Ok, so I know it's been like FOREVER since I posted about the tank and the hordes of people (ok, for the one foul smelling guy at the library) that have been following this build probably thought it just withered away and died. Ironically, this post is more to bring closure to the thread then an update. Thankfully, no, the tank didn't die but it is no more. First, let's bring the tank's history up to date.
I had change the aquascape again because I never really did like the way it was the last I left it. More fish and corals had been added and the tank was really starting to come into its own. These pics are from August 08.
If you look closely in the picture above, you'll see the dreaded flatworms. It was about this time when I first discovered them. It was late summer and tank nutrients were probably kinda high due to some minimal neglect because well"¦.it was summer and I was spending less time inside looking at the tank. I know, bad excuse but it happens sometimes. Anyway, I started trying to siphon these out with water changes but it just wasn't enough. I was going to have to chemically treat them. I happened across this thread"¦
Total System Levasole Planaria Kill Recipe
This was the method I decided to employ. Unfortunately, I just didn't have the room to keep a lot of make up water on hand in case things when horribly wrong. Consequently I delayed putting this plan into action until I could really be focused and watch everything really carefully. So that probably led to a larger population of flat worms then I would have liked to deal with.
Anyway, whether I didn't get the dose exactly right or the flatworm toxins were too much, I ended up doing a water change with the water I did have on hand within 3 hours of initial dosage. Long story short, I did end up losing a couple of fish and a couple of corals. All in all, it could have been worse. The good news is the flatworms were completely eliminated. I never have seen any sign of them since then.
Fast forward to January 09. The economy was in the tank (no pun intended). I work in the financial sector and at that time, trust in financial institutions was at an all time low (thankfully I work for one of the most stable of these companies and it has been one of the strongest through this mess). There was a new President in the White House. And the wife and I decided to stimulate the economy all by ourselves by buying a new house. Smart huh? Well, I never did claim to be very intelligent.
Well, you can imagine the whirlwind our life became trying to get our current house ready to be on the market and finding a new one. Finishing all the "œhoney do's" I put off for the past 17 years took most of February. I even took a week's vacation during the month to finish them. By March the house was on the market and we were cleaning it twice a week to keep it in tip top shape for showing. Needless to say the reef tank got algae cleaned off the glass and that was about it for a few weeks. Thankfully it had kind of reached that autopilot phase of stability so I got away with it for a bit.
The entire time I was dreading what would need to be done with the tank once we finally sold the house. Would the new owners want it, want all the animals? Or would I have to tear it out and seal up the wall. Around June 09 we got a solid offer on the house and started the process of moving. Fortunately they did want the tank so I wouldn't have to take it out and close up the wall but they didn't want the animals in it.
I didn't have anywhere I could really house all the animals during the move process so I ended up getting a 29 gal bio cube and keeping the ones I got really attached to and taking the rest of them to the LFS.
So, that's where it's at now. The plywood tank is still in service so at least I did something right to build it but for now I'm reduced to a 29 gal bio cube. I don't have any pictures of that yet and maybe I'll just start a different thread for that. Seeing as how often I updated this thread I don't think any of you should hold you breath. :sad2:
I do have plans in the works for a"¦wait for it"¦bigger and better plywood tank! It will be a while though as now I have a whole new set of "œhoney do's" with a new house. Go figure"¦
So this is not "œgoodbye", just a "œsee ya later" and "œcatch you in other threads". Or to paraphrase Douglas Adams"¦
So long, and thanks for all the fish"¦..advice. :fish1:
We also sold our house and are buying a new one in a few weeks, even during all this financial mess, so I can relate. I decided to eliminate our tank before we put ours on the market, though, and I've been mostly tankless for a number of months. Any plans on an upgrade from the biocube?
