55 Nano Reef Rebuild

so i thought i would start a thread on the take down and rebuild of my nano reef.i should have started to take pics a little earlier but i stayed up a little late and wasnt thinking as well as i usualy do...or at least that is my excuse. i got a ride to the hardware store and got some wood and started cutting when i got home.i had already been thinking about this for some time so i had some plans laid out already.after some miter saw cuts i was drilling away putting frames together and such. so much that i got my first power tool related injury.nothing serious just a drill to the thumb.regardless the project went on and i stayed up rather late to see it through.[img][/img]had to put it outside until it was needed and unfortunatly it is raining.....again.i have also took much time to clean out another 55 i have to act as the sump it will be a 55 on 55 sytem instead of the existing 40 gallon sump next to 10 gallon time out.this also means i will need to replumb some of the overflow.
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UGHHH!!!.many complications and alot of buckets of water later and we finished the move.THANKS RED SKULL for your help.it certainly wasnt a one man job.so now i will be able to seperate or segregate some of the corals.so softies go down bellow now.things are a wreck now but i will start snapping some pics.i also have to anchor the stand to the wall so things dont tip in case of excesive wieght placed at the top of the stand.it is also much thinner than the previous stand with more water on it so an anchor is called for.

so i got the anchors in.2*4s into the side of the wall should do the trickthere were a couple other options but this one seemed the most sturdy and i am more about functionality over asthetics.i will turn them into shelves for fish food anyways.
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so many complications, but i was happy to help. it actually came out rather well...

badxgillen wrote:

so i got the anchors in.2*4s into the side of the wall should do the trickthere were a couple other options but this one seemed the most sturdy and i am more about functionality over asthetics.i will turn them into shelves for fish food anyways.
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im digging the heavy duty brace you got on the tank. child proof dual 55g stand
gotta hit u up tomorrow, or tonight. i wanna check it out in person lol

yeah....its an ongoing project so you are sure to see it in various stages.here i added some trim i found to cover the screws then added shelves for the fish food.not bad so far.[img][/img]
drop me a line whenever man.

i like the cover over those screws...

And the reef hobbyist magazine,thats a nice touch .Any tanks shots?

i do like the reef hobbyist. i will try and grab some tanks hots tommorow even though things still look like a disaster.i am still seperating things and you know how this hobby goes if it sint one thing it is another.

so herer is the display in a disaray a few days after the move.as you can see there is a algae bloom do to a mini cycle as much sand and rock was moved.[img][/img]
and here is the sump unrefined as well i wantt o get a black back ground and possibl;ey baffle off the heater and skimmer but for now thats how it lays.i usualy dont even use a heater but things were so unhappy after the move from it taking so long and i believe temp drop and oxygen deprivation.actualy i didnt lose any corals or inverts but i did lose my leopard wrasse... but anyhow the sump is pretty plain jane for now but i will be moving soft corals and more rock into here soon.
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that leopard wrasse was in bad shape when the move happened, imo...

check out the toungue coral trying to escape the brain..well not really i just like to make up things in my head to make it more interesting.
but it sure is on the move and cant get over this little mountain.
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I honestly wouldnt be surprised if it did climb that mountain...My fungias move all over the place...some move daily, others wait and then take a voyage. One green fungia I have (my first coral ever, at least 8 years old) stays put. I have another that stays where it is for weeks, then one day takes off and literally climbs stuff, flips it self over and over, and even goes sideways (I WISH I HAD TIME LAPSE!). Another one I have move in and out of a little cave throughout the day, almost like he is a hopeless romantic wanting a constant sunrise and sunset LOL!

that is hilarious with the moving fungias.i hope this guy doesnt start moving the other direction..i suppose it just needs more room to roam.i might be cutting this guy. downsizing him to the tank maybe?

interesting...

I wonder if your were to frag those fungias would the fragments have similar personalities?

that is a interesting question to ponder.presumably they would retain the want to regulate its own light and flow needs or test its surroundings?assuming that is what they are doing during the move.i have yet to have much experience with fungias moving as i usualy have mine surrounded by rock..i gues i gotta clear up the sand bed.

a recent tank shot.
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i put in my black saddle clowns to see if they will get along with my existing percs.so far so good.

so everyone is getting along just fine wich is great but unfortunatly my tougue coral got an infection deep in the middle of its bodies tissue.this system is in check so the onlt thing i can acount for being a factor is possible damage from the brain corals sweeping tentacle when the toungue had moved close to the brain and that this sytems water is most likely saturated with soft coral toxins since i have not had carbon in for a while,wich i was not aware of.this may have weakened the coral and i must admit i neglected to take it out for a week as all my tanks are full of corals that would very easily cause more damage.i finaly found a tank to put it in for a little ICU but everything i did did not seem to help.i lost my toungue coral entirely. this is why you should frag your corals.i am left with none.

I know I know , it has been a loong time since and update. It has been a rough ride so to speak as I have had a tank crash with a overdose of GFO and also a literal tank Crash as I had the tank bust a seam on me. What a disaster, what nightmares are made of.This here is a picture of the tank right before a big hit to the SPS population form the phosphate stripping. So Sad.

I still need to clean up the cord clutter but here is a pic about the same time with the AI Sols on a heavy blue setting.

A 2015 update with the corals getting there colors back from the previous incident. It took some time but even the zoas are looking pretty darn good.


Here is with the Sols

and here is with the flash on.



Maintenance wise the tank is getting roughly bi weekly water changes of 7-10 gallons and monthly carbon changes. Calcium and alkalinity dosing for the SPS has been going on for quite some time. I do a Fuel dose here and there and a few drops of iodine once a week.

Cut a few things up a while ago and I am contemplating putting somethings back on the rock work.
Alien Eye Leptastrea is going to stay, along with some pot of gold Favia, not sure about the others here.



On another note I am still having troubles with my acroporas. They are blaching from the bottom up and I am pretty sure it is not chemistry, it did get rather cold a couple nights due to a partially open window but not sure about that either. I am thinking I may need to dip a couple and see if there are any things unseen to the eye. If not that then maybe it will pass with basic tank stability. Makes me sad though as things were just growing and coloring up so well.

Another update, I have had some nasty turf algae start to spread more aggressively so I added some urchins to combat it. The urchins have caused several corals to collide and this means some damage was done and a couple loses have occurred. I have acquired a good amount of new frags of acropora in the last few months from people in the nearby cities and unfortunately I believe my acros have contracted some ailment. It seems like I have had a good amount of bad news but I am far from giving up. Just gotta persevere.

I have removed a rock that was coated in turf algae and gold polyps and replaced it with a new piece of base rock that I had drilled for frag plugs, I am going to put a few of my tortuosas on it. And the urchins are slowly eating some of the nasty algae in the tank that nothing else would, that turf algae is the devil. Colors in my corals are also pretty amazing on some of em, not bad at all.

I usually use a masonry bit but this time alls I could find was a trusty old half inch wood bore bit. Gotta get the job done right. Worked out just fine as you can see.