curreyr
07/13/2008, 12:03 PM
In Decemebr '06 we had a 6 day power outage. I used our generator to keep the tank alive for 3 days, but we started running low on gasoline (and it was a 4hr wait at the only gas station in 40 miles), so eventually I had to pull the plug. It was a complete die off.
I finally decided a few weeks ago to clean up the remnants, and rebuild it ...
The plan is:
A pair of clowns (probably ocellaris)
A royal gamma
A blennie (not sure of species yet)
Additional cleanup crew (blue/red hermits, astrea, perhpas a serpent star?)
When established ... mix in some softies and SPS corals. Wishlist includes:
A Bubble coral (not sure of species yet)
A "Brain" coral (not sure of species yet)
Perhaps an Elegance coral
So ...
After a good cleansing of the tank, rock (about 25lbs), and CPR bakpak ...
07/28/08:
Put a new pump on the backpack, and arranged 20lbs of the (now) base rock.
Mixed up some water (sadly used my well water which is very clean except for the silicate).
Ran the backpack for 3 days to settle in the water+rock.
08/01/08:
Added 10 lbs of cured live rock (nice pieces with good coralline) from the LFS.
Added 5lbs of course aragonite.
Added a 150w MH "SunPod".
08/05/08:
Water was tests looked fine. (obviously no cycle yet tho).
Added a "cleanup crew" or 6 astrea and 14 blue+red hermits. (probably too early, but ...).
08/09/08:
The diatom bloom happened. (kinda wished I'd not used my well water, but ...)
Did a 20% water change (this time with RO water!)
Stirred the bloom and ran skimmer "wet" to remove as much of the disturbed bloom as possible.
08/11/08:
Diatom's still blooming, so rinsed rock, stirred sand.
Added another 5lbs of live rock.
Removed the course aragonite and replaced with 20lbs of sugar aragonite.
Ran skimmer "wet" for 6 hours.
Today:
Added a cube of mysis to hopefully kick start the rock to cycle.
Diatom bloom appears to almost be over.
Current testing
Sg: 1.022
Temp: 80 degrees
Ammonia (NH3/NH4): 0.00 mg/L
Nitrite (NO2): 0.50 mg/L
Nitrate (NO3): 10 mg/L
Phosphate (PO4): 0.2 mg/L
Calcium (CA): 450 ppm
pics of the rock layout coming in a bit ...
I finally decided a few weeks ago to clean up the remnants, and rebuild it ...
The plan is:
A pair of clowns (probably ocellaris)
A royal gamma
A blennie (not sure of species yet)
Additional cleanup crew (blue/red hermits, astrea, perhpas a serpent star?)
When established ... mix in some softies and SPS corals. Wishlist includes:
A Bubble coral (not sure of species yet)
A "Brain" coral (not sure of species yet)
Perhaps an Elegance coral
So ...
After a good cleansing of the tank, rock (about 25lbs), and CPR bakpak ...
07/28/08:
Put a new pump on the backpack, and arranged 20lbs of the (now) base rock.
Mixed up some water (sadly used my well water which is very clean except for the silicate).
Ran the backpack for 3 days to settle in the water+rock.
08/01/08:
Added 10 lbs of cured live rock (nice pieces with good coralline) from the LFS.
Added 5lbs of course aragonite.
Added a 150w MH "SunPod".
08/05/08:
Water was tests looked fine. (obviously no cycle yet tho).
Added a "cleanup crew" or 6 astrea and 14 blue+red hermits. (probably too early, but ...).
08/09/08:
The diatom bloom happened. (kinda wished I'd not used my well water, but ...)
Did a 20% water change (this time with RO water!)
Stirred the bloom and ran skimmer "wet" to remove as much of the disturbed bloom as possible.
08/11/08:
Diatom's still blooming, so rinsed rock, stirred sand.
Added another 5lbs of live rock.
Removed the course aragonite and replaced with 20lbs of sugar aragonite.
Ran skimmer "wet" for 6 hours.
Today:
Added a cube of mysis to hopefully kick start the rock to cycle.
Diatom bloom appears to almost be over.
Current testing
Sg: 1.022
Temp: 80 degrees
Ammonia (NH3/NH4): 0.00 mg/L
Nitrite (NO2): 0.50 mg/L
Nitrate (NO3): 10 mg/L
Phosphate (PO4): 0.2 mg/L
Calcium (CA): 450 ppm
pics of the rock layout coming in a bit ...