Seapony's trials and errors... mostly errors.

[seapony]

when i got into this hobby I was not sure why people have tank journals out there for everyone to see. so i never started one when i got my tank last September.

Now i have come to understand why people do it.

This was my 120gal Reef tank (attempt) 4 days ago.



note the nice new LEDs sitting on top of the tank due to the lack of 1/16th wire rope clamps in my area of the GVRD.

this is my tank today



why does my tank look like a random pile of rocks now? (as opposed to the slightly organised pile of rocks it was) I've got Ich. my fresh water bane has found me in the salt water venue. how i'm not sure, might have come in on rock when i set the tank up and waited for me to introduce a poor tang to the tank to show it's ugly little head. but there it is... on my poor tang and then on my angles.

good thing i just invested in another 120gal for downstairs to be a FOWLR tank! (that's the excuse i'm using for my hubby, really it was just so i could keep my beloved snowflake eel Boo) so everyone got pulled out of the reef and put in the tank full of dead rock to get medicated and a 3 month staycation.

how does this relate to my tank now looking like a war zone?

Simple anyone who tells you that you can trap dwarf angles lies...

so now i get to do a tank journal about rebuilding my reef tank. i mean i pulled the entire thing apart and I wanted to add more rock anyways. I've now invested in some reactors that have to be plumed in. eventually i'll find the 1/16 rope clamps and get the lights hung. get the impeller on my new skimmer fixed and do something about the damn alge that was killing my zoas.

I have 3 months to tinker with the tank and think what fish i want, cause i'm not sure i'm going to get the angles out of the FOWLR tank.

Or in 3 months i'll be bald because i've torn all my hair out and there will be a 120 posted in the for sale section.

i think this is were someone tells me welcome to the hobby

On the bright side now i don't have to worry about the eel snacking on me when i try and work on the tank.

oh and just cause someone will ask here's the FOWLR tank



I embraced my rock piling skills and just went for something that offered the most amount of caves and cervices... the fish love it and my tank looks empty most of the time.

[daplatapus]

Originally Posted by seapony

i think this is were someone tells me welcome to the hobby

Welcome to the hobby!

Good call at starting with a clean slate. That decision only gets harder to make as time goes by.

[seapony]

Thanks Daplatapus. I can't imagin it getting harder to restart. It was hard to abandon the tank and start again right now.

But enough whineing time to think of ways to make 100lbs of rock look attactive...

Anyone got any ideas?

[monocus]

rona carries the clamps as well as the wire rope

[seapony]

Originally Posted by monocus

rona carries the clamps as well as the wire rope

thanks for the tip i now have clamps, tonight i hang the lights!

i've got bio pellets now, just need to pumb in the reactor.

hopefully i've have update pics this weekend.

[seapony]

success! i managed to get the lights up last night, i'm rather proud of this considering i'm 5' tall and only have a 4' stepladder with 10' ceilings

i know it's uneven, my hubby fixed that this morning.

today I play with rocks

[spit.fire]

Originally Posted by seapony

Thanks Daplatapus. I can't imagin it getting harder to restart. It was hard to abandon the tank and start again right now.

But enough whineing time to think of ways to make 100lbs of rock look attactive...

Anyone got any ideas?

Easy, sell 50lbs lbs of it drill and zap strap the remaining pieces together and don't worry about caves

[Spyd]

I agree. Run some bio-pellets in a reactor and that will allow you to reduce the amount of rock work you need in your tank. I would highly suggest not piling rock up against any of the glass. This way you can get flow across your entire sandbed to avoid any dietritus build up. Also, you can clean your glass a lot easier.

Get creative. Drilling rock does work, zip ties, epoxy, etc. Just try your best to aquascape to your liking. Larger pieces allow you to make bridges, etc. and make the rock work look more interesting.