That's it! I'm ripping my reef down!

[lorenz0]

I totally know how you feel. couple weeks ago i found flat worms in my old tank while i was caring for it at my parents. wasnt to happy to say the least and its been a tough year as well. but in my case they are happy with it (gosh who wouldnt be after getting a free tank that has eaten me alive) and i am just going to deal with the issues since they are happy with it.

how do you plan on going on with the reno?

[Myka]

Well, I am now mid-reno. Taking a break right now to look at the rock 'scape with fresh eyes. The corals are mostly all out of the tank in a holding tank. I finally got the chance to move the Blue Assessor into my 20 gallon which I have been wanting to do since spring, but I couldn't catch him. I also moved the large male Banggai into a spare tank I have with other random fish (lol). I got the 7 1/2" Eunicid worm out (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!!). I took out most of the rock. I'm going to go for a less is more approach this time, but that will mean space for a lot less corals. So I have to find a happy medium.

Steve, I would LOVE a bare bottom tank, but I have 2 Jawfish in there. I did already remove the majority of the sand, just leaving some deep sections for the Jawfish. I might move the Jawfish out and remove the rest of the sand in the future.

Wingin It...well, I've already done that. A few months back I did a renovation in there, removed a bunch of sand, added a couple powerheads. The tank really needs a renovation to make it easier to keep clean...it's been needing it for many months.

Lorenzo...keep posted! Pics to come. My fingers are wrinkly from being in the water so long! Oh, and ugh on the flatworms.

[reefwars]

im doing the same keeping the best of what i got and gone are the rest starting new, keeps it exciting its been a long time coming and now with rock going i can finally catch half of the fish i couldnt catch in forever like my goby's lol good luck myka!!

[rstar]

Good luck Mindy! I am looking forward to seeing the end result!!!

[Zoaelite]

Sometimes starting fresh is what you need to do Mindy, I'm in agreement that this hobby can be EXTREMELY frustrating at times.

You know... flooding the basement, electrocuting yourself, wasting money on fish that jump out of your tank, getting AEFW from big al's...

At the end of the day you enjoy it enough to continue and that's all that matters! Good to see your revamping over throwing in the towel, what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger buddy!

[Myka]

Thanks for the support guys! Man, it's a lot of work! I have the rock how I want it, and I'm really going to have to give up a lot of coral pieces. I have my top 8 pieces back in the tank. I still have quite a few more to go back in, but they are spending the night in my holding tank. I've been at it for 6 hours now (cooked dinner in between too!)...I'm pooped!

Steve, I totally agree with you! I generally like a SSB, and mine was originally a SSB with a deep end for the Jawfish. Over time the deep end migrated so there was a fairly thick sandbed all over. As I was siphoning out a bunch of sand I come across a whole whack of clumped sand. I know this is a recent occurrence as I vacuum most of the sand monthly. I ended up doing a 30 gallon water change on the tank between filling up a holding tank and siphoning sand out, so I will have to wait a few days before I siphon more sand out. I am going to just make a pile in front of the Jawfishes caves, and that's all they get! I look forward to seeing your new tank - I think the travertine tiles are a nice look!

nlreefguy, I think I will end up with quite a few corals left over. I might set up an auction for them or something.

Slick Fork, I like having the established tank! I like to just be able to look at it and be happy with it, and enjoy it. Lately, every time I look at it I get stressed out, and annoyed. I just hope the pests will get lost. The algae and cyano I can deal with, but the pests - GRRRR!

getting AEFW from big al's...

You can get pests from the most reputable LFS out there...I know I have! The fact is, many corals are wild and all the corals are often in the same system which will nicely distribute any pests! I don't blame pests on any LFS I visit. The most an LFS can do is dip incoming corals, and dip any infected corals. This is precisely what I do, and look - I have pests! Dips don't kill eggs, so eventually any LFS will have pests.

[Alex350]

Hi Mindy,
Give me a shout, I can drop them into my 230, if you like and see what turns out.

Regards,
Alex

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Myka

Steve, I would LOVE a bare bottom tank, but I have 2 Jawfish in there. I did already remove the majority of the sand, just leaving some deep sections for the Jawfish. I might move the Jawfish out and remove the rest of the sand in the future.

ah, forgot you had sand fish in there. I did sugest that because I found after about a year with a DSB I started getting algae/crap like you were describing and after going to a bare bottom, I didn't thave the problems anymore. I feel there are a couple main reasons for this.. after a while I think the sand bed gets "full" of crap as there is no way in captivity we can keep the amount of different critters required to keep a sand bed healthy, so eventualy as it gets disturbed all that junk is re-released into the water. the second reason is that with out the sand it allows you to creat a much larger flow through out the tank which prevents cyno and other things from acumalation by keeping them suspended in the water which allows more efficient removal by the skimmer.

now when I start up my next tank, it isn't going to be a glass bottom but rather I am going to use travintine tiles(or how ever you spell it) which are a natural lime stone for the bottom. it is porus and will alow corals and what not to attach more easily, and seeing I am going to be setting it up as a very high PAR tank, I will have encrusting SPS and others SPS right on the bottom of the tank, with only a few rocks as show pieces. kinda like a zen style tank.

Steve

[nlreefguy]

gee, do you have to toss them? I'd be more than happy to pay the shipping if you'd ship them to me! Getting corals in Newfoundland is not easy! Maybe all you guys up there in the west have no problems with availability but it's not like that everywhere in the country!

[Slick Fork]

I've always found building/rebuilding is almost a lot more fun then having an established tank up and running!