Pinoybruin's 50g to 100g Fiasco

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

So I've been on this forum a lot lately... I feel that it's time to reintroduce myself and my tank. I actually joined this forum in 2012 after coincidentally meeting Bogdan and Crystal from the San Fernando Valley Coral Farmers Market. Bought a few frags and decided to put myself on the Welcome Mat but with no pictures.

So let me start out by putting up pictures of my 50g tank when I had it up and running in July.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

So that was a nice memorial for my old tank. Around mid-July I stumbled upon the marketplace section of this forum. (Uh oh!) Anyway there was a deal that I couldn't pass up so I decided to pull the trigger and got a 100g setup.

My Wife prepping to plasti-dip the back of the tank.

Stand

Sump

Painted and Ready to be moved to 2nd Floor

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Thanks for the great deal btw Frank! Well I decided that the wet/dry filter wouldn't do because I wanted a refugium. So I decided to build my own sump!

reeferside · Sep 4, 2015

looking good! keep us posted

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Since this tank was going onto the second floor and going to be in the corner so that it would sit against two load-bearing walls I needed something low profile for the plumbing. So an overflow box was out and I decided to build a DIY PVC overflow.

I went with a 3/4" first and then a 1" one as well in case the other one failed. Painted it black with Krylon Fusion so it would be inconspicuous and aquarium safe.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

So the tank, stand, and sump was finally moved upstairs about a week later...

Shoutout to [MENTION=8991]Coelli[/MENTION] for the Chaeto!

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Took 10 pounds of my old sand and put it in the refugium. I rinsed out my old sand and bought 50lbs more as well as some more shelf rock. Siphoned half my water from the old tank and filled the rest with new Instant Ocean water. Let the system run for 3 days before the big move.

BTW, a big thanks to [MENTION=5161]djam[/MENTION] for the awesome deal on the Maxspect Mazarra P LED lights!

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

So when I moved everything all the corals had died on me along with most of the fish overnight. Maybe a sudden change in salinity from 1.023 to 1.025 could've done it? I slowly changed it back to 1.023. Ammonia was at 0 along with Nitrite and Nitrates. Even had the LFS check my parameters. Funny enough the invertebrates like the hermit crabs, starfish, and emerald crab survived. I was like WTF? Wanted to quit the hobby altogether! But I told myself I spent too much time and effort on all the DIY stuff. I must see the fruits of my labor come to fruition!

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Echo and Narcissus my 3 year old tomato clown pair luckily was moved to a 240g before I bought the tank so they made it.
My 5 year old yellow tang "Swarley" also was moved to that bigger tank because I felt he could grow bigger.

The Ice clowns that I had bought from IGotCorals unfortunately did not make it nor the RBTA that I got from [MENTION=9274]pacotender[/MENTION].

Geronimo AKA Jiro the Melanarus wrasse was fortunate to have waited an extra 2 days before being moved and he survived. He was smart enough to hide buried in the sand for two days.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

So after a lot of research on Google my conclusion for the fish deaths at least was that nematocysts from the dying carpet had been released into the water and killed the fish that had been moved into the new tank. This is most likely what happened because when I took the nem out it had dissolved and broke apart into pieces. An explanation for why the invertebrates had survived because they have no meaty flesh for the stingers to sting.

I did a water change and put several bags of activated carbon into the sump.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

My first two inhabitants for the new tank. Forrest and Jenny.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Gave up on all my old corals and dumped out their skeletons and frag plugs. Also the zoa that had white paste growing on it that [MENTION=3628]BeanMachine[/MENTION] said was a goner.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Many many thanks to [MENTION=5001]benjc[/MENTION] for starting me back on my road to recovery by generously giving me free zoa mini colony.

BeanMachine · Sep 4, 2015

Looks nice. I used to have those lights as well.

will21xl · Sep 4, 2015

Good job pinoy

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

BeanMachine said:

I think these are your original lights! Lol!

BeanMachine · Sep 4, 2015

pinoybruin said:

Hahaha wow theyve made the rounds the last couple years. Too cool.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Dave was a really cool guy, and told me many a story. He also said they were also from the guy UsingtheJohn. It's nice being part of forum history.

BeanMachine · Sep 4, 2015

pinoybruin said:

Dave is a good reefer. Yep those were my lights.

pinoybruin · Sep 4, 2015

Just realized how crappy cell phone pictures are when using a laptop. Geeze! I totally apologize for the bad iphone pics.:doh:

Pinoybruin's 50g to 100g Fiasco

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