High Tide Aquatics

Hornberson Reef - DSA 90 gallon mixed reef

I had to leave the tank on auto-pilot for 10 days while I was in Boston and everything went OK. I can't believe how much coraline was growing on my front glass after not scraping for 14 days, little 5mm islands of purple all over.

Skimer silencer is working great. The new MP40 wetside is a total bust - it's been seizing up and probably needs another vinegar bath, but considering it's only a month old I'm about ready to throw it away in frustration at this point. I have an old used MP40 working great, the new one I buy - nothing but trouble, even with a brand new wetside. I don't have any problems with calcium carbonate precipitation or anything else - the other MP40 is fine and barely needs to be cleaned more than every 3-4 months.

In sadder news for my tank but great news for my family, we're going to be moving home to Boston in April. This means I'll be breaking my tank down, so if there are any coral/fish you would like you should get in touch. I'll be putting up a thread later this week, probably.
 
wpeterson said:
I had to leave the tank on auto-pilot for 10 days while I was in Boston and everything went OK. I can't believe how much coraline was growing on my front glass after not scraping for 14 days, little 5mm islands of purple all over.

Skimer silencer is working great. The new MP40 wetside is a total bust - it's been seizing up and probably needs another vinegar bath, but considering it's only a month old I'm about ready to throw it away in frustration at this point. I have an old used MP40 working great, the new one I buy - nothing but trouble, even with a brand new wetside. I don't have any problems with calcium carbonate precipitation or anything else - the other MP40 is fine and barely needs to be cleaned more than every 3-4 months.

In sadder news for my tank but great news for my family, we're going to be moving home to Boston in April. This means I'll be breaking my tank down, so if there are any coral/fish you would like you should get in touch. I'll be putting up a thread later this week, probably.
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That's some sad news. You've got such a great tank running. What's Boston got that the bay doesn't have?
 
wpeterson said:
In sadder news for my tank but great news for my family, we're going to be moving home to Boston in April. This means I'll be breaking my tank down, so if there are any coral/fish you would like you should get in touch. I'll be putting up a thread later this week, probably.
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Winfield @wpeterson ,

I would like to say it has been an honor to have you as a fellow reefer and friend I have learned a lot from you through your experiences and practices...we will always stay in touch and even tho you will be on the other side country:)

Will you be able to coming to the frag swap?
 
Wow. Sorry for us to hear that, but sounds like Boston is home for you, so congrats. (I get it - I went to school there.) I was looking forward to having students update you on the awesome growth of our Hollywood stunner chalice and birdsnest. You will always be our special first donor. : ) Mazie is one special cutie so it'll be nice for family.
I will definitely be on the lookout for your tank and livestock sale thread.
 
That is both great and sad news! But all the best wishes for you and your family, I hope you have as much success with a reef tank in Boston as you did here!

Will you be selling the whole tank or just the livestock?
 
Thanks for all the kind words. The club has been a great community - both for my time in the hobby and for the great people I've met.

Boston is home for us, where the friends, family and Maisie's grandparents are. It's also somewhere we can afford to rent/buy without the boom town prices on the Peninsula squeezing us more and more.

I'm planning to breakdown the tank and find good homes for the fish/coral. For livestock, I'm more concerned that I find good homes in established tanks than recoup any money. I seeded this tank with DBTC corals and the generosity of other members in the club, I'd prefer to break it down the same way. Feel free to drop me a line if you want to take some coral, as long as you can share it with the club down the road. It may also mean taking live rock with a few corals on it.

I'm especially concerned to find someone with a large, established tank with a good food supply who could take our mated pair of mandarins. They eat frozen eagerly but it's easier if there's a solid copepod population.

I'll sell the DSA 90 gal tank/cherry wood stand, I paid $1200 for them new but I'd part with them for $600 picked up. Planning to keep the sump/dry goods for the next tank.
 
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MolaMola said:
Wow. Sorry for us to hear that, but sounds like Boston is home for you, so congrats. (I get it - I went to school there.) I was looking forward to having students update you on the awesome growth of our Hollywood stunner chalice and birdsnest. You will always be our special first donor. : ) Mazie is one special cutie so it'll be nice for family.
I will definitely be on the lookout for your tank and livestock sale thread.
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I'll still be involved on the forums and you guys are welcome to come and take some more coral for your tank.
 
wpeterson said:
I'll sell the DSA 90 gal tank/cherry wood stand, I paid $1200 for them new but I'd part with them for $600 picked up. Planning to keep the sump/dry goods for the next tank.
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Smoking deal! Someone pick it up before I do!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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@wpeterson home is where the heart is. Man the couple of folks I know from Boston will never go back just for the reason they don't have shovel out there cars every morning. Best of luck and thanks for the great advice and wonderful example you have set.


Ryan
 
:( we're gonna miss you Winfield but is it for the best. Youll have much more connections with family and friends in Boston.

Let me know if you want to donate any corals to the club. We will be selling corals at MACNA and small club events to raise funds for the club.
 
I was enjoying reading your tank journal for a while. Sorry to hear that you are leaving the area. Good luck back in Boston.

The deal on your tank is super good. I'm sure you'll find a buyer in no time!
The pair of mandarins is very tempting to me, they are at the top of my wish list. I was thinking of buying at least one, I held back so far because of lack of time (I haven't added any new livestock in my tank for almost a year). If you can't find a good home for them through another BAR member, I could share the details of my tank with you to figure out if it would be a suitable home for them.
 
After a vinegar bath our cursed MP40 is working fine again.

We've given away about half of our coral over the last few days. I'm glad @MolaMola took our gigantic purple montipora and two large rocks fused with coral (also home to a small neon green monti, red cyphastrea, red monti, a green millepora, and a red acropora. I think they got a small frag of the green montipora confusa as well, which broke off on one of the rocks. I hope they are able to get them in their tank without too much trouble, but a broken coral just means more frags.

There's still a lot of nice larger pieces for folks in the club with an established tank - a large zoa rock (a large colony of red, small colonies of yellow and of pink). There's a large softball sized colony of green birdsnest (very hardy and fast growing), a large Acropora colony (red, neon green body), a medium sized green montipora confusa, and a baseball sized green acropora. Same deal as above, I'm giving away whole colonies on live rocks. I ask that you keep them together in your tank or give 3+ frags for free to other club members if you frag them up.

Our bubble tip anemones have never been happier. They were once a large RBTA, but the giant purple monti shaded him and he split into three smaller RBTAs. Now they are finally getting all the light they got before.
 
Well, it's a sad day today - the tank is in the process of being broken down. I just helped pack up @euod with everything in the display - fish, corals, and live rocks. If there's anything in the tank you didn't get and you're interested, you should talk to him.

I'm breaking everything else down today, so the tank will be ready for pickup this weekend if anyone is interested. Going to post tank/stand for $600 on ReefCentral, cheaper for friends/BAR members.
 
Just finished cleaning out the display today, man scooping up 60 lbs of sand is harder when it's wet.

Sale for tank/stand are pending to @tygun.

Does anyone know of a reliable tank moving service? This tank is 150-200lbs dry and should really be moved by two people with proper heavy duty suction cup lifters. I was lucky to have Neptune Aquatics deliver it right to our living room. Only moving in across town, I believe.
 
Ran into the same issue when I bought my tank, which probably weighs as much as yours does. My tank moving service was myself, an unlucky friend and a Uhaul van. But I did spring for a set of heavy duty suction cups (bought from another BAR member), which you're welcome to borrow.
 
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