Finally, an update you have all been waiting for...

[Bill S]

Well, things in my reef tank have been very, very sad. Almost all of my SPS didn't make it. Most of the fish did, most of the LPS (there wasn't much) made it as well. There are MANY things I did wrong with this - but I can't undo them. So no sense in looking back!

I pulled everything out the week before Xmas. I've had the tank running with no rock and little sand since then. The bryopsis appears to be gone - but I'm sure there are remnants around. In any case, it's not growing at all. Probably due to the Hiatt torpedo I have running - something I should have added earlier, I guess...

Sunday, I added the rock and livestock (there wasn't much) from my 55. I'm now taking the rock that was in the 215 and "curing" it in the 55 a bit at a time. So, here are the "new beginning" photos. Sorry for the quality - it's a cheap point and shoot.

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1506.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1505.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1510.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1511.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1512.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1512.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1515.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1518.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1527.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1535.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1531.jpg

http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z157/bstreep/IMG_1541-1.jpg

[Mr Cob]

Bill, glad to see you climbing back up again! It looks nice and I'm sure the fish love all that swimming room.

[ErikH]

Are you going all natural as well? I saw you were selling your reactor. Glad you didn't give up, we need you around these parts!

[cheetum]

I know it's a bummer, but like the Phoenix you'll come back bigger & better than ever! Looks like you've already well on your way! :thumbs_up: :applause:

[Bill S]

No, but I'm going SPSless. Some LPS, but nothing that my angels would bother - so it's complicated.

Decided I won't need my Ca reactor or my Kalk reactor, so I'll selling them. I'll just go back to my 7-10 day 35 gallon water change. I talked about changing lights, but I'm just going to dial my MH back to 3 or 4 hours a day. I may go skimmerless, since I'm using a Hiatt filtration system. Not getting any foam, at this point. Chiller is still hooked up, and kicks on for about 10 minutes once or twice a day.

I have about 3-400 lbs of rock to put back in and that will take a couple of months to work it back in.

NOTICE: for newbies, I've been doing this for 35 years, and I take it VERY slowly.

[LoneStar]

Good to see it up and running again Bill.

[SoLiD]

Where's your Powder Blue???

[wesheltonj]

WOW, now that an angel fish, that fish looks like he can eat everything in the tank and then some.

[Bill S]

Powder Blue...

After I took all of the rock out of the big tank, the Sohol really, really went at him. So I took him up to the 55 to recover. I really thought he wouldn't make the night, as he was really beat up. Got up the next morning, and there he was to greet me.

Sunday, when I removed the rock and livestock, he went back down to the big tank. He lasted seconds. There was some kind of old grudge going on - when the sohol was new a year or so ago, he got about a 1" gash in his side - probably from the powder. They chased each other around the tank for months - but nothing real ugly. This time, the sohol hit fast and hard. When I got him back out, he was just floating. Took him back to the 55, but he was gone in minutes.

Interestingly, he didn't even touch the yellow tang or the lemonpeel.

[Bill S]

WOW, now that an angel fish, that fish look like he can eat everything in the tnak and then some.

He is funny. Probably the most aggressive fish in the tank, but slow. We call him "Shaq" because he's big and slow. He "grunts" all the time too.

What's funny is the CBB gets picked on sometimes, and he just blows them off. Kind of "whatever". The CBB is still the most aggressive eater in the tank.

[MRSBIGBIRD123]

Still have the BEAUTIFUL Orange Shoulder?

[princer7]

What is a Hiatt filtration system?

[Bill S]

Still have the BEAUTIFUL Orange Shoulder?

Oh, yeah, he's still around.

[Bill S]

What is a Hiatt filtration system?

http://www.hdltd.com/

I tried this out 3 years ago when I set the tank up. CB was selling them. I had a single canister, and all was going well. But, it was supposedly undersized. So, I added 2 more canisters. The problem was that I couldn't grow SPS. At all. The filtration system worked very well, but it was taking something out of the water that the SPS needed. "Snake" finally decided that for reef systems as large as mine, only 1 canister was needed, rather than 3. By that time I'd dumped them completely. I held on to one canister, because I knew how well they worked:

For a new tank: I put 250lbs of uncured live rock in my tank. It stunk to high heaven. Within 12 hours, the tank was clear. Within 24 hours, ammonia was zero, and nitrates under 5. I knew this system could also stop a crashing tank, so I held on to it. I loaned it out for 2 large tank crashes, and both were saved. When I pulled all of my rock and sand out before xmas, the tank was crashing. The Hiatt was still out on loan, so I scrambled to get it back. I hooked the Hiatt up, and within 12 hours, the tank was fairly clear. 36 hours, it was completely clear, zero ammonia, low nitrates. I realize that this is anecdotal, but it really, really works for this.

[Jeff]

i'm glad to see you rebuilding bill, your tank is going to look awsome as before.

[cpreefguy]

Glad to see it back up Bill.
The angels are killer!

[Kristy]

Looking good... I know it will be slow, but it will be stronger than before. Love the lemonpeel, wish we could keep one alive. Have tried a couple of times with no success. We are probably pushing our luck with dwarf angels anyway with the flame and beauty. Anyway, glad to see things still moving along and looking good.

Keep the spirit up and shout if you need anything. - Mike (& Kristy)