Reef Tank DIY - For Dummies

[Dash]

Spent the whole day Sunday moving everything over from the old tank. Whew! My plan of having one light on each tank so that I could move things over slowly (with possibly some procrastinating) got kiboshed when the husband wired and hung both lights over the new tank (he was watching hockey & obviously wasn't paying attention).

Despite planning ahead, drawing diagrams, etc, it never works out the way you think. Once you take rocks apart, they never stack back the same way no matter what The best laid plans, eh...
For the fish, I thought I'd start with the tailspot blenny as I needed to move his shell-house that was attached to a rock, but he disappeared. Next thing you know, he hitchhiked in another rock & showed up in the new tank with a WTF look on his face. So much for acclimation. I hate to think if he jumped and got stepped on. Yikes! I got pretty frustrated at one point, but finally the rocks just fit, the sand rinsed out nicely, and everything came together.

Great thing is, everyone was accounted for including the CUC. I even found my 2 little ring cowries which I haven't seen for a year. I thought I'd lost the tiny pistol shrimp but while draining the old tank, there he was halfway up the corner silicone. The fish are a bit confused but this morning seemed to be enjoying all the swimming room. They all thanked Neil for risking his life on their behalf by completely ignoring him. He's a great addition btw, very active with awesome colour.

The coral are fine and some seemed to enjoy things being stirred up. The candy cane was brighter than ever and all the zoas looked great this morning. I had taken time to give each rock a look over & quick cleanup, so all the little sponges were exposed to the air, but so far they seem fine.

I still need to tinker with the final rockscape but the basic framework is there. Have to clean up the wires and pretty up the the ceiling plug. But it doesn't look too bad I think.

Now for the clean-up!

A new day begins: