Not sure what to do

[wvned]

After years of lack of attention it is just me and the tanks again. First it was the right knee, then the left. Then Jills dad came to live with us. Then he declined and went into assisted living. Earnest passed and his funeral was Saturday and his trip is over after 93 years. Earnest kept freshwater fish and bred bristle nosed places and some different cichlids.

Jill and I are catching our breaths now. It's been a while since we could relax. Every phone call was a possible disaster we had to deal with.
Now I have to figure out how to restore the tanks.
You cant go back so how do you suggest I go forward?
I am thinking I will get a big stock tank. Then I will tear down and clean one tank at a time, reset the scape and replace the sand. Several of the corals have grown to the top of the water and are in fact reacting to shading from the tank braces now. They need moved down and over.
Or I could quit and raise some large angelfish.
It's all a bit overwhelming.

This was in June. They look slightly better than this now. We wiped the cabinets down and I did siphon dirt from the sandbags some. I came to the conclusion that was too little too late.

 

[griss]

Sorry for your loss my friend. I like your idea of the stock tank and re-doing one tank at a time.

 

[Genetics]

Sorry for your loss. It’s always overwhelming picking up where someone has left off. Before jumping the gun and doing big moves and aquascaping I would ask yourself if you want to just upgrade and downsize to one aquarium? That in itself will take off quite a bit of maintenance.

 

[OrionN]

I am sorry for your family’s loss. Please accept my condolences.

About your tanks, if I am in your position, I would consider consolidate the tanks to 1 system with a sump on the floor out in the open. I would put plant there like Red mangroves and light it with bright, out in the open sump and light. Then I would redo one tank at a time.

 

[wvned]

I am sorry for your family’s loss. Please accept my condolences.

About your tanks, if I am in your position, I would consider consolidate the tanks to 1 system with a sump on the floor out in the open. I would put plant there like Red mangroves and light it with bright, out in the open sump and light. Then I would redo one tank at a time.

I have too many fish to go into one tank and the sump is in another room and isn't really bad. Just the equipment needs cleaned.
Many of the fish would not get along in one tank either.
I am growing 3 kinds of macro algae now. Ulva, cheto and caulerpa.

I have 2 snowflake eels 24-28 inches long
5 dwarf angels - rusty, coral beauty, flame, bicolor
1 large angel - koran
3 tangs - clown, lavender, powder blue
6 chromis green, blue reef, black and white
foxface lo
4 butterflies - longnose, racoon, copper banded, kleins
2 engineer gobys
2 file fish
lantern bass
These are spread between 240 180 and 75 gallon tanks

Placed together the eels would eat some of them and some would fight.

 

[Timfish]

My condolences on your losses!


I would do changes slowly and just do sections at a time (nothing good happens fast in a reef). There's a lot of good stuff back in under those rocks and in the sand but some of it isn't good if it's spread around. The cryptic sponges are especially important as they feed off the DOC produced in the tank that can cause anoxic conditions in coral surface mucus layer and pathogenic shifts in coral microbiomes.

I would start with doing weekly water changes for a month or so and using a gravel siphon to clean out the sand in the areas it would reach. When moving the rock to reaquascape I would temporarily move it to a different location in system or to a clean bucket of aquarium water. The rocks sitting on the sand I'd try to move as carefully as possible to avoid disturbing the sand under them as little as possible. This sand I'd try to siphon out and replace. Since there is beneficial stuff in it I would clean some of it (video below) and mix in with the new sand.

 

[OrionN]

I have too many fish to go into one tank and the sump is in another room and isn't really bad. Just the equipment needs cleaned.
Many of the fish would not get along in one tank either.
I am growing 3 kinds of macro algae now. Ulva, cheto and caulerpa.

I have 2 snowflake eels 24-28 inches long
5 dwarf angels - rusty, coral beauty, flame, bicolor
1 large angel - koran
3 tangs - clown, lavender, powder blue
6 chromis green, blue reef, black and white
foxface lo
4 butterflies - longnose, racoon, copper banded, kleins
2 engineer gobys
2 file fish
lantern bass
These are spread between 240 180 and 75 gallon tanks

Placed together the eels would eat some of them and some would fight.

No, no!!!!
Not 1 tank but 1 system. All the tanks run from 1 sump. Floor level and open top. Use a 150 gal Rubbermaid or even a large aquarium as sump.
Much easier to maintain, chemistry and water wise, more stable. Also, a sump with unlimited height is a great place to have a plant/algae/tree. This will really result in a much more natural and healthy system.

 

[wvned]

No, no!!!!
Not 1 tank but 1 system. All the tanks run from 1 sump. Floor level and open top. Use a 150 gal Rubbermaid or even a large aquarium as sump.
Much easier to maintain, chemistry and water wise, more stable. Also, a sump with unlimited height is a great place to have a plant/algae/tree. This will really result in a much more natural and healthy system.

my sump consists of 3 stock tanks, 40, 100 and 150 gallons tied together with full siphon drains.
On that are a 29 g fuge and 75 180 and 240 gallon tanks.

 

[OrionN]

Yup! All one system. Much easier to deal with. Of course, hospital or treatment tank set up as needed. I have a permanent QT system (40 gal reef with its own sump). Everything else tied together.