Pirate's Reef - A New Beginning

Crabby48

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Scape attempt #1. Took me about 5 minutes. :) This is some of the "aged" Pukani rock that I have had in my 125's rock tub since 2015. Ha.

I made the mistake of ordering some Dr. Tim's One and Only and some ammonium chloride to do a "fishless cycle." I ordered from BRS and used expedited shipping, as was recommended by Dr. Tim's during the summer and winter months. They listed the maximum temp for the the product as 95°. I checked with a digital thermometer when it got here and the liquid was 107°. So, I dumped the whole 2oz bottle in the tank and added the suggested amount of ammonium chloride. It's been 10 days and there has been no change in the ammonia level and no nitrites showing up. So, I believe I blew that attempt and wasted a little bit of money.

PR-7-28-19-2.jpg

Fingers crossed the bacteria is ok. I like the scape it is looking like a reef tank now.
Do you know what you will stock it with?
 

NY_Caveman

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Scape attempt #1. Took me about 5 minutes. :) This is some of the "aged" Pukani rock that I have had in my 125's rock tub since 2015. Ha.

I made the mistake of ordering some Dr. Tim's One and Only and some ammonium chloride to do a "fishless cycle." I ordered from BRS and used expedited shipping, as was recommended by Dr. Tim's during the summer and winter months. They listed the maximum temp for the the product as 95°. I checked with a digital thermometer when it got here and the liquid was 107°. So, I dumped the whole 2oz bottle in the tank and added the suggested amount of ammonium chloride. It's been 10 days and there has been no change in the ammonia level and no nitrites showing up. So, I believe I blew that attempt and wasted a little bit of money.

PR-7-28-19-2.jpg
I LOVE that aquascape!
 

NY_Caveman

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Ha! I seriously didn’t put any thought into it at all. Pretty much just set down 4 rocks in the tank. :)
Ha! Mine took me about a minute because I found the exact rocks I had envisioned.
 
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Ha! Mine took me about a minute because I found the exact rocks I had envisioned.
I took the first four small rocks out of my rock tub.

I had a friend offer me a free pair of Wisconsin Clowns tonight. That may be my fish population. :)
 
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NY_Caveman

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I took the first four small rocks out of my rock tub.

I had a friend offer me a free pair of two Wisconsin Clowns tonight. That may be my fish population. :)
Very nice!!!
 
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Scratch that. :). Not sure what kind of clowns my friend is offering. I misunderstood what he said. He bought a pair of Wisconsin Clowns and they went to war with the other pair that he had. He took the other pair out and they are in his sump. Will have to wait to see what he has.
 
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I suppose I should update this thread. LOL! The tank has been running a little under a year. I have been collecting small frags and most have only been in the past few months. A lot of growing needs to happen. Some of these corals will be moved to my 125 in the future. Nothing fancy.

DSC00239.JPG
DSC00241.JPG
 

Chlorinated

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I suppose I should update this thread. LOL! The tank has been running a little under a year. I have been collecting small frags and most have only been in the past few months. A lot of growing needs to happen. Some of these corals will be moved to my 125 in the future. Nothing fancy.

DSC00239.JPG
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This has got to be one of the most unique builds I have ever seen, very cool tank!

Question on the air pump. I tried a similar setup in my tank. After a few months, a film had grown over the air stone rendering it useless when it turned on. Have you found a way to combat this?
 
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This has got to be one of the most unique builds I have ever seen, very cool tank!

Question on the air pump. I tried a similar setup in my tank. After a few months, a film had grown over the air stone rendering it useless when it turned on. Have you found a way to combat this?
It worked the last time it came on a few weeks ago, but I suppose you could just swap out the airstone every now and then and maybe even soak the dirty one in bleach to reuse it later. I would think that would work.
 

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It worked the last time it came on a few weeks ago, but I suppose you could just swap out the airstone every now and then and maybe even soak the dirty one in bleach to reuse it later. I would think that would work.
I guess that would be an option. I took mine offline for that reason. I suppose having a spare to swap would be the easiest route. I had mine a bit buried behind my rock, so may need to rethink location for easy service.

Thanks!
 
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Don't underestimate those air pumps. I had a friend that had a 135 and he had two of those installed on the tank since we live in an area prone to hurricanes. When Hurricane Rita hit us in 2005 and power was out for a couple of weeks, the two of those pumps ran for a couple of days and bought enough time for another friend to go rescue all of his livestock (we were all evacuated). He didn't lose any livestock, I don't believe.
 

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That's amazing and I dont underestimate how well they can work. Just didnt see a way to visibly make them work constantly without constant maintenance. But i guess swapping airstones every few months is a small price to pay to save your whole tank.
 
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An update on this tank and more info on those battery operated pumps. On August 28th our area was hit with a category 4 hurricane (only 7mph below a cat 5). It shredded our town to bits, as Hurricane Laura is listed now as the 5th most powerful hurricane to make landfall in the U.S. Hurricanes are categorized only by wind speed. Winds were 150mph at landfall. Anyway, the power grid here was decimated. 22 days without power and we were evacuated for three weeks, with me coming home every few days to start dealing with the damages.

This little tank survived 22 days without power, with only the air pump for water movement in the display. The lack of light was too much for the few pieces of SPS and the Bali Xenia that was in the tank, but the toadstools, other softies, and the LPS in the tank survived. The batteries lasted about three days, so I changed them every few days. The temperature inside my house ran about 87 degrees also.

Penn-Plax B11 Pump.jpg


Hopefully, the remaining corals will contine to improve and grow. I fully expected that this tank would not survive and was surprised that there were any survivors.

A few post hurricane pics...


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E3888F13-CEF8-4D9E-8CF2-552B2A8BCF7B.jpeg
 

NY_Caveman

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Sad story with a happy ending so far. Great to hear. I always recommend people keep the battery operated pumps handy. You have proven they can save a reef. Mostly though, just glad you and your family were safe.
 

fishguy242

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could not have said better myself ;) :cool: NY.. fin do you have 2 builds??
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 79 38.2%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 69 33.3%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 26 12.6%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 31 15.0%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.0%
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