The things we find...

hiding in live rock.

So far my list of interesting things found in my live rock include:

• many bristleworms
• many peanut worms
• a beautiful, full size feather duster
• 2 asterina starfish
• multiple outcroppings of an as-of-yet unidentified red marine plant/shrub
• 2 very cool, but altogether different chitons. (to the right)
• I also believe I found a small bubble-tipped anemone, but it is almost too small to be sure.  It is about the size of a small zoanthid head right now.

Can't wait to see what else pops up!

17,000 gallon Tank Build

Yes, you read that right.  A 17,000 gallon reef tank!!!

There is a forum over at The Reef Tank that is now 48 pages long.  But, man is it worth checking out.

I have been following along with the progression for about 6 months now and realized that many of you may not have seen it.
Bill (some guy) is building a new house with a 17,000 gallon reef tank in it.  It is not done yet.  He just water tested it and is now on vacation for a week, but aquascaping starts next week from what I understand.

In the midst of all this, you get to see pictures of his house (in Illinois, I think) as it is being built and his birthday present to himself (Ferrari) and his break-up with his girlfriend which almost ended the tank build.

It is worth a read and there are plenty of pictures.
Check it out here.

An update on the family and the tank

As I stated when I started this blog, I would also discuss how this tank impacts my family relations.  As many of you know, it is a constant battle with a spouse who is not fully involved.  The issues are all about time and money and how much we spend on each.

Well, I was definitely in the dog house for a while.  Getting the plumbing done and running was very important and it took many more hours than I thought it would (of course).  During that time, my wife was left to watch the kids (who can be a handful).  I knew it was a problem and I was just as frustrated as she was that it was taking so long, but there wasn't much I could about it.  It needed to be done and quickly or the entire investment would be lost.

After the fuge went online last week, my need to tinker with the tank went way down.  And, because I designed it correctly, a water change (25 gallons) takes about 7 minutes.  That is huge.  So, I was home all last week and off Thursday and Friday and spent what I consider to be a very little amount of time with the tank.  I actually just got to sit and look at it and I really enjoyed it, even with all the green algae. 

And my 2 year old daughter sits on my lap and likes to watch the fish and snails and crabs.  My 2 month old just stares at it in awe...

its so great.  And my wife even commented on how I have been "around" all weekend!!!  So, we are moving in the right direction.

Quick Update on the tank

Well, my algae still persists.  But, this is normal as you reach the end of the Nitrogen cycle.  This is where patience really comes into play.

My ammonia and nitrites are down to zero, but my nitrates are still way high.

Why?  Here are some reasons:

• Remember that the tank existed for about 18 days with no filtration, just a recirculating flow and  6 fish adding lots of detritus (read: poop) because the plumbing was not done.
• The live rock that came with the tank was not to my satisfaction and I have since replaced all of it over the last 3 weeks (4 times).  This meant almost starting over.
• I have re-aquascaped the rock several times (the last time was yesterday and hopefully THE LAST TIME).
• I had no refugium until last Sunday, so there was no additional biological filtration besides the liver rock.  The fuge now has lots of chaeto, real live sand, and more live rock.
• My clean-up crew (CUC) is not enough to keep the nuisance algae to a minimum yet.

So, those are the reasons.  Regardless, the algae seems to have leveled off and might even be dissipating slightly.  The skimmer is pulling out lots of good junk.  The fuge is working well.  The CUC is catching up.

My nitrates went from off the scale (over 200ppm) to about 60ppm) now.  I am hoping that I can move over the BioCube contents (fish, rock, coral) this weekend.

As a test, I moved my purple gorgonia this weekend and it is doing very well.  I also moved over my queen conch and bought 2 additional conchs.  They do wonders on the sand bed.

I lost one of my 5 emerald crabs.  Found his carcass in the back corner.  Not sure if I crushed him in my aquascaping efforts (as I suspect) or for some other reason.

I am seeing lots of life in the tank now.  Bristleworms, copepods, mini feather dusters.  Plus, there is a nice full size feather duster that is very pretty that hitchhiked in on one of my rocks.  He is doing well, too.

Algae, Algae Everywhere

The refugium went online on Sunday after replacing the broken  tank.  And, besides a small leak on one of the overflows (fixed), the system has been running fully for almost 3 days!

Over the weekend I went to AZ Pets & Pondz in Reading, PA.  For any of you local reefers, it is worth the drive for the rock alone!  And, Mike, who runs the fish room, is very knowledgeable.  (they are known for their pond supplies, but their saltwater fish/coral section is pretty cool, too)

So, I bought another 50+lbs of live rock, 35lbs of live sand (not  the bagged junk, but right from their tanks) and an Oceanic sump that I converted to a fuge.

All is now good with the system. However, because I have replaced all of the rock in the last 3-4 weeks, I am still suffering through a longer than usual cycle.  My nitrates are still around 80ppm and I have  been doing 25 gallon water changes for 4 days straight now, not to mention the additional 45 gallons of new water that was used when I brought the fuge on line.

In addition, my tank is covered with algae.  I mean completely.  On the right hand side, on the sand, there is the brown slime algae and the rest of the tank (sand, glass, rocks) has a nice green coat of algae.  Add to that , the water has a white-ish haze to it, I am now fully engulfed in algae. 

The protein skimmer is working overtime and doing great, though I am still dialing it in a little.

In addition to the skimmer, I also have a full bag of ChemiPure Elite in there, three small bags of Algone and a Phosban Reactor running with 150ml of Phosban.

The fuge has 35lbs of live sand, long with a large amount of chaeto and a piece of live rock. 

I will post more pictures as the tank clears.  As a test, I moved my conch from my BioCube to the big tank and I also moved my purple gorgonia to see how he fairs in the murky waters.  He has opened his feeders so I guess that is a good sign.

I am also excited to see a population of copepods in the tank.  My coral beauty and yellow tang are dining on them a bit, I think, because they keep picking at the rocks.  But, that will change when I start a regular feeding process.  I am holding back right now because I don't want to add excess detritus. 

Once my algae goes away (I hope another week), and my nitrates go to zero, I will begin the process of moving my other fish and coral from the 14 gallon BioCube over to the main tank.  I am really hoping that this algae dies off quickly.  It is rather annoying.

For now, though,I will leave you with this FTS (full tank shot).