Tank cleaning emotional support thread

[mjszos]

Basically the title. I’m in the process of breaking down a tank and cleaning it all. My house smells. My hands hurt. There’s wires everywhere.

This thread is intended for me to pop in and out for a nice conversation as I take short breaks.

Also go scrape your glass, and do that water change you’re been too lazy to do this weekend. :grinning-face-with-sweat:

 

[edsbeaker]

Basically the title. I’m in the process of breaking down a tank and cleaning it all. My house smells. My hands hurt. There’s wires everywhere.

This thread is intended for me to pop in and out for a nice conversation as I take short breaks.

Also go scrape your glass, and do that water change you’re been too lazy to do this weekend. :grinning-face-with-sweat:

Are you setting up a new one?
The wires and cords are the worst part.

 

[Mhamilton0911]

I feel you. I started this on last Sunday. It now has no sand, but it's still not done. And it's only 15g. I'm horrible.

It now is waiting for me get it into the kitchen so I can clean the glass. I finally got to this step yesterday.

 

[mjszos]

Are you setting up a new one?
The wires and cords are the worst part.

A new one is on order, but the seam on this one is failing so rather than waiting for it to spring a leak, I’ve decided to break it down and transfer everything to a holding tank.

Tank seam failure: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/weird-growth-into-tank-seam.1083326/

New tank build journey: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/m...ild-thread-innovative-marine-int-100.1083631/

The cords and equipment are no joke. I’ve been using this as an opportunity to take proper note of everything that’s been added into the tank over the years so I can better plan the build of the new one. It’s kind of staggering how much equipment we use.

I feel you. I started this on last Sunday. It now has no sand, but it's still not done. And it's only 15g. I'm horrible.

It now is waiting for me get it into the kitchen so I can clean the glass. I finally got to this step yesterday.

You must have a VERY patient and understanding partner. After draining the tank, the house has reeked from the smell of algae and what not from the back glass that I neglected to scrape, and the overflow I never cleaned

Gitter done!

 

[edsbeaker]

Red Sea ugh! Sorry to see you and others go through this!
I am very close to upgrading from an IM 75 EXT to a IM 170 EXT, but haven’t quite convinced myself yet.
The IM is a really nicely built tank.

 

[mjszos]

Red Sea ugh! Sorry to see you and others go through this!
I am very close to upgrading from an IM 75 EXT to a IM 170 EXT, but haven’t quite convinced myself yet.
The IM is a really nicely built tank.

Ahh it is what it is. I got this tank used for a steal of a deal, I’d be more upset if I paid full retail and this happened outside of warranty.

Ultimately, while the circumstances of this are unfortunate I’m trying to stay positive. I had this tank up for 2 years and learned a lot, for a lower investment. It reaffirmed my love of this hobby, and gave me a playground for experimentation. Unfortunately, while on my honeymoon the person taking care of my tank massively overfed it, and my parameters were out of control. It was in the middle of crashing as is.

I’ve been given an unfortunate kickstart into a tank reset, into a tank I really want, and am able to start over with all of the knowledge I’ve gathered over the years to do this the correct way from the start.

I can’t harp on Red Sea despite their quality issues on tanks, hopefully they make things right and can save their reputation but I’m not going to pile onto the fire against them.

Edit I should also update for posterity that I am, in fact, making progress!

 

[edsbeaker]

Sorry about that. Hope the honeymoon was good.
Next time bag the food in individual daily containers! I don’t trust anyone!

 

[mjszos]

Sorry about that. Hope the honeymoon was good.
Next time bag the food in individual daily containers! I don’t trust anyone!

I said “1 cube per day” of the proportioned frozen mysis.. I can only assume they interpreted that as 1 cube per fish per day.

Honeymoon was spectacular. We got married in Northern Italy and honeymooned our way down to Rome. It was spectacular.

 

[edsbeaker]

I said “1 cube per day” of the proportioned frozen mysis.. I can only assume they interpreted that as 1 cube per fish per day.

Honeymoon was spectacular. We got married in Northern Italy and honeymooned our way down to Rome. It was spectacular.

LOL
Well, congratulations. Sounds wonderful.
My husband and I just celebrated our 40th.

 

[mjszos]

LOL
Well, congratulations. Sounds wonderful.
My husband and I just celebrated our 40th.

Thank you!! We were blessed with a beautiful clear day, it blows my mind that places like this exist on the same planet as the good ol’ flat Midwest.

Congratulations on your 40th anniversary. That’s quite the accomplishment, and I wish you another 40 more years of happiness!

 

[edsbeaker]

What a gorgeous venue!
I wish you and the Mrs. all the happiness in the world. Life flies by fast, so enjoy it.

We are headed out for dinner, so hope you are almost done with the cleanup! I’ll keep an eye on the build thread.

 

[mjszos]

What a gorgeous venue!
I wish you and the Mrs. all the happiness in the world. Life flies by fast, so enjoy it.

We are headed out for dinner, so hope you are almost done with the cleanup! I’ll keep an eye on the build thread.

Thank you, I appreciate the kind words.

The tank has been cleaned, the sump has been cleaned. Now I’m organizing and cleaning all of the various equipment to make sure it’s in ship shape once the new tank arrives.

Thanks for the entertainment, enjoy your meal

 

[keepingfishwithnoidea]

Need pics bro

 

[mjszos]

Need pics bro

Nothing exciting to share, the tank was picked up by someone willing to reseal it yesterday. The new tank hasn't shipped yet, so everything is just living in a 40 breeder on the floor of my home office.

 

[BryanM]

I'm in a similar boat, redsea 425xl, waterbox in the garage. I'm hiring someone to do the transfer though.

 

[mjszos]

I'm in a similar boat, redsea 425xl, waterbox in the garage. I'm hiring someone to do the transfer though.

The transfer was actually shockingly simple, in my case it worked out though as I was planning on setting up a second system anyway in a breeder tank - either was a frag grow out tank, or a QT (if I stop being lazy and decide to QT in the future).

In retrospect, if hiring someone to do the transfer meant that they would have cleaned the existing tank (and taken it out of my house), I probably would have considered that. I was just on a bit of a time crunch due to the failing seam in the Red Sea tank.

Good luck! What size is your new Waterbox?

 

[BryanM]

The transfer was actually shockingly simple, in my case it worked out though as I was planning on setting up a second system anyway in a breeder tank - either was a frag grow out tank, or a QT (if I stop being lazy and decide to QT in the future).

In retrospect, if hiring someone to do the transfer meant that they would have cleaned the existing tank (and taken it out of my house), I probably would have considered that. I was just on a bit of a time crunch due to the failing seam in the Red Sea tank.

Good luck! What size is your new Waterbox?

Waterbox 230.6... its 220 gallons total, 170gal display. Old system is 120ish?

I don't have room for other tanks, no QT tank, etc. The WB is 460 pounds dry, I would have needed movers to get the tank in the house, buy a fair amount of temp equipment, and a TON of stress.

 

[mjszos]

Waterbox 230.6... its 220 gallons total, 170gal display. Old system is 120ish?

I don't have room for other tanks, no QT tank, etc. The WB is 460 pounds dry, I would have needed movers to get the tank in the house, buy a fair amount of temp equipment, and a TON of stress.

That's fair enough. Best of luck with it!