o2manyfish 400g Tank, 1100g System "Built" Thread

[o2manyfish]

While walking out the door to MACNA I shot this quick video using my Samsung S10 -- Video turned out pretty amazing -

[o2manyfish]

Just last week the temps here in LA were super hot - So made a video of the frag tanks when the outside air temp is 108.

Also pulled out the PAR meter to show what kind of light I am getting when it's 108 degrees outside.

108 Degrees

[o2manyfish]

Bangai Cardinals that were born last March in our system are now parents. With so many fish in the frag tank the wife wanted me to try to do something to try to save the babies. Last night we shut off all the lights in the back yard and then tried to catch a small Bangai in a 180g frag tank with 500+ frags in it. It took about 10 mins and we got him. And fortunately when we got him he didn't spit out his babies until he was in the net. I had no idea there were that many baby fish in his mouth. I always thought they had like a dozen babies. But in this short video you can see there were alot more than a dozen.

[o2manyfish]

Last night Baby Bangai and tonight....

Earlier this year I caught my Goldflake Angels spawning one night. I have lots of contacts in the hobby and nobody has ever heard of Goldflake Angels spawning in captivity (ever).


Tonight while heading upstairs to bed at midnight I caught the Goldflakes getting a little frisky. I grabbed my cell phone and managed to catch not 1 but 2 pairs of angels spawning - in less than 90 seconds (the video is 100% unedited).


This tank also has a trio of spawning Bellus Angels, a trio of spawning Flameback angels and last week for the first time ever I caught my Venustus angels spawning.


Here's a chance for you to see something that perhaps nobody else ever has until tonight.

[o2manyfish]

Hey all,

Past 6 months have been a challenge. In mid-Nov my Dad had a Heart Attack and I walked out of the house within 10 mins of the phone call and came back home 9.5 weeks later when Mom & Dad were able to take care of themselves. Outside of a heater contactor that failed. The system went 9.5 weeks with a friend changing the Co2 tank on the Dastaco and a couple of people algae wiping so I could use the web cams to keep an eye on everything.

In January the Apex screwed me again (2x), and I had to hire someone to come pull dead colonies while I was taking care of my family. We lost almost 3 5g buckets of colonies from the main display tank alone. It took awhile to get over that loss emotionally because the only way I can avoid that accident from ever happening again is to build my own controller --- And that's one of my lock down projects.

Tonight I was just in the mood to use the camera.....

[o2manyfish]

[o2manyfish]

And my planted tank has been doing well too.....

[o2manyfish]

[o2manyfish]

Here are some updated tanks of the pics and a few of the livestock. Tanks has had a rough year, as we all have, but it's still rockin.

[o2manyfish]

Some fish shots from tonight

[o2manyfish]

1

[o2manyfish]

I'm not sure what this coral is - It's a nub someone gave me - But it's got crazy potential -









Top Down Shot ---

[ReefingFriend]

Great tank

[o2manyfish]

2020 just keeps beatin up on me. My Gem and Purples were starting to get a lil too big and bossy. Two weekends ago I got the trap and caught the 3 purples and Gem from the 400g.

Then we added 2 sml Purples and 3 Small Gems. And later that night while watching my new fish I noticed the seam of the front panel of my tank starting to come apart.

Rushed to locate a tank big enough to hold everything and with the help of local reefers got a used 560g tank moved 600 miles and into my house in 4 days. Xmas Eve some very kind local reefers helped move the stand and tank out of the truck and into the house.

That was Thursday. Xmas Day was spent fixing a potential seam issue on the new tank, and then filling it up with salt water - Luckily my new RO/DI System filled the 560g tank in just 6 .5 hours!!! Dumped in buckets of Reef Crystals and a Vectra pump and started mixing. One of the down sides to creating almost 100 gallons of RO DI per hour is that the water is cold cold cold. With 2000w of heaters the tank wasn't able to start warming up till after we stopped pumping in sub 60 degree water. Friday I also put together the plumbing to connect the new tank to the old tanks plumbing.

Saturday morning temp and salinity were good. Connected the plumbing between the two tanks - opened the valve and started mixing 560g of new saltwater into my now 1800g SPS system. Saturday night with the help of my wife we pulled the big colonies out of the 400g and a few small pieces of rock. Some of the rocks were so embedded with corals that 2 or 3 large pieces of liverock had grown into 1 giant piece of liverock with corals. It was going to take 2 people to lift and move these now giant pieces. My poor wife was handed tray after tray of coral colonies and then had to go outside in the cold night air and try to remember which frag tank I told her to put them in.

Sunday with the help of Tim Kelly we moved the corals and live rock off the fiber grate structures to be able to move them to the 560g.

We rebuilt the main rock structure to adjust for the height of new tank. Then loaded the liverock onto the new structures. On Sunday I managed to catch about 6 feet from the rockless 400g.

Monday at 3am I came down in the dark and caught about 6 more fish. Then another dark fish nabbing at 4.45am got me 20 more fish.

The fish seem to be liking the more open space of the 560g. There are still another 60+ fish to try to get out of the 400g before draining it and getting it out of the house.

I've put up a ton of videos on youtube over the past weekend showing the different steps.

The amount of muck under the aquascaping after 16+ years is pretty amazing. Once the 400g and a couple hundred pounds of some non-Miracle mud are gone from the system I will get a Triton test from Unique Corals and see what happens to my perpetually high phosphates (over 1.6 for the past 6 years).

This afternoon I moved the Webcam to the opposite side of the room so you can get a view of the new tank.

New tank is 560g Acrylic - 120x30x36 -- I HATE 36" tall tanks.

Hopefully, with no more crisis we can move forward on building our 800g starfire tank and I can get rid this temporary 36" nightmare


Video from tonight with most of the corals and some of the fish --


Video of the 16 year old Phosphate Factory


Final Farewell Video of the 400g Tank

[dcmartinpc]

I’ve been following yours videos on YouTube! Tremendous work! I’m actually in process on the exact same size tank. I’m in the same boat as you not loving the 36” height, but, also much like you, it is what was available

Good luck with the remainder of the move!!!


Don


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Zacktosterone]

I follow on youtube as well. I love it!

[o2manyfish]

Since Xmas things have been busy with the tank update - Didn't have chance to post the videos here, but have been uploading lots to youtube.

[o2manyfish]

[o2manyfish]

[o2manyfish]

Trying to figure out how to get the best looking video - This video is double posted -- This version was edited and exported using Windows Video Editor

Assesors Windows Version

[o2manyfish]

[mrpizzaface]

Your system is really great. I love your run and gun video style. You are an inspiration.

[biecacka]

Dave, your tank is an inspiration to us all. Last July I was gone and had an anemone die, came home to a tank full of dead coral and almost all my fish died. Saddened by this I just let the tank cruise all summer knowing I was moving in the winter. Just moved and lost 6 of my 7 fish in the move. So now, I’m starting with 1 fish and no coral- it’s a real bummer. However, I watch your videos and your drive to push through whatever comes your way. I might as well also, like you I love this hobby way too much!
Thanks


Corey

[o2manyfish]

Update on the 560g after a Velvet Outbreak in February.

[o2manyfish]

Been awhile since an update. The tank has been plodding along. The algae growth in the 560g is a pain in the butt. To enjoy the tank requires a daily wipe on the glass and in the last couple of months Cyano has overtaken the sand bed. The rest of the tanks in the system have no algae problems, it's only the display tank inside. The params on the tank have gotten a little out of whack. Phosphates as always are aroung 1.5 to 1.6. But the Nitrates have fallen to under 1.0.



So last week I did a dose of Chemi-clean, and next week after the 2nd water change I will start dosing nitrates and try to get some balance back. With the crazy algae growth the corals still look good, not great, but good, with some stags and torts growing well.



Here is a video of the tank last week before dosing the chemiclean.