Time to start again...from scratch.

[reefkeeper2]

After a lot of thought I've decided that for me to continue with the hobby I have to make some needed changes. That means a new system and a new tank. The best way to explain is probably to just list the reasons.

1. I can't clean and de-scratch acrylic anymore. Too much work. I prefer the look of acrylic, but I need the ease of glass. The new tank I'm planning will be viewed from three sides instead of four and will be glass. I will miss the unique look of my present tank, but I have to reduce the maintenance I am doing to keep it clean. I have OCD when it comes to a clean look.
2. I have had repeated outbreaks of RTN and STN. In the past 6 months I have lost most of my favorite pieces. The reason for this is the lack of flow. The internal overflows block a good portion of the flow, and when the corals get large it becomes a lethal problem. I want a tank with an external overflow that cannot be seen and doesn't interfere with the flow of water or with my aquascaping.
3. Pests. In my present tank I have small pink tipped anemones that have spread everywhere. They are pretty, but invasive. I also have vermetid snails and grape calerpa that cannot be eradicated. The only way to get rid of them all is with new rockwork.
4. I need the change and the challenge. The present setup has been with me for over 12 years. I hope I can create something equally as nice, but easier to maintain.

The new tank will be 96x36x28. Probably made by Reef Savy but I haven't committed yet. It will take 9 months for them to get me a tank, but it's worth the wait for the quality. I've already started removing coral and rock . The rock will spend the next nine months in a barrel in the dark which should kill all the undesirables. The coral will go into the frag tank . The fish and humongous gigantea anemone will be housed in tanks in the basement. I might do a build thread, we shall see.

 

[BiGGiePauls33]

After a lot of thought I've decided that for me to continue with the hobby I have to make some needed changes. That means a new system and a new tank. The best way to explain is probably to just list the reasons.

1. I can't clean and de-scratch acrylic anymore. Too much work. I prefer the look of acrylic, but I need the ease of glass. The new tank I'm planning will be viewed from three sides instead of four and will be glass. I will miss the unique look of my present tank, but I have to reduce the maintenance I am doing to keep it clean. I have OCD when it comes to a clean look.
2. I have had repeated outbreaks of RTN and STN. In the past 6 months I have lost most of my favorite pieces. The reason for this is the lack of flow. The internal overflows block a good portion of the flow, and when the corals get large it becomes a lethal problem. I want a tank with an external overflow that cannot be seen and doesn't interfere with the flow of water or with my aquascaping.
3. Pests. In my present tank I have small pink tipped anemones that have spread everywhere. They are pretty, but invasive. I also have vermetid snails and grape calerpa that cannot be eradicated. The only way to get rid of them all is with new rockwork.
4. I need the change and the challenge. The present setup has been with me for over 12 years. I hope I can create something equally as nice, but easier to maintain.

The new tank will be 96x36x28. Probably made by Reef Savy but I haven't committed yet. It will take 9 months for them to get me a tank, but it's worth the wait for the quality. I've already started removing coral and rock . The rock will spend the next nine months in a barrel in the dark which should kill all the undesirables. The coral will go into the frag tank . The fish and humongous gigantea anemone will be housed in tanks in the basement. I might do a build thread, we shall see.

Hopefully, you'll find the time to create a build thread.

 

[coralfishreef]

Looking forward to the build.

 

[gobyvin]

Good Luck. Your experience and husbandry are inspiring. I hope you do share. I am in the middle of a build too, that is somewhat on hold as I am housing my wife’s classroom Reef in the tank I was setting up temporarily. When schools reopen, I get to move forward! Hope it all happens sooner than later!

 

[MrX]

@BiGGiePauls33 We'll need to put a thumbtack in the club calendar for a trip to Paul's house in 16-24 months (or whenever he is ready).

Can't wait to see how this rebuild turns out!

 

[PSU4ME]

Tough decision but I can totally understand it. Our tanks are growing problems and over time you become a victim of your own success...... I wish you the best and hope the temp holding tanks work.

You sure 9 months in a barrel will rid you of everything vs starting with new rock or doing an acid bath on them?

 

[reefkeeper2]

Tough decision but I can totally understand it. Our tanks are growing problems and over time you become a victim of your own success...... I wish you the best and hope the temp holding tanks work.

You sure 9 months in a barrel will rid you of everything vs starting with new rock or doing an acid bath on them?

I think so. I also thought of freezing the rock. I could bag them up and put them outside in January for a day, or use my freezer in the basement. Bacteria should survive that, but the rest won't.

 

[this is me]

Paul
You have 9 months? IMO, you better off drying out the rocks or acid bath them then take a pressure wash to clean up the dead. Then soak the rocks in saltwater mix to the right salinity and run a powerhead. Change out the water every now and then. By the time, you’re ready, the rocks will be fully cured and you will not have any pests left over.
How did you get ReefSavvy to response. I put in a request for quote back in December, left two voicemails on their phone and they still haven’t gotten back to me. After the second voimail back in January, I told myself if they don’t want my business, I’ll bring it to someone else and that was exactly what I did. It’s not like I’m dicking around with a 40G tank, it was close to 400G.
I ended up with Miracle on a 84x34x28. I originally want 96x36x28. But the delivery truck cannot get a 96” on their liftgate and I would have to pick it up at a freight depot.
Starfire glass is very close to Acrylic in clarity. You’ll be happy with it.

 

[reefkeeper2]

Paul
You have 9 months? IMO, you better off drying out the rocks or acid bath them then take a pressure wash to clean up the dead. Then soak the rocks in saltwater mix to the right salinity and run a powerhead. Change out the water every now and then. By the time, you’re ready, the rocks will be fully cured and you will not have any pests left over.
How did you get ReefSavvy to response. I put in a request for quote back in December, left two voicemails on their phone and they still haven’t gotten back to me. After the second voimail back in January, I told myself if they don’t want my business, I’ll bring it to someone else and that was exactly what I did. It’s not like I’m dicking around with a 40G tank, it was close to 400G.
I ended up with Miracle on a 84x34x28. I originally want 96x36x28. But the delivery truck cannot get a 96” on their liftgate and I would have to pick it up at a freight depot.
Starfire glass is very close to Acrylic in clarity. You’ll be happy with it.

It took a month to get a reply, and I only got one because I kept calling them. They told me they are inundated with requests which I believe. I am also being helped by All Things Aquatic, which has a lot of experience with moving large tanks. I have a lot of options with the rock, and I have much more than I need so I could try out different methods.

 

[Greg Hiller]

If you have time (like months), if you really want to clean rock I'd consider the bleach approach. I've never understood the acid idea. Using a few cups of bleach in a bucket with tap water. This dissolves all the organic matter in the rock. Makes it really clean, I've reused rock like this many times. I wouldn't be worried about bacteria, a few cups of sand from a good tank and some rock with healthy sponges to see is all you need to re-seed the system. By dissolving the organic matter off the rock you remove all the nutrients that would otherwise later leach back out and create huge algae problems. After you've soaked the rock for a few weeks rise it in a bunch of tap water then find someplace outside to let it dry thoroughly and for the bleach to dissipate. If you are really serious about this you can also neutralize the bleach with a soak in some sodium thiosulfate (at least as I recall) dissolved in the water. Anyhow, ideally you let it all dry outside somewhere. The trick is keeping stuff (like pine needles, etc.) from falling on it, but you also want it very open to the air. The summer is the perfect time here to do this.

If you still might not give up:

FYI, I've found that a Navarcus angel (Majestic) will take out the tulip anemones pretty effectively. I only see them in my overflow, but anywhere the angel can get to they are gone.

With a really big tank (such are yours) you could also get a big tang that might really chow down on the Caulerpa.

 

[PSU4ME]

Greg, the acid bath does the same thing, eats/dissolves the top layer which removes all the organics and hopefully the other bad things your trying to get rid of. Not sure which is better but both aim to do relatively the same thing.

I did it to my current rock structure and have been very happy with the results, you just have to make sure of the concentration..... might eat away too much rock!

 

[reefkeeper2]

Seems I have plenty of options. I thought that by keeping the rock in the dark for months the stuff I'm trying to get rid of would die off. I would do plenty of water changes. Then when I put the rock in the new tank, I could avoid the ugly tank phase or worries about cycling. You wouldn't believe how much rock I have. It's because it took so much to hide the internal overflows. Plus I have leftover from previous tanks in the sump. I could aqua scape 4 tanks with it all.

 

[Greg Hiller]

>Greg, the acid bath does the same thing, eats/dissolves the top layer which removes all the organics and hopefully the other bad things your trying to get rid of.<

Well, yes and no. Our rock is calcium carbonate. The acid dissolves calcium carbonate. My experience with using acid (hydrochloric) to dissolve organics is that it doesn't do a very good job (great for cleaning deposits off pump impellers though!). I can leave the algae covered outer shell of my powerheads in a bath of dilute acid for weeks and still it requires some vigorous scrubbing to get the darn stuff of. Bleach however, attacks and dissolves organic materials. It remains active for weeks in a closed bucket. The acid yes, will attack the surface of stuff, but it will mostly work on the calcium carbonate and dissolve it away...and what's the point of that, you just end up with less rock! If your goal is really to kill the stuff on your rock, a very dilute bath of bleach will kill EVERYTHING, and quickly. After a bath in dilute bleach, rock I've used in a tank comes out really pristine.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I decided to go with the bleach method. I will keep some rock untreated to put in the spare tanks in the basement that my fish will go into while I'm waiting for the new tank.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I put my deposit down on the new tank from Reef Savy, so it's a done deal. It should be here by next April. I have a lot of rock cooking in bleach that should be ready for a rinse by Saturday. That's just the first batch. I'll post a pic of it drying in the backyard. I know boring....snooze
More excitingly I'm going to experiment with some ideas for circulation that I've been thinking about. Years ago I had some Tunze pumps that I mounted on Wavy Seas. The Wavy Seas had their problems but the water flow and circulation were the best I've ever had. Wavy Seas aren't around anymore, but Sea Sweeps are and are a much better product. I plan on trying to mount a gyre pump on one vertically. If this can be done I think it would provide amazing random flow that should not take the flesh off my sps. Will take some modification and I will test out on the present tank which at present doesn't have much in it. If it doesn't work out, I will use the Tunzes like I did before and use the gyre pump in the conventional way. I guess I should start a build thread.

 

[this is me]

Nice! It’s going to be epic.

 

[reefkeeper2]

I hope so. I opted for all the extras on the tank. Armored seams, floating glass bottom ( the sides rest on pvc and the glass is laminated on top of that ) black laminate on the back panel and a ghost overflow. I've heard of PVC used on tank bottoms but I've never heard of armored seams before. They take glass and overlay it on the silicone so you can't damage the seam when you scrape and clean the glass. I loved that and that's what sold me on going with them.

 

[PSU4ME]

Yeah they have top notch tanks if you’re willing to wait (and pay). Should be a sight to see for sure! Good luck and definitely do a build thread.

 

[this is me]

Armored seam is the way to go if you’re anal about cleaning your glass. Here’s on my miracle.

it does make the glass look thicker than it is.