Didn't feel like I had enough real estate in the tank so I picked up a small pre-built tower from Concepts on the weekend made from Eli's Pukani Dry Rock. Add's a nice touch to the left side I think.

Added some a zoa colony, SPS colony (on the tower in pic) and a Red/White Acan colony as well. :)

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps895883fc.jpg

looks great!

That's really cool! When you say pre-made what do you mean? Is Concept selling pre-assembled/glued/epoxied/whatever rock structures these days? That's a really great idea...

I think it's the piece Eli did for his videos and he had it at the shop for a sample piece, I guess it was for sale.

everything is for sale lol and yes its the premade structure we had for demo:)

actually funny it was mentioned as i had last year sat with dave and thought about doing pre -made rock structures and incased in a small glass box or wooden box.

structures would be somewhat smaller but in a variety of unique shapes and ideas:)

who knows maybe ill sit down with eli and work something out if people are interested in stuff like that:)

josh how does it feel to be on the plus side of the coral game again lol? noticed your sps isnt white actually looks to have flesh and color:P

i had a feeling a fresh start with traditional practices would bring the life back in the hobby for you:)

good on ya bro glad to see it its been a battle for too long

cheers

denny

bad fortune must be digitally communicable. best of luck josh the tank is looking good. how long can i expect my tank to look like crap now?

Thanks guys... and thanks for all the help Denny.. I owe you big time!

As denny said, EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE! The demo piece caught my eye before NYE but I never snagged it.. saw it there yesterday and couldn't pass it up a 2nd time. I think it really finished off my tank nicely.

Now I'm just debating about BB or SSB. BB has been a PAIN to keep clean so far and now with the rock tower I added it will be even more difficult to vacuum detritus around/under/behind it. Sand+Sand Sifting Goby may be the winning combo, it works in my 180G. :)


Thanks Brett.. My tank looked like poop for almost 1 year to the day.. just as a reference. :lol: I truly hope yours doesn't look like mine did for a year! I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Looks good. Will look even better with sand:lol:

UH hUh I just found my rock...is it Denny or Dave that sold it on me ...:twised:...wait till I see them tomorrow....
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/Pt...s=w423-h316-no


Josh I am happy for you .Your system is looking good .:thumb:

I'd hate to get anyone in trouble, so I'll just say their name starts with a "D" :mrgreen:

Hope you're not upset Eli... but the rock does look good in my tank. :razz:

upset..no.. :biggrin:
"D" Hmm I wounder who that could be...well we rule out Matt and Roger that leaves Dave and Denny ...I will get it out of them...
That rocks fills your tank nicely,glad you are enjoying it.:thumb:

And that FijiCrete is good stuff! holds these 2 rocks together with no issues!

The rock fits perfectly in your tank!

wow looking good!

Thanks Matt!


Possible disaster this morning.. I won't know the short term affects till I get home today but a quick summary.

Got home last and walked inside the house. As anyone who has followed this you will know my tank is near the front door. Closed the door behind but apparently forgot to flip the deadbolt. Either way, the door was closed and I cleaned the glass, checked/fed the fish, had my daily observation of things and went upstairs for the night.

Come downstairs this morning to leave for work and my front door in open with about a 3-4 gap and the frosty -25 degree air is pouring into my front entrance area, right where my tank is. I immediately checked my RKE display to see what the temp was at... It had dropped to a chilly 14.1C from 24.6C. I have no idea what time the door popped open during the night, but I'm fully expecting that temp drop/shock to nuke all my SPS I have added in the last few weeks.

This tank has been a bloody nightmare to deal with and EVERYTHING that can go wrong seems to. Granted this was my own fault for forgetting to lock the deadbolt but still, what are the chances your front door blows open randomly like this.

UGH!! :cry:

OMG Josh, this is terrible. I feel for you. I am so sorry.

Sorry to hear Josh. That is just bad luck !

good luck bro that really sucks.

where i live i'd never leave my door unlocked. i'd suggest having a few kids or downgrade neighbourhoods to heighten your perceived need for security =)

Should be an interesting tank to go home to after work..

As for locking.. I lock that door all the time usually, just something caught my eye in the tank and took me out of my routine I guess.

Unfortunately I didn't get a chance to inspect much before leaving for work. but none of the fish were floating or stuck to the powerheads. But Im not sure what effects that sort of temp drop will have.. Fingers crossed that the temp can get back up to something a bit better over the course of the day. The door is LOCKED for sure now.

Maybe it's a sign to just shut this puppy down.

My tank temp dropped significantly in the spring when I had a 24h power outtage. I only lost two fish and a few corals. I was expecting much worse. It may surprise you how resilient some organisms are.

Totally agreed. I had a heater break on a 30 gallon once. The temp went down to 56 F from 79-80 F (sorry... all my stuff is in Fahrenheit). Everything but a clam survived.

I've got my fingers crossed for you mang.

Well got home and had a look at the damage..

Copperband Butterfly - Dead.

All other fish.. seem ok so far.. Wrasses have a couple spots of ich, will keep an eye on them.

Acans - ****ED OFF! closed up and puking out stringy gunk.

Zoas - Seem to could care less, all open and looking fine.

SPS - ****ED OFF! 1 colony is likely to STN on me. Every tip of every branch is white skeleton. My Blue Stag is looking pretty rough, the coralites do not look healthy at all but no noticeable skeleton showing yet. All other SPS has FULLY retracted polyps right now. The only one that looks even remotely unfazed is the Montipora Confusa colony.

Duncan Frag - Fully retracted polyps.

Hammer Frag - 90% retracted

The temp when I got home had risen to 20.4C. I have since added another heater to help out a bit before the lights go out.

Ultimately I feel it could have been a LOT worse, but who knows what the long term affects will be over the next week or two.

I put some HC-GFO online tonight to help battle any PO4 I will get from the 1) dead fish, 2) possible STN of SPS.

Finger crossed!

Just wanted to post a couple pics before my the Sub-Freezing event transpired with my tank.

First time trying out my new Canon 70D on the tank. Really need to pick up a fast macro lens though.

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps99d2e9c6.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6de0c7d3.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...pseecf8b50.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...psdae838ab.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...psf4c2c1b3.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7d364d87.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5348d143.jpg

love those dark red acans!

Update:

I'll be shutting this tank down soon. It has been in a downward spiral for quite a while now.. every square inch of live rock is covered in Valonia bubble algae, hair algae, and leafy algae... It currently looks more like a refugium than a reef. :lol:

This tank just doesn't seem like it was meant to be...

Macro algae tank do look pretty.
You can easily do like pipefish and seahorse with a full macro algae tank.

GSP's and also BLUE CLOVES !!! :)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...620115tank.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a2...a/July2011.jpg

Mine looks more like this mess! :(

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7784f148.jpg

Well...

I pulled the plug on the old setup and have decided to start from scratch, literally.... I spent a solid 5.5hours last night scraping, scrubbing, draining and cleaning out the system as best I can.. Not sure how to get much more out of my sump, pretty difficult pulling a syphon from a few inches off the ground, and I've got no pumps/powerheads that work for this duty so I will have to live with the left over water sitting in there I guess. haha I'm gonna see what else I can do tonight to get more waste water out but there is really only about 2-3 gallons sitting in the sump right now.

I picked up some new rock, Pukani Dry Rock. Really nice pieces and was able to come up with my aquascape in the store (photos below).

I really think this is the best thing to do.. The old rock just left too many chances for me to miss something when scrubbing/peroxiding the misc algaes only to possibly have more issues down the road. Not to say that I won't face challenges starting over, but I feel its a safer option.

Here are a few pics of the pukani rock I picked up and what my aquascape will look like... This was a very UNSTABLE design in the store so I picked up some "Fijicrete" to cement the pieces together. Hoping to get started on that tonight.

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...psbf8e622f.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps341d4e9e.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9bff8be6.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...psd7275e45.jpg


Fingers crossed!! :drinking:

You should do an acid treatment on your old rocks. Works amazing. Won't have to worry about pests staying on the rock at all.

... Or just give the old rocks to me... and i'll take care of it!

i use a plastic dustpan with a rubber tip to scoop water from tanks. I can get every last drop and it works like a squeegee. Just an idea...

That's not a bad idea actually! Thanks Brett

Walmart carries it:

https://ralik.ca/img/Produits/250x25...cturing_ma.jpg

Oscar broom / dustpan. So handy!

I also use that trick!

Another night of working on the tank tonight..

Cleaned out the rest of the sump and started working on "Fijicreting" my rock structure in the tank. Decided to go back to a sand bed too, mainly for esthetics.

Couple quick pics I took..

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps97f78b3f.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9b585fa0.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...pse25f681f.jpg

http://i1258.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9bd66a21.jpg

I will keep you guys updated.. :)

Wow. Looks awesome.

that's looking pretty good! Reboots are all the rage right now. All the cool kids (and Hollywood) are doing it.

I've never been cool :(

Join the club, man.. I'm still running halides.. Seriously though, there is a club.