So.. this is the first post of what hopefully will be a rewarding journey.
As the title states, it's time for a Re-Boot. My SPS tank has been up and running for a bit over 6 years and has been a resounding success. Great news right? Well yes and no.. yes in the fact that I proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that I can grow Acros... BIG colorfull, happy acros. The downside is that of you are like me, you hate spending every waking moment fiddling with the tank. There is a lesson here to all the newer SPS reefers out there.. less is more. Keep your hands out of the tank.. My issue is that all the corals have gotten so big, I don't have room for anything new.. So much so that the last 4 frags I got I had to glue onto a rock and leave it in the sandbed.. That was long enough ago that many would call those frags colonies now... Like 3"x3" colonies..
So.. what's the plan? Gut it.. like really.. 99.5% of all corals will go. Probably give them away. No point in selling them IMO. Who needs or wants a 20"x20" staghorn. How about a 30" Monti Cap.. so, whether I give em away, or they end up being repurposed in my Calcium Reactor.
Going to go bare bottom this time around too. Biggest mistake I made with V1 of this tank is the sand.. The rock is staying. Or at least most of it. Going to rescape a bit and get more room for future growth. 2nd biggest mistake I made wasn't allowing enough room around the corals both horizontally and vertically for growth.
Last, I am going to re-home a few fish. All these fish have been with me at least 5 years and this is probably going to be the hardest part.. These fish aren't just fish, they are my pets. But... There are a couple in there who would probably be better off in someone else's tank..
Okay, so long backstory aside, today is day 1 of the journey. I got myself a tomato bin to move stuff into while I basically gut the tank. I needed something big enough to keep things alive and wet while I get all mideval on the current setup. It needed a good cleaning so (as the picture shows) its getting a good bleach soak before I really get things moving.
Wish me luck and follow along for the ride.. hopefully, this'll be fun..
As the title states, it's time for a Re-Boot. My SPS tank has been up and running for a bit over 6 years and has been a resounding success. Great news right? Well yes and no.. yes in the fact that I proved beyond a shadow of doubt, that I can grow Acros... BIG colorfull, happy acros. The downside is that of you are like me, you hate spending every waking moment fiddling with the tank. There is a lesson here to all the newer SPS reefers out there.. less is more. Keep your hands out of the tank.. My issue is that all the corals have gotten so big, I don't have room for anything new.. So much so that the last 4 frags I got I had to glue onto a rock and leave it in the sandbed.. That was long enough ago that many would call those frags colonies now... Like 3"x3" colonies..
So.. what's the plan? Gut it.. like really.. 99.5% of all corals will go. Probably give them away. No point in selling them IMO. Who needs or wants a 20"x20" staghorn. How about a 30" Monti Cap.. so, whether I give em away, or they end up being repurposed in my Calcium Reactor.
Going to go bare bottom this time around too. Biggest mistake I made with V1 of this tank is the sand.. The rock is staying. Or at least most of it. Going to rescape a bit and get more room for future growth. 2nd biggest mistake I made wasn't allowing enough room around the corals both horizontally and vertically for growth.
Last, I am going to re-home a few fish. All these fish have been with me at least 5 years and this is probably going to be the hardest part.. These fish aren't just fish, they are my pets. But... There are a couple in there who would probably be better off in someone else's tank..
Okay, so long backstory aside, today is day 1 of the journey. I got myself a tomato bin to move stuff into while I basically gut the tank. I needed something big enough to keep things alive and wet while I get all mideval on the current setup. It needed a good cleaning so (as the picture shows) its getting a good bleach soak before I really get things moving.
Wish me luck and follow along for the ride.. hopefully, this'll be fun..
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