And so it begins

[priscacara]

I'm a noob about to start my first tank and came across your thread/journal and it is awesome mate! I've been researching till the screen blurs most nights and a lot of my reactions have been meh I've seen it before then I started reading this thread and sat up and paid attention again .

Good luck with it, been a great read and jumping on the train to follow along too.

 

[KafudaFish]

Priscacara:

Thank you for the kind words. I still find it interesting that someone half way around the world reads something I have written and feels the same way I do.

Good luck on your tank and I hope that you share the build here on RC so that we can learn and be inspired too.

 

[KafudaFish]

I have successfully ignored my tank (not by choice) since June and I think it needs some TLC this week so hopefully I will get a polyp count and ramble at some point in this thread again.

 

[KafudaFish]

Here is to the road to recovery!

I have had no time to take care of the tank other than top off and toss some food in when I thought about it. Life is more important than this hobby and that was one of the areas I thought about when I started this tank. It amazes me that so many are chained to their tanks and I have read on more than one occasion, the tank owner not going on vacation etc. in fear that the tank would be a wasteland upon returning home. Sadly, this has been the case on more than one occasion. If my tank crashed today I would be upset

Can the tank survive periods of neglect?
What would the condition of the tank be after this timeframe?

The answer to the first question is obviously a yes it can survive and the answer to the second one is it came out ok, there is additional algae in the display and my polyps have retracted (I think I have an answer to why and if things improve I will explain). I have not lost any but I would have to say they have looked better. I have not conducted a count yet but overall it looks like they are all hanging in there.

Yesterday I made new salt water, cleaned the power head, front glass and the new ATS for the first time, removed a sponge I was using, and gave everything a closer look.

I will do a full WC tonight, replace the GAC, and will address anything that I come across including the possibility of fragging again. I will have to dose H2O2 again in a few areas also but this is easy enough with a drained tank. Again I am not trying for a sterile environment rather I am trying to maintain a healthy one.

I may break out the skimmer again just to see if I can get ahead of water quality issues and for the heck of it.

Here is a picture of the ATS before cleaning. It had a very nice aromatic low tide smell to it. Again it simply sits at the water’s surface in the aqua clear and is lit by the par 38 bulb. That was a pretty good first growth effort (middle of July).

Thanks and please enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

I went to the LFS today and picked up a tail spot and lined blenny for my tanks at home. I hope that the third time is the charm for the tailspot. I will have to close the hole that the last one got stuck in while this fish is acclimating.

The WC helped last week and am seeing improvements once again.
I will work on the tank again this week and see if things continue to improve.

Because I missed last month's count I have decided to move to a count every other month from now on.


Thanks and enjoy your tank

 

[KafudaFish]

Thanks.

I have struck out. Even though I took measures to block the intake tube, the blenny once again decided the one tube that was not safe was the spot to be and I found it the next day in the tube.

Once again it was keeper error, the weak point of any system, that led to the demise of the animal.

The only option is to put a cross piece of egg crate inside the tube at the very bottom of the tube blocking it.

Or I can leave the tank fishless.

I treated large sections of the tank with H2O2 directly and did a 2 gallon WC removing dead algae from a previous treatment earlier in the week.

I am going to try and do a weekly WC for the next month and continue to treat the algae in hopes of getting ahead of it.

There is some algae between polyps so I poured the H2O2 directly on them, waited two minutes, rinsed in old tank water and replaced them back in the tank.

The more I work with the tank, the more I think mechanical filtration plays a major role in the successes or failures of our tanks.

I got a polyp count for the month earlier and I will put it up after I enter the numbers in my spreadsheet.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

Last night when I got home I checked on the tank as usual and discovered a white haze in the tank and bubbles on the water’s surface. Much of the algae had died over the day and I believe this was the cause. I changed the GAC and threw my skimmer back on the tank. By 11 pm, the skimmer was working and some of the polyps had opened again. This morning the tank has cleared up about 75% and the skimmer was pulling waste all night long.

What is the big deal? I think that often we see something off in the tank, have a knee-jerk reaction to it, and then start fixing this and changing that in hopes that we can correct our mistakes. Did I make changes? Sure I did, but I did some very basic things to the tank and so far I am seeing improvements. I will check again tonight and probably leave my tank alone and let it do its thing.

My point? If you have a tank for any length of time, it isn’t going to be picture perfect all of the time. I think that people enter this hobby thinking that their tanks will always look like the ones at the LFS or TOTM ones and when they don’t people can take drastic measures only to worsen the situation and eventually get frustrated both in their time and money and leave the hobby for something else.

Guess what? Nature doesn’t work that way. Out there is competition, predation, disease, and disturbances constantly shaping the physical environment and the biological community.

Sometimes a hands-off or a gentle push is enough to re-balance our little slice of the ocean. Maybe we should give more credit to what is in our tank.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

Within 24 hours of changing the GAC and putting the skimmer online, the water is crystal clear, and I see the polyps opening up again. I have collected 50 – 75 ml of dark green skimmate which I think is pretty good. There was a short break-in period of less than one hour with the skimmer.

If the situation continues to improve, I may think about carbon dosing again (after re-reading the related threads obviously). It will be interesting to see how my little ATS does in regards to these changes and how the polyps behave. If the water is clear I should get better light penetration and maybe some of those frags on the edges will improve.

In regards to this hobby, I have always been of the mentality that it doesn’t matter which method(s) I use just as long as I am happy with the results. It amazes me how much time and effort is wasted in arguments about which technique to use to achieve some level of success in this hobby even when the person can show it. If you don’t believe me, look up reverse undergravel filters and PaulB and you will see people telling him that he is wrong even though his tank is the same age as me.

Each person should have his or her own definition or standard for success in this hobby and stick to that and worry less about that guy who is 1000 miles when he tells you that you are wrong and he cannot believe that you are foolish enough not to do things the right way i.e. his way. I would hope that most people in the hobby are smart enough to know that they do not know everything and quiet enough to hear when others speak but time and time again that does not seem to be correct.

Having just typed that, it is critical to listen to those with actual experience. Yes the only way to have experience is by doing but there is a method to the madness in terms of having the greatest chance of that success. It is human nature to turn a deaf ear or in this case a blind eye to what we disagree with especially in this venue. So far this week the most interesting thread within this forum illustrates that point pretty well.



I would have some pretty pictures for you but PB is not working today.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

PB decided to work now so here is a shot showing the water clearing:

I hope you can see the difference because the day before I could barely see the tank's floor but now it really has improved.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

Here is the polyp count for August. I did not have one for July because I was too busy with life and though my tank was hitting a bumpy road, they continued to grow. I will probably continue the every other month counts from now on. I bought some superglue gel last night so the next time the tank is drained I will make a few new frags.

6.24.12 8.19.12
Left wall 58 66
Top off 115 170
Left rock
Right rock 892 1310
Lower rock 120 170
Left floor 77 78
Shell 21 30
Center floor 60 60
Right rock 240 371
Powerhead 32 42

Total 1615 2297
change 114 682

Back floor
Right wall 19 20
Rock 60 75

Total 1694 2392
Change 115 698

left lower wall 18 26
front floor 28 46
mangrove 4 6
PH curve 1 2
back wall lowest tunnel 24 30

Total 1769 2502
Change 123 733


The water continues to clear and I can see polyps opening once again. I hope I have been able to reset the tank and get back to how it looked prior to the summer. I will do one more H2O2 treatment on the last of the algae and now that cooler weather is on the way I will order a new CUC to better deal with algae.

Here are some old shots from March 2011 that I found on my computer that shows how clean the rock looked.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[KafudaFish]

Here is October's polyp count:

8.19.12 10.27.12
Left wall 66 70
Top off 170 188
Left rock 0 0
Right rock 1310 1515
Lower rock 170 202
Left floor 78 80
Shell 30 30
Center floor 60 68
Right rock 371 391
Powerhead 42 23

Total 2297 2567
change 682 270

Back floor
Right wall 20 20
Rock 75 128

Total 2392 2715
Change 698 323

left lower wall 26 30
front floor 46 66
mangrove 6 0
PH curve 2 3
back wall lowest tunnel 30 38

Total 2502 2852
Change 733 350

If you notice the powerhead and the mangrove polyp counts decreased over the last two months. The PH decreased because the original frag came off the rock and became wedged against the rock floor and front glass. Though the frag suffered the remaining polyps have recovered and I expect the frag to continue to grow. The mangrove frag disappeared. This was the first frag that experienced die off.

Next week I will ramble on about a few things that I have been thinking about and will give a more detailed description of these last two months of my tank.

Thanks and enjoy your tank.

 

[MUCHO REEF]

Hello my friend, long time. Just got caught up reading all your post on this page. Still hard to believe no one comments on your endeavors. You're still doing an awsome job man.

Question, when you take your vacations or brief time away, is there anyone reliable you can trust to eyeball your tank or do basic maint while you're away?

Again, this is one of the best threads in this forum in my opinion. Two thumbs my friend and keep up the good work.


MUCHO REEF
TOTM - August 2003

 

[KafudaFish]

Mucho:

Welcome back and as always thank you for the kind words and the encouragement.
Though it is nice to get that from others that share our passion for this hobby as I have said before, a thread build is actually for the builder first and foremost. If others can learn or be helped along the way great too. It has made me think about different aspects of the hobby and I think I am better now than I was in 2010. There are areas of the hobby that I find fasinating that others probably don't and vice versa but that is a good thing too since that means there is something for everyone.

Though the hobby is an easy one, human nature makes it a difficult one.


I will be honest that it was not a fun exercise in counting last time. My one rock has a nickel's worth of real estate left and after that I probably won't count it anymore. With a growth of 20 more polyps it will be one solid mat. Maybe I will take pictures of that.

Back to my posting I do have a write up/rambling of my thoughts on a topic that was discussed a few weeks ago that I plan on posting here. Maybe some will read it and maybe some will think about some of those areas I find interesting.


In regards to your question about vacation and the tank, I am fortunate to have my FIL care for it while I am gone. He has no interest in the tank though he appreciates it. I know that we read horror stories all the time about vacations and even when an experienced reefer cares for another's tank something seems to fail. Having said that there are a few must do's before leaving:

1. Find someone you trust and someone you think can follow your directions.
2. If you are going to work on the tank don't do it the day before/morning of your leaving because you may have left something unplugged like a heater and the care giver would have no way of knowing this.
3. If possible have the person watch you care for the tank, feed it etc. Show the person how much food you feed . You feed a pinch of food? How much is a pinch?
4. Write everything out.

One time I was gone over the weekend and I had a giant Mexican turbo snail crawl into my intake pipe and got stuck. MY FIL was familiar with the sounds of it and noticed something was wrong. He called me and we went through checking the tank. The water was rising and would have drained the entire sump (40 gallons) onto the floor if he hadn't checked on it. He simply unplugged the return pump and I returned that night and was able to fix the problem.

 

[E.intheC]

In regards to this hobby, I have always been of the mentality that it doesn’t matter which method(s) I use just as long as I am happy with the results. It amazes me how much time and effort is wasted in arguments about which technique to use to achieve some level of success in this hobby even when the person can show it. If you don’t believe me, look up reverse undergravel filters and PaulB and you will see people telling him that he is wrong even though his tank is the same age as me.

Each person should have his or her own definition or standard for success in this hobby and stick to that and worry less about that guy who is 1000 miles when he tells you that you are wrong and he cannot believe that you are foolish enough not to do things the right way i.e. his way. I would hope that most people in the hobby are smart enough to know that they do not know everything and quiet enough to hear when others speak but time and time again that does not seem to be correct.

Having just typed that, it is critical to listen to those with actual experience. Yes the only way to have experience is by doing but there is a method to the madness in terms of having the greatest chance of that success. It is human nature to turn a deaf ear or in this case a blind eye to what we disagree with especially in this venue. So far this week the most interesting thread within this forum illustrates that point pretty well.

That's a big plus 1. :thumbsup:

Nice tank. I'm impressed you can count individual polyps like that.

 

[JasonBJones]

Glad I finally found your thread, time to catch up.

Any recent full tank shots?

 

[KafudaFish]

Eric:

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah it is kind of fun doing it but I have to look at the rock and section if off, count that area and move onto the next. Sometimes a chopstick helps. After being all hunched over for 20 to 30 minutes standing straight up is a whole new experience.

Jason:

Thank you for stopping by. I really do need to do a few. I feel bad since people love looking at pictures more than reading. I am hoping that pretty soon my one rock will be completely grown in and I will take some shots then. December will mark 2 years since I put the one frag in so it would be fitting to do it then.

 

[KafudaFish]

It started innocently enough. On Friday my wife (love you!!) started the conversation with, “What do you think if we ….. ?”.

Everyone who is married or has been in a long-term relationship knows the truth behind these words: what I think really doesn’t matter because a decision has already been made on her part and the next several hours will involve my time, effort, and usually money. Luckily I got away with the first two and not the third.

I had to move my tank to another part of the house to get ready for the holidays. I didn’t mind because it took 15 minutes for the process to be completed. When I was finished, I realized how dirty my tank looked after I poured the water back. I spent the rest of the weekend using a toothbrush on all the exposed rockwork, added a small tunze powerhead for additional flow and blasted everything repeatedly. I changed my aqua clear 30 to an aqua clear 50 for better flow too and filled the basket with pillow floss to mechanically filter the water. By the time Maggie had revealed where the camp was, the tank was clean once again.

Years ago if a person’s tank was off the first action most recommended doing was a water change. The bigger the issue, the bigger the recommended water change. For whatever reason, this simple husbandry practice isn’t recommended as often as a simple first step to fixing issues. Why? I suppose it is because we are told time and time again how complex these systems are and we cannot possibly fix the issue with this cheap and simple method. It is the whole protein skimmer vs. UG filter debate. Water changes always perk my tank up but what does an even better job is simple mechanical filtration.

Another focus point in the hobby has been stability promotes success (SPS). Though I agree with it to a point and different systems require different levels of it, we are really dealing with systems that fluctuate.

Disturbances anyone? Can you imagine as a hobbyist deliberately disturbing our hand-held systems by creating hurricanes, blasting everything to an inch of its life and damaging our reef in order to re-create the natural phenomena that are documented?

Perhaps that is why my tank was looking the way it was and it needed some abuse.

Hope everyone had a great holiday and enjoy your tank.

 

[pinnatus]

Kafuda -

Last week I drained the entire tank, took out all the rocks, took out all the sand and replaced it, then added it all back again (not the old sand). It has taken a full week to clear up, but the difference is amazing. The old sand had so much stuff in it that I could never keep the tank clean. I have probably had that sand for 15 years or so. My tank is a 240 gallon, so it took me considerably longer than 15 minutes, more like 15 hours. (Plus I threw my back out for the last week.) But my tank is looking much better!

 

[KafudaFish]

Hey Ken,

Sorry you threw your back out. Maybe you can ask your wife to walk all over you so you will feel better. Maybe some cheek meat will help too.


So do you think it was just to the point that this was the only option? Normal husbandry just wasn't cutting it? Do you think that you could have had major issues if you had left your tank alone for another year?

This still makes me wonder about DSB for example and what happens when all of the interstitial spaces between the sand grains are full.

Does that mean the DSB was set up or maintained incorrectly?

Much to ponder.

 

[pinnatus]

Yes, the tank was never, ever clear anymore. Detritus all over the place. I don't think there was anything else to do. But, my sand bed was only 1-2" deep. Anything disturbing the bed caused cloudiness. I vacuumed detritus, but there would be just as much the following day. I have a fish-only tank, no inverts, so maybe that contributed to the mess. (Although there are still a few bristle worms living in there as I found out).