afboundguy's 35 gallon and display fuge build!!!

[afboundguy]

From a few feet away current tank looks almost ok

But the closer you get...

You see this mess! Quasi mic of dinos and cyano plus various other turf'ish algeas

 

[afboundguy]

Back in the white worm game thanks to @Kens Bees

 

[afboundguy]

Today is the day! Tank swap time! Scrubbed the 6 or 7 snails that have been champs and around for the 2+ years I left the tank on it's own so I wanted them in the new tank!

Then I cut all the softies with an razor blade and used plastic toothpicks through the bottoms so I can secure them to the rockwork. Also got the 2 clowns out quite easily

 

[afboundguy]

The orchid dottyback was a royal pain in the butt and stayed in one of the rocks with a cave. Eventually I was able to get him out with a turkey baster and gravity and he's safe in the new tank!

 

[afboundguy]

Found lots of mini bristle stars while I had the old rocks in a bucket of tank water

 

[afboundguy]

Had been thinking of trying to keep the HOB fuge on the sump and thanks to some words of wisdom I did it!

Then I washed some of the current tank rocks in the tank and stuck them in the refugium since it was no longer needed Got 3 of the 5 rocks in the section

 

[afboundguy]

Got told I am getting held for an overnight shift tomorrow so I can't do the work related stuff I had planned for weeks tomorrow and not Thursday daytime so guess that means I can finish taking down the old tank and clean up the wiring and see if I can hook up a Reefkeeper Elite

 

[afboundguy]

Turned on the lights before bed for a quick updated FTS (couldn't find the orange filter )

 

[afboundguy]

Was looking to purchase some anenome/fish guards for my SLW-20's but they were about $15 shipped each so I just ordered a roll of PETG resin for $13 and made my own!

 

[afboundguy]

Also tried chiseling the two rock anenomes and got one easily but the other one the rock split right in the middle and ripped it in half. Threw that back in old tank to see how it looks tomorrow but first one is doing well and already opening up a bit

 

[afboundguy]

Also programmed the RKE on my laptop and made a mess but found a board I plan to paint and mount stuff to. Need to adjust a few outlets and move some of the larger plug ends to the 4th outlet that has extra space

In the process of doing that I think I figured out where the electrical shock I kept getting when I would have my hands in the tank and hit the legs for the light! This is the inkbird plugs ‍

 

[afboundguy]

Went to check tank before bed and saw that the finger leathers looked horrible and then whatever the bright green tree looking coral was getting black Pulled them all out and did a water change and swapped out the one bag of carbon with fresh carbon and added a second bag of carbon.

Noticed that there were some spots in the tank that had old pellet food that was accumilating so I sucked those up and need to get a CUC soon. Going to get up tomorrow early and do another water change and also get about 10 gallons of NSW while I am out on the boat tomorrow and might do a second one with the NSW depending on how the tank looks tomorrow. Oh the joys of tanks!

 

[afboundguy]

Did a NSW water change and tank seems to be doing better. Today I tackled finally breaking down the old tank. I tried for a 2nd tume to get a rock anenome off old rock and it ripped again but I got most of the large part to detatch so hopefully that will make it in the new tank!

After I drained old tank I started scooping out the sand. As I was doing that I kept noticing something moving very fast along the outside of the tank by the glass. Ended up pulling out a bobbit worm

 

[afboundguy]

Needless to say that guy didn't get placed in the new tank! I took out the SLW-20 powerhead and I ran it in a vinegar bath to give it a deep clean before adding it to the new tank tomorrow

Also transferred the Reefbreeders light

 

[afboundguy]

The corner of the office looks weird almost empty! Wife asked what we should do there and I said I could do an anenome only tank up there! Needless to say she said no to that offer.

Left the tank outside as it was a tad stinky and too hot to try and clean it so I'll wait until tomorrow when it won't be so hot! I played almost 4 hours of softball this morning so I had had enough of the 90+ heat with 90% humidity!

 

[TPhan]

Also tried chiseling the two rock anenomes and got one easily but the other one the rock split right in the middle and ripped it in half. Threw that back in old tank to see how it looks tomorrow but first one is doing well and already opening up a bitView attachment 207188View attachment 207189View attachment 207190

This should help with future removal of anemones and mushrooms.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[afboundguy]

This should help with future removal of anemones and mushrooms.

Safe and Easy DIY way to remove Nems

Due to seeing numerous post recently about how to remove anemones and shrooms without hurting them or destroying rock work. I felt like this was in order. First off, a little back story. Years ago, when I lived in Florida and collected aquatic life on a regular basis, we always had issues with...

www.reef2reef.com

Good to know thanks for sharing I'll have to keep that for future reference

 

[afboundguy]

Took apart the Aquarium Pump Extender V2 battery back up that died and ordered some replacement batteries for $55. Slightly better than the $140-$150 plus shipping for a new one

 

[afboundguy]

Started tackling the Reefkeeper mounting/organization efforts. Cut out templates from cereal boxes Spray painted it black after I cut out the wholes and it's sitting outside to air out overnight

 

[afboundguy]

Added the SLW-20 from the old tank and on the side panel opposite the other SLW-20 and put it on the lowest speed and it helped get rid of two dead spots on the sand that the food kept settling. Definately won't be an issue once I get a CUC with the two powerheads