drummereef
Team RC
That is freaking AWESOME!!! :thumbsup:
My Reef to Rainforest Build
- Thread starter summitwynds
- Start date
cheezischrist
New member
wow, absolutely amazing
summitwynds
Member
Thought I would take some AFTER photos similar to the shots on page 1.
REEF BEFORE:
REEF AFTER:
RAINFOREST BEFORE:
RAINFOREST AFTER:
RAINFOREST BEFORE:
RAINFOREST AFTER:
REEF BEFORE:
REEF AFTER:
RAINFOREST BEFORE:
RAINFOREST AFTER:
RAINFOREST BEFORE:
RAINFOREST AFTER:
summitwynds
Member
Some tank shots. REALLY hard to do with windows on the "other side" of both sides.
summitwynds
Member
Off to pick up some more CUC today - got brown algae on the new rocks.
drummereef
Team RC
Oh what the heck... now you are just making us look bad! 
That is truly an amazing setup. Love the table and chairs on the Reef side, perfect place to sit and have a cup of coffee and enjoy the beautiful ocean view. Seriously, are you an interior designer?
That is truly an amazing setup. Love the table and chairs on the Reef side, perfect place to sit and have a cup of coffee and enjoy the beautiful ocean view. Seriously, are you an interior designer?
summitwynds
Member
Oh what the heck... now you are just making us look bad!
The rooms might look nice, but the tank has nothing on yours and many others I admire here on RC.
No, Im not an interior designer. I was a heating oil business owner (bought from my father), turned self taught graphic/web designer, turned home based travel agent. I still do some graphic/web design, just for small businesses. I just like being able to do weird things in my house. I love the southwest/cowboy style (really weird growing up in New England!) so most of my house is decorated that way with stuff I picked up while showing horses across the country. My office has been "rainforest" for a few years and when my daughters room turned guest room I figured I could do something weird there. Being a travel agent we've been to the Caribbean many times, collected some souvenirs and I love to snorkel so I went that way with the guest room. I loved Costa Rica and Panama so I guess thats how my office ended up that way.
Yes, great place for a morning coffee, but Im actually loving sitting at the bar I made in my office. You can see a little of it, its a huge slab of wormwood that was given to me. I think I will put a video together this weekend of the tank and rooms and show a little more of my "treasures".
Off to have a wine at my Rainforest bar. :beer:
Thanks for the compliments drummereef!
drummereef
Team RC
Who would'a thunk it!
I absolutely love the wormwood bar top. Everything is so creative. Looking forward to the video "treasures" to come. 
summitwynds
Member
Ok, been MIA for a couple weeks. Been busy with work (yeah, got to support this habit!) and dealing with some nuisance algae on the new rocks. Too ugly to take pictures of! What a pain! Got a major CUC who has pretty much removed most of it. I think it might have been toxic, either that or some of the CUC just ate themselves to death because there was so much of it. A few Emerald crabs, a few snails. Almost all the algae is gone. I did lose a couple tangs, not sure why, but will wait to add or replace them.
I added another Vortech 40es W, added Neptune Leak Detectors (3) and have a 4th, just need to get a phone cable extender.
Corals are doing well, parameters have been checking out fine, Calcium a little high, Alkalinity a little low, so will be adjusting that.
Hopefully will get some video and photos on soon. Took a few photos today, but really blue. Got to figure out a way to take better pics.
I added another Vortech 40es W, added Neptune Leak Detectors (3) and have a 4th, just need to get a phone cable extender.
Corals are doing well, parameters have been checking out fine, Calcium a little high, Alkalinity a little low, so will be adjusting that.
Hopefully will get some video and photos on soon. Took a few photos today, but really blue. Got to figure out a way to take better pics.
drummereef
Team RC
Is it possible to post a pic of the algae you've been dealing with? Is it mostly growing on the base rock? I'm guessing it's the same toxic form of cyano I've dealt with on and off for a long time. Definitely kills inverts if they ingest enough of it and is also toxic to the gills of some fish. Luckily never lost my yellow tang but she didn't eat for a couple weeks and her gills were blood red when the tank was at it's worst. I'd love to see if it's the same stuff though...
summitwynds
Member
Yes, mostly on the base rock of the new rock. I had about 1/3 old Live rock from my 75 and then added new dry rock. The algae is a very rusty brown color. Most of it is gone now, but there is still a little on a few areas. Im not sure I would call it cyano, but maybe it was. Very rusty brown, a little hairy, but not long hairy. I will get some pictures tomorrow of the stuff.
The CUC did a great job, but lost some emerald crabs and snails, a couple tangs a few weeks ago and a tang today. The yellow tang that died today wasn't eating at all now for a couple weeks but at first was eating great, no signs of ich, but had some brown blotches on it, and got very thin. At first it was eating everything and picking at the rocks and then nothing. Im going to wait before I get any new fish (and QT them too of course) All parameters are good, other than calcium being a little high, Alk being a little low, but I'll be adjusting my dosing now.
summitwynds
Member
If you look at the last 2 pictures on this thread, you will see the color of the algae on the RIGHT side of the tank. I would call it diarrhea brown. The photo above the last two is on the other side of the tank so there is 1 shot that shows the algae on the same rocks on the LEFT. I will try to get something closer that shows the algae thats still there.
drummereef
Team RC
Excellent, thank you. Yes, looks like the exact same stuff I have dealt with as well. Extremely toxic to snails etc. Without having a sample sent off for testing, the closest ID was a form of cyano - unlike the typical red slime cyano most of us get in our tanks. It was also I.D.'d by Bob Fenner on WWM as well as here. This stuff is wicked. My tank was 100% base rock so I'm hoping you fare better since you had some established rock from your old tank. From my research that definitely helps beat it long term.
drummereef
Team RC
One other thing to look for is... does it get worse after water changes? Just keep an eye on that and report back overtime if it doesn't (knock on wood) go away on it's own. 
summitwynds
Member
One other thing to look for is... does it get worse after water changes? Just keep an eye on that and report back overtime if it doesn't (knock on wood) go away on it's own.
Just did a water change yesterday morning, about 35 gallons - now you have me worried.... Am I going to go in and find my rocks all fuzzy and back to the way they were? Yikes, I hope not. I'll give you the report as soon as the lights come bright enough to check.
summitwynds
Member
Ok, good news. The water change did not bring back the algae, it actually looks a little better than yesterday. Pictures to follow.
summitwynds
Member
This photo shows the 3 islands on the right (of the reef side/guest room) You can see some brown patches on 2 of the islands (not the zoa island in the reflection) These 2 islands were 100% new rock.
The side of this rock still has some algae.
This rock has some traces of the algae, it was completely covered.
Here is a close up of some that is still left. It was very thick and fluffy, covering all of the rock.
These are the 2 islands on the left (reef side/guest room) This is mostly old live rock transferred over from my 75 gallon. It did get the thick algae in spots but it seemed mostly where it had been covered in the old tank. The flat rock in the back with the zoas on it was completely covered with algae and I thought was going to choke out the zoas
The side of this rock still has some algae.
This rock has some traces of the algae, it was completely covered.
Here is a close up of some that is still left. It was very thick and fluffy, covering all of the rock.
These are the 2 islands on the left (reef side/guest room) This is mostly old live rock transferred over from my 75 gallon. It did get the thick algae in spots but it seemed mostly where it had been covered in the old tank. The flat rock in the back with the zoas on it was completely covered with algae and I thought was going to choke out the zoas
summitwynds
Member
drummereef
Team RC
Great pics!! Looking great btw. :thumbsup:
