The great tank debate

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I have numerous tanks and I'm thinkin of doing some rearrangin' and changin'. I'm just not happy with the way things are. I want the seahorses in the 65g. It's overall dimensions are the best for them.

75g reef ready
6in sand bed 30# of LR asst. cleaners 1 gobie 1 orange starfish 1XL peppermint shrimp
4-48" 54w T5's lights 2 actinic 2 10k 20g seaclear sump w/ ASM G2 or G3 (don't remember) 6# LR rubble (no sand) Mag 9.5 return pump and chaeto and ulva in sump *currently battleing green - black slime algae. Ultralife slime removed has been ordered and doing 25% water changes every monday.
2-270gph powerheads

65g reef ready
6in sand bed 70# LR lots of softies (zoas, leathers, kenya, star polyps, ect) asst. cleaners 4 Southern Erectus 2 true percula clowns 1 yellow gobie
29g sump w/ proclear aquatics skimmer Mag 7 return pump assorted macros in sump w/2 in sandbed 1 powersweep powerhead

20g high
6- 3in Erectus 2-2in. Erectus all Northern from Draco Marine. This is a temporary tank for them. 3in sandbed 10# LR macros XL HOB whisper powerfilter filled with LR rubble HOB skimmer asst. cleaners. Water parameters are checked daily because of stocking density in this tank. 25% water changes done 1X week (thursdays) or as needed.

30g long (pressure locking baffles installed)
empty.....supposed to be a new sump for the 75g but I can't get it under the stand. It will be added when I get up the guts to cut the center support to slide it in there, or when I empty the tank to move it. Whichever comes first. (it will fit thru the top of the stand)

10g
Nano for the nano contest....not changing anything here :)


I'm thinking of getting rid of the 4 southern erectus that are in the 65g. I will transfer EVERYTHING from the 65g tank and sump into the 75g tank and sump. I will totally empty the 65g and the attached sump. The Tank, sump, pumps, and skimmer will be BLEACHED and cleaned. (No mixing seahorse germs between the southern and northern erectus) I will also restain the stand since everything will be off / out of it.

The 65g will be resetup in my office. (the 75 will be relocated to ??? haven't figured that out yet but the 75g is in my office now and it's too big. If I move the ponies to the 65g I will want that in my office, not the 75g.) I will be starting the 65g from scratch, again. I will be using dry rock from Marco rocks. Awsome dry rock. I will seed it with 20# of newly purchased LR and critters from inland aquatics. (amphipods, copepods, live mysis, etc....no bristle worms) I have a 50# box of the rock comming from Marco rocks. Whaterver I don't use in the 65g I will add to the 75g.
Because I have 384w (PC) of lighting for this tank, I don't think I will have a problem growing some nice sea grasses and macros. I will be mixing reef mud in with the new sandbed to really get them going.

If it was up to me I would get rid of the 75g but my husband wants to keep it. He misses the fish I had in the 125. Whatever....fish?? Why bother when I have ponies :) The only fish I missed were my clowns, and I have them again. He wants to get another Achilles tang and a coral beauty dwarf angel. It will have to be a small achilles to stay any length of time in a 4ft long 75g tank. They like to swim....

I would be completly happy with 1 SH tank (my 65g) and the little 10g that I'm using for the nano contest.

There is a point to all of this...really.

How long do you think the little ponies can stay in the 20g high?

Remember...they are small, and I test daily and do frequent water changes. It's going to take time to switch everything around, totally redo the 65g and get it recycled and ready for them. It won't be a quick cycle like I usually have since I'm starting from scratch and NOT using sand and LR from other tanks.

I'm just trying to figure out a realistic time frame to get all of this done. 6 weeks or so for the cycle...maybe longer who knows. 7 weeks with restaining the stand for the 65g and cleaning / bleaching. (funny, I'm bleaching a tank at work tomorow)

Another reason to do all of this.....I have to paint my office and install new flooring and the 75g tank is against the wall. It has to be moved to do both of them. (ok..my husband is installiing the flooring and we're both painting)

Ohhh I think I'm going to have a head ache... and a back ache too.

Any suggestions or words of wisdom??? And don't tell me I have too much time on my hands...I know that already, lol. But I'll be busy soon, lol.'


Angie

[dakar]

How about packing everything up and I'll be by in the morning to collect it? :razz: Sorry no great words of advice for you... sort of the same boat here... We've had tubs of LR scattered all over the basement, the 55g was filled with nothing but LR, the walltank (soon to be converted over to a FW planted tank to raise glass shrimp...maybe), the pair of 44g pents, one for Angel's ponies, (the other is coming down this weekend) corals to be moved to my 25g nano, and the fish will live in the 180g that is again filled with water and way too much LR from all the above mentioned tanks...

All said and done will leave us with;
180g - Fish only with way too much LR (for a while)
44g - Ponies (not going anywhere)
25g - my stony coral haven
18g - in wall tank
10g - that needs to be set up for the nano contest

Left empty will be a 55 long, 44 pent, 29g, 20 long, oh yeah and another 30g & stand.

Where did all of these tanks come from?????????? Hard to believe that at one time every single one of them was wet with SW.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

It must be something in the central Wisconsin water supply, lol. I swear we are all nuts!!

[jojo22]

You could always send everything but the ponies and 65 gal to my house, I'll STORE them for ya!!!

[hummer]

do ya all need my address you can store stuff here too...lol im closer than jojo...hehe

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I cleaned my house like a mad woman today so I can spend the next week or two rearranging the tanks. I still haven't decided where I'm moving the 75g to....I need a bigger house. (or less junk in this one, lol...fish tanks are not junk ;) Does my husband really NEED that 60" big screen TV? It's taking up valuable space that my tanks could use.

[Iconz]

Yes. Yes he does! His TV is the equivilent of your fish tanks! :)

[jojo22]

I would buy a TV that big but people would think I was "overcompensating" for something! Like my little 2.5 gal tank. I know what you pervs where thinking.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

I would never really get rid of his TV. I just couldn't imagine watching a regular sized TV after having this one. I'd be squinting. Not to mention, Playstation2 and Nintendo game cube are a lot of fun to play on a tv that big, lol.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

OK 75g tank is empty, still need to empty the sump under it. The floor is reinforced where the 75g will go. It is being moved to my husband's office. I'm sure there will be a cycle since I just scooped the sandbed into a tub. I'm just dumping it back in the tank later tonight. I saved every gallon of water that was in it to put back in later. The pep. shrimp, star, and gobie are in the 65g for now. The LR that was in this tank is in a brute container with about 30g of the tank water. All of the cleaners and LR rubble are in a salt bucket.

I have to disconnect all of the plumbing from under the tank and then me and my 14 yo daughter will move it. Wish us luck, lol. We're gonna need it. I hope to have it all done tonight. Once everything settles and I get an idea of what the cycle is going to be like I will start on the 65g.

[Sea~Horse~Whisperer]

The 75g reef tank has been emptied, moved, rearranged, new sump added, and refilled in it's new location.

The 65g (future Draco Marine seahorse tank) has now beeen emptied. I boiled the sandbed for 6 hours. (Yuck....smelled very bad stunk up the house)

I then refilled the tank and sump with tap water. I added 3g of bleach and let it run for 24 hrs. (skimmer, ret. pump, and powerheads included)

I then emptied the tank and sump yet again, and refilled it with tap water and 2- 8.5 oz. bottles of Prime dechlorinator. I will let it run for another 24 hrs. with the dechlorinator.

I will again empty everything. Once everything is empty I will disassemble all of the plumbing and take everything down. Everything will airdry for about a week while I reseal the stand and restain it. When I get the 65g moved into my office I will reassemble everything and refill it with tap water again for one more rinse with dechlorinator. I will then empty it and refill it with SW. (ro di)

(I will be mixing Fiji reef mud into my sandbed for future seagrasses.) I will add the sand back to the tank along with the base rock I bought from Marco Rocks. I will let it cycle using the raw shrimp method.

Because of the bleach I used in the tank I'm not putting the seahorses in it for awhile. I will try some inverts first to be 100% positive it is safe for my ponies. Maybe a small gobie too.

I can't wait to be done with the emptying and refilling of this tank. The best thing I ever bought was a wheeled base for my brute cans. I just roll them around the house. (My python hose is not long enough to go from the Living room to the sink.)(but it will be long enough to go from the new location of the tank to the sink...yeah)

Wish me luck.

Angie