Revised 155 RR BF Reef Tank Thread

[MeanGreenEyes]

MeenGreenEyes, thank you so much my darling! I could never give up! My screen name on other sites is "Reefer4Life". Don't you worry my tank, and I will be just fine. I started with nothing. May take a little time, but it will be back. You keep growing out your corals to nice colonies. Knowing better now will also help. It is sad looking, but some lps are still hanging on, and the numbers are coming along nicely. I can actually see a little improvement on some of the remaining lps, I'm still waiting on my zoas.

Alk is at 13dkh +/-5% as per salifert
Cal is at 270ppm
Mag is at 1185ppm
PH is at 8.1

It's no problem...I think if I had a tank that size and it crashed I would call it quits...but I'm so happy that it hasn't broken your spirit! I'm definitely following along and hoping for the best for your tank. At least your params are looking better and you didn't lose everything.

My 40 build is on hold...tank cracked at the bulkhead as soon as I plugged in the return pump...still debating on what to do...40 breeder or 57 rimless or give up on the build all together and stick with the multiple small tanks. I'm completely heartbroken over it so I can't imagine how you're feeling. I siliconed over the crack inside and outside and hoping for the best until I can get a replacement.

I know how it is having to play the role of wonder woman and having to do it all yourself...I'm the same way...keep your head up!

 

[Awibrandy]

Sorry to hear of your heart brake.;( Go for the 57 rimless~~~~ Never give up,these are just small trials that's all. Been through to many worse things then any tank crash.

 

[MeanGreenEyes]

Sorry to hear of your heart brake.;( Go for the 57 rimless~~~~ Never give up,these are just small trials that's all. Been through to many worse things then any tank crash.

I'm trying to hang in there with this one...this is the 3rd 40 breeder that's cracked on me...the first two were during delivery to my house...so not my fault and this one. I don't know...I drilled the tank fine...I think that when I plugged it in the pump caused a "kick" and put stress on the pvc/bulkhead. Hopefully the silicone will hold it in the meantime. Leaning toward the 57...but I've literally dumped entirely too much money on this build alone already...so Idk!

 

[Awibrandy]

I hear you! I also think at times that I must be nuts to continue with the hobby, but I just can't see myself without my precious baby. Guess we will both continue on.

 

[kenconnect]

awesome set

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you Ken!

 

[fishman1069]

Wow Awi,I'm so sorry to hear about the tank crash! I would be careful with the dosing now considering you lost most of the corals that use up calcium. I would definitely do the water changes but you might want to back off on the calc and mag. Main thing is to go slow so you don't stress out the remaining livestock. Good luck and I hope everything turns around for you

 

[Awibrandy]

Thanks fishman!
It has been slow going, I still have some lps that need the calcium. I couldn't leave the cal so low.
So far the numbers as of yesterday morning are as follow:

Mag 1230 ppm
Alk 11.7 dkh
Cal 330 ppm
PH 7.67

As you can see as the ALK comes down so does the darn PH........ This morning the PH is 7.5.....
Yes, I realize the ph is way low. But I have no idea what else to do; windows are open, fan & air purifier are going 24/7. In order for me to run an airline from an air pump sitting in the window to the skimmer I will have to get approximately 45' of tubing, and then I am not so sure the air pump would be strong enough.
Now I can honestly say I am getting extremely frustrated................................

 

[shark32]

Sorry to hear about the tank crash . I'd offer you frags if I had them but I have no corals in my tank...however if you are ever interested in GHA, I'm your number one source...lol...seriously, I hope you are up and running well soon...remember the grand kids need a tank to look at! Keep up the fight and good luck!!

 

[Awibrandy]

Sorry to hear about the tank crash . I'd offer you frags if I had them but I have no corals in my tank...however if you are ever interested in GHA, I'm your number one source...lol...seriously, I hope you are up and running well soon...remember the grand kids need a tank to look at! Keep up the fight and good luck!!

Thanks shark32!

As of now the darn ph probe on the ACjr is reading the PH at 7.42, so I decided to see what the HM Digital reader would read it at. The HM is reading it at 8.14.:screama: I don't know if chlorinated pool water makes a difference compared to salt water, but I took the HM outside to read the PH in the pool, and it gave me a super low reading.

I placed a cup with tank water outside this morning just to see if that makes a difference. I got the same reading as when I placed the probe in the tank 8.1 - 8.2.

Now I have to see which of the 2 is the correct one. I certainly hope the HM is the correct PH......
I will test with the API test kit next.

The API kit's reading is 8.4, so I am guessing the probe for the ACJr has gone bad, and I can relax my nervous now.

 

[KathyC]

Thanks shark32!

As of now the darn ph probe on the ACjr is reading the PH at 7.42, so I decided to see what the HM Digital reader would read it at. The HM is reading it at 8.14.:screama: I don't know if chlorinated pool water makes a difference compared to salt water, but I took the HM outside to read the PH in the pool, and it gave me a super low reading.

I placed a cup with tank water outside this morning just to see if that makes a difference. I got the same reading as when I placed the probe in the tank 8.1 - 8.2.

Now I have to see which of the 2 is the correct one. I certainly hope the HM is the correct PH......
I will test with the API test kit next.

The API kit's reading is 8.4, so I am guessing the probe for the ACJr has gone bad, and I can relax my nervous now.

It sounds like the pH probe is toast.
Hang in there - you will get it all together in no time

 

[Awibrandy]

Yup, certainly looks that way Kat! Thanks for posting Kat....

 

[Awibrandy]

Inventory update of what was lost during the crash of May,2012

Corals lost to the crash:
Strawberry Shortcake
Red Planet
Green Slimer
Ora Green Birdnest
Pink Birdnest
Tri-Color Valida
Purple Nana
Tri-color Acropora
Garf's Purple Bonzai Acropora
Pearl Berry Acropora
Pink, Yellow Mille
Green w/Purple Rim Cap
Green Prostrata Acropora
Superman monti
Sun Set Monti
Reverse Sunset Monti
Undata
Red Setosa
Strawberry Field Montipora
Meteor shower cyphestria
Duncans
Gold Torch
Purple Torch
Yellow Torch
Black sunpolyps
Aussie Elegance almost gone; There is about an 1/8 of flesh left on the skeleton.;(
Wall Hammer
Green/Red Wellsy
Green/Purple Wellsy
Several Acans
2 Blastos
Blue Chalice
3 starfish ~ blue linkia, brittle, and serpent starfish.

I will be looking to replace them: I am NOT ready to give up yet. My tank will never take second place to household chores ever again!!

 

[tomtoothdoc]

i'm sorry to hear about your crash. i was wondering about you since i didn't see you at the swap. unfortunately i know how you feel.

i'm recovering from my crash back in november (kalk stirer). i lost all sps but one cyphastrea. lost most of the fish. ~90% lost of all livestock. i still can't bring myself to post the pics of the morning after the devastation.

i waited almost 2 months of "stability" before adding any acro's. and it was one test piece at a time. lost a couple of frags along the way. but by the third and fourth month, i started to get the colors again. it's still not as solid as before but good enough. i got the strawberry shortcake to color up and josh's bonsai is as purple and green as the day i got it from the swap. things are growing and encrusting at a faster pace.

the good news is that i'm back 9/10th of the pre-crash condition. had been tracking down some of the corals i've lost. some are yet to be found.....like a rommel's watermelon. but so far i have some corals and fish i never had before. and the search continues......

so hang in there take your time. it recovers faster than if you were to start a new set up. hopefully by the end of the summer, i'll be ready to start fragging and we'll get you repopulated with some nice acro's.:wink1: i got most of the sps on your list except for the caps and monti's....so you'll be back in no time....albeit smaller fags but you get to watch them grow....and that's the best part. :teeth:

 

[Awibrandy]

Thank you Tom!
I remember your crash as if it was yesterday. I am very happy you are back. I certainly know how you felt!!! Only pic I have taken & posted was a cell phone pic. I keep thinking about pulling out the cam, but just that quick I shut the thought down.
My crash was no where near as devastating as yours. I lost the above mentioned corals as well as a couple of starfish, snails, and crabs. I didn't loose any fish, and I have a few surviving corals.
The survivors are:
Branching Hammer from Rich~ lost a few heads, but doing well now. One of my original corals.
Pink tip Frogspawn from Mike ~ didn't lose any heads.
1 head of neon green Frogspawn
Red lobophyllia from Dace
Pink/mint green lobo from PW
Tyree Neon Green Nepthea from psychographic
Christmas favia from Ronen
Pinkish/red with green eyes chalice from PW
Red & green chalice from CT
Watermellon chalice from CT
Reddish Pink with traces of green chalice I don't recall who I got this piece from. Thinking Moidol
Bubblegum chalice from jerl lost quite a bit of flesh, but fighting to stay with me.:happysad:
Mummy Eye chalice from FaviaFreak is also hanging on, just saw a tad of flesh on the skeleton!! Yippeeeee
Christmas Blasto from Ronen ~ lost a few heads, but the couple of remaining heads are doing pretty good.
Red blasto ~ Light Purple, and Dark Purple blastos from CT are doing really good.
Crazy Tear Drop maxi clam is doing just fine, Dendrophyllia, sunpolyps got hit bad, but are still here; from AE
Symposium & Season's Greetings from Reefs Creations
Light blue candy canes from Loismustdie lost a lot of heads, but still here.
Fox Coral from Pinkheim
And finally, but not least the majority of the zoa are beginning to open.
Tiny Red linkia starfish from AV made it through, although the larger starfish all died.;( 3 in total ~ blue linkia, serpent, and brittle.

So all in all my reef was not totally devastated. Regardless of the above it really hurts to have lost so many, especially my elegance.;(

BTW, the above living corals are partly the reason why I thought maybe I didn't have to wait so long to start replacing my missing pieces. But I will take heed, and wait a little.
Don't know that I can be as patient as you though.lol It seems I was never gifted with much patience.

Oh, and growing my corals out of small frags has been all I have ever done. I love to watch them grow, and besides I can't afford to spend large amount of $$ since I don't have my own income.

I wasn't at the last Frag swap for other reasons, nothing to do with the crash. I go to the swap meets to see friends I don't get to see otherwise, and to meet new ones. Many of times I have not been able to make any purchases.
I will be there at the Fall swap!!!!!!!!

 

[tomtoothdoc]

i too go to the swap mainly to see some old friends and meet some new. there have been so many new members on the site, i didn't get to meet as many new people at the swap this time round....and ended up spending way more than i originally planned.
the two best purchases i got from the swap were a clam from dr.mac and a pair of smorcularis from phil and josh.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...-some-new-acquisitions-frag-tank-pics-11.html

 

[Awibrandy]

i too go to the swap mainly to see some old friends and meet some new. there have been so many new members on the site, i didn't get to meet as many new people at the swap this time round....and ended up spending way more than i originally planned.
the two best purchases i got from the swap were a clam from dr.mac and a pair of smorcularis from phil and josh.

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum...-some-new-acquisitions-frag-tank-pics-11.html

Nice!! Congrats~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Awibrandy]

Updating pars since crash

6/1/2012
Mag 1320 ppm
Alk 12.5 dkh
cal 380 ppm

6/2/2012
Mag 1365 ppm
Alk 10.2 dkh
Cal 400 ppm

6/5/2012
Mag 1365 ppm
Alk 9.3 dkh
Cal 425

All surviving lps are doing really good!! Soooooooooooooooooooooo tempted to start adding the replacements.
Must resist>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

 

[tomtoothdoc]

nice....looks like you're hittin' the sweet spot. if it stays steady for another couple of weeks, you'll be re-stocking in no time. :wink1:
btw chart/calculate your alk usage....looks like it's dropping fairly quickly in a few days.

 

[btldreef]

wow. that's terrible. looks like a lot of us have been having some issues. if i can help i have 9 of those corals that i can frag for you. just pm me when you are ready.