New Frag Setup

mitchellmoto · 07/30/2012, 01:50 AM

I'm starting this thread because my last thread (New Tank Members) is a little confusing next to "Member tanks so I'm going to let it fad into nothing.

Well I hit disasters the last two weeks.
I started by taking down one of my nano reef tanks to start a Iwagumi planted tank for the wife. Well I must have done something because a week later my overflow came apart. Almost a disaster in its self but I moved ever thing to my frag tanks in the garage, took the overflow off and reattached it properly. will i then had a two fold disaster in the frag system. I had another flatworm breakout ofter purchasing some new coral. So I dosed to kill them. Then I added white cutting boards to one of the frag tanks to help reflect light and I thought I had purchased the right ones but instead I think I added ones that had some sort of Bio seal on them. Needless to say with the two fold hit within two days my frag system went from beautiful to a fuzzy black algae death scene. In the 6-7 years I've been keeping marine aquariums I have never seen anything like it. Not even when I was new to the hobby and doing everything wrong.

I lost roughly 90% of my coral. All SPS and almost all LPS died. I only have a few hardy softies left.

I only lost 2 fish, one clown and my yellow eyed tang. I saved all the predators
I setup a temp tank to house what is left as I reassess my situation.
BOO HOO

Well that is all the bad news.
Now the good

I will be completely redoing everything. And I mean everything.

All several hundred pounds of live rock is no longer live it is all drying out side right now the entire setup is torn down and I am planning the new setup. I did save a few small pieces of live rock to reseed everything. They will first be dipped extensively and quarantined. I want no pests no hair algae no critters I will try to limit what goes into the system.
The first business is to clean the damn garage. Then I will be drawing out everything to try and improve some things that were giving me problems. I will have a minimum of a 20L for a quarantine tank and more than likely a new sump.

Luckily since i will be re purposing equipment I already own, build time should be less than normal. I'm also thinking about trying some new things like actually trying the bacteria in the bottle that MR.SaltwaterAquarium mentioned. Using a tiered tank system to utilize one pump instead of two and use gravity to still have the same amount of flow thru the tanks. Automatic water change and top off with kalkwasser.

So I've droned on enough let the fun begin and I will post pics as i progress.

later
Mitch

Mstark11 · 07/30/2012, 09:43 AM

): That really sucks to lose everything. Looks like it's been an unlucky month all around!

I am looking forward to the new pictures and It's good you managed to get most of your fish out alive!

reefaluva · 07/30/2012, 10:49 AM

Man that sucks, Flatworms? really? you? how? lol sounds horrible.. If you need some help hit me up=0

mitchellmoto · 07/30/2012, 02:08 PM

Just a little warning to all, you can get extremely sick from your tank. From Palythoa toxin to ammonia poisoning. There are threads on this site where people have ended up in the hospital and if I can remember correctly one gentleman's dog drank from a container he was cutting up Zoas in and it killed his dog.

I can count two time that I had what I believe was ammonia poisoning, labored breathing, racing heart rate, cold sweats. The first time it was bad but I didn't feel like death and my wife was home. The last time I literally thought I was going to die, I was home alone, couldn't move and I was having extreme difficulty breathing.. I couldn't even get out of bed. Very scary experience and I have never had anything before or since feel like that in my life.

You should be careful and really should wear gloves while in your tank, though I do have to admit I don't follow that rule very often.

Later
Mitch

mitchellmoto · 07/30/2012, 02:31 PM

Not sure what happened to the begining of that post but the reason I brought up that info is because my dogs are exttremely sick after getting ahold of so dead corals that still had a little tissue on them. They have been crapping for 4 days now and we are going to the vets in a hour.

And I got the flatworm because I purchased corals to big to fit into the quarantine tankand intead just ropped them in. I should know better than that but what the hay!!

Lilmatty5dimes · 07/30/2012, 04:10 PM

man sorry about the bad string of bad luck. just means a bigger and badder tank. GL with your dogs hope nothing serious happens. GL with the build

mitchellmoto · 07/31/2012, 02:24 AM

Thanks,

The dogs are being watched but the vet was pretty sure they were going to be fine. We were alittle more concerned with the small heeler as he was pooping blood. They are on medication and a special food so we can try to absorb any toxins in their system.

Have to say that if I killed my dogs over this I would have had to put the hobby on hold for a while. I don't have kids, I have dogs and I'd be pretty upset if my negligence caused their deaths. Luckily everything looks to be OK.

I'm starting the garage clean up right now so hopefully I can start the stand build by the end of the week.

Later
Mitch

Mstark11 · 07/31/2012, 09:56 AM

I hope they're ok. Dogs can be pretty resilient. My Roommate's mom had a dog that ate up a whole tray of ant poison and was fine. And the other day my dog ate 8 sticks of butter, and aside from being a fat jerk, she's fine.

Mstark11 · 07/31/2012, 09:09 PM

By the way, once I'm cycled, I'd be more than happy to swap out some of my LR or seeded dry rock for whatever you've got that's not Black Death if you need it. (:

mitchellmoto · 07/31/2012, 11:23 PM

Well I appreciate that but I should be ok, as I saved a few pieces of lr.
There is no more black death because everything else is sitting outside drying out.

The dogs are better today. The meds help absorb toxins and help relieve the diarrhea.

Later
Mitch

mitchellmoto · 08/24/2012, 11:42 PM

Well I've been very busy and haven't gotten much done on the new setup. I started the new stand but need to get a little more done and get it painted then I can post some pics. I will also be building a new stand for the nano tank once the frag setup is done.

I have purchased Dr. Tims bacteria to try it out. It was featured in Mr saltwater tank's video and is supposable used at many public aquariums to get the cycle completed quicker. I will do my testing and post how well it works once I have everything running again.

Later
M

mitchellmoto · 09/08/2012, 12:17 AM

Well I keep saying I'll have an update but school keeps me busy. But I decided to post a few pics of where I am.
The first pic is of the frag stand. I wanted to be able to add doors or something to keep out dust and debris so i made a stand with a top. The two frag tanks will go across the middle and the sump (stock tank) will go below. The smaller side of the bottom will be for the quarantine tank and a Kalk/Ro top off tank. I haven't put the shelve in yet. The top of the stand will just be for storing bucket and fish related item as I'm trying to get all of it in one place rather than all over the place. I applied at least two coats of stainblocker then regular white paint. The outside of the stand will be grey to match the rest of the garage. I will add doors or covers later down the road. I wanted doors because it is the garage and I do lots of wood working and mechanical work in there and I want to keep all the crap out of my tanks. Also it will be to help regulate the temp.

I think the biggest change has been my decision to move the nano after a couple spills the wifey doesn't like the tank on the entertainment center so I built a new stand for it. I will hold the nano reef on top which will overflow into the second nano inside the stand. The second nano will more than likely be for sea grasses and algae only. Then it will overflow into the sump. The stand is built except for the doors. I was waiting on doing the doors till the wife okayed the colors. If she didn't like the stain I was didn't want to buy more expensive red oak just to paint it. I would have purchased a cheaper wood but she loves the dark stain with the black top. The entire interior was painted like the frag stand. Two coats of stainblocker caulked all corner and cracks then a coat of regular white paint. Yes the shelf look like it wouldn't hold any weight but trust me it has two shelf bracket that are rated at 1200lbs of weight so it being only 12 gal should be no problem.
As said I still have to complete the doors and the 20 long will be built to be the sump. Which I have yet to do as well. The should be enough room to put a small ATO container in there as well and I have some acrylic to build that.

The top looks weird right now but the idea is the center pedestal is slightly lower than the top trim. There will be a liner and sand or gravel to make a sort of moat around the tank. This it to hide the bottom edge of the tank and to deal with the constant water drips from the tank. I love rimless tanks but every time I stick my hands in it a little water overflows on my stand. Annoying to clean constantly so I'm hoping this works only time will tell. I don't have the layout of the sump in mind yet but should get to work on it in the next day or two.

mitchellmoto · 09/08/2012, 12:20 AM

And finally just a little photo of my planted tanks. Yes I know they are not saltwater but thought you might like them. I've never kept plants before and it is surprisingly very different than anything else I have done. The water is still a little cloudy because I just got rid of a bout of green water. What a pain. The baby tears plugs are finally starting to fill in the bottom and hopefully within the next two months you will not be able to see the substrate any more. Please ignore the oddly place powerhead. It is just a temp thing. It is for the UV filter to wipe out the green water. I hope for it to be completely clear within the next week.

Later
Mitch

Mstark11 · 09/08/2012, 11:40 AM

I like the planted tanks. I've always thought they were really pretty, and yours do look nice! I didn't even notice the powerhead until you mentioned it.

reefaluva · 09/08/2012, 01:54 PM

Setup looks like its coming along nicely. Also like the planted tank.

mitchellmoto · 09/23/2012, 08:14 PM

Well me trip went well but i'm back and will continue my projects shortly. I have just haven't done anything all weekend. Nice to take a break but I need to get my tanks looking fresh again.

reefaluva · 09/23/2012, 08:42 PM

Welcome back. Now get to work=)

mitchellmoto · 09/23/2012, 11:52 PM

Yes sir!
My tanks are looking like crap from the lack of attention. Got to get everything looking great again..

reefaluva · 09/27/2012, 06:28 PM

Should not take you too long. Hows the progress coming?

mitchellmoto · 09/30/2012, 11:20 PM

Well Reefaluva already knows but after some major deliberation me and the misses have decided to pack up and move back to Florida so all the work I've been doing on the tanks was for not. I'll be tearing everything down until I move down there. I will going thru all my crap and will sell all the live stock I'll give you guys first dibs. I really don't have too much but I'll post it on here first. Livestock first then any equipment I'm going to part with.

I will continue to read and post on here so don't think I'm abandoning you guys. I'll still help anywhere I can. I know there is only a few of you that even get on here. If someone is interested I can turn over the facebook page to them as well. I will also continue to get new members where I can.
All of course until I tuck tail and run from the area, then you may be on your own. It will be several months because I have to sale both my properties first and you all know how fast houses are selling right now.

Later and don't hesitate to ask for any help still.

mitchellmoto · 10/07/2012, 12:36 AM

Well my nanos are down and I have a temp setup going till I get rid of the livestock.

I don't want my new stand to go to waste so a friend of mine is going to buy my 20L and I'm going to give him the stand. I'm going to get him started in the saltwater scene so you guys can get another member. I'm just going to set him up with a lil starter tank. but I'll post the pics for you guys to enjoy anyways.
The hardest part is trying to decide what I'm going to get rid of. I've reduced my equipment already once so I don't have as much as i use too and the items I kept the last time where items I wanted so it is hard to reduce any further.

07/30/2012, 01:50 AM	#1
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	New Frag Setup I'm starting this thread because my last thread (New Tank Members) is a little confusing next to "Member tanks so I'm going to let it fad into nothing. Well I hit disasters the last two weeks. I started by taking down one of my nano reef tanks to start a Iwagumi planted tank for the wife. Well I must have done something because a week later my overflow came apart. Almost a disaster in its self but I moved ever thing to my frag tanks in the garage, took the overflow off and reattached it properly. will i then had a two fold disaster in the frag system. I had another flatworm breakout ofter purchasing some new coral. So I dosed to kill them. Then I added white cutting boards to one of the frag tanks to help reflect light and I thought I had purchased the right ones but instead I think I added ones that had some sort of Bio seal on them. Needless to say with the two fold hit within two days my frag system went from beautiful to a fuzzy black algae death scene. In the 6-7 years I've been keeping marine aquariums I have never seen anything like it. Not even when I was new to the hobby and doing everything wrong. I lost roughly 90% of my coral. All SPS and almost all LPS died. I only have a few hardy softies left. I only lost 2 fish, one clown and my yellow eyed tang. I saved all the predators I setup a temp tank to house what is left as I reassess my situation. BOO HOO Well that is all the bad news. Now the good I will be completely redoing everything. And I mean everything. All several hundred pounds of live rock is no longer live it is all drying out side right now the entire setup is torn down and I am planning the new setup. I did save a few small pieces of live rock to reseed everything. They will first be dipped extensively and quarantined. I want no pests no hair algae no critters I will try to limit what goes into the system. The first business is to clean the damn garage. Then I will be drawing out everything to try and improve some things that were giving me problems. I will have a minimum of a 20L for a quarantine tank and more than likely a new sump. Luckily since i will be re purposing equipment I already own, build time should be less than normal. I'm also thinking about trying some new things like actually trying the bacteria in the bottle that MR.SaltwaterAquarium mentioned. Using a tiered tank system to utilize one pump instead of two and use gravity to still have the same amount of flow thru the tanks. Automatic water change and top off with kalkwasser. So I've droned on enough let the fun begin and I will post pics as i progress. later Mitch

07/30/2012, 09:43 AM	#2
Mstark11 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 274	): That really sucks to lose everything. Looks like it's been an unlucky month all around! I am looking forward to the new pictures and It's good you managed to get most of your fish out alive!

07/30/2012, 10:49 AM	#3
reefaluva Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: nm Posts: 290	Man that sucks, Flatworms? really? you? how? lol sounds horrible.. If you need some help hit me up=0

07/30/2012, 02:08 PM	#4
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Just a little warning to all, you can get extremely sick from your tank. From Palythoa toxin to ammonia poisoning. There are threads on this site where people have ended up in the hospital and if I can remember correctly one gentleman's dog drank from a container he was cutting up Zoas in and it killed his dog. I can count two time that I had what I believe was ammonia poisoning, labored breathing, racing heart rate, cold sweats. The first time it was bad but I didn't feel like death and my wife was home. The last time I literally thought I was going to die, I was home alone, couldn't move and I was having extreme difficulty breathing.. I couldn't even get out of bed. Very scary experience and I have never had anything before or since feel like that in my life. You should be careful and really should wear gloves while in your tank, though I do have to admit I don't follow that rule very often. Later Mitch

07/30/2012, 02:31 PM	#5
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Not sure what happened to the begining of that post but the reason I brought up that info is because my dogs are exttremely sick after getting ahold of so dead corals that still had a little tissue on them. They have been crapping for 4 days now and we are going to the vets in a hour. And I got the flatworm because I purchased corals to big to fit into the quarantine tankand intead just ropped them in. I should know better than that but what the hay!!

07/30/2012, 04:10 PM	#6
Lilmatty5dimes Moved On Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: PSJ, FL Posts: 2,235	man sorry about the bad string of bad luck. just means a bigger and badder tank. GL with your dogs hope nothing serious happens. GL with the build

07/31/2012, 02:24 AM	#7
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Thanks, The dogs are being watched but the vet was pretty sure they were going to be fine. We were alittle more concerned with the small heeler as he was pooping blood. They are on medication and a special food so we can try to absorb any toxins in their system. Have to say that if I killed my dogs over this I would have had to put the hobby on hold for a while. I don't have kids, I have dogs and I'd be pretty upset if my negligence caused their deaths. Luckily everything looks to be OK. I'm starting the garage clean up right now so hopefully I can start the stand build by the end of the week. Later Mitch

07/31/2012, 09:56 AM	#8
Mstark11 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 274	I hope they're ok. Dogs can be pretty resilient. My Roommate's mom had a dog that ate up a whole tray of ant poison and was fine. And the other day my dog ate 8 sticks of butter, and aside from being a fat jerk, she's fine.

07/31/2012, 09:09 PM	#9
Mstark11 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 274	By the way, once I'm cycled, I'd be more than happy to swap out some of my LR or seeded dry rock for whatever you've got that's not Black Death if you need it. (:

07/31/2012, 11:23 PM	#10
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well I appreciate that but I should be ok, as I saved a few pieces of lr. There is no more black death because everything else is sitting outside drying out. The dogs are better today. The meds help absorb toxins and help relieve the diarrhea. Later Mitch

08/24/2012, 11:42 PM	#11
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well I've been very busy and haven't gotten much done on the new setup. I started the new stand but need to get a little more done and get it painted then I can post some pics. I will also be building a new stand for the nano tank once the frag setup is done. I have purchased Dr. Tims bacteria to try it out. It was featured in Mr saltwater tank's video and is supposable used at many public aquariums to get the cycle completed quicker. I will do my testing and post how well it works once I have everything running again. Later M

09/08/2012, 12:17 AM	#12
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well I keep saying I'll have an update but school keeps me busy. But I decided to post a few pics of where I am. The first pic is of the frag stand. I wanted to be able to add doors or something to keep out dust and debris so i made a stand with a top. The two frag tanks will go across the middle and the sump (stock tank) will go below. The smaller side of the bottom will be for the quarantine tank and a Kalk/Ro top off tank. I haven't put the shelve in yet. The top of the stand will just be for storing bucket and fish related item as I'm trying to get all of it in one place rather than all over the place. I applied at least two coats of stainblocker then regular white paint. The outside of the stand will be grey to match the rest of the garage. I will add doors or covers later down the road. I wanted doors because it is the garage and I do lots of wood working and mechanical work in there and I want to keep all the crap out of my tanks. Also it will be to help regulate the temp. I think the biggest change has been my decision to move the nano after a couple spills the wifey doesn't like the tank on the entertainment center so I built a new stand for it. I will hold the nano reef on top which will overflow into the second nano inside the stand. The second nano will more than likely be for sea grasses and algae only. Then it will overflow into the sump. The stand is built except for the doors. I was waiting on doing the doors till the wife okayed the colors. If she didn't like the stain I was didn't want to buy more expensive red oak just to paint it. I would have purchased a cheaper wood but she loves the dark stain with the black top. The entire interior was painted like the frag stand. Two coats of stainblocker caulked all corner and cracks then a coat of regular white paint. Yes the shelf look like it wouldn't hold any weight but trust me it has two shelf bracket that are rated at 1200lbs of weight so it being only 12 gal should be no problem. As said I still have to complete the doors and the 20 long will be built to be the sump. Which I have yet to do as well. The should be enough room to put a small ATO container in there as well and I have some acrylic to build that. The top looks weird right now but the idea is the center pedestal is slightly lower than the top trim. There will be a liner and sand or gravel to make a sort of moat around the tank. This it to hide the bottom edge of the tank and to deal with the constant water drips from the tank. I love rimless tanks but every time I stick my hands in it a little water overflows on my stand. Annoying to clean constantly so I'm hoping this works only time will tell. I don't have the layout of the sump in mind yet but should get to work on it in the next day or two.

09/08/2012, 12:20 AM	#13
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	And finally just a little photo of my planted tanks. Yes I know they are not saltwater but thought you might like them. I've never kept plants before and it is surprisingly very different than anything else I have done. The water is still a little cloudy because I just got rid of a bout of green water. What a pain. The baby tears plugs are finally starting to fill in the bottom and hopefully within the next two months you will not be able to see the substrate any more. Please ignore the oddly place powerhead. It is just a temp thing. It is for the UV filter to wipe out the green water. I hope for it to be completely clear within the next week. Later Mitch

09/08/2012, 11:40 AM	#14
Mstark11 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 274	I like the planted tanks. I've always thought they were really pretty, and yours do look nice! I didn't even notice the powerhead until you mentioned it.

09/08/2012, 01:54 PM	#15
reefaluva Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: nm Posts: 290	Setup looks like its coming along nicely. Also like the planted tank.

09/23/2012, 08:14 PM	#16
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well me trip went well but i'm back and will continue my projects shortly. I have just haven't done anything all weekend. Nice to take a break but I need to get my tanks looking fresh again.

09/23/2012, 08:42 PM	#17
reefaluva Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: nm Posts: 290	Welcome back. Now get to work=)

09/23/2012, 11:52 PM	#18
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Yes sir! My tanks are looking like crap from the lack of attention. Got to get everything looking great again..

09/27/2012, 06:28 PM	#19
reefaluva Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: nm Posts: 290	Should not take you too long. Hows the progress coming?

09/30/2012, 11:20 PM	#20
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well Reefaluva already knows but after some major deliberation me and the misses have decided to pack up and move back to Florida so all the work I've been doing on the tanks was for not. I'll be tearing everything down until I move down there. I will going thru all my crap and will sell all the live stock I'll give you guys first dibs. I really don't have too much but I'll post it on here first. Livestock first then any equipment I'm going to part with. I will continue to read and post on here so don't think I'm abandoning you guys. I'll still help anywhere I can. I know there is only a few of you that even get on here. If someone is interested I can turn over the facebook page to them as well. I will also continue to get new members where I can. All of course until I tuck tail and run from the area, then you may be on your own. It will be several months because I have to sale both my properties first and you all know how fast houses are selling right now. Later and don't hesitate to ask for any help still.

10/07/2012, 12:36 AM	#21
mitchellmoto Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Alamogordo, NM Posts: 593	Well my nanos are down and I have a temp setup going till I get rid of the livestock. I don't want my new stand to go to waste so a friend of mine is going to buy my 20L and I'm going to give him the stand. I'm going to get him started in the saltwater scene so you guys can get another member. I'm just going to set him up with a lil starter tank. but I'll post the pics for you guys to enjoy anyways. The hardest part is trying to decide what I'm going to get rid of. I've reduced my equipment already once so I don't have as much as i use too and the items I kept the last time where items I wanted so it is hard to reduce any further.