110g Mixed Reef V2

[fishytime]

Ive had a bit of a run of bad luck with the tank, that has left me with a serious case of the blahs. Its gotten to where I didnt want to come home and look at the tank tonight.

It started off a couple weeks ago when one of the ballasts in my tek light died. As I posted earlier the tank has been running on half wattage since then, waiting on a new ballast. The sps on the dim side of the tank are all starting to suffer. Some color loss and browning in one or two. The ballast is in so I be be back at full wattage again tomorrow night. The whole issue has left a bad taste in my mouth regarding the tek lights. Unfortunately upgrading to two 36" ATI powermodules (first choice) would set me back over $2000 and is simply out of reach atm. Soooo tek it is....for now.

In the process of doing some pruning recently I broke my candycane from where it was epoxied in, so Friday night I decide to "stick" it back where it was. As I am pushing it in place the entire center portion of my aquascaping shifted about 3" to one side....I thought the whole thing was coming down but I managed to stabilize it enough to work on fixing it. So I moved a few sps colonies to the sump and tried to fix the slide. We all know what happens when you move something in a reef aquarium....It didnt go back to the way it was and I am not happy with the new look. By this point my frustration level had peaked and I figured I would just get the stuff in the sump back in the tank and fix it later when I mellowed out a bit. As I am bringing my large orange monti from the sump it slips a bit from my grip and as I try and save it from hitting the floor, I squeeze and snap it into about twenty pieces

Then last night I had to switch my lights off manually because I changed the timer from "timer" to "manual" mode. I guess the sudden and unusual blackout spooked my male hooded fairy wrasse and he "Peter Panned" 6' out of the tank onto the hardwood floor.... I was standing right there and if I was on the ball probably could have caught him...as it was, he wasnt out of the tank for more than 15 seconds but when I put him back in the tank he spiraled down to the bottom and disappeared in the rockwork. I looked and couldnt find him this morning when the lights were off, but found him dead this evening when I got home. I know its entirely my fault for not covering the tank which makes me feel even worse.

*takes a deep breath*

[Delphinus]

Sorry to hear about the wrasse. That's really odd that only 15 seconds did him in .. wonder if he hurt himself or somehow went into shock.

I've done similar things with SPS colonies. Don't laugh, but here's a suggestion (I've done this, or rather, "have had to do this", myself) .. you can glue them back together with superglue. They look a little Frankenstein at first, but they eventually grow over the seams.. FWIW..

[Carmen]

Whoa Doug, not been a good week at all! So sorry about the wrasse. Maybe just hit the floor too hard? Best of luck on the aquascape repair.

[sharuq1]

That sucks Doug I feel for ya

[Rbacchiega]

ugh, that sucks Doug.

Hope everything turns around for you mighty quick, I heart your tank

[es355lucille]

Sorry to hear about the Wrasse Doug. Ours did the same onto the hardwood floor. I gave him a 9.5 out of 10.0 as he did a double half twist and smacked and stuck (with no bounce).......it took him a couple of days but he recovered. I think we got very lucky.

[Ryan]

Hard wood floor and flying 6 feet. A small fish like that could have bonked his head pretty good and caused the death.

[Alberta-newb]

Sorry to hear about the bad luck!

[Tine]

What a fascinating story, I look forward to finishing it when I get some more (steal) free time, lots to learn in this story. Thank you.

I have been reading your thread all morning, 11.45 now have to go and do some work. (may need a bigger tank!!!)

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Tine

I have been reading your thread all morning, 11.45 now.

Wow...must have been bored.

Thanks for the comforting words guys and gals. Ive been feeling alot better about the tank...Kevin installed the new ballast in my light for me so I can now look at the tank without noticing the lack of light. I even managed to fight off the urge to console myself with a "big ticket" splurge buy for the tank.

I did another bulb swap though... so here is the new spread.
front giesemann actinic+
KZ new gen
aquascience blue
giesemann blue+
kz new gen
back giesemann actinic+

Heres how it looks



and some shots of the tank etc.