KrazyKuch's & Michika's 180Gal Tank Build

[danny zubot]

Hey Catherine, nice work on the tank. I can't wait until I get settled out here so that I can get a larger tank again. BTW, my house is still for sale in Calgary, I know its not what you are looking for but I thought I'd put it out there any way.

[michika]

Thanks Danny!

I hate not having any big tanks, so I know your pain.

[fishytime]

*soft inner type voice* "derassa avec sps"

[michika]

We are stopping by on Tuesday. I've been working the Tattoo Festival all weekend on skates. I'm dying to come get my clam...this is probably the longest I've ever gone without buying something for my tank.

[michika]

Tank is still kicking around, but I've been neglecting it this past month. I admit it, and it sucks. The SPS isn't growing, its just sitting there. My neglect, which is me not dosing every 3 or 4 days, has resulted in a bit of an alkalinity deficiency. While I haven't tested anything recently I can tell you just from looking that dKH is low, probably 5, Ca is low, probably about 340-380 (courtesy of the kalk. top off), and Magnesium is also probably a touch low. Its funny how in tune you become with your system when you are paying attention.

The fish are all still great. I had a week or two were I was so busy I kept forgetting to add daily nori, and frozen food. Eventually I was just tossing it a bit of pellet food when I could be bothered to remember. Most of the tangs are now aggressive grazers, constantly eating off the rocks, and not begging as often for food when you walk by. Yes, they do still come to the glass when you stand there, but they don't hound you when you walk by. While I feel guilty about only feeding pellet food, the lack of nori for those couple of weeks has had a positive impact on the tang's behavior.

I still need to find some time to head to RC to pick up my clam, and I hopefully will be able to start adding more SPS in the system again in late October, or early November. I am just so busy as of late that I have no time at all for anything that isn't work or sports.

[michika]

Alright so it is official, we are moving in 3 weeks as of today, and the tank will be moving in 3 weeks and 2 days (October 5th).

Everyone here has been so awesome about lending buckets, boxes, etc. its amazing. I love CanReef!

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by michika

Alright so it is official, we are moving in 3 weeks as of today, and the tank will be moving in 3 weeks and 2 days (October 5th).

Everyone here has been so awesome about lending buckets, boxes, etc. its amazing. I love CanReef!

Man I hate moving tanks. I dont envy you and your task ahead. I once moved 7 tanks and I cant express the stress that came with it. That was a couple years ago and since then all the freshwater tanks have either been shut down and sold or converted. And it sill stresses me out to move a tank. Probably to much reading of tank move disasters. Personally I have not experienced any losses with any of my freshwater moves and only a frag died when I moved the salty tank the last time. If you are prepared equipment wise and have a knowledgeable person or two helping you and get it done in a timely fashion ,all should be good. But yous two probably already know all this.

[michika]

The only loss I've ever experienced directly from moving tanks is a kole tang when I moved back to Calgary. Then again there was the whole 28g long nano tank of SPS death... We have a system when we move tanks, so I hope this won't be any different.

You are right though, it can be very stressful. We've dedicated a whole day for tank moving and re-set up, so it should be okay.

[michika]

I hit up RC today, and amazingly avoided coming home with more clams! I did come home with 3 SPS colonies, and ReVive coral dip to try out. I've been waiting for this product for a long time, and to have Kevin at RC bring it in for me is fantastic!

So as I was dipping the new colonies in ReVive I came to understand the reasoning for the "this is not a cleaning product" disclaimer on the package. It smells so strong! I'd forgotten how harsh some of the traditional cleaning products smelt!

Tonight we have some polyp extension, but not a lot. All these colonies had considerably better extension at the store. I am not sure how I feel about ReVive over TMPCC as my usual incoming dip of choice. The recovery time from the dip to have full polyp extension seems less with TMPCC, but who knows, this is only the first time I've used the product. The trade off between the two products though is that ReVive has some AEFW potential, and I think as a preventative its worth it. AEFWs scare the crap out of me.









Anyways, so I've decided I do not care for the AquaConnect bulb, or whatever the other non-XM bulb I have on the tank is. Colours don't pop, and SPS beneath it just doesn't thrive. Clearly this is not the bulb for me, and I will, after we move, change it out to something else.

Its nice to see my clams are growing. This gigas is now just about 1/4" away from the glass, however when the mantle is extended, it does touch the glass. When you have bigger clams sometimes it hard to see that they really are growing.



This was the Vlamingi just after I had my hand in the tank to place the new colonies.

[Lance]

Lookin' Good! I really like that coral in the first pic. What is it?