Well its running... sort of

[my2rotties]

A week and a half ago my 55g crashed really hard. It was perfect when I went to bed, and when I got up my cleaner wrasse was dead, my anenome was toast and my foxface, Mr. Ed was gasping for air on the bottom. I spent days doing water changes and using cycle to get the ammonia down, but it just kept spiking. Ed hung in there and I would swim him around and thought he would make it. We went and bought the pump and skimmer for the 260g, and Saturday morning I came down to find poor Ed jumped out of the tank and killed himself.

I never knew someone could cry so much over a fish, but he was the reason we went through with setting up the 260g. He was HUGE over 7' long and was such a wonderful friend to me... RIP ld buddy, we loved you. I still get a lump in my throat when I think he didn't make it to the new tank.

I have no clue as to why the 55g crashed and was still struggling with it. My soft corals looked like poop, and I made the decision to move everyone over to the big tank, although it has not finished cycling. My mandarine fish was not moving and no matter how much water I changed the ammonia would spike in a matter of a couple of hours. My purple tang was hin=ding all the time, and I felt they had a better chance of life in the 260g.

We moved them all last night, and almost instantly my softie opened up again, and all the fish although belwildered, were better. I came down this morning and when the lights went on, everyone is alive and well. I have to look for them in their ocean, since they have a multitude of tunnels and hiding places. I have to Percula clowns, the purple tang, the mandarine, and a damsel fish in there. The 70g sump is awesome and Colby did a fantastic job in building it for us.

We are getting a hole drilled in the 55g and it will be our refugium at the end of the day. I already have my stars and stripes puffer on hold a Colby's and he is keeping me focused on moving forward. When the 55g crashed I was ready to throw in the towel. I had enough, and when Ed died, I really wanted to walk away. However we had so much money tied into this new system and my husband worked so hard building it, how could I walk away. He was respectful of my decision to walk away, but then I saw him in the control room, and I knew I could not do it to him.

So we are up and running, I am scared to death since the little 55g gave me so much grief. Now I have a 260g tank, a 70g sump and a 55g refugium. It is all automated with reverse osmosis and no more dragging buckets of water in and out of the house. It is just a switch to do water changes and a switch to add water. My husband outdid himself, and has never built a tank before in his life. He made sure to use pipe that is glued and locked together and not a single hose. It should be easy but it is bittersweet for me.

Now I have to slowly get livestock and a mantis shrimp for the refugium in the near future. I am a little excited but sad all the same. I notice the new tank is so big, that the fish have no clue when I try to feed them.

Anyways thanks so much for all the help and the resources to make this build possible. Without you it would not have been possible. We learned form mistakes and disasters both our and all the members. I am keeping my fingers and toes crossed. We still need MH pendants and to build the correct canopy for the lighting. The stone also still needs to go on the stand. So much work, but it will be worth it in the end... I hope.

I am watching my tang play and it is so good to see him stretch out and swim his butt (do they have butts?) off. I just wish Ed could have been here to see it. That guy loved to race himself and swim fast. When I bought this tank he was all that I thought of.