Ska's 28 gal rebuild

[skabooya]

Hello again all,

I have been away from the reefing scene for a few years now. I had a beautiful macro algae tank going that I was very very proud of. Then I got pregnant and started having kids.

I have 2 kids now, my youngest is 8 months old. Adjusting to new life as a parent has meant re- arranging my time for other things more important. My tank has gone through some negative changes partly neglect and partly from grape calupera taking over and killing everything off. I spent a lot of time and money trying to "fix" my tank. Nothing was working.
I gave up on it.

I am on a 3 month across Canada vacation now and the person taking care of my tank via top offs has told me that all 4 bulbs have gone on my tank. I am still 8 more sleeps from being home.

The last time I saw my tank I still had a few hermit crabs and snails alive and it was a huge disgusting mess of algae of all sorts.

My plan when I get home now is to tear the whole thing apart. Order new bulbs, sand, rock and give everything a very good clean with vinegar and water. I am going to start pretty much from scratch but with the same lighting, skimmer, tank, etc

I still love macro algae and plan on adding it to my system again but only some very select varieties. NO MORE CALPURA it looks pretty but it killed my tank so NEVER AGAIN!

My tank is 28 gallons and 36" long. I love this tank and I cant wait to get it started again

[skabooya]

FINALLY had a chance today to remove all the LR from my tank. The lights have been out now for about a month so everything inside is brown... except for the calpura which is still a very nice healthy green. The LR is now sitting outside in the sun on my back deck. It will remain there until the weather man says rain. And then it will go back out again when the weather is nice. I want to make sure this rock is DEAD!
I will go out and buy some more sand today at the LFS and put what I currently have in the garbage.
My new bulbs did come in, so those will be ready to go once I start to set everything up again.

[skabooya]

Its going to rain this week so I brought the rocks back inside. WOW what a weight difference. They have dried up quite a bit but I still think they need a few more days. Next weekends project will be removing all the sand and water and giving the tank a good wipe down. I did manage to find 1 hermit crab alive so far, so he will be going into a bucket of saltwater with a powerhead until the tank is set up again

[skabooya]

F-ing bristleworms! Even when they are dead, their parts can still cause damage. I removed all the rocks from my tank, with gloves, but my gloves leaked. Anyway I washed my hands and had a rash all up and down my arms. Little bumps and red marks/patches. Very itchy. It went away after a couple hours. My husband and I went on a road trip and I rubbed my eyes. Well I got red puffy very itchy bumps under my eyes/upper cheeks. OMG so itchy and red! I figured must have been something in the tank. I figured bristle worms then because I did wash my hands really well afterwards, but maybe missed some hairs I guess or they were stuck in my hands. Well it happened again today under my eyes.
I am wondering now if maybe I have hairs stuck in my face and when I rub my eyes it aggrivates it. It is super itchy.
I am going to try soaking the area in vinegar and my hands too. See if that will help dissolve the buggers.

[hillegom]

Were there any zoas or palys in the tank? Their poison could have done that to you

[skabooya]

No. The tank is essentially dead and has been for a few months now, other than all the calpura and a few hermits and bristleworms. I was away for a few months on vacation so I couldn't clean it until now.
There is a lot of waste in there. The tank is filthy after being neglected after the crash.

[skabooya]

Woo its been a while. Update time. The tank has been very nicely cleaned as well as all parts using a gallon + of vinegar and a good long soak. Cleaning was done with a dedicated toothbrush. Yes I got into all the nooks and crannies. I let it all air dry for a long while.
I put all my old and very dry rock back into the tank with new sand. It feels a lot finer than the one I had before. Oh well.
I checked params every few days. I didn't expect much as there was nothing in there to start a good cycle. I waited over a month anyway with everything running. Then I made my first purchase through JLA. 14 hermit crabs (blue leg and mexican) and 5 rocks of mushrooms. Blue dot, metallic red and orange, green with white stripes and fuzzy green (rhodactius). So pretty.
Anyways it definitely started the typical cycle Everything is now doing wonderfully params are all in check . I do have some algae on the rocks but I am not too worried about it. They should disappear after the parameters have been stable for more time

I have been noticing new things beginning to grow on the mushroom rocks... besides mushrooms. There is a pink encrusting coral on the bottom of one rock. I do not expect it to survive. Some yellow and orange sponges, what looks like green polyps. They are still too small to tell. I am hoping they are not really pretty apasia. I also have what looks like teeny snowflakes popping up all over one of the rocks. Kind of like ice blue cloves but they are nearly tight against the rocks and they are white.
I also got rid of a gorilla crab that that was hiding in one of the mushroom rocks. I pulled the rock out and held it so I could see the cave. I squirted hot fresh water into the cave and he slid right out.... after I tried to pull him out with tweezers and ended up pulling off half of his legs instead *blush* oops.

My husband and I had a date the other day and I asked to stop at the LFS. well they had colt coral on for $15 a stalk. The stalks were quite a good size. I purchased one as I have always thought them pretty. It is now fully inflated in my tank and quite happy. I cant wait for it to grow nice and tall.
I also did a 5 gal water change the day I added the colt. Everything seems quite happy. The mushrooms are splitting a lot faster than what I had in my tank last time. I have no idea why. My metallic orange shrooms have already doubled. Lots and lots of babies everywhere. There are also 3 (that I can see) new baby rhodactious mushrooms and 5 new green with white stripe shrooms and 2 new red metallic babies.

Im very happy with this tank so far. My husband really likes it and says when we renovate my upstairs living room he would like me to put in a big saltwater tank He even said he may want it in his downstairs man cave that we are working on right now maybe he will let me have 2. hehehe

[skabooya]

I got paranoid after researching Majano and aiptasia and ended up covering the area with a thick layer of superglue. My mushrooms that were on the rock were not happy at all that they were out of the water for so long.
Next time I go out to the LFS I am going to pick up a peppermit shrimp if they have one.