Yes, yes it does
Hello, Geezer coming back to this forum. Paul B
- Thread starter Paul B
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Paul B
Premium Member
So far I collected from my RO/DI almost 100 gallons of ASW. I got to say, collecting real water is so much easier.
To do that I get in my Jeep and back up to an ocean, In my case, the Atlantic.
I sit in my car and enjoy the sounds of the seagulls as I watch the fish jump.
I stroll to the back of my car and open the hatch, remove a bilge pump on the end of a 50' hose and throw it into the water.
I take the plug and insert it into my car's power outlet and gaze at the water going into one of the 10 gallon buckets I have.
After about 2 minutes, the water stops and I pull back the pump to clear the bowling ball size of ulva seaweed that is clogging the thing.
Throw it back into a different spot and look up and down the beach as I wait.
Off in the distance I see three beautiful Ladies walking in my direction. I live near the end of Long Island where a few Supermodels live so I figure one, or all of them are some of those wanting to come up to me to learn about reef tank husbandry, how I go about changing water, asking about quarantining, medicating or what is my favorite dance move.
As they get closer I notice they are elderly (but classy looking) Ladies who just want to know what kind of toxic waste I am dumping into the sea.
I explain my water change method and how natural sea water, IMO is better than ASW. How I go about cleaning it, heating it, and transferring it to my tank all the while as one of the Ladies, the least classy looking one is calling 911 to report a "Deviant" dumping used oil into the Atlantic.
To do that I get in my Jeep and back up to an ocean, In my case, the Atlantic.
I sit in my car and enjoy the sounds of the seagulls as I watch the fish jump.
I stroll to the back of my car and open the hatch, remove a bilge pump on the end of a 50' hose and throw it into the water.
I take the plug and insert it into my car's power outlet and gaze at the water going into one of the 10 gallon buckets I have.
After about 2 minutes, the water stops and I pull back the pump to clear the bowling ball size of ulva seaweed that is clogging the thing.
Throw it back into a different spot and look up and down the beach as I wait.
Off in the distance I see three beautiful Ladies walking in my direction. I live near the end of Long Island where a few Supermodels live so I figure one, or all of them are some of those wanting to come up to me to learn about reef tank husbandry, how I go about changing water, asking about quarantining, medicating or what is my favorite dance move.
As they get closer I notice they are elderly (but classy looking) Ladies who just want to know what kind of toxic waste I am dumping into the sea.
I explain my water change method and how natural sea water, IMO is better than ASW. How I go about cleaning it, heating it, and transferring it to my tank all the while as one of the Ladies, the least classy looking one is calling 911 to report a "Deviant" dumping used oil into the Atlantic.
Paul B
Premium Member
I have almost all the rocks out of my tank with just a few left to make the fish at home...Kind of although they are getting the horrors..
I also mixed about 110 gallons of ASW. Most of my live rock is still live in vats of NSW so I won't lose the life on those. The biggest piece I couldn't save 100%. It has a lot of sponge on it so I have it outside in the air. I am hoping the 30 degree weather as well as the air freezes the sponge. That shouldn't kill all the bacteria but even if it does, there is plenty left and I am not removing the gravel.
In a couple of days I will heat all the water I just made and all in one fell swoop (that will take all day, I will remove all the corals, fish and remaining rock. Stir up the gravel and siphon it out. Then add everything back and glue all the corals back.
That will be tough because I had to cut all the very old gorgonians off the rocks and now they are not branching any more so I have a lot of single pieces to glue which may take more than a full day.
Now I can catch that big Koran Angelfish that no one wants and bring it to a LFS for their show tank.
I got my neighbor to help me lift the biggest rock as I was afraid of dropping it.
I also mixed about 110 gallons of ASW. Most of my live rock is still live in vats of NSW so I won't lose the life on those. The biggest piece I couldn't save 100%. It has a lot of sponge on it so I have it outside in the air. I am hoping the 30 degree weather as well as the air freezes the sponge. That shouldn't kill all the bacteria but even if it does, there is plenty left and I am not removing the gravel.
In a couple of days I will heat all the water I just made and all in one fell swoop (that will take all day, I will remove all the corals, fish and remaining rock. Stir up the gravel and siphon it out. Then add everything back and glue all the corals back.
That will be tough because I had to cut all the very old gorgonians off the rocks and now they are not branching any more so I have a lot of single pieces to glue which may take more than a full day.
Now I can catch that big Koran Angelfish that no one wants and bring it to a LFS for their show tank.
I got my neighbor to help me lift the biggest rock as I was afraid of dropping it.
Paul B
Premium Member
I didn't realize I had so many fish and I even found this guy who I haven't seen since the day I put him in. I thought he croaked or jumped out someplace but he is fine and even colored up more. After I put the rocks back in, I am sure I will never see him again.
I couldn't save 2 of the anemones because they went into a hole in large rocks and I couldn't get them out. I found one of my fish in a bucket of rock that jumped out when I removed the rock, but he is fine.
Grand Kids are coming over today so I can't do anything but I plan on Tuesday or wednesday to do the big switch and put everything back.
I am not sure if the stress will affect the fish so maybe I will throw some Prozac in the water just to make sure.
I couldn't save 2 of the anemones because they went into a hole in large rocks and I couldn't get them out. I found one of my fish in a bucket of rock that jumped out when I removed the rock, but he is fine.
Grand Kids are coming over today so I can't do anything but I plan on Tuesday or wednesday to do the big switch and put everything back.
I am not sure if the stress will affect the fish so maybe I will throw some Prozac in the water just to make sure.
What kind of fish is that Paul? Some kind of blenny?I didn't realize I had so many fish and I even found this guy who I haven't seen since the day I put him in. I thought he croaked or jumped out someplace but he is fine and even colored up more. After I put the rocks back in, I am sure I will never see him again.
I couldn't save 2 of the anemones because they went into a hole in large rocks and I couldn't get them out. I found one of my fish in a bucket of rock that jumped out when I removed the rock, but he is fine.
Grand Kids are coming over today so I can't do anything but I plan on Tuesday or wednesday to do the big switch and put everything back.
I am not sure if the stress will affect the fish so maybe I will throw some Prozac in the water just to make sure.
Paul B
Premium Member
I just found this "hunting" story on another site from 2 years ago.
Once on an LZ a deer walked out of a clearing about 100 yards away. We normally ate C Rations and since we had a lot of Red Necks with us some of them decided to shoot the thing and one of then would cook it.
About a dozen of them started firing at the poor creature who just stood there in Awe. M-16s fully automatic, grenade launchers and I think one of them fired at it with a 60 caliper machine gun.
The deer eventually walked away. I said, "Please, if we get attacked here, you guys stand behind me so I can actually shoot something" .
Once on an LZ a deer walked out of a clearing about 100 yards away. We normally ate C Rations and since we had a lot of Red Necks with us some of them decided to shoot the thing and one of then would cook it.
About a dozen of them started firing at the poor creature who just stood there in Awe. M-16s fully automatic, grenade launchers and I think one of them fired at it with a 60 caliper machine gun.
The deer eventually walked away. I said, "Please, if we get attacked here, you guys stand behind me so I can actually shoot something" .
Paul B
Premium Member
I am not sure my fish will survive through all this as it is a big change to go from real water that is very old to brand new ASW but we will see. If the tank crashes, and there is a real possibility of that, I will still consider it a success. Of course the fish may not see it exactly like that.
I am trying as hard as I can with what I know and the time constraints I have in doing this to keep everything alive and not killing the important bacteria and pods that keep the tank healthy.
My many pod eaters may have to go on a diet for a couple of weeks and I hope they can find enough to eat but it is what it is and I am doing the best I can.
I just went downstairs to check the tank because I was concerned with all the fish in there there may not be enough bacteria left to keep the water healthy. But they are fine and happy looking, some of them are doing the Macarena.
The very large rock I have outside is frozen and the sponges on it look like ice cubes so I can "assume" the nasty stuff is dead. Now I have to scrape off the dead, frozen sponge and rinse it off in salt water to get it ready to go back in.
If I was not afraid this sponge would take over the ocean here, I would bring all the sponge encrusted rocks to the sea and scrape and wash them off in the sea.
I won't do that but that would be the best thing.
I am trying as hard as I can with what I know and the time constraints I have in doing this to keep everything alive and not killing the important bacteria and pods that keep the tank healthy.
My many pod eaters may have to go on a diet for a couple of weeks and I hope they can find enough to eat but it is what it is and I am doing the best I can.
I just went downstairs to check the tank because I was concerned with all the fish in there there may not be enough bacteria left to keep the water healthy. But they are fine and happy looking, some of them are doing the Macarena.
The very large rock I have outside is frozen and the sponges on it look like ice cubes so I can "assume" the nasty stuff is dead. Now I have to scrape off the dead, frozen sponge and rinse it off in salt water to get it ready to go back in.
If I was not afraid this sponge would take over the ocean here, I would bring all the sponge encrusted rocks to the sea and scrape and wash them off in the sea.
I won't do that but that would be the best thing.
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Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
Did I see your Koran in a tank this morning?
I also saw some nice yellow banded pipe fish.
I also saw some nice yellow banded pipe fish.
Paul B
Premium Member
Tomorrow is the day I remove all the fish, dump out the water and re fill the tank and re aquascape. I have to go and get ashes first as it is Ash Wednesday and that is my wife's Idea. If I don't take her she will go by herself and I don't need her mad at me on a very busy day when my tanks life is in the balance. This will be very difficult, moving all this water and rocks around and keeping it all warm, aerated and "happy for the 12 or so hours it will take.
Then another day or two to glue back all the corals, mostly gorgonians. I purposely didn't feed the fish yesterday to limit wastes and today, if the rain lets up a little I would like to go down to the sea to pick up some barnacle encrusted rocks to temporarily add to my tank for the fresh bacteria.
This is a good time for that because I killed a lot of bacteria on the heavily sponge encrusted rocks I had to bleach.
Then another day or two to glue back all the corals, mostly gorgonians. I purposely didn't feed the fish yesterday to limit wastes and today, if the rain lets up a little I would like to go down to the sea to pick up some barnacle encrusted rocks to temporarily add to my tank for the fresh bacteria.
This is a good time for that because I killed a lot of bacteria on the heavily sponge encrusted rocks I had to bleach.
Good luck with everything!
Vinny Kreyling
Premium Member
I second that.
Paul B
Premium Member
I have two 40 gallon tubs and some 5 gallon buckets full of live rock and a bunch I had to bleach. I also have my diatom filter filled with powder because I am not removing the gravel and it will be full of detritus and I don't want to remove all of it.
The first thing I will do is partially empty the tank and catch all the fish and remaining corals. I hope I can find all of them.
Any of you guys want that beautiful Koran Angel? He is coming out tomorrow.
The first thing I will do is partially empty the tank and catch all the fish and remaining corals. I hope I can find all of them.
Any of you guys want that beautiful Koran Angel? He is coming out tomorrow.
montepora
Member of NJRC
I think they are small enough for your angles to pick on and be kept under control..... ☺☺☺ Good luck with your task!!
Paul B
Premium Member
I got everything back in the tank and everything looks good. The fish are hunting for food and so far I didn't lose anything.
This only took me 7 hours and I have more live rock left over than I started with. Like 3 five gallon buckets.
I have my big angel fish in a bucket and I almost lost him. I noticed the water looked very funky and it smelled. I could see sparks under the water. The heater broke.
Luckily it was only for a minute or so and being I am an electrician my fish don't care about electricity in their water.
This only took me 7 hours and I have more live rock left over than I started with. Like 3 five gallon buckets.
I have my big angel fish in a bucket and I almost lost him. I noticed the water looked very funky and it smelled. I could see sparks under the water. The heater broke.
Luckily it was only for a minute or so and being I am an electrician my fish don't care about electricity in their water.
Oh boy
BeanAnimal
Premium Member
Paul I would def run a copper test if you have one and/or run a cuprisorb asap. I have never had one break, but have read numerous stories about wiped out tanks due to a shorted heater and funky water.
