o2manyfish

o2manyfish · Feb 28, 2023

First update for 2023. With all the crazy rains in So Cal we have had a few hiccups with all the outdoor tanks. Been dealing with those issues as I can in between some work, a cruise, and the weather. The outdoor frag tanks hadn't been touched in almost a year. They still had some fish in them and a handful of coral scraps. But the tanks were filthy with a layer of crap on the bottom.

Last week we emptied one tank, drained it down, razorbladed it, wet dry vacced it clean and then filled with clean salt water. We moved all the livestock into the clean tank and took the remaining dirty frag tank off line. But then the rain started coming down again before we had a chance to drain it.

Went to the Coral Farmers Market this weekend in Santa Ana with a very enthusiastic wife. She picked out a dozen + frags for herself. Plus my shopping and we ended up with almost 3 hours of mounting corals the following day.

The cabinetry for the tank and stand were finished as a birthday present to myself in January. On our vacation at the end of January we ordered a piece of art that we are hoping will be a nice finishing touch to the stand of the aquarium.

And here is the 6 month update of the 750g tank.

blaxsun · Mar 1, 2023

Man that's a huge tank! Very nice! (like your flooring in the fish room)

bradreef · Mar 1, 2023

Looking good, ive been following your tanks for nearly 20 years back to you totm on reef central. It sounds like you still grow outside with natural sunlight? How are you mitigating the extra water and what are your temp swings in the summer. I think you used to get up in the low 80s with no problems.

o2manyfish · Mar 2, 2023

bradreef said:
Looking good, ive been following your tanks for nearly 20 years back to you totm on reef central. It sounds like you still grow outside with natural sunlight? How are you mitigating the extra water and what are your temp swings in the summer. I think you used to get up in the low 80s with no problems.

We still have the outdoor frag tanks. If you've been following along then you know how devestating the disaster was almost a year ago when the sump split.

At the moment 1 of the outdoor frag tanks has some fish and corals and the other is waiting for a good cleaning. For the past year the tanks have been mostly used as a sun baked refugium, growin chaeto at rates that are just crazy --- Like a full size trash bag every week!

The last several years we have had summer temps get as high as 121. We only use evaporative cooling. While a single day as high as 121 probably would be okay on the system temp, the issue is those kinds of high temps are part of a week long period of high temps and the system can't cool down at night. So a few years back we put in an automated canopy. When the temp hits 105 the canopy (wind permitting) opens up and shades the frag tanks. It can be 117 outside but without the direct sun hitting the tank the system tops out at about 81.5.

81.5 isn't bad when you realize we are cooling 1500g of water with just 6 small fans

The rain this past few months has been an issue. Usually we have rain an inch or 2 at a time, which in 20 years has never been an issue. But this winter we are getting storms dropping 7-10" of water in a day or 2 period. With 2 frag tanks collecting rain water that can be a 300g fresh water topoff. So we have had 2 morning that we had to rush out and dump a few buckets of salt into the system to maintain salinity. Normally we could put out the canopy and prevent so much rain from getting in the tanks, but these storms have been what Cali News calls Winter Blizzards. And while they are not a blizzard by what the rest of the country lives with, out here the rain storms have been coming with 30-50mph winds - which is way too much for the canopy.

Dave B

bradreef · Mar 2, 2023

I was out of the hobby for the last 9 years so the seam break is news to me. Sorry that happened snd you are dealing with extreme weather issues. I lived in san diego for a few years and i remember 1 year it barely rained all year. The new tank is looking awesome and im sure a future totm.