Meteorflower

Well, as some of you know, I decided to tear my tank down a while back and take a break after I lost most of my prize corals in a massive die-off. But I finally feel like I've stared at an empty tank long enough, and am ready to get back in again!

In other words, I'm relapsing

I'll be starting very slow. Most of the rock I'm working with is dead, dry rock that was once live, so I'm planning on doing the cycling very slowly, probably over a few months. I'll be doing a long, fishless cycle, and I may do the first part in darkness to help combat any algae outbreaks that might occur as a result of the dead rock.

Right now I'm in the process of assembling a simple, solid rock structure consisting of two islands with an empty channel in between. I'm lifting the rock structure 3" off the glass to allow for flow during cycling, and because I'd like to have a deep enough sand bed for a jawfish. I'm using hydraulic cement to stabilize the structure and bond the rocks together, since one of my worst faults in the past has been an insatiable urge to fiddle with my rock structure. My past setups were constantly a work in progress, and it was terrible for me and my corals! So I'm setting it up once and cementing it together and never touching it again. So far it's been very cathartic! I'm looking forward to focusing only on my corals and never on my rocks.

My eventual plan is to have a very low fish load in this tank, and to focus on anemones and SPS (I know, not the best combination, but I'm a sucker for a nice 'nem). The long slow cycle will give me time to pin down a good maintenance schedule, possibly install a carbon reactor, and build a canopy with new lighting for the eventual light-loving corals I'd like.

Wish me luck!

Are they easy to wipe off? And is your tank fairly new? If so, it's probably diatoms. Just a normal step in the cycling process.

All sold, thanks guys!

Mandarin is gone, anemone is pending, clowns are still available.

I desperately need to move the last of my livestock. I will sell them to the first person(s) who can get to my house with a bucket, as they've been in a tank with no live rock (and virtually no filtration) for over a week now.

Neon green BTA with purple tips, roughly softball size when fully extended. $20.

Mated, producing pair of ocellaris clowns, about 3 years old and laying regular batches of eggs every two weeks or so. $40.

Also, I have a male mandarin that is free to a large tank. PM if interested.

Price drop, $20 for the 'nem.

Anemone and clowns still available.

The chromis and pistol shrimp are gone; clownfish are pending. The only thing left is the anemone... if no one takes it this week it'll head back to Aquatek.

Hanging on to it in a cycled 30 gallon holding tank, along with my few other survivors I occasionally frag it and sell pieces, I'll keep you in mind if you like.

Pistol

Taken with iPhone camera under 14k Phoenix halides. It's sad; the camera phone is better than the camera!

Update: Naso and butterfly are sold; mandarin is pending pickup. Clownfish, anemone and chromis are still available, and I also discovered a handsome red and yellow pistol shrimp while removing the rock. He will be $20. I'll work on getting better pics of the remaining livestock tonight.

Update: The tang, butterfly, mandarin and clowns are all pending, and I will begin catching at 3:00 tomorrow. Chromis still available.

There is also a large neon green bubble tip anemone with purple tips that I got from Aquatek less than a month ago. $30 if anyone wants it.

Update: the Naso, butterfly, chromis and mandarin are all pending. Clownfish still available.

Sometime in the next week or two I plan on removing all my fish from my tank to start some hard cycling and remodeling. Since it will probably be several months before I will be ready for fish again, I need to rehome my guys. I thought I'd check interest here on the reef club, and take the stragglers to Aquatek.

I don't have these fish caught, and it will be at least a week before they are actually available (since catching them will likely involve removing most of the LR from the 150 gallon display), but if you think you're interested, let me know and I will contact you as they become available. I am tentatively planning to do this on Sunday... so if you see something you like, let me know. The fishes are as follows:

Mated pair of ocellaris clowns: these guys are about 3 years old and are laying regular batches of eggs every two weeks or so. $60

Naso tang: about 4 inches, eats out of my hand. Also loves to eat bubble algae for some odd reason; he's kept my tank clean of the stuff for the past two years. $30

Heniochus diphreutes butterflyfish: I've had this guy about 6 months, and he hasn't touched a single coral or clam in my tank. $20

Green mandarin male: does not eat frozen, so he needs a big tank to support him. I would consider a 75 gallon with lots of live rock and no similar feeders to be the minimum for him. Free to good home.

Two green chromis: $5 each

I have a pretty lousy camera, but here's a couple of pics... sorry they're so crappy

Sounds like I might need to invest in some electronic test equipment for Round Two... Sorry to hear about your tank as well.

Nope, nothing out of the ordinary except the skimmer going crazy (which is understandable). I also don't have any zoas at all in this tank - it was just a couple of LPS, SPS and the anemone.

Thank you all for your helpful suggestions. After spending an hour and a half at Aquatek talking to Bruce (and having him talk me down off a ledge that involved tearing my whole tank down and setting fire to everything), I picked up a bucket of carbon and will begin running carbon tonight. In addition, Bruce seemed to think that my problem might be pathogenic dinoflagellates, and suggested dosing hydrogen peroxide to combat this possibility. In any case, if he's wrong he said it shouldn't hurt, and it might help.

After this is sorted out (one way or another), I plan on remodeling my tank.... I will be relocating my surviving corals to a temporary tank while I utilize period of prolonged darkness combined with a system of carbon dosing and beneficial bacteria addition to combat nuisance algae that I have never been able to eradicate. I will probably start using the Polyplab system afterward. I also plan on doing some aquascaping (possibly with foam) to create a more open rock structure, and I plan on having many less fish when I restock the second time around. My current fishes will probably be going up for sale over the weekend. From there, who knows....

How old is the tank? Is it drilled? Do you know the brand?

Alk is at 8, not much of a change.

Just got home, and the list of victims now includes a tennis-ball sized colony of cranberry blue-tipped milli. My remaining Monti colonies are also showing signs of RTN, and the tricolor may be as well, though progression is slower.

No to the kids and heaters, though unfortunately that's a no on carbon as well. I don't have a media reactor; would passive carbon have any effect? It's possible on the stray current from powerheads, though I haven't noticed anything like that. I don't have access to a volt meter either

OK, I just tested my KH and it was at 9... I think (the color went from blue to green on drop 8, and to true yellow on drop 9. Does that mean 8 or 9?). I will test again when I get home from work.

Last night my Tri-color acro colony was showing signs of being the next to go. I removed it from the tank, clipped the affected branches, and did a 15-min Lugol's dip. So far, it seems to have halted the progression of the RTN (fingers crossed).

Thanks for the tips. I will check my bulbs for cracks and check my alk. The MH bulbs are less than six months old Phoenix 14K, and no unusual temp swings - it stays pretty stable, it's in my bedroom.