Update after two years

[uh.oh...]

I joined this forum right after I purchased my first salt tank. Its been a long road, with a number of scares...same as everyone i guess . Maybe you all might appreciate a few photos of the tank through the months. There's no love left in Getting Started (that's where my build thread is). Here we go:

Before me

This is the picture the tank was listed with on craig's list. I didn't expect to get any corals, the previous owner had already told me he sold them all.

Set up process November 2011

a pic of the new tank through my 29g

Just finished getting all the rock in. 200 lbs or so, and way too cloudy to aquascape

January 29, 2012. First few corals, and a little live rock arrangement. Lighting currently by a coralife cf 4 bulb fixture (free from the LFS).

December 2011.

January 2012 building a canopy

January 2012 canopy finished

Two pillars look, plus a new coral or two. Gave some rock to a friend that helped me move the tank. Still January. Those are GSP on the top left hand corner. Check out how big they get at the end.

February 12, 2012

Now i've got a 2 bulb current t5ho and that coralife on the tank. Seems to be better, but the bulbs are way too old. April 1, 2012

Added a purple bulb, really makes things pop. April 21, 2012

June 18, 2012 before everything goes wrong

New Tek Elite 6 bulb t5 light. Still using that diy hood i built, but with some cardboard to get a nice picture. Really blows me away, thinking this tank is awesome!

can't look at the tank without getting a crazy reflection from that fixture in the hood. I've got a tan line halfway up my face

 

[uh.oh...]

Went to lowe's, bought some cable. July 30, 2012. There's carabieners (sp?) on the ends, for easy removal.

Went on vacation, a friend watched the tank. Of course..... No I can't blame here. Its the new lights. That turf algae is going to suck. August 20, 2012

This needs fixing. an undersized sump, with chaeto, and an undersized protein skimmer. Dirty, no room, and the stand is too short. And falling apart. My biggest fear has been that bump in the night when I know the tank has fallen through the floor. December 8, 2012. 1 year of fishtank!

Built a new stand; well the easy part is over! Now to call some friends over. Looks nice, copper really gives it a nice look. Everything is sealed and poly'd. Stand is water tight too, just in case of leaks. (and there have been plenty)

February 21, 2013. I'm dealing with some bleaching and color loss in corals, I think i've got too much light; got a lower rock base built up. But man, that stand looks great.

Purchased a blue squamosa clam, doing great. Color loss is more evident, but overall good health. That turf algae is still here....constantly battling it. Got a dual carbon and gfo reactor going, dosing 30ml vinegar, and kalk in the top off instead of the 2 part method (which i tried but always ended up forgetting to do) March 3, 2013

Here's the inner workings. From right to left. Reactors, still undersized protein skimmer (up to 65g), refugium with finally enough light and room, filter socks (brs nylon). Single overflow because that's all my tank has. March 21, 2013. More pictures to come, hopefully when the turf algae is gone, and the corals are at peak. Hey thanks for reading!

 

[Ronin77]

Thank you for sharing look great!!!

 

[Grizz]

Nice! Great to watch your tank progress

 

[Jamroz37]

Look really good what lighting are you using at the end?

 

[uh.oh...]

Tek elite 6 bulb t5.

 

[bigbanker]

Really great journey!

 

[uh.oh...]

Bonus cyno outbreak:

Believe it or not, i think that is a normal part of cycling an old tank. aka old tank syndrome

 

[Jamroz37]

I'm going through and outbreak right now what's seeing you have done to get rid of it?

 

[Jamroz37]

Sry for the spelling it's from my phone it auto corrected me what are some things you did to get rid of it

 

[uh.oh...]

Well, which problem do you have? Mine was diatoms + cyno bacteria, here's the cause:

.

So, (and this has happened 2 times) the first thing i decided to so was remove and rinse the rubble in my sump. Sucked out lots of detrius and yummy goodness. Once that was clean, siphoned out 3 inches of sand. Tank came with a 4-5 year old DSB. If maintenance isn't done on that correctly, it can become a nasty nitrate factory (as with the rubble in the sump). Still hadn't fixed the nitrate problem, so i started with siphoning out all the cyno, and performing 30%ish water changes weekly. That got terribly expensive for my 90g, so I picked up some Red Slime . That will kill the cyno, and turn your tank green for a bit. Make sure you run an airstone if you go this route, as it depletes o2 in the tank. I continued with water changes by-weekly, and eventually the diatoms solved itself.

Fish tanks are all about balance. And patience. You can treat the symptoms temporarily, but eventually you have to get down to the cause.