Tranquil Seas

[BonnieB]

I started 30+ years ago when I was young and flush. 100g tank that I had no desire to maintain. I just wanted to hand the LFS my cc and sit in front of a beautiful tank…until one day this amazingly beautiful shrimp emerged from one of the new live rocks and I woke up to all my fish dead. That just so disheartened me that I disassembled everything and didn’t come back until 9 months ago.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this again but I’m the day I made the decision I had just found out I wasn’t in remission and would have to start chemo again. I knew I needed something that would bring me calm and joy and beauty. I knew this time I had to be a learner and student and research and listen to expert advice.

Hesitant, I didn’t want to jump into a big tank, what if I failed again I thought. So I got a 32.5 AIO and started the journey. 9 months later and my tank just exploded in growth and I knew I was in it for good so I made the leap back to a 100g and this is my thread for that.

Eshopps Mariner M100
Sump 33g
Hydrofill ATO w/10 gallon reservoir
Ecotech Versa 4 Doser w/Dosing Tank
Heater (I can’t remember brand )
Simplicity Skimmer
Simplicity DC Pump
Reef LED G2 115w (2)
Hygger Flow One Wave Makers (2)
70 lbs live rocks (plus what will move over from current tank)
Live sand (can’t remember how much)
Custom Acrylic lid w/mesh screen

First picture is my “old” tank with 9 months growth - I named it “How Does Your Garden Grow”
Rest of the pics are my new build! I have named it “Tranquil Seas”

My heart is so very happy and excited to see how the merging of the two tanks will turn out!

Let the cycling begin!!

 

[cdemoss01]

FOLLOWING

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I started 30+ years ago when I was young and flush. 100g tank that I had no desire to maintain. I just wanted to hand the LFS my cc and sit in front of a beautiful tank…until one day this amazingly beautiful shrimp emerged from one of the new live rocks and I woke up to all my fish dead. That just so disheartened me that I disassembled everything and didn’t come back until 9 months ago.

I wasn’t sure I wanted to do this again but I’m the day I made the decision I had just found out I want in remission and would have to start chemo again. I knew I needed something that would bring me calm and joy and beauty. I knew this time I had to be a leaner and student and research and listen to expert advice.

Hesitant, I didn’t want to jump into a big tank, what if I failed again I thought. So I got a 32.5 AIO and started the journey. 9 months later and my tank just exploded in growth and I knew I was in it for good so I made the leap back to a 100g and this is my thread for that.

Eshopps Mariner M100
Sump 33g
Hydrofill ATO w/10 gallon reservoir
Ecotech Versa 4 Doser w/Dosing Tank
Heater (I can’t remember brand )
Simplicity Skimmer
Simplicity DC Pump
Reef LED G2 115w (2)
Hygger Flow One Wave Makers (2)
70 lbs live rocks (plus what will move over from current tank)
Live sand (can’t remember how much)
Custom Acrylic lid w/mesh screen

First picture is my “old” tank with 9 months growth - I named it “How Does Your Garden Grow”
Rest of the pics are my new build! I have named it “Tranquil Seas”

My heart is so very happy and excited to see how the merging of the two tanks will turn out!

Let the cycling begin!!

Love the aquascape!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Nice! Enjoy your new journey and wherever it takes you!

 

[BonnieB]

A week in and all is well (after making a return pump adjustment that was affecting my ATO)… meet Elvis, Presley, Peter & Gabriel!

 

[JumboShrimp]

Rock-on (pun)

 

[BonnieB]

8/15/25 - Two weeks in…tank is cycled, nitrates sitting at 5-10 currently…diatoms starting their thing…when I have the lights on for a couple of hours at night, I can see itty, bitty, teeny, tiny snails crawling on the rocks (I thought I was imagining things!) and there’s something royal blue (flat, perhaps a sponge) and something a neon coral pink (also flat but no clue).. and I seriously want to rename the chromis to “The Four Little Pigs”! I’m stoked with watching the minute changes as they happen!

 

[BonnieB]

Week 3 - with my diatoms in full bloom and algae forming on my live rock, I’ve added a few nassarius snails. With my smaller tank that was a great CUC start at the same stage so I figured it would be something to try here too. Next week I’ll be adding my first round of copepods and beginning to get them in place while waiting to do the transfer of tanks down the line. My protein skimmer is on and doing its thing (as it does with such low nutrients). Presley disappeared yesterday. Not in the tank or socks. We looked in the overflow but also didn’t see him. A mystery for sure! Happily finding the hitchhikers and determining who stays and who goes before it becomes an issue ( none right now thank goodness!).

 

[GoAskAlice]

Week 3 - with my diatoms in full bloom and algae forming on my live rock, I’ve added a few nassarius snails. With my smaller tank that was a great CUC start at the same stage so I figured it would be something to try here too. Next week I’ll be adding my first round of copepods and beginning to get them in place while waiting to do the transfer of tanks down the line. My protein skimmer is on and doing its thing (as it does with such low nutrients). Presley disappeared yesterday. Not in the tank or socks. We looked in the overflow but also didn’t see him. A mystery for sure! Happily finding the hitchhikers and determining who stays and who goes before it becomes an issue ( none right now thank goodness!).

I'm a huge fan of nassarius snails. I call them the "special ops" snails. You don't see them until you put a bit of food in the tank just after lights out. Then instantly they just pop up out of the sand! Love them!

 

[BonnieB]

Week 3 - with my diatoms in full bloom and algae forming on my live rock, I’ve added a few nassarius snails. With my smaller tank that was a great CUC start at the same stage so I figured it would be something to try here too. Next week I’ll be adding my first round of copepods and beginning to get them in place while waiting to do the transfer of tanks down the line. My protein skimmer is on and doing its thing (as it does with such low nutrients). Presley disappeared yesterday. Not in the tank or socks. We looked in the overflow but also didn’t see him. A mystery for sure! Happily finding the hitchhikers and determining who stays and who goes before it becomes an issue ( none right now thank goodness!).

I'm a huge fan of nassarius snails. I call them the "special ops" snails. You don't see them until you put a bit of food in the tank just after lights out. Then instantly they just pop up out of the sand! Love them!

Me, too! I call them my Zombie Crew!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Are you planning on bringing most of the rock from your original tank over to the new one.? I’m interested to see how you incorporate it into your current aquascape!

 

[BonnieB]

Are you planning on bringing most of the rock from your original tank over to the new one.? I’m interested to see how you incorporate it into your current aquascape!

Yes, I am. I have a great LFS and the owner has been designing aquascapes for over 30 years now and he is the one designing the tank so I’m with you, I can’t wait to see how this shapes up! He has rock he got specifically for me that he’s holding at the shop to further finish what he’s seeing for me and so I know (especially now that I did the girl thing and changed my mind about the small tank to keep it and turn it into a FOWLR) he will build it like I was envisioning when I made the decision to upgrade.

 

[BonnieB]

Week 5: Everything continues to go great. I have a big bay window across from the tank so it gets plenty of daylight without direct sun. So at this point I only run my lights for 4 hours at night. Keeps the diatoms bloom at bay and makes the gentle stirring a lot less arduous. This week I added my first seeding of pods and started phyto feeding at 30ml per day. Put a couple of pieces of LR in the sump to help them to settle a bit and hopefully between that and those that rise to the top DT I’ll get a population going. I’ve decided to try my luck at a Mandarin at the right time so getting this population up and established early is important for me. Will be seeding again this week (Week 6). Lost Presley in week 5 so just my other two chromis left but they are already looking like they are flourishing! Excited for what’s ahead!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

You mentioned that you used live rock. Did you mean ocean cultured or simply wet rock from the LFS? I’m 8 months into this tank’s dry rock start and really wishing I used real live rock instead—stilllllllllllll in a GHA ugly phase! Live and learn, I guess.
You mentioned cancer up top, but I couldn’t tell cause of a typo whether you meant you went into remission and off chemo, or out of remission and onto chemo. Either way, I agree—this hobby is such a happy way to pass the time. I love observing closely every day to spot the tiny changes that pop up. And my son loves to hang out in my arms as I do! He’s two next week and starting to learn the names of our fishes, it’s so cute.

 

[BonnieB]

I used LR from my LFS not ocean. Years ago when I started that was what you did, ocean, and ergo my mantis shrimp hitchhiker. I am not yet in remission but I’ve been off chemo now since June. Next tests are in mid October and then if okay the next test will be in January. Life is full of hopes even during times of hopelessness and having yourself surrounded by people and things that help you cherish the life you currently have cannot be underestimated! Love your special time with you boy! Enjoy these years as they pass so quickly! My baby just turned 22 a couple of weeks ago! And yes, teach him all about our hobby and the impact the larger care picture has on our environment!

 

[BonnieB]

Week 6: Everything continues to move along. Adding a bunch more copepods and continuing feeding phyto, and starting my first phytoplankton culture. The uglies are virtually nonexistent with the pods growing practically unobstructed. Added a couple of nice biomedia pieces to the sump. Today my LFS owner will visit and bring the dosing pump that fell off in transit (even though I’m nowhere close to using my dosing system yet it will feel good to have that complete!) and I’m excited for him to see how it’s all

coming along! Peter and Gabriel are staring at the old tank wondering when their friends might be moving over…sorry guys, change of plans, only Bessie and Norman (Bates) will be moving in with their nem…we’ll have to find you new friends!

 

[BonnieB]

It’s of course the patience game at this point. Everything is maturing. This is Week 7. LFS was over to check on progress and things are moving add they should. They are estimating that next month we’ll be able to do the transfer. Got algae , yeah! Pods are keeping the uglies less ugly and other than glass wipe down we seem to be looking good. My phytoplankton culture is still bright green so I am going to research and revisit that over the next few days. Feeding 50ml per day now. Going out of town for a week and leaving it all to the care of my boys. Pray for my tanks!

 

[BriDroid]

Looks great!

 

[BonnieB]

Looks great!

Thank you!

 

[BonnieB]

Well here we are at I think week 8. Starting to lose count now . And the news of the day is I’m in CUC mode. There are a bunch of baby, what look like trochus snails, all over the glass (mostly sides and back). I was away for a week and when I came back yesterday, there they were! I’ve got some nice enough algae growth now that I’m adding some turbos. I decided I want to stay away from the crabs this time if at all possible. And I’m adding a Diamond Goby if for no other reason than I love the one in my other tank. If he decides to move things and build mountains like our Bob The Builder, I’ll have to come up with a different name! Still seeding and feeding for creatures yet to come! BUT…biggest news is, wait for it, I just got an M70 for my office. I believe I said this in another thread somewhere but, “Hi, I’m Bonnie and I’m a reef addict.” Stay tuned for another build thread sooner than later! wonder what I’m going to call that one!