The 2018 New Beginnings
So, it's time for a new beginning.
A few years ago I become slack; my weekends were spent hours away visiting my now wife. Water changes didn't get done, dosing went mental, and algae grew.
The tank has always been running, at least until last December. I'd never been able to recover from the algae issues & neglect. I put a fair bit of effort into removal of phosphates to get on top of it, but never quite managed to get there.
We built a new house, and in December the tank moved in, dirty, and stayed that way until the weekend. All of my fish moved out to a spare tank in the garage along with most of that rock, and they've been stuck out there ever since. The garage sadly is something between a DMZ and a garbage tip after a cyclone.
Finally, yesterday I got sick of staring at a dirty, empty tank that I walk past a million times a day. It's time.
Sorted out so far:
- coral sand (coming)
- 2 boxes of base rock (I will need a lot more, and maybe a bit of live rock to seed it)
- lighting (new, probably not quite enough to get to the bottom or cover the width, but it's a start)
- some salt (want to get back to using NSW, but logistically that's a bit challenging at the moment)
- IBC is filling with RO/DI (only way I can get volume into that then transfer via pump to tank)
- ordered new sump from Deer Park. Same size as old one, but this one setup for an ATO res.
- new heater
- working on changing the electrical layout in the cabinet; way too much salt ingress with original setup. Setting up an isolated side to dedicate to electrical.
Not really rushing this one; needs to be budget, needs to look nice, and needs to be tidy.
Quite happy to let this one cycle for a couple of months; full cycle - lights, heating, the works, then I'll introduce the fish. No real plans in terms of corals yet; haven't thought about them. Will probably just stick to mainly softies given the light won't be great. Don't really have the motivation, time or money to be making significant coral purchases either, so they'll just be things that happen when I get around to it.
To dos:
- More rock. Will get some live rock when I collect the sump and keep it in the garage in a container with some flow
- cabinet/sump lighting
- Need to get power to the tank
- Maybe some new wave makers
A few years ago I become slack; my weekends were spent hours away visiting my now wife. Water changes didn't get done, dosing went mental, and algae grew.
The tank has always been running, at least until last December. I'd never been able to recover from the algae issues & neglect. I put a fair bit of effort into removal of phosphates to get on top of it, but never quite managed to get there.
We built a new house, and in December the tank moved in, dirty, and stayed that way until the weekend. All of my fish moved out to a spare tank in the garage along with most of that rock, and they've been stuck out there ever since. The garage sadly is something between a DMZ and a garbage tip after a cyclone.
Finally, yesterday I got sick of staring at a dirty, empty tank that I walk past a million times a day. It's time.
Sorted out so far:
- coral sand (coming)
- 2 boxes of base rock (I will need a lot more, and maybe a bit of live rock to seed it)
- lighting (new, probably not quite enough to get to the bottom or cover the width, but it's a start)
- some salt (want to get back to using NSW, but logistically that's a bit challenging at the moment)
- IBC is filling with RO/DI (only way I can get volume into that then transfer via pump to tank)
- ordered new sump from Deer Park. Same size as old one, but this one setup for an ATO res.
- new heater
- working on changing the electrical layout in the cabinet; way too much salt ingress with original setup. Setting up an isolated side to dedicate to electrical.
Not really rushing this one; needs to be budget, needs to look nice, and needs to be tidy.
Quite happy to let this one cycle for a couple of months; full cycle - lights, heating, the works, then I'll introduce the fish. No real plans in terms of corals yet; haven't thought about them. Will probably just stick to mainly softies given the light won't be great. Don't really have the motivation, time or money to be making significant coral purchases either, so they'll just be things that happen when I get around to it.
To dos:
- More rock. Will get some live rock when I collect the sump and keep it in the garage in a container with some flow
- cabinet/sump lighting
- Need to get power to the tank
- Maybe some new wave makers