tbrown]

Fresh water. Not greasy. Haha

Probably depends on the day...

 

[kingranch2003]

Probably depends on the day...

What if you had a fish store that sold live aquarium fish, AND fried fish!? Not the same fish, though (mostly). That would be a successful business down here, lol.

 

[tbrown]

What if you had a fish store that sold live aquarium fish, AND fried fish!? Not the same fish, though (mostly). That would be a successful business down here, lol.

When an Oscar doesn't sell, sell it a different way???

 

[kingranch2003]

When an Oscar doesn't sell, sell it a different way???

 

[gnarlydudecory]

One greasy water store in vidalia. But no saltwater. I get most of my stuff online. Some stuff from reef coral in Baton Rouge.

Heard good things about reef coral

They have some good stuff. I have had some good and bad from there. But over all I like reef coral. Where I got my tank from. Ron the store owner is a good dude. He knew someone that had a tank they wanted to get rid of. Hooked me up with a lot of used stuff to get me started. Even trades some stuff. Got rid of my six line there and he gave me credit for another fish. Coral. Or inverts.

 

[gnarlydudecory]

Fresh water. Not greasy. Haha

Probably depends on the day...

Definitely probably greasy . Wife and I are looking at possibly moving to NC on the coast. Natchez and Mississippi as a whole isn’t a bad place to be. But I’ve been too many other places to stay.

 

[kingranch2003]

 

[kingranch2003]

I did one of those "good tank cleanings" today. In the largest middle back chamber of my AIO, I have live rock pieces. I removed all of that, and cleaned the rocks thoroughly. Im hoping that I freed those rocks up from some PO4 so that they'll become nutrient sponges again. But something is working because my N03 lives at 5 to 8 and won't budge.
I did a 30% water change, and Im not a big fan of doing that big of a water change with corals in the tank. I just dont know what killed my fish, so Im over correcting a bit. I monitored salt and temp very closely because of the scale of this water change. It hasn't been long since my last one, and dosing day, so the water parameters weren't too far off of the norm anyways, luckily.
I realize if your not a smorgasbord thread frequenter, you may not know what I mean when I say I had fish die...
We'll talk about it tomorrow.

 

[Goonsack Steve]

Just had a read through on your tank journey mate, and it's crazy how far a tank can come in a little over a year. Can't wait to see how mine turns out.

You mentioned you had fish die? What happened?

 

[kingranch2003]

I can't wait either! Feel free to drop any updates here too if you'd like. I have done do much research into the hobby and feel like I'm always learning. But I have to say, I would definitely not be having this success without the R2R family. Also, just doing it helps a lot lol. These are such unique and incredible animals, it's just something that a person has to get their hands in, in order to appreciate it fully.

I wish I had a more concrete answer on the fish kill. I woke up to two fairy wrasse and a tailspot blenny that were dead. The water was a little cloudy. I tested the water and had nitrites present, most likely from the dead fish. I inspected the tank for dead snails, or anything that might explain what happened. I know the fish died within about a 7 hour time frame.
This made no sense to me as my tank is very stable at all times. So I doubled carbon, did a water change and added aeration to make sure the 02 in my tank was good.
Something led to an ammonia spike in my tank that the system cleared up almost immediately. I wish I knew for sure what happened, but the corals were all fine, so this helps me rule out a few things.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Dude, John, this is unbelievable! Your tank has some of the best corals I've ever seen, seriously! Nice job man. Your tank has gone through so much, yet after each setback you bounce back and come even further. It's inspiring!! I can't wait to see your gonis! When do they come?!

 

[kingranch2003]

Dude, John, this is unbelievable! Your tank has some of the best corals I've ever seen, seriously! Nice job man. Your tank has gone through so much, yet after each setback you bounce back and come even further. It's inspiring!! I can't wait to see your gonis! When do they come?!

@WalkerLovesTheOcean oh man Walker I just saw this. You've had my back on this journey since day one. Thank you brother. As you know now the gonis have come in and while they are really small, they are also very nice. I put them in the sand bed for now until I find a more permanent home for them. I want them to look like yours soon!

 

[trellemania]

Those gonis are going to be stunning following your track record with all these coral. Still cant believe that plate coral you have is even a thing haha

 

[kingranch2003]

Those gonis are going to be stunning following your track record with all these coral. Still cant believe that plate coral you have is even a thing haha

I think the plate is my favorite coral too, and it eats like a horse!
I appreciate your kind words my friend. I just have to figure out where to finally put the gonis lol.

You're more than on your way too! Keep up the excellent work.

 

[Goonsack Steve]

Oof Goni's haha. Best of luck..

I desperately want them, but have heard they're a nightmare to keep.

Will be following your journey with them particularly close.

 

[kingranch2003]

Oof Goni's haha. Best of luck..

I desperately want them, but have heard they're a nightmare to keep.

Will be following your journey with them particularly close.

I've already managed to kill two in the past, so Im 0 for 2. But my tank is way more stable now. I bought these from sbb corals and they were so cheap, I couldn't resist. It's the only coral that has stumped me so far. They can not defeat me!

(They 100% absolutely can)