from trashed to prized (i hope)

[saabtech]

hello all. i just inherited a 125 show tank. the prior owner had a bit of a problem and could not maintain the tank for over 6 m and the tank was overgrown with algae. needless to say, this has been a very intense few weeks. i knew absolutely nothing about saltwater tanks and i just kind of jumped into it. i spent every night since i have owned the tank researching and learning. now the tank is thriving.
to start- the tank had one Sweetlips, one keyhole angle, one coral beauty, one ?true perc? clown, one watchman goby and one heart urchin. i have since gotten rid of the sweetlips and the corral beauty and have replaced them with three dartfish (firefish) love 'em! i have also added a fireshrimp 2 peppermint shrimp and a clean up crew of several large turbo snails, several smaller ?asteria? snails and lots of crabs and other snails (the ones with a single sensor extending out) i have had the tank for a little over one month and here is an image from week one.


http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/DSC_2900.jpg


and here is a more recent vid.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_VID00001.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=VID00001.flv)

notice the differance between algae growth!! i will updated more as time permits.

[dmweise]

Wow, that's a nice tank. It definitely looks like you are making it prized.

[Pennies2Cents]

Great deal! Looks awesome! Oh and Welcome to MAAST. :) Feel free to ask us any reef questions someone will chime in! :)

[ErikH]

looks great!

[4fun]

frist of all wecome to MAAST
then let me tell you that is a good looking tank. Keep up with it. Post pic to keep us informed

[Mr Cob]

Welcome to MAAST! Great to see you taking an interest in getting that tank going in the right direction. Looks like you made all the right moves from the get go. I once had a coral beauty and they can be fine for years and then one day you wake up and your prized zoa collection has been munched on. And, forget about the sweetlips!

Well, you have stumbled on a site with a wealth of information along with a ton of experienced and knowledgeable reefers always happy to help.

Have fun...we love pics! : )

[snfkotara]

Welcome Maast and that is a really nice tank.

[snfkotara]

Or sometime thier taste buds change for things like Acans!!!!!! She's still a beauty but one that live in a large refuge and I gave her a buddy from my other refuge so she wouldnt be alone. lol

[Mr Cob]

Ahhh no way Sherry!!! That's the one you got from me?

I told you she liked coral...man she thought she was royalty...prized zoas...acans...man! Oh, I almost forgot....remember my clam cage I had to make? Yep...she started on clams first! Glad she's in the dungeons! LOL!

[saabtech]

Wow.

Looks awesome! :)

looks great!

then let me tell you that is a good looking tank
Welcome to MAAST! Have fun...we love pics! : )

Welcome Maast
WOW!!! thanks everyone! thats what i call a warm welcome!

[saabtech]

the idea was to get rid of the coral beauty so there would be less stress in the tank (fighting with the keyhole anglefish) nothing would come out into the open and i rarely saw any action in the tank, just an occasional glimps. (other than the sweetlips, he was alway out swimming around, but i dont want a 20" ugly brown fish in the tank a few years down the road) i think the coral was a much nicer looking fish but the keyhole is less common? so i thought....
well the once they were out of the tank the stess level decreased dramaticly and the fish started comeing out much more esspecially the watchman goby. i added the firefish and they are always out during the day. i was really looking for some community fish the next idea is a group of threadfin cardinals???
anyway enough rambleing on to the pics!!!

[saabtech]

i will try and do some before pics and them update the photobucket to the more recent pics.
so all of these are before pics!

do you all want big pics or little clickable ones???

http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2870.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2870.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2871.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2871.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2872.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2872.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2875.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2875.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2880.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2880.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2898.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2898.jpg)http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_DSC_2893.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_2893.jpg)

[Mr Cob]

Thumbnails are cool for the old but for the new and current pics I think everyone prefers the [img] tags from photobucket.

[saabtech]

here is a closeup of some coral i have can someone pleas id it.
the White one is a regrowth from a frag i took off. (its only about 1/4 inch) and the other seem to be old (like at least a yr) and is about 2 inches in dia. fully opened.

[/URL]
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/DSC_3279.jpg[URL="http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_3279.jpg"] (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=DSC_3279.jpg)

[REBridges]

the green one is a yuma (a type of ricordea)...the ricordea from florida is brighter, and I have the same peice. I also have 1 mushroom frag of the other coral you have in your pic. I'm not sure on the type...maybe a different type of hairy mushroom?

[REBridges]

maybe a lavender mushroom? the white one.

[mabel_photo6]

Whoa, you did an awesome job for just jumping into it. Looks great!!

[saabtech]

maybe a lavender mushroom? the white one.
the white one is the same as the green one. just starting to regrow

[saabtech]

well i guess since this is an into thread i need to say thanks again for the welcome and i will start a "build thread" in the large tanks topic section. (or..... maybe i will call it the "from trashed to prized maintenance thread")

[corydrysdale]

Are you planning on removing any of the micro algae on the back and sides of the gl*****

[saabtech]

Are you planning on removing any of the micro algae on the back and sides of the gl*****
going to redirect this question to here.....
http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=55113

[saabtech]

new aquascape

http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/th_aquas2.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/albums/uu335/SAABtech/?action=view&current=aquas2.flv)

[saabtech]

IMO the vid is NotVeryGood.. http://www.3reef.com/forums/images/smilies/sad.gif
its is just a cheapo flip-video recorder. (very easy to use but not the greatest quality)
and if my hands were less shakey thing would get better.
i know its not all that natural with all the rocks pokeing out into open water but it adds a lot of dimention to the tank and was easy to do with the 10mm acrylic rod i used. honestly it looks alot better in the tank than i did on my frt porch, ha haa!!
i took all the rock out and placed it on the frt porch and started drilling holes and stacking rock. once i had a good base structure established i drilled a bunch of holes into the top of the main structure and put that part into the tank. then i just attempted to chose the coral that i liked and attempted to place them in ideal locals to provide it with the focal points/lighting/and water flow that would seem best, drilled holes and placed them ontop of the stems of acrylic pokeing out. (sorry about the compound complex run-on sentance, im a little sleepy)

[Europhyllia]

I had to run back into the bedroom when I was watching that because I thought my baby is waking up - it's yours. lol
Looks nice :)
Those super big frilly mushrooms are cool

[saabtech]

I had to run back into the bedroom when I was watching that because I thought my baby is waking up - it's yours. lol
Looks nice :)
Those super big frilly mushrooms are cool
ha!!! only a parent can experiance that! sorry
i have about 20 of those "hairy mushrooms" of 3 differant color patterns. i would like to get rid of some in trade for other frags but i dont have enough post to get to that forum and i missed the meeting because i have two kids that come first. maybe i could send in the moneys or meet up with someone that is apart of the board and pay them?

[saabtech]

i also started a refug...
i have thought about it and have decided that this is not at all as complicated as i first thought.
the area with the bio-balls in it is the high water level of the sump (12-14 inches). the other areas are lower water level (4-7 inches) that is where i have my skimmer.
i picked up a small ball (3-4 inch dia) of chaetomorpha and placed it in the smallest of the compartment of the sump (generally where i place the trace element blocks) and placed a small dual 9w 6700k coralife light behind it. i am going to allow it to grow and then i am going to place a section of "eggcrate" over the pump feed and place all the bio-balls into the shallower area (where the skimmer is) and then place the macro-algae into the deep section and let it grow. let it grow!!!

2nd post on this but i thought i needed to keep this diary up to date

[Europhyllia]

I am not sure if I remember this right but I think I paid my member dues via PayPal.

[txav8r]

You are correct Karin. You can pay by PayPal.

http://maast.cartama.net/images/documents/membership.gif

[txav8r]

Does the rock stick all the way out of the water? I think it looks great! Great job on bringing a reef tank back into shape!

[Sherri]

Just a reminder when sending in payment by PayPal - pls include current mailing address and your sign in name...thank you!!! :bigsmile:

[saabtech]

Does the rock stick all the way out of the water? I think it looks great! Great job on bringing a reef tank back into shape!
nope that rock is about 3/4 inch below the surface.
thanks for the support and it really is comeing back to life. just replaced one of the metal halides at $75.00 a piece thats nuts! but i will do the next one in about 2 months need to space the replacement out and mark the new ones somehow or keep record of changes)
i have a new stock list
how about adding.
1 McCosker's Flasher Wrasse, Male (max size 3")
1 Foxface Lo (max size 9") or other
1 Two Spot Goby (max size 3") or other
1 Red Head Goby (max size 2")
1 Kole Yellow Eye Tang (max size 7") or other
3 Threadfin Cardinalfish (max size 2 1/2")
and need suggestions on possible psudochromis
still need a sally lightfoot or other

to the existing

several turbos, several hermits, several snails, one fireshrimp, two peppermints that have not been seen since introduction (in the rocks?)
3 firefish (max size 3") currently 2"
1 keyhole anglefish (max size 8") currently 3"
1 yellow watchman (max size 3") currently 2 3/4"
1 Ocellaris Clownfish (mas size 3 1/2") currently 3"

i know this may be too much so help me narrow it down. or give other suggestions.
let me know.

[corruption]

I'm a big fan of the Kole Tang myself -- looking to add one to my 75 when I get it running... Average max length, at least according to FishBase, is a bit closer to 5.75" -- tiny compared to most tangs, and they're also of the combtooth variety, so they scrape a lot more of the filamentous algaes from rocks, about as voraciously as Lawnmower Blennies :)

With twin-spot gobies, be aware that they have a typically abysmal keep-rate in aquariums, unfortunately... they are typically paired on the reef, but rarely imported as a pair -- and typically will just waste away when their mate is gone...

The two gobies listed should be able to co-habitate, esp. in a larger tank, but do know theres always a potential for aggression when adding multiple gobies or blennies -- very territorial fish, they are :) Since the gobies are from different subspecies of gobies, there shouldn't be a problem, but it can never be guaranteed..

Otherwise, sounds great :) Well planned :)

-Corruption

[saabtech]

should i ditch the keyhole and get the rabbitfish??
ditch the cardinals and get some blue reef chromis??

[Europhyllia]

I had a Kole Tang and it now lives with Rob. ;)
Too much for my little fish. The clowns were terrified of it.
It did't do much for the filamentous algae either.

[saabtech]

well i dont know how many folks have even looked at this but the other day i was changeing out a MH bulb from my coralife 492w and decided to take a look at the cooling fan. well i noticed it had a filter media sandwiched between two grills. i took it out to take a look and BAM! a clogged mess!!
i dont even see how it had any airflow at all. its been on the tank about 2 yrs and i bet its never been cleaned.
now this next part.... you will be sceptical about, and i dont blame you because i didnt believe it either. but instead of my daytime high temps reaching 82-84 degrees they only got to 78-80. thats coooool.:whew:

[Pennies2Cents]

You are correct Karin. You can pay by PayPal.

http://maast.cartama.net/images/documents/membership.gif

Here is the easy way! :)

http://www.maast.org/forums/showthread.php?t=54644

[saabtech]

well i went on a little vacation over the thanksgiving weekend and had everything on timers. all went well except the heater settings were misread and set at 70 degrees instead of 76. well needless to say a group of 25 large polyps closed up and only 3 have opened back up. what are the chances that the others will open back up?

[corruption]

if 3 opened already, I'd say quite high :)

-Corruption

[saabtech]

well 5 days later and they are all starting to open up. i now have about 10 of the group opening. they sure seem hearty.
i just notice that some of my hairy mushrooms have a white mouth (it almost looks like a white sponge or foam) i learned my lesson. tropical organisms dont like cool temps.:angry:

[saabtech]

they all have opened up and the mushrooms are looking better also.

we just set up txg8gxp 14 biocube with my water, alot of my sand my bio-balls and some of my live rock. everything is looking good. there are some substrate worms comeing out already and the water parameters are looking great. looks like he may get lucky and skip the "new tank cycle" at least the long drawn out one.