Project Reeftank-- Let's Get Ready To Rumble!!!

[H.crispa]

Hey gang! I can't wait for this Sunday! I have talked with Ron and Barry and I want to give a heads-up. I take care of two 55 gallon and one 150 gallon freshies at the River's Edge in St.Albans, WV and I have a plan! I have a PC light fixture and some spare frags, Barry has agreed to donate a bag of salt per month for water changes in exchange for some advertising on the tank and Ron thinks it is a good idea as a CVRC project to hijack one of these 55 gallon tanks and turn it into a reef as a CVRC project!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We can all share in the design, layout, inhabitants, etc of this tank and get some exposure for the club as well and the restaurant gets a drawing card. These aquariums are primarily my responsibility so I have to take the lead on maintenance, but give that some time and it can change. Quite frankly, if we do this thing it has to change because I might DIE TOMORROW for all I know and your average aquarium maintenance geek does not know Jack Squat about reefs. Plus I go on vacation and stuff... bla bla bla. Bottom line is this needs to be a true CVRC project. Quite frankly, I think we all need something to work on together and Jo Mars does not have room for this in the store. And Barry is too much of a tight wad to do it! ---I'm Kidding!!!----

I am currently growing some live rock and some frags for this. I have a nice chunk of Fiji rock that was saved from a garden (criminal) all bleached out now beginning to be encrusted with pink and red coraline algae. We are in need of a skimmer, live sand, frags, powerheads, live rock, fish, snails, hermits, an overflow box, a sump... we are starting from scratch here. So think of what you can spare or what you can do and get started. This is something we can call our own-- except that it really belongs to a restaurant. (If they screw us we can just take our corals and go home!) Really, I have worked for these folks for over a decade and they won't screw us, I'm just kidding! I'm like that!!!!!!!!

[LowCel]

I'll be happy to make a donation once the tank is cycled. I just have one question/suggestion. Wouldn't it be easier to use regular sand and then everyone could donate a cup of their live sand to seed it? Would be much cheaper and most likely would end up with a lot more life as well.

Oh yeah, if you can catch my clown you are more than welcome to have him as well. :D

[MattG]

now bruce not all of us have sand :D

ill be more then happy to lend a hand/frags whenever.

[coralreefer]

Originally posted by MattG
now bruce not all of us have sand :D



Hehe Matt beat me to that one.

How much live sand are you talking about?
I've got over 100 pounds of fully seeded agragonite sand sitting in a spare tank right now. :eek:

[LowCel]

Originally posted by MattG
now bruce not all of us have sand :D

ill be more then happy to lend a hand/frags whenever.

Do you not have any in your refugium either?

[H.crispa]

Yeah gang, a little from here and there on the sand works fine-- its all the same. The tank is a 55 gallon so probably between 50 and 75 lbs of sand-- depending on what kind of animals we end up with in there. For instance, some anemones require a deep sand bed and some cling to the rock work bla bla bla.

[LowCel]

Are you planning on keeping an anemone under pc's in that tank? If so what type?

[firefish2020]

You'll need at least 260 in PC for say a BTA to do well in this system, plus the advantage of a nice clown to keep it well taken care of (IMO). I think it's important to figure out what type of display you want in there. Concider aquascaping as it is a resteraunt and would make a dramatic first impresson on anyone thinking of keeping a reef tank. Most newbies who set up a reef tank overlook the fact that you need lots of rock in a reef and not just rock piles but arranged in a way that allows a lot of good current in the system. Sounds liek a great project and could be great recognition of our club if handled right :)

[coralreefer]

Ron
Have any of you considered the club doing some type of fundraising for this project? It should give you some cash to help set this up right and may be a way for members that don't have things to donate to participate.

[firefish2020]

Actually until I saw this post it was just an idea that was brought up to us a month or so ago by crispa :) But if anyone is willing to hammer out some sort of idea(s) for it feel free. We were toying with an idea for a few fund-raisers for the club but have not decided on anything concrete yet. One idea was a coindrop type thing at the shop winners win a coral or credit etc... Like I said we (the shop) will support it through salt and a few supplements, plus I'll throw in some fags after it's up and running. The major cost would be rock as I see it and that’s not going to be too bad. This will be a great opportunity for the club and the shop as well. First it will demonstrate that there are competent reef keepers that know what they are doing and that they are good enough that a major restaurant is willing to gamble on a reef tank and that is saying something to the public trust me on that. Second for the shop it's advertisement plain and simple plus it demonstrates our knowledge and care for these animals. If this is pulled off in the right way all of us will benefit from it. In fact do it as good as I know we can and the CVRC will be put on the map.

[H.crispa]

Well, I have now been officially commissioned as the "project reef tank" go-to-person (thats what I get-- It was my idea in the first place). I must say however, that I am rebuilding my computer after a major crash at this point, so my internet access is a bit random. We have some good ideas going here and I am going to start sucking out gravel within the next week. After that, the plants go, then the fish. Then the process reverses. I will first add seasalt mix, then livesand and rock in whatever portions I can get, then circulation/filtration, then a few fish and lighting then we can really go nut with it after a few weeks. If anyone has a spare maxijet, skimmer, light, etc. now is the time to commit. I have one powerhead, a PC light, some sand, some rock I'm growing and some frags I'm donating to this personally.
Let's get it on!!!!!
Jason

[msu]

is this tank going to run with a sump or without? the reason i ask is i have a HO sea clone protein skimmer and a HO filter somewhere. both need some minors the sea clone needs a new prefilter on the intake and the filter needs bio wheels.

[H.crispa]

Well gang, it's Wednesday night and I'm going to slip over to the restaurant and remove the gravel in preparation for the conversion. Next step is removal of the fish and plants, then I'll add salt, convert the filter media and add a few rocks. Please everyone, begin dropping off sand at Jo Mars. We need a bucket to store it in.

[wvdaisy]

I'll bring some sand this weekend.
Lana

[H.crispa]

I scooped out all the gravel last night and today I am taking the plants to Jo Mars. Then the fish

[firefish2020]

Update:
Donated Sand, and Salt today.
Macro Algaes are next that will help with nitrates and Po4 levels folowing the cycle.

[H.crispa]

Alright folks, the salt is in and the sand is in. Interesting thing here-- Barry donated two 25 gallon mix bags of oceanic sea salt mix. I was figuring that would get the gravity up to about 1.016 or so. I was wrong. In a 55 gallon tank filled to the brim with no sand in place the gravity was at 1.022! It would appear that oceanic gives you more for your money. If I had used 5 gallons less water then I say the water would be full strength seawater.

Now we need sand donations!

[H.crispa]

Hey gang, we need the following items for Project Reeftank:

1.Powerheads
2.livesand/rock
3.frags
4.protien skimmer
5.sump and overflow box
6.macroalgae!

I am kicking in a PC fixture for now but we do need H.O. tubes for the existing twin tube T-12 fluorescent fixture if anyone has any lying around. We can run the tank on this setup (the twin tube plus the PC light) until we scrape together materials for the 'big dog'. That is down the road though. For now I would be pleased as punch to just get this up and running with the bare necessities.

I have 2 VHO tubes for the fixture if anyone has a ballast to drive them. I have lots of ballasts but none to drive 110watt four foot tubes!

Also-- I want to build a metal halide fixture for this bad boy. Nothing quite as elaborate (or expensive) as the one hanging over my home tank(see my gallery). What I had in mind was a twin 175 watt MH with 2 96 watt supplemental actinic PCs in a fixture similar in size to what Barry has on his display in the shop-- cooling fan and all. For this we need:
1.lumber
2.reflector material (roof flashing works fine)
3.two 175 watt MH ballasts and sockets
4.two PC sockets (straight or sqaure pin--whatever)
5.one or two ballasts big enough to drive 2 96 watters
6.2 96 watt PCs
7.cooling fan (3 or 4 inch alternating current) from radioshack.
8.2 175 watt MH 6500kelvin or above.

Please drop any of this stuff off at the shop and feel free to go to the River's Edge in St. Albans to check out our progress. And please, if anyone waould like to help out with the construction of the tank, sump, light, whatever-- get in touch w/me.

[wvdaisy]

I'll try to bring a cup of sand this weekend or early next week. I only have a nano so don't have much...sorry. I also have macros I can share if you think the lighting will be sufficient for them. I will donate a couple frags on small pieces of LR as soon as they are ready. I don't have any hardware. Can't wait to see the tank!
Lana

[firefish2020]

<b>Phase 3 Rocks and Sand:</b>
Remember, doesnt have to be much sand at all, if each member who can, gives about a cup or so it will help with the biodiversity of the microfauna in the tank. all who are interested just drop off a ziplock bag of sand and water at the shop I'll see that it gets to crispa.

Thank you,
Ron

[H.crispa]

Okay gang. WVdaisey dropped off some sand, macros, a hermit and there was even a hitchhiker ministar in there. I went back down later and put my PC light over it and threw in some more macro, and a couple small pieces of liverock with some nice pink, red and purple coraline and some zoanthids and a stray mushroom on them. It looks better but we still have a long way to go. All the people at the restaurant keep asking me when we're going to put some fish in there or other cool stuff and I just tell them its going to take time because we are all just donating whatever we can spare.

This tank is pretty bright! I think this lighting set up will do nicely for a while. We still need to change the tubes in the twin tube fixture. It has crappy tubes in it now.

Also, I just started a new rock in my main tank. It is an old piece of Fiji that was bleached out, dead and dry that someone gave me years ago. It weighs about 7 lbs, has a nice shape and will look great once it is fully encrusted and colonized...Born again live rock! Ha!

[wvdaisy]

Glad I could help :~) The tank does look really bare still. I'll try to get over there with another small piece of live rock and maybe some reef bones. It's going to look great when it's done! We need live rock people! Come on lets donate!
Lana

[firefish2020]

<center><h3>So shall it be done!</h3></center>

<center><h3>:thumbsup:</h3></center>

[pappygonefishin2002]

Ill have a few things for ya by the weekend Chrispa, rock and coral

[firefish2020]

No coral yet still in phase 3 guys, the tank is not cycled through yet so hold off on coral for a while longer. Rock and sand only for now.

Thanks,
Ron

[LowCel]

Is the tank a 55 gallon? If so I have glass tops that will fit it. Normally I like open topped tanks but with people (kids) going by the tank there will be a pretty good chance of foreign objects being thrown in the tank. I would hate for the tank to crash because some kid throws a copper penny in it.

[firefish2020]

It is a 55. A top would be very valuable in that place trust me.

[LowCel]

I'll try to remember to bring it to you on Monday when we meet up Ron. Would that be alright?

[firefish2020]

Sounds fine.

Thanks

[H.crispa]

bump

[coralreefer]

Jason do you still need some sand for this tank?

[H.crispa]

OK folks, we now have a huge bucket of livesand thanks to amy and Lana obtained some reef bones. I'll head down to the restaurant tonight to add our new additions.

[wvdaisy]

Glad to help. I know we'll get that tank looking good!

[H.crispa]

By the way folks, The red slime is starting to clear up thanks to that sea clone. The deeper sand bed should help out with denitrification, which will choke out that slime even more. I found some really good articles on cyanobacteria. It surprised me to find out that nitrates are the primary thing it needs and not phosphates like a typical algae. Anyway, what this all means is we are just about ready for some corals! And live rock, and a refugium and an overflow box and a better skimmer (I'm just going to build one I think.) After that, lets get started on the light!!

By the way, I discovered last night that the stand is about to collapse! I reinforced it with some screws but it really needs some lumber. I suppose that is top priority now. No sense in building a skimmer and a light for an aquarium that is smahed to bits on the floor.

[coralreefer]

Sounds like its starting to turn the corner. The extra sand should help. BTW I just sent you the link for the skimmer mod.

I found some really good articles on cyanobacteria. It surprised me to find out that nitrates are the primary thing it needs and not phosphates like a typical algae.

Go a link to those articles?
I thought since cyano is capable of fixing, making, its own source of nitrates that P was still limiting?

Let me know what kind of lumber you need. David is on a building in Winfield right now and might be able to help you out.

[H.crispa]

Just checked on the tank, cleaned the glass, emptied the skimmer, fluffed the sand, fed the fish and removed about 2 lbs of caulerpa which had gone "sexual" on us. (I hate that term) I also flushed the filters. The red slime is being a little stubborn and it won't go away. The pH is low as is the dKh and Ca+ I started a kalk drip and it looks to be in need of about two gallons so I'll have to start another drip tomorrow. We need rock. We need fish. We need some low light corals. I have decided to go ahead and build a sterroided-out skimmer. If anyone has any plans for a hang on skimmer, let me know.

[1package]

Hey I heard the River's Edge is closing this weekend?

[H.crispa]

Yes it is for a couple months. No worries though. There will be people there working on it every day so I can work on it anytime.

[H.crispa]

Here we have the first pics of the reeftank in progress. First a before pic:
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/beginning.jpg

Full front shot as it is now, followed by left half, right half, deadrock, chromis, and hermit pictures. The one ministar was unavailable for comment and the other two chromis had stage fright.
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/full frontal nudity.jpg
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/left half.jpg
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/right half.jpg
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/deadrock.jpg
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/chromis.jpg
http://www.netpix.org/pix/01/07/05/hermit.jpg

Sure would be nice to get some fish in there.

[wvdaisy]

Looking good! I got the green star polyps glued onto a chunk of LR for the tank. It has some macros on it too. I'll drop it off at JoMars as soon as I get a chance.
Lana

[wvdaisy]

Jason, I dropped off a piece of liverock with green star and a couple macros attached to JoMars for you to pick up. How's the tank looking? It was looking better in the pics but definately need more LR. What else is needed?

[H.crispa]

I am having a little trouble getting access right now. So much for "there will be someone there every day". I imagine that the fish are starving and the tank is about 2 gallons low. This is going to be a bumpy ride for the next month or so until the restaurant opens back up but we will prevail.

Anyway, I have been looking at some recipies for making your own food and I have tried a couple batches. I am thinking if we can come up with some good stuff and freeze it into little cubes (save your aqua yums containers) we could sell it at the store as JoMars brand "reef chow" and as long as we can profit and Barry can profit, I'll bet he'd go for it. We wouldn't get rich or anything but maybe a good fundraiser for the project. I'll talk to him about it.

[odoprelude]

We should produce Ron's coral food and sell it with some of the proceeds going to the Project. I know I'd buy it! Also, we need to get a collection jar there at Jo-Mar's for the reef tank as well.

[MattG]

i have a HUGE piece of rock that i pulled out of my main tank. Its been sitting outside though so its no longer live (i didnt have room for it anywhere). Im not sure if it will even fit in a 55 gallon :D if you want it you are more then welcome to it. I think its around 25 pounds. I guess it could always be broken up if needed.

[firefish2020]

Jason I made it for about a month and sold it and the reason I stopped was just what you said. I needed containers or a better way to package it. I like the idea of selling it and donating half the sales toward the reef tank project. Keep us up to date on the situation at the restaurant.

[H.crispa]

Ron, how 'bout freezing it in really thin sheets in ziplock bags like they do with brine shrimp? Then the user just has to break off a chunk.

[MattG]

bags work great for that. The biggest key is to not add a bunch of water or other liquids that arent needed. That way its not rock hard and difficult to break off.

[firefish2020]

"The biggest key is to not add a bunch of water or other liquids that arent needed"


Yep you got it, I may make some up soon Ill keep you all updated.

[H.crispa]

Well, despite all the assurances of "all is well" and "someone will be there every day". I went in today and the 180g and the 55g planted tank were both unplugged. No heaters, no filters, no lights. To make matters worse, the heat was turned off in the restaurant as well. Two huge oscars, two huge plecotomases are dead. The biggest upside down cat I have ever seen is dead. The planted tank-- all fish are dead. Project reeftank took heavy losses as well. The heater could not keep up with the demand and all three chromis died, much of the coraline algae and most of the macro is dead.

I was so angry that I just topped off the tank, cleaned out the corpses and left.

Andy (one of the owners) said it is my responsibility to take care of the fish. I agree; however, I think I have the right to assume that at the very least someone won't come and kick me in the balls by unplugging the life support systems and the heat inside the restaurant as well. In my opinion, that falls well outside what I could reasonably assume would happen. Yes, I knew about the remodeling but I asked if I would have access and I asked if the damned power would be left on. I never imagined that they would shut off the heat in the building.

This is most unfortunate and tragic. If anyone has any freshwater livestock they need rid of and would donate, please hold on to it until after the remodeling.

[mcox33]

so what is going on do we still have a reef tank over there or not.

[H.crispa]

Well, we are starting over from scratch. When? I don't know. Soon. I'd rather not talk about what happened. I'm still a little P.O.ed about it all.

[mcox33]

okay