Susan's 125 gal re-reboot. 3rd Times the Charm

[fishguy242]

if you can swish them in a bucket,better than in tank blasting

 

[Susan Edwards]

if you can swish them in a bucket,better than in tank blasting

I actually did that with all but the bottom foundation. I put them in the 45, blew them, scrubbed them, and after a couple days, rebuilt my rocks, on section at a time over a week or more. But with that fine sand in there, they need a blast from the power heads and turkey baster, and a brush to some of them again

 

[Susan Edwards]

wow wow and wow. A lot done today. I'll do separate posts!

First up: LIGHTS We have new lights
Hubby got everything done, and lights are up. Running them 60% blue 5% white right now. Only 2 leathers, and some mushrooms/palys in there right now. It is so cool being able to shift the lights against the wall and then pull them back.

We ordered a cord cover which we'll paint to match the walls. If the lights are too mcuh while sitting on couches, we'll box in on 3 sides but that is later. What I especially like is that there is just 1 cord, not 3 as that can be unsightly! Bravo Lynn!!!

Set them
ch 1 on at 9 blues 60
ch2 on at 10 5%
Off
ch1 off at 9 but may change to 10
ch 2 off at 8

Question to ask: they don't ramp, but wondering if I could set each slightly different.
#1 ch 1 on 830 off 930 ch2 on 930 off 830
#2 ch 1 0n 8 off 10 ch2 on 9 off 10 (just so I have a bit of color before bed)
#3 ch 1 on 9 off 9 ch2 on 9 off 9

would this give a slight ramp effect?


Lights assembled

Cord made into a hotdog mold. 3 cords in, 1 cord out

Lights up. Full power. About 14.5 above water.

Lights 60 blue, 5 whites. TV mounts pushed to side. Not used to so much blue lol's

 

[fishguy242]

GREAT JOB!!! ,and to think i scribbled a rough canopy.. to a master builder;Facepalm,love the light system!! as far as lighting #' s sound good,random,cool,told ya'not too long ago,"you got this"just watch your corals they will tell us if light is right

 

[Susan Edwards]

Today part 2 Sand removal (stay tuned part 3. best part)

Got out as much as I could and am calling it done. Will let the tank settle and just keep things blown off until I get new sand in. Left 1 pile on either side of rock where shrimp/goby live. If I do a water change before adding sand (depending on how long I let it sit, there is 1 small strip I may try to get. but otherwise, I'm good with this.

So now to get numbers controlled. There shouldn't be enough "dirty" sand left! Time to start a coral list!!!

This little strip I may still try to get. or not. Maybe I'll blow sand to front. Maybe not lol's

goby lives here

 

[Reverend Turtle]

Search YouTube for programming the Vipars, I'm pretty sure you can put multiple on and off times to simulate a ramp.

 

[Susan Edwards]

Today part 3 is a whoooo hooooo

clown fish is free!

washed new sand and started adding it to the overflow. Took a lot! When it got high enough, prob. 2/3's full, I was able to use a net and my hand to keep him from jumping. He is now happy in the 45 observation tank.

There are 3 rocks in there, 2 leathers. This tank will be for new fish. Clowns have good slime coats, so he'll be a permenant resident. to get other fish out, either i'll make a divider out of egg crate or will have to remove rocks. First first to buy is a small clown for him. Might do a nem. Not sure I want nems in my other tank but could do one in here.

So we are all very happy. He's been in that overflow since March or april. at least. He hasn't starved there, not even the months before I knew he was in there! He's looks in great shape.

 

[Susan Edwards]

GREAT JOB!!! ,and to think i scribbled a rough canopy.. to a master builder;Facepalm,love the light system!! as far as lighting #' s sound good,random,cool,told ya'not too long ago,"you got this"just watch your corals they will tell us if light is right

We were going to do the canopy until I hit on the TV mounts. He read thru the thread and being the engineer that he is, he ran with it! We may have to box it if the light is bothersome from the couch. But it would be a simple 3 sides with cut outs for front controls. I'm way happy with this. And it was cheaper than buying wood as he had most of what he needed.

You were right on lights. Love them!

 

[fishguy242]

glad to hear!! clown looks great,yep other pair...he would be lights out hmnn corals..i have lots of ideas,lolwait till all stabilizes ,and go slow,..then go ...money corals

 

[Susan Edwards]

Okay, I. AM. Jazzed-thrilled--happy--and all the metaphors you can come up with!

My No3 is 40

40!!!

This is wonderful for my tank lol's. It's been over 160 for years! I am so happy to see that it is down. I'll be afraid of doing another test in case this was a fluke but considering it usually turns dark orange then red within seconds, I'll bask in the glory of something going right!

My corals, in 1 day also seem to be very happy with the lights. The toadstool is open, tentacles extended and showing just how huge it is!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Redid powerheads. Along back. Will see how that goes. Blue one is a temp. The big toadstool was wide open this morning. Now it is closed up. Whites are only 5%. Seems to maybe like the blues better? Pic above is how it was this morning. This pic is just now. No tentacles out. The 2 clowns do host it. Or it doesn't like the new flow pattern?

Got the 45 set up as an observation tank. Not sure if the leathers in there will survive or not.. Clown seems to be none the worse for his stint in the overflow jail! A bit unsettled from cleaning glass. New sand just falls to bottom. It's a very thin layer. Just enough for a "normal" environment


Hard to see the powerheads along back. Each side points toward each other , and towards front glass like this
\ / and \ /

 

[MERKEY]

Oh my goodness what a great build thread, thank you for sharing and letting us join the adventure!

 

[fishguy242]

yes,your coral will tell you how to set lights,are very powerful lights looking great,sorry if i missed it ,why are coral in 45,if not doing well back into dt for now even to just recover?

 

[Susan Edwards]

@fishguy242 They were nearly dead, and I wasn't putting the rocks they are on back in. I'd have to cut them from those rocks and reglue. Also, I have 1 white tipped leather already in there that is recovering nicely. I figure if these 2 recover, they will stay in the 45 as I can't just toss them, but I don't want a tank full of the same corals. I'll up the lights a bit tomorrow.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@MERKEY thank you!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Quiet day. No3 holding at 40, po4 down to 7.9 Right now, I can live with the no3 at 40! Added more phosguard. I think over the weekend, I'll plan to add new sand back in and suck out the last of the old sand in a few areas, still leaving the mound covering my goby/shimp. Tomorrow I'll also do more rock blasting. That fine sand is just horrible. Will also look into a phosphate reactor.

Corals are looking super happy under new lights. Opening big and nicer colors returning. Working on a coral order. 1 from Aquaium depot and the other from Your Reef, which is a LFS in the Sacramento area. Not going into lfs's yet with the covid. Going to do research on each coral and plan it's placement. I have a coral draw file I can add pics and names to. A map of my corals so this time I can plan. I'm looking to add a few zoas, palys, montipora, favia and a few others. Going all cheap corals right now.

Need to figure out how much bayer to use, if I can also use either revive coral cleaner, and or reef dip disinfectant.

Also have a few fish ready to order from LA: clown, bicolored blenny and 2 types of blue damsels. I have 1 yellow tail. Looking to add 2 azure, 2 blue neon to add some blue color, and add more "rock" fish. The clown will go into it's permenant home in the 45 observation. I think the other will go to the DT. They are all fish that will be hard to get out of the observation tank as there are rocks in there with 2 leathers. To get damsels will mean removing all rock, and the blenny will just hide in a crevice. It means if they die, I won't be able to get the 14 day warranty as I prob. won't even see a dead fish in there!

Ordered a new plug for the doser. It has a plug on the back that sticks out a good inch with the cord. So ordered a right angle plug so we can mount the doser on a shelf and not have it stick out as much.

Then, it's get the manifold finished, so I can do water changes much faster and easier! And if I need to vacuum sand, I do a small change that way. Mostly I plan to blow sand with a baster once a week, a different section each time, so maybe once a week, or twice. And go to bi-weekly water changes once numbers are good.

 

[fishguy242]

hi,as usual you have a plan bayer!! i use table spoon to pint,but google for your self ,i don't even measure it any moregood stuff ,careful of inhale/eyes!!!get right one ,pic of old and new label

 

[Reverend Turtle]

If I can make a suggestion, check out AquaSD.com they have tons of reasonably priced corals, and shipping in California is only $20. I live in Fresno, and over the last month have ordered about 26 frags. The one thing I will say though is, compare the frag to a 1" frag mount. Some of them look big, but are actually tiny. Also, no matter where you buy from, don't expect the same colors as in the picture.

 

[Susan Edwards]

@Reverend Turtle I will check them out. And yeah, pics are never the same. Thanks!

 

[Susan Edwards]

Plan to do water change Thursday and add new sand back in. This will allow me to get rid of a couple more small bits of old sand and that should help no3 even more. New sand shouldn't affect my no3 or po4 and it will stay in place while I continue to turkey baste rocks of the fine sand. And this gets the tank ready for corals!!!

Ordered from Aqua SD and Aquarium Depot. Have a 3rd order ready for Your Reef in a couple to 3 weeks. Everything I ordered are small and cheap

Getting:
Lunar Zoas-2 polyps
Intergalactic Purple People eaters Palys-2 polyps
Green Pocillipora
Silver eye & purple Leptastrea
Blue Eyed Leptastrea
Multi Colored Ricordea
Aquacultured superman Montipora digitata

From Aqua
ASD Mint chip blasto
Blue planet Cyphastrea chunk
ultra ricordea
Forrest fire rhodactis
pink pop chalice
Pretty eyes cyphastrea

Have a few fish from LA picked out and I'll stick them in the 45. Might be hard to get out, but we'll see
Clown
Bicolored Blenny
3 azure damsels
3 neon blue damsels