ReefGrammie's 90-Gallon Reboot

[ReefGrammie]

Been a crazy busy work week. I always love the week after coming back from vacation....NOT. ;Sour

So, I got off at noon today and made a trip to the LFS to buy some copepods. And.....tomorrow I'm picking up a 16 BioCube! I think I've flipped. Husband called me as I was leaving the store and gave his blessing, so I guess I'm not in too much trouble. A little early birthday present (next month)...at least that's how I'll justify it!

I've been looking at options for a grow-out tank. My LFS guy keeps sending me home with frags to grow out for him, which I'm NOT complaining about. We've had a great relationship for many years. My dream is to create multicolored zoanthid rocks. Maybe when I retire, I'll turn my entire office into a fish room!

I guess the thing will have to cycle...I haven't cycled a tank in almost 7 years! I feel like I'm going back to square one, but this will be fun. I've kept a 10 gallon on my counter with just a few frags, but it takes up way to much counter space in my fish room. Plus, the light wasn't optimal for a frag tank. I actually had a little BioCube as a mantis tank for my son years ago and they've really upgraded the lighting with timers now. I guess I'll do a water change from the 90 into the new tank tomorrow. I have some live rock sitting in the refugium. I guess I could move some of that over. I also have plenty of dry base rock. I'm planning on keeping it bare bottom. At some point, I might even put in a little fish or two.

This is exciting! ;Joyful Pictures to come!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Well, the BioCube didn't happen yesterday. I wasn't feeling well and didn't want to get out. I'm so paranoid about any kind of sickness these days!! I feel fine today, but I'm pretty sure the LFS owner isn't there on Sundays so it may have to wait until Friday, my half day of work.

Back to my random issue with the sunlight hitting my tank. I think I have finally solved the mystery! We had some windows replaced about a month ago, including the windows over my front door. I noticed the sun hitting the tank around that time, but didn't make the connection. I have had a tank in the same spot for 12 years and have never had an issue with sun blasting the front of the tank! I have never had to drape towels over the front of the tank before. I also noticed a bit of a hair algae outbreak right in the front of the tank, but it seems to be dying out.

I'm about 99% sure that the previous arc window had some kind of window film over it, preventing the sun from hitting full blast. I have a call into a company who installs that very thing. Thankfully, all of my corals have recovered. So, I'll keep draping the towels for now until I can get this remedied. Always something!

 

[ReefGrammie]

It's here!!! I called the LFS since the owner is usually off Sundays. The guy I worked with Friday said they talked about it yesterday, he knew the price we agreed on, and come and get it! It's in the same spot as my mantis tank years ago. That was a fun tank...brings back memories. I'd love another mantis, but since this will be a coral tank, that's not happening. I can just envision all my frags being smashed to pieces!

I'm taking out the shelf and putting a 5-gallon bucket in there, which will become the reservoir for my ATO. Good thing I kept the old Tunze! I will probably replace the pump since it's an old ATO unit, but it should work for the BioCube. I will definitely be adding a few little fish at some point. I'm thinking for sure a yellow clown goby (right, @najer?), and maybe a firefish. Suggestions are welcome! Since it's just 16 gallons, I know I won't have room for much. Definitely no tangs. ;Hilarious

I cranked up the RO/DI unit and will need to make some water! The reservoir on the 90 is almost empty, and I plan on doing a water change from the 90 into the BioCube and adding a few pieces of live rock from the refugium. I'm wondering if this still will create a mini-cycle, though. I guess I need to put up a post about that....

 

[TriggerFinger]

Have you ever seen barnacle bennies @ReefGrammie ?? I think they might be a good fit for a Biocube?

 

[btmedic04]

You could also do a small group of 3 green banded gobies or a pink streak wrasse

 

[najer]

My ycg has only gone for my 2 acros so far, one is going back to the lfs but the other is encrusted.

 

[vlangel]

I enjoyed reading the beginning and end of this thread. Very inspiring how you rebooted your tank and I love that you still have baby clown!

I too have had multiple tanks including a 36g bowfront and a 90g. I finally settled on a 56g column as it's big enough without feeling overwhelming.

Anyway thanks for sharing your reboot journey!

 

[najer]

 

[NY_Caveman]

pink streak wrasse

Excellent choice! Very peaceful. Mine started timid, but then became more active. Good at keeping pests in check without being a jerk.

 

[ReefGrammie]

I enjoyed reading the beginning and end of this thread. Very inspiring how you rebooted your tank and I love that you still have baby clown!

I too have had multiple tanks including a 36g bowfront and a 90g. I finally settled on a 56g column as it's big enough without feeling overwhelming.

Anyway thanks for sharing your reboot journey!

Thanks for your nice (and very encouraging) words. It's been quite a year! I will be posting my one year after reboot pictures soon....I can't believe it's been almost a year. Baby Clown is still doing well.

I was digging through some old pictures. This was my 46 after I first got it in 2008. I'll never forget bringing it home. That was the official beginning of my salt journey, which had been a dream of mine since I was a little kid, wading in the flats and catching marine critters off the coast of Miami. ;Joyful

I can't figure out what the green thing is in the bottom right corner. Knowing me, it's probably a plastic fish!

I look forward to visiting your seahorse tank!

 

[ReefGrammie]

I love the fish ideas!! I will definitely have to check out the pink streak wrasse...I'm kind of a wrasse freak. The yellow clown goby that Simon likes to torture me with is a given. The green clown goby thinks he's king of the 90, so the yellow will go in the BioCube.

 

[revhtree]

It's here!!! I called the LFS since the owner is usually off Sundays. The guy I worked with Friday said they talked about it yesterday, he knew the price we agreed on, and come and get it! It's in the same spot as my mantis tank years ago. That was a fun tank...brings back memories. I'd love another mantis, but since this will be a coral tank, that's not happening. I can just envision all my frags being smashed to pieces!

I'm taking out the shelf and putting a 5-gallon bucket in there, which will become the reservoir for my ATO. Good thing I kept the old Tunze! I will probably replace the pump since it's an old ATO unit, but it should work for the BioCube. I will definitely be adding a few little fish at some point. I'm thinking for sure a yellow clown goby (right, @najer?), and maybe a firefish. Suggestions are welcome! Since it's just 16 gallons, I know I won't have room for much. Definitely no tangs. ;Hilarious

I cranked up the RO/DI unit and will need to make some water! The reservoir on the 90 is almost empty, and I plan on doing a water change from the 90 into the BioCube and adding a few pieces of live rock from the refugium. I'm wondering if this still will create a mini-cycle, though. I guess I need to put up a post about that....

Congrats on the new tank!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Congrats on the new tank!

Thanks, @revhtree! I've been keeping Jon at BT busy. Have you been in the store since it reopened after the tornado? It looks great!

 

[ReefGrammie]

A few more pictures of the new cube. These are phone pictures, so not the greatest. I moved Zoanthid World into the cube. I also moved the Avatar chalice in there. Temp is matching between the tanks and I will check ammonia/nitrite/nitrate, but I'm not expecting a spike due to the LR and water being from the 90. I'm not taking any chances, though, and will monitor for a while before adding a little fish or two.

Thanks to my pile of fish supplies over the years, I found several operational heaters and a little Koralia power head that I cleaned today and looks brand new. Keep the old tank stuff, people...well, unless it's really expensive stuff.

I decided to move the blue ricordea in the cube also because it's incredible and I can frag ricordeas. I hate fragging zoanthids, so they will have to grow out on pieces of rubble. I'm not beyond pulling out a scalpel, though...

Tomorrow, I'm off to the LFS again for a little more flat pieces of rock.

 

[TriggerFinger]

Looks great!! Its like an instant tank when you have established live rock! I wouldn’t expect any ammonia at all. Sounds like you might have some pretty bare real estate in the 90 now?!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Looks great!! Its like an instant tank when you have established live rock! I wouldn’t expect any ammonia at all. Sounds like you might have some pretty bare real estate in the 90 now?!

Thanks!! Actually, the 90 looks much better now. I had it too cluttered from my live sale "problem." ;Hilarious I'm being MUCH more particular now...I hope. ;Joyful

I didn't have any issues with parameters when I upgraded from the 46 to the 90, so I'm hoping for the same. I really want another wrasse or two (but not a wrassehole) in the 90. I'll add a tang last. My LFS had a nice kole tang last week, which would work well in the 90, but I put on the brakes because I definitely want a few more wrasses first!

 

[ReefGrammie]

Time for an update! First, to go back to where the reboot fun started just about a year ago at this time. I didn't start posting about it until December, but the ugliness started in October.

My pretty flasher wrasse lost in the sea of nasty green hair algae...it was soooo awful. ;Sour

Today!! Much better. ;Joyful

The left side, mostly ricordeas and acans, some encrusters in the middle, acros towards the top.

Mid right. More montipora, cyphastrea, acros and monticaps on top. Clown goby is photobombing in the upper left behind one of the acros. ;Happy

Right side. Chemical Reaction chalice on the bottom right.

 

[ReefGrammie]

Happiness is finding an old small Mag-Float in your boxes of misc. fish junk! The glass was looking awful on the new BioCube. I have a new one on order, but it won't be here for a few days. It was driving me nuts. I knew I had an old Mag-Float for the mantis tank years ago, but I never dreamed it would still be in my boxes of junk! ;Joyful

 

[DiefsReef]

Time for an update! First, to go back to where the reboot fun started just about a year ago at this time. I didn't start posting about it until December, but the ugliness started in October.

My pretty flasher wrasse lost in the sea of nasty green hair algae...it was soooo awful. ;Sour

Today!! Much better. ;Joyful

The left side, mostly ricordeas and acans, some encrusters in the middle, acros towards the top.

Mid right. More montipora, cyphastrea, acros and monticaps on top. Clown goby is photobombing in the upper left behind one of the acros. ;Happy

Right side. Chemical Reaction chalice on the bottom right.

Pics are awesome!

 

[DaddyFish]

... A lot of people don't like damsels, but I do. They're always out in the water column and I've never had much trouble with them (plus I can catch them). This is such a pretty fish and adds a lot of color. I also have a black/white three-stripe damsel.

Is that a typo??? CAN catch them??? Do you have Spiderman reflexes or something?
I'm definitely in the "hate damnsels" camp. They are evil little... mean as all get out!
But everyone has someone who loves them. You can have all my damnsels, IF I ever screw up and buy another one.