High Tide Aquatics

Rygh's 250 gallon - rev.2

So I am now seeing a drop in Ammonia + rise in Nitrite.
A lot faster than a natural cycle, but hardly one day.

Also, I did something different with the temporary coral tank.
I am pumping water from DT, through a 1 micron sediment filter, and into coral tank.
Small amount, maybe 10 GPH, but the tank is only 25G.
That way I can start moving corals sooner.

Might be a busy weekend.
 
Well if it really is 1 micron that could potentially filter out red blood cells (~5 micron), dont think any pests are smaller than that really.
 
Yes, 1 micron is overkill, since I mostly just care about majanos.
But that is what I had lying around for RODI.

The slight risk is if the filter material is not in the canister correctly, they could bypass the filter.
But the larger risk is if I miss one as I frag/clean/QT corals.
 
Almost 2 weeks ago I added more bacteria, and a brick of Marinepure.
But my temporary tank is still not fully cycled.
Nitrite level is just starting to drop, but barely, and is way too high.

Unfortunately, this weekend was the cutoff day in my schedule.
I am going camping for a couple of weeks next month, and it is too high risk to
leave the fish in the temporary tank when I am gone.

So ... looks like another month+ delay. ARGH.
Oh well, tank will be 100% cycled by then...
And it gives me time to tweak rock structures, make the new fake-sand-bottom, and so on.
 
Flagg37 said:
So you like the fake sand bottom that you did before enough to do it again then? I was wondering if you’d do it again.
Click to expand...
I did fake sand around the rocks before, never full bottom.
I had normal bare bottom for a while, and like the lower maintenance, but never liked the mirror finish.
Hopefully it will work out.
 
So the big Majano-killing full tank reboot starts....

Back from a long vacation. Time to get it going.

Last lovely full tank shot. :cool:
It is amazing how fast the front of the tank gets covered with coraline.

IMG_2703.jpg
 
Forgot to mention:
Came back from vacation to some water on the floor. Fortunately just in the garage.
Probably only a couple of gallons.
A connection between spa-flex and regular PVC is dripping slightly.
Specifically the super-flex pvc hose that Marine depot used to sell.

Weird, because that is a pvc-welded joint, not some threaded connection, and it has been fine for years.
 
Fish are corals transferred to holding tanks. Main system is empty.

Done, but it did not go that smoothly.

One big problem - got stabbed by the spine of my Foxface. :eek:
Yes, they are poisonous. :eek::eek::eek::eek:
Fortunately, very minor hit, and not allergic, so less problem than a small bee sting.
But for the first few minutes, wondering if I should head to the emergency room or not....
Fine now.
Need to keep an eye on it for infections of course.
It was caught in the net and twisted, and as I reached near it to free it, it thrashed like crazy.
Should have put on kevlar gloves.

The second big problem - Cuke-Nuke.
I moved my cucumber to the holding tank yesterday, and somehow it got stuck in the egg crate.
It spewed its guts out.
Fortunately, I noticed before moving fish.
Found the guts even, before they were chopped up by the pumps.
Did a 100% water change.
So lucky there.

The third problem - You don't realize how much rock you have in a big system until you start moving it. Especially wet.
My back is really sore.

And a good problem - Apex fusion is texting me like crazy saying something is wrong with the tank.
No kidding...


Taking a break, then back to work. Pictures soon.
 
CRUD, another major problem.
I was using my old skimmer on the temporary tank for the fish, and it smoked.

Motor literally burned up, leached out some nasty burnt plastic. Smelled up the garage.
Put a lot of carbon in, cleaned as best I could.
Making more water for water changes.
Hope the fish are OK.
(Old reef octopus)
I had tested it a couple of weeks ago, and it worked fine.

I am sterilizing my current skimmer, and can get that running, so not a really big deal.
As long as nothing really nasty was released into the water.
 
Yup, have had the "pleasure" of getting zapped by Foxface venom too, I got about 4 or 5 punctures though, and boy there was an awfully warm/hot feeling right across the palm of my hand. Was not fun, but I've had much worse happen in my tanks over the years.

And I feel you about the rock, I put in what I thought was a lot of rock in my (way too long term) temporary tank, and then filled up Brute after Brute with the rest... like WTF!? How did I have this much.
 
grizfyrfyter said:
That's a bummer. I wonder what causes this to happen, it's the second post I've seen recently about I Skimmer pump catching fire
Click to expand...
My theory:
They are enclosing the windings in cheaper and cheaper plastic.
Plastic does not conduct heat well, so it gets rather hot inside despite being in the water.
So it expands a bit too much, gets a few tiny cracks, lets a bit of water in, and that is the end of that.
 
Yet more problems...

We have a monthly pest control contract, due to bad spider and ant problems in the yard.
They come out and clean, then spray pesticide around the house.

Well ... I had all my old rocks and equipment lying around outside from the big move this weekend....
Oops.
I don't think anything was directly sprayed.
And I need to clean the heck out of everything anyway.
But still....
 
Flagg37 said:
Keep your eye on the prize. A majano free tank.
Click to expand...
Yep!
Although they seem surprisingly resistant to bleach. Wife is buying a couple more gallons...

Also free of:
Sand
a nasty yellow sponge
Some ugly mushrooms
Some ugly palys
Yellow water
A plumbing leak
Ugly return plumbing
scratches (maybe, if I want to spend the effort/risk)
 
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