Greg's 75g Rebuild Round 2
 

This is a second rebuild for me, but this time it's not because of hardware.
Summer of 2018 I decided I wanted to change up my corals and hence I needed to change all my LR to remove the corals I didn't like.
I bought some man-made LR from J&L back then and stuck it in a tub with powerheads and a heater. My plan back then was to change 1/2 my structures, and do the other half sometime later. Then I sat on that new rock for months.
It then took me until late winter/early spring of 2019 to buy more LR - enough to change out the whole DT and start a complete teardown/rebuild.

It took me from March this year until June to commit to a teardown. I put a spare DT next to the main one and transferred all livestock to the spare.
I then completely cleansed my main DT and prepped it to start over.
During this time, the new LR was sitting in a rubbermaid being dosed with liquid ammonia. I cycled it enough that it was able to process 20mls of pure ammonia in a 12hr period. That is enough to handle more than my 115g system could ever produce.

In mid-July, after transferring the corals I wanted to keep to my re-started DT, I sold my old LR and corals. Then with the empty spare DT full of fish, I ran a course of API General Cure, just 'cause a couple fish appeared to have stringy poop sometimes.

The fish went into the DT late July and all looked well. Corals settled in and started growing, sand was looking clean enough.
A week later, a still had a bacterial bloom. I could see it spinning around from the MP10s. So I put a bag of carbon in the filter sock. 5 days later the bloom was gone and I removed the carbon. FYI, I don't run Carbon or GFO. Haven't since spring of I think 2016.

Couple weeks later I start getting what I thought was a bloom of diatoms. Brown dusty stuff all over the sand and rocks. Turkey basting, sand disturbing and filter sock changes helped.
In the meantime, my corals were looking a bit pale, so I tried to balance NO3 and PO4 with some liquids. This made the brown stuff much worse and I had to clean the sand/rocks/sock a couple times/week to remove it.

I kept this dosing/cleaning battle up until the middle of September. I then decided to try dosing amino acids instead. This started to bring the colors back to my corals within days. 1 more attempt at raising NO3 and PO4 again resulted in brown crap so I stopped dosing for the last time (for now).
I dosed AcroPower @1/2 dose twice/week for 2 weeks.

This brings us to the end of September.
I've decided the brown stuff was diatoms, and has morphed into some kind of bacteria. There is a 'mulm' on the LR. I scrubbed it off with a toothbrush and changed the filter sock 2 days ago, and it has not returned.

So, today, Sept 30th, I've made my mind up to dose MB7 at ONLY the maintenance dose. I dosed 11ml/115g today and will do the same a week from now. I'm planning on only dosing this these 2 times then stop completely. We'll see what results I get where the 'mulm' is concerned.

I will keep dosing AcroPower @20ml/week as I currently do not have enough fish to support the corals' health.

Once I get the DT under control I will populate my QT with some more fish to bring my stock level back to a 'feed the corals' level

Very interesting- would love to see some photos of new display.

I threw out my remaining Acropower last night. I just got fed up with spots of cyano appearing every time I dosed. Now there is one little clump of lush GHA that is bugging me too. My sps were very pale at one point and the thing that brought back the colour for me was heavier feeding and regular dosing of Reef Chilli. I guess every tank is different.

Man, I miss using Photobucket, but they tell me I'm already @ 4 times my available bandwidth due to current pictures being viewed.

So, go here for a realistic sized picture to view

I'm working on who to use for hosting ....

Just for your Maggie :wink:

My plan is to keep a small number of specimens, with each being large in size

This is 2-1/2 months after the transfer back to the re-started DT

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50563e_c_d.jpg

I loved all the variety, but after a year or two, the crowding became too much for me in the last setup.

I want my fish to be able to swim through the corals, not around them.

I'll be pruning and re-placing corals to promote my new wishes.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3cec35_c_d.jpg

This weekend, Oct 4-6, I've not used any MB-7. I've switched to Seachem Stability. I recall years ago I used MB-7 and had issues.
Anyway, still dealing with some 'mulm' on the LR, but nothing horrid.
Finally getting some green algae on the glass. Enough so that my Trochus snails have bailed-out from the LR and decided life is better on the glass.

I'll keep up the Stability dosing for another 1-3 weeks.

Still using AcroPower as I don't have any Cyano issues. Also using Reef Roids and PhytoPlan once/twice per week.
I don't have enough fish right now to support the Acros so I'm stuck with over-feeding my fish and adding said powders.

Dealing with a wounded Yellow Tang in a Hospital Tank right now. Once he's healed I'll be able to place more new fish in QT.

Hoping the future brings me more fish to feed the SPS

Restart is looking good! Starting out with smaller colonies is much more fun than small frags haha. Following along with the progress. I have to add that your sand is very clean, I may need to take some tips from your play book :lol:

Thanks for the pics, haha. Very nice but I miss the GSP:wink:

It'll grow back. There's a small piece front left side in the first pic

Looking good Greg! Can't wait to see it in person!

Looking good Greg, I can't wait for my next visit.:biggrin:

So which pic is the most recent?

This one. It's from last week

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...50563e_c_d.jpg

Really like the minimalistic look. Totally going to copy you and not pay royalties.

You know I'm always up for visits

Copy away!!

This is the look I had envisioned before Summer 2018; Large colonies the fish can enjoy. I like the look of many small colonies but have found over time they can't be controlled and it turns into a big clustered mess of fighting and overgrowth.

The plan is to prune and replant to keep the colonies in check so the fish can hang out in and swim through them.
Large branching masses of greatness from rock to waterline :mrgreen:

I'm thinking this will also help to keep the lower portions of the colonies lit and aid me in keeping the rock cleaner.

Gather an update wouldn't hurt

Fall of 2019 I was battling slow SPS growth and suspected new tank syndrome after my re-start back in June/July 2019.
I went through all the dinos/diatoms/miscellaneous algae.

It wasn't until Jan 2020 that I found Red Bugs. I had not added ANYTHING to my tank since 2016, so either I had them all along, or they came from some snails I bought locally.

I treated them in Feb/20 with some Milbemycin and what a HUGE difference after. Polyp extension is massive, and my pod population bounced back awesomely.

I started regularly dosing NO3 and PO4 around this time and my SPS colors are looking awesome.

I'm still testing weekly the Big 3, K, and NO3 PO4, but I plan on backing off the N and P testing to Monthly once I get a grip on my tank's usage.

Guess that's all for now, so time for pics

Sept 2019
https://www.reef2reef.com/attachment...8-jpg.1632828/

June 2020
https://www.reef2reef.com/attachment...3-jpg.1632829/

Sucks to have half your post lost during posting .... I can't find the rest I wrote


Gather an update wouldn't hurt

Fall of 2019 I was battling slow SPS growth and suspected new tank syndrome after my re-start back in June/July 2019.
I went through all the dinos/diatoms/miscellaneous algae.

It wasn't until Jan 2020 that I found Red Bugs. I had not added ANYTHING to my tank since 2016, so either I had them all along, or they came from some snails I bought locally.

I treated them in Feb/20 with some Milbemycin and what a HUGE difference after. Polyp extension is massive, and my pod population bounced back awesomely.

I started regularly dosing NO3 and PO4 around this time and my SPS colors are looking awesome.

I'm still testing weekly the Big 3, K, and NO3 PO4, but I plan on backing off the N and P testing to Monthly once I get a grip on my tank's usage.

Guess that's all for now, so time for pics

Sept 2019
https://www.reef2reef.com/attachment...8-jpg.1632828/

June 2020
https://www.reef2reef.com/attachment...3-jpg.1632829/

Good to see that your tank is back on track.

Cheers!

What is the starfish/squid looking thing on the top right in the picture?

Awesome Greg
looking good, I'm jealous

It's a brittle star. The lights were off for an hour or so before I took the pic. Didn't even notice the star until after posting it. That's the first time I've seen a star on the glass, but I'm not surprised; their population is growing.

Thanks you and crimper. It's been an uphill battle for sure.

Looks great Greg👌