xxBarneyxx
Fish Aficionado
I think I may have asked this before but I intend to actually do it this weekend so wanted to do one last double check to see if anyone has some bright ideas.
The Problem:
A 100g tank full of LR (about 60kg)
Around 8 small fish
Most of the LR covered in either xenia, mushrooms or toadstool leathers.
A couple of LPS corals and some Greenstar polyps
I want to take all of the above out of the tank so I can clean it, redo the plumbing to and from the sump and then rescape the rockwork how I originally intended.
My Plan:
Kit:
I have a 30g ish cube tank.
Possibly a 50g 4ft bowfront tank if I can get it picked up this weekend.
A 15g ish plastic trashcan
A 50L Nano
And if need be a 50g ish sump tank and a couple of 10g tanks.
A whole bunch of heaters and powerheads.
I plan to:
All rock with corals and Livestock into the cube tank (filled with water from the display).
One 10g tank filled with water from display to use as a frag tank for all the bloody xenia I will be cutting off.
All rock without corals on to go into the trashcan (with water from the display).
Once the tank is empty of rock and livestock I will empty out any remaining water and replace the plumbing for the sump. Currently have soft plumbing from the overflow which is really noisy. I intend to change this. I will keep the soft plumbing for the return but will position this better so that the return either goes right into the middle of a rock stack or right on the water surface (not decided this yet). Either way the tubing will be hidden.
I will also be moving the sump over so the gap left is easier to get into. Then I will set my auto top up unit up. Initially the ATU will have a 25L can of RO which I will replace weekely. However I will also be moving my RO unit and plumbing the output directly into my ATU reserve container so it can be topped up without having to swap containers.
While the tank is out I will also be redoing all the electrics for it. I did want to wire in a new set of sockets but I will not have the time for this. Instead I will just be tidying up the cables and making it safer and easier to access.
Last thing to do while the tank is empty is to move one of the baffles in the sump which is in a really stupid place (and lets any macro algae I use get through to the return pump). I might also rearrange the sump a bit and stick in eggcreate shelves to use as a frag tank as well as padding out the return pump end with foam to stop it from vibrating. All the equipment will be stripped and cleaned until it shines
No comes the hardest part. I want to refil the tank with fresh saltwater but when I rescape I'm going to have to put in rocks with corals on. As the water is fresh I will need to acclimatise them first (prob about 20-30kg of rock with corals attached, not easy to do). If anyone has any ideas on this please let me know!
I was thinking of building up the base of the scape using the rock with no corals on. Then put all the rock with corals on into the trashcan and aclimitising them in there. Once this is done I will finish off with the scaping.
Once the scaping is done it is then a case of acclimatising the rest of the livestock (I will put them in a 5g bucket or one of the 10g tanks to do this) and then putting them back in. Then setting up the skimmer and phosphate reactor.
Then I will be making a new bracket to hold the light units (not sure quite what I'm going to do with this yet, was thinking of making a frame that goes behind then over the tank to hang them).
For the rescape I'm going to be using a combination of acrylic rods and "one Shot" marine silicone (which cures underwater). If my LFS has marine putty in stock (doubtful) I will be using this as well.
I have an idea for how I want the scape to look but I am going to be limited by the stupid small bits of LR we have.
I was hoping to get this all done in a weekend but I dont think it will happen, making enough RO for a start is going to take quite a few days. In the short term our living room is going to look like a bomb site but it will be all worth it. I realistically think its going to take at least a week.
If anyone managed to read through all that and has any good suggestions on better ways to do it please let me know
The Problem:
A 100g tank full of LR (about 60kg)
Around 8 small fish
Most of the LR covered in either xenia, mushrooms or toadstool leathers.
A couple of LPS corals and some Greenstar polyps
I want to take all of the above out of the tank so I can clean it, redo the plumbing to and from the sump and then rescape the rockwork how I originally intended.
My Plan:
Kit:
I have a 30g ish cube tank.
Possibly a 50g 4ft bowfront tank if I can get it picked up this weekend.
A 15g ish plastic trashcan
A 50L Nano
And if need be a 50g ish sump tank and a couple of 10g tanks.
A whole bunch of heaters and powerheads.
I plan to:
All rock with corals and Livestock into the cube tank (filled with water from the display).
One 10g tank filled with water from display to use as a frag tank for all the bloody xenia I will be cutting off.
All rock without corals on to go into the trashcan (with water from the display).
Once the tank is empty of rock and livestock I will empty out any remaining water and replace the plumbing for the sump. Currently have soft plumbing from the overflow which is really noisy. I intend to change this. I will keep the soft plumbing for the return but will position this better so that the return either goes right into the middle of a rock stack or right on the water surface (not decided this yet). Either way the tubing will be hidden.
I will also be moving the sump over so the gap left is easier to get into. Then I will set my auto top up unit up. Initially the ATU will have a 25L can of RO which I will replace weekely. However I will also be moving my RO unit and plumbing the output directly into my ATU reserve container so it can be topped up without having to swap containers.
While the tank is out I will also be redoing all the electrics for it. I did want to wire in a new set of sockets but I will not have the time for this. Instead I will just be tidying up the cables and making it safer and easier to access.
Last thing to do while the tank is empty is to move one of the baffles in the sump which is in a really stupid place (and lets any macro algae I use get through to the return pump). I might also rearrange the sump a bit and stick in eggcreate shelves to use as a frag tank as well as padding out the return pump end with foam to stop it from vibrating. All the equipment will be stripped and cleaned until it shines
No comes the hardest part. I want to refil the tank with fresh saltwater but when I rescape I'm going to have to put in rocks with corals on. As the water is fresh I will need to acclimatise them first (prob about 20-30kg of rock with corals attached, not easy to do). If anyone has any ideas on this please let me know!
I was thinking of building up the base of the scape using the rock with no corals on. Then put all the rock with corals on into the trashcan and aclimitising them in there. Once this is done I will finish off with the scaping.
Once the scaping is done it is then a case of acclimatising the rest of the livestock (I will put them in a 5g bucket or one of the 10g tanks to do this) and then putting them back in. Then setting up the skimmer and phosphate reactor.
Then I will be making a new bracket to hold the light units (not sure quite what I'm going to do with this yet, was thinking of making a frame that goes behind then over the tank to hang them).
For the rescape I'm going to be using a combination of acrylic rods and "one Shot" marine silicone (which cures underwater). If my LFS has marine putty in stock (doubtful) I will be using this as well.
I have an idea for how I want the scape to look but I am going to be limited by the stupid small bits of LR we have.
I was hoping to get this all done in a weekend but I dont think it will happen, making enough RO for a start is going to take quite a few days. In the short term our living room is going to look like a bomb site but it will be all worth it. I realistically think its going to take at least a week.
If anyone managed to read through all that and has any good suggestions on better ways to do it please let me know
that's what I did and didn't have any problems, even with my Nem.
