Canreef Aquatics Bulletin Board

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- - 33 Gallon Reef (http://www.canreef.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=126882)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synthesis (Post 1032072)

Great looking setup so far and good progress!. I also have my tank setup in my garage (only temp though). Just curious how you find the temp of the tank holding out now that the temperatures are dropping with Winter coming? Is your garage well insulated?

The temp seems to be holding just fine but it is really cold in my garage and I am starting to get a little worried. I may pickup a space heater to help a bit but my garage door is not insulated. I'm running a tank heater that is over powered for the size of my tank but it's doing the job and I'm monitoring it closely. I also plan to pick up a temp controller of some kind soon just to be safe.

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Time for a long overdue update with some pictures..

I've changed my rockscape around a few times trying to find something that I am happy with and think I finally got it. This pic is how it sits now but it's before I added some coral a week ago. A new full tank shot will have to come soon but for now...

https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...ps06inffmv.jpg

As mentioned I added a few corals and so far all seem happy a week later..

Radioactive moon coral
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...psvoeesktk.jpg

Purple Stylo
https://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y2...psdj3ospk7.jpg

Stelata and Rainbow Loom
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...psi4kftps7.jpg

Frogspawn
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...psagnv6xli.jpg

Here's one of my Bangaii being curious...
http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y25...pszvo12q56.jpg

Wow everything is looking really clean. Did you get any algae growth at all?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Synthesis (Post 1032679)

Wow everything is looking really clean. Did you get any algae growth at all?

I haven't had much in the way of algae growth but I've had my share of diatoms along the way.. I've tried to take things slow and only add cleanup crew for specific needs to make sure they survive. I also clean the rocks with a toothbrush during water changes and have some snails (Conch + Nassarius) that stir the soil a little. Lastly I've made sure the flow keeps things moving along the sandbed so there's no dead spots.

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So a few days after the last update and pictures were taken, the storm to end all storms hit our area and we were without power for over 30 hours. I have not acquired the necessary redundancy equipment to keep things going during a power outtage and ended up losing a few things. My tank temp had dropped to 56 degrees. I attempted to keep oxygen in the tank by stirring, scooping+pouring tank water and keep the temp up by floating 2 litre bottles filled with hot water from the tap (we had hot water due to it being gas).. The heat would be gone from the bottles in 10 mins or less but it did seem to maintain the heat.. Obviously refilling 2 litre bottles every 10 minutes wasn't sustainable for 30 hours. I had to go to bed at some point and had to go to work the next day.

All in all, I lost my Banggai Cardinal, 1 SPS frag (Stellata), 5 snails and a couple hermits. Everything else pulled through, although I thought I was going to lose my Purple Stylo. It seemed to lose most of its polyps and most of the tissue, aside from a little "cap" of tissue/polyps on the top of the frag. Over the last few weeks the tissue has come back on most of the frag and the polyps are mostly all back.

I've since replaced the Banggai Cardinal (though the new guy isn't eating as well as the one that died) and the snails. I've held off on replacing the Hermits for now. I also just added a few more corals last night! I added the following...

2x Torch frags
Duncan frag
Hammer frag (green base/purple tip)
Green Birdsnest frag
Rainbow Pocillopora frag
Forest Fire Digitata frag
Yellow tip Austera

Sorry to hear about the loss. Good to see you didn't lose absolutely everything and had to restart.

Did you solve the lack of redundancy before adding new life? Chances are...there will be more power failures in the future.

Yes I have plans in place this time. The biggest issue was lack of time prepare and not planning in advance. Lesson learned.

No idea why it turned the pics sideways.. my apologies to anyone's neck that is viewing!