I hope I don't regret this....

[Whitten]

And I am sure that won't once it is all over but for now I am really uneasy.

After seeing that my rock structure was holding in a great deal of phosphates I decided to take the advice of several on this forum.

I went to Walmart and bought a 22 gallon tub and proceeded to make my life and the life of my animals a living hell for a little while.

I had grown tired of the wondering what was going on in my tank and was also seeing the decay and death of several of my corals. After reading up about cooking rock and what all it entailed I broke down my 30 gallon cube tonight, and just dove in.

New sump also in the picture.

And doing a weight test on the baffles in my new sump...looks ferret proof so it must be strong.

Also got my new RO setup up and running mind you it will eventually be mounted on the wall.

 

[Whitten]

Bump

 

[dymaxiun]

So i am assuming you rock is all undergoing a cooking event.. am I right?

I am planning on doing the same thing here soon to remove a troublesome sandbed.

 

[onehundred20]

looking forward to seeing your progess, am currently thinking about doing this.

 

[Whitten]

dymaxiun, you would be correct. My rock is cooking in my bin with a little penguin power head for water movement.

I am hoping that with time my rock will be clear of phosphates, and good base to start with for mounting frags.

I am going to re do rock work, and while checking the SPS section I noticed a thread about Idol tanks. I really like the Oregon Reef tank and I think that I may use that as my next basis to build from.

Any suggestions on placement, cooking, or just general husbandry is as always greatly appreciated. I wanted to also thank you all who responded in my last thread entitled "I've got problems" you all saved my tank and I expect you to reward yourselves for doing a good deed accordingly....drink a beer.

Tonight is phase 2, I am going to temporarily set up my sump so as to add water volume and to also play with my new skimmer !!!!. I just figured while I was waiting for my new stand I might as well hook it all up and put it to good use.

 

[crescent1]

good luck with the cooking.

 

[NoSchwag]

IMO cooking is fun for the first 3 or 4 dunk and swish sessions. After that it becomes a chore.

If possible dunk and swish outside.. That way you can get much more violent (see effective) with it. If I had gone outside from the beginning, I think I would have finished sooner.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

P.S. I love your Aztec eggcrate pyramid.

 

[NoSchwag]

I had a fat ferret names Jesus until it pooped in an Air Max 95.

Needless to say I took him to the pet store.

 

[ITR]

Your ferret is so cute

We have two ferrets. However, they could care less about our tanks & equipment. They seem to really hate the bright lights from the canopies, but if given the chance to roll around in a tank, I am sure they'd jump at the opportunity. The most curious creators around!

To make my post about reefkeeping:
Good luck with the rock cooking. :O)

 

[Whitten]

Thanks ITR, she is so cute somtimes.....other times she is a pain. Right now I am trying to break her from going under our oven!! She decided back in January that the fish tanks weren't anything she wanted to be a part of when she snuck into my stand jumped in my sump and realized that was a really bad idea, somwhere inbetween her tail getting sucked into a mag 7 and not being able to swim convinced her of that. Luckily my roomy saw it happen and even though he was laughing histaricly he pulled her from the sump and all was good.

No Schwag...I rolled on the floor from your two posts and I am glad you could see the genious behind my design of the aztec pyramid. To be honest it may be getting changed though because it is way to bulky and doesn't give me much room to place corals to be honest.

 

[elephen]

How long do you plan on cooking your rock for, 3 months?

 

[Whitten]

From posts that I had read before 2 months was the longest that I had seen people do it. I plan on about 6 weeks since that will be about how long it will be until I am back from christmas break. My plan is to get the new stand and system up and running so that water condiditions are perfect, and then add the LR back to the tank after the first of the year... kinda a long time to look at ugly grates in the tank, but it is better than looking at ugly hair algae and having melting corals.

 

[Whitten]

Just a little update.


The rock remains in the bin still. I have left it in there longer than expected because I am currently building a new stand for my tank. After the stand is done next week then I begin the long process of getting everything all buttoned back up and moved to the new stand.

I wanted to let you know a couple things though guys.


My Millepora has finally taken off. For the first time in a year it's polyps are extending and it is actually growing.

My Blue Tort is growing like crazy, had to frag it.

MY bali slimer is in much better shape, and also growing.

My tri color is slowly comming back to it's full glory.

My Pocillipora is also growing like a weed.

The only coral that is not doing well was my green Acro that is still not looking well. I am going to totally frag it up and see if that helps get some of the affected tissue away from the main good parts.


Also in the period of my absence, I have bought an Aquacontroller two, and rewired my auto top off to be redundant. Soon to come will be an ozoner, and a calcium reactor, along with my 250 watt DE with Lumenarc style reflector and T5's.

Wish me luck, and thanks for all the help.

I will post some progress pics soon.

 

[Wiskey]

I can't wait for pics, I am glad everything is going well, I think my tank is finally starting to turn around too. It is a good feeling.

Happy reefing,
Whiskey

 

[Whitten]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6601327#post6601327 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Wiskey
I can't wait for pics, I am glad everything is going well, I think my tank is finally starting to turn around too. It is a good feeling.

Happy reefing,
Whiskey

Thanks man, I will post pics soon. I want to see them as well so I will have to get some snapped off so that I can see the progress in comparison to what they were.