20 Long - New Begining

[Mom2Many]

I have had my current 20 long up and running for four years now and some of you know I am breaking it down and starting a new 20 Long. New tank, fresh rock (walt smith) sand and old hardware. Here is a picture of the current positioning of my rockwork. I am going to add sand and water after the kids go down to bed. I am going to TRY not to over crowd this tank. [/CHARGE]

 

[jcook54]

Do whatever you did on the last tank and it'll be outstanding! You can sure pack a lot into a small space!

 

[Mom2Many]

Do whatever you did on the last tank and it'll be outstanding! You can sure pack a lot into a small space!

Your to kind. Thank you!

 

[Mom2Many]

I put in sand last night and filled with new water. I have a heater on it and a power head in there. I left enough room to add my old water from a water change on Sunday(from my current 20L). I should get a new Aqua Clear 70 today in the mail. I will be dremmeling out the "stopping post" in it, so I can bring the flow down lower if I need to. Easier to do when new out of the box. I will be taking the old filter material out of my current 20L and putting it in there for a week. I am using Seachem Stability and Prime to get it going faster. I have a freshwater light on it for now just so I can see what I am doing.

 

[Deucenbc]

After your last 20L I eagerly await the new build.

 

[Mom2Many]

After your last 20L I eagerly await the new build.

Thank you for the encouragment! I am at week four of cycling. Ammonia gone and waiting on nitrite and nitrate to stablize. About four more weeks of cycling before I feel confident enough to try coral in it. Slow and steady is the best for these things. Some of my colonies I am moving over are quite large and could get shocked or have issues....I will add one coral at a time wait for a short while then another...its a little different than adding little frags.

 

[Deucenbc]

I will have to pick your brain on cycling in a few weeks

 

[jcook54]

Lookin' good @Mom2Many I know your schedule is busy but it was really nice seeing you and your husband at the meeting on Sunday. All of the tanks you've had end up looking pretty good and I look forward to seeing what the new one looks like! I don't know how many you sold but it's kinda cool to think about all of the little pieces of your reef that are spread all over the Atlanta metro area!

 

[jordanbevis]

So excited!!!


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[Mom2Many]

I will have to pick your brain on cycling in a few weeks

To me, cycling is the hardest part. I try to enjoy the process of it all and be patient. As a good foundation can really set you up for success.

 

[Mom2Many]

Lookin' good @Mom2Many I know your schedule is busy but it was really nice seeing you and your husband at the meeting on Sunday. All of the tanks you've had end up looking pretty good and I look forward to seeing what the new one looks like! I don't know how many you sold but it's kinda cool to think about all of the little pieces of your reef that are spread all over the Atlanta metro area!

Thank you, it was a real pleasure to go to the meeting and to see you again as well. It is very exciting to be starting a new tank. I have not been able to buy frags in a long time because I had no room....Now the planning and what to buy, what to buy! Such a philisophical idea about my frags...I was happy they all went to such good homes and many I will watch grow up in tanks on this very forum!

 

[Mom2Many]

So excited!!!


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Me too! Counting down the days...

 

[Mom2Many]

Waiting...cycling...waiting...cycling. I keep telling myself I am enjoying the process. I keep using this time to plan my coral placements when moving things over to this tank. I am at week 6 of cycling. Ammonia spiked and fell, Nitrite spiked and fell. All readings in a good range now. Now that it is safe I put a Springers Damsel in there (might regret that later) with a small clean up crew so I can have something to watch while I wait the next few weeks as I moniter things closely to make sure it is truely very stable and safe for my coral colonies I am moving over.

 

[Eric_n_Ga]

Watching a tank cycle is a true test of will power . Can't wait to see it go.

 

[FutureInterest]

Wow that rock is super purple. Very nice.

 

[Mom2Many]

Watching a tank cycle is a true test of will power . Can't wait to see it go.

I know, right? So hard... Thanks...Me too.

 

[Mom2Many]

Wow that rock is super purple. Very nice.

Thanks. It is Walt Smith 2.1

 

[Eric_n_Ga]

The rock is branded ?

 

[Mom2Many]

The rock is branded ?

Yes it is. It is created by Walt Smith and is a rock created to reduce the impact on wild harvested reef rock.

My friend gave me some for one of my tanks a while ago and I really liked the color, feel and way it locks together. I liked how porus it is and the idea of why they make it. It is not for everyone but I liked it, so chose to use it this time around and see how I like it long term.

Over the years, I have realized, I prefer to start tanks out with dry rock of some kind, better than cycled rock from the LFS. I have had so many issues with things getting introduced to my tanks that way, that I did not want in them right from the start. I know you can get some great freebies that way and neat critters...I am a controling person in many ways, so starting with dry rock gives me more control of at least one aspect in my tanks.

 

[Mom2Many]

So...Thursday was the day. I cleared my schedule. I declared it a home school holiday and had my older children watch my younger children for the day, so I could totally work on moving every thing over from my old system into the new one. The new system has been cycling for over 8 weeks now and I felt it was stable enough for the move. I gathered my dremel, glue, towels, buckets, water, supplies and said a prayer. I worked from eight in the morning untill late afternoon. By then, everything was super slimming and angry and my hands were a dried on glue covered, shriveled, mess. Pure bliss

The next day, I did some tweeking and moving a few things. I think I have it where I am pretty happy with it now. My duncan colony is being a drama queen and not everything is back to pre-move happy but today everying looked much better.

I was able to use my dremel with a diamond wheel to cut through the rock just below where the large pink gonipora was attached to the rock. It took me just a minute and no flesh was harmed. It was the piece I was most worried about getting off the rock and moving. It is not back to its huge happy self but opening up some. The clowns are still snuggling it, even though it is pretty deflated.


And for this last picture...prepare yourself... and hear crickets chirping, as you see what is left of my old friend and 20 long of four years...

Good bye old tank and hello new begining...