Rebuild and recovery of a dead tank

[jason2459]

I haven't seen the little Angel fish since Friday. Hoping it's still hiding in some nook or cranny. I called up LiveAquaria to give them a heads up and they said just to keep a look out for the fish and call back on the 14th day which would be the 4th. Hope to see her by then.

The blenny is doing great and is loving all the rock in there. It was so funny the other day he was trying to wiggle into this tiny hole that there was no way he was going to fit into. He was trying though every which way he could but to no avail. I love how his colors and patterns are always changing.

 

[ari5736]

Hi Jason:

Thanks for all your input on the lx2000s. I am curious if you can give any tips on how you painted the skimmer apparently so clean. Thanks.

 

[jason2459]

Hi Jason:

Thanks for all your input on the lx2000s. I am curious if you can give any tips on how you painted the skimmer apparently so clean. Thanks.

used some of that blue painters tape and some thick paper to cover the back, top, tubing, and anywhere else I didn't want the paint to go. Then I did two coats of krylon fusion flat black a day apart. Then waited a week for it to fully cure before putting it in the tank.

 

[jason2459]

Well, I finally got a NAC5e in from http://socaltropicalfishoutlet.com/catalog/

Tom Tran, who I believe is the owner, has been really great to deal with. First great communication letting me know up front when he knew or did know when the skimmer would come in and also offered to give my money back. Then after letting him sit on the money for several weeks he gave me 10% off for having to wait so long.

That's pretty awesome right there. Even though the skimmer wasn't much to begin with at only $114. I got the skimmer in Saturday and was pretty impressed with the build quality. To bad the skimmer to pump design isn't the best. You have to screw the pump onto the skimmer which ended up snapping off on me when screwing in the top part onto the pump. Tom was great about it and is sending me a new body.


Here's the little piece that snapped off.

Haven't done much with this 55 lately and need to get back on top of it. I'm soaking the pellets in vineger and then in ro/di water for the next couple days as they were just sitting in a ziplock bag for way to long.

I've been making a little progress on my mantis tank over here:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1802722

Here's a pic after I retro fitted a blue/white reefbright led and a ecoxotic stunner into a perfecto hood light. More details on that in my mantis tank build thread above. The rock is punani dry rock from BRS. Sand is... well you can read the thread above.

 

[ROB2005]

Hey Jason, long time no chat. Looking at the pics, I assume goby and pistol didnt make it through the move ?

 

[jason2459]

Hey Jason, long time no chat. Looking at the pics, I assume goby and pistol didnt make it through the move ?

Yep, the gobbie and pistol made it just fine. They are loving all the addtional live rock and seem to have excavated at least half the tank so far and starting to work on the other half. Lost the mandarins, one sharknose gobbie, the male long fin fairy wrasse. Ended up finding some feather dusters and bought a starry blennie which is doing awesome. The angel dissapeared after the first night for some reason and liveaquraia gave me credit. They offered money back or credit so I figured I can just pick something else out there with it. I was thinking a clam and another coral.

I did some plumbing down in the basement for my salt mix container(aka. garbage can). Been wanting to do this for a long time now and finally decided to get on it. Basically I made it so I only have to open the top to add salt, easy draining if I ever have too, easy container filling station, mixer, and water supply to main tank with just one pump. I'll get some pics of it tomorrow and put up.

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[jason2459]

Here's the pics of the setup. Yes, I'm a messy plumber but nothing ever leaks!

RO/DI supply line

Mag 1800 external now. Drain valve with barb fitting which will get a hose to go straight into the drain.

T off to another barb fitting to fill any container with. I'll have to use that for the mantis tank. Then another T off on top with a barb fitting to the supply line to the main tank upstairs and into the mixing container which I have it kind of pointed down at an angle to get the water aerated and into a whirling patern.

It's all 3/4" and used uniseals into the trash can. The mag drive is sitting on the pad that came with it so it doesn't vibrate on the floor.

 

[thebkramer]

Heya Jason! Been a loooong while lol!
I'm soooo glad things are doing well for you and your tenants!! I'm glad the move didn't turn into a MAJOR headache!! I have to go back and do some reading yet here.. but how are my BABIES! lol (mandarins incase u don't remember )
Thanks for the shoutout about the starry! Great pick right!?!? Has it started doing ALL its color changes yet! There are sooo many to see! My starry has to be my favorite in my tank.. not that I don't love the others, but its like he has his own personality and hes my little puppy of the sea lol!! I cannot imagine my tank w/o him!!!! Can't wait to see more pics! Congrats again on the move and all that came with it!!! :bounce3:

 

[jason2459]

Sorry to say but the mandarins didn't make it. They got crushed buy some falling live rock. I do love the blennie. I've always like blennies and this one is no exception. He's always changing and loves to show off for my son who loves to stan and stare into the tank.

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[thebkramer]

OMGeee Jason!! I am sooo sorry!!
:sad1: :sad1:

 

[jason2459]

Yep, that really sucked big time. They were incredible fish to watch.

I got the replacement body in today from Tom Tran and put it together a lot more gently this time knowing the frailty of that piece. I'll get it on the tank later tonight.

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[jason2459]

The NAC5E is bigger then I thought it was going to be based on the pictures online. It is also not blue and red which is okay by me. It's bigger then both the SS65 and the psk100h. It should be a good match for a 40-90g tank but we'll see.

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[ROB2005]

Quick question. What happened to the Octopus HOB skimmer you had before?

 

[jason2459]

I still have it. It's in a box right now. It is an absolute beast of a skimmer. The only negative is the pump is actually slighty to powerfull for it. The body of the skimmer just barely keeps up with it. There was no play in the collection cup really. I had to keep it all the way up. Which made it touchy back when I was using reef crystals and all the extra crap in the salt made the skimmer go nutso. Don't get me wrong though after it finally broke in after a month or so it was pulling out the nastiest crap I've ever smelled.

I have the NAC5e going and we'll see how long it takes to break in. It's pretty quiet. Maybe slighty louder then the psk100h which was the quietest skimmer I've used so far. But it is just breaking in so I'm pretty impressed with that. I have it wide open right now and it's just pooring into the collection cup. So, it's a real nice thing there's a drain already plumbed in. I have it going right back in the tank right now.

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[jason2459]

Just spent my credit on a Clam and some zoa's. I'm thinking of putting the clam and some of the zoa's in my mantis tank when it's ready.

Here's the clam. Vietnam purple and blue Crocea clam.
Size: 1-3/4"

Here's around a 5" cluster

 

[jason2459]

I just noticed something. What is this in that picture above? Is it a zoa or a paly?

 

[thebkramer]

SOOoooo Gorgeous Jason!!! Wow! That is really an amazing clam! Nice find!
It does look like its a button paly, but its kinda closed.. not sure.
I did the CTRL and + buttons.. but couldn't really tell..
If it is a button.. u could always remove it and put somewhere where it can't invade anything
I actually just brought in a rock of Buttons to my LFS and got $40!! AND.. I'm soo excited.. lol. I know you will appreciate it.. They gave me a Bubble Tipped Anemone to "foster" cause its not doing well. They said if I bring it back to life.. its mine!! :bounce3:

 

[jason2459]

SOOoooo Gorgeous Jason!!! Wow! That is really an amazing clam! Nice find!
It does look like its a button paly, but its kinda closed.. not sure.
I did the CTRL and + buttons.. but couldn't really tell..
If it is a button.. u could always remove it and put somewhere where it can't invade anything
I actually just brought in a rock of Buttons to my LFS and got $40!! AND.. I'm soo excited.. lol. I know you will appreciate it.. They gave me a Bubble Tipped Anemone to "foster" cause its not doing well. They said if I bring it back to life.. its mine!! :bounce3:

Very nice. Good luck with the rbta. Probably just needs some better lighting and left alone.

If the paly it goes in the mantis tank it there wont be much room to take over so that is good.

 

[jason2459]

The nac5e is starting to break in. The out flow is still completely unrestricted but the foam head is not overflowing like it was. It's still slightly flowing into the collection cup. Probably a few more days until I can start adjusting the skimmer.

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[jason2459]

Got the clam and zoas in today. I absolutely love the clam. I'm keeping it in my main tank. I've always wanted one. I might have to get one more down he road but we'll see how I do with this one. The zoa cluster is all closed up along win the single mystery polyp. It will eventually all go in the mantis tank once that has done it's initial cylced.

The lights went out about 20m ago but you can see the beautiful mantel a little here.

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