ReefGrammie's 90-Gallon Reboot

ReefGrammie · Dec 3, 2022

My tank maintenance day turned out to be exactly that...the whole day! I discovered that my overflow had some hair algae growing near the top, I'm sure due to my not-so-pristine water. Ugh. I manually removed what I could and found some Chemi-Pure Elite in the fish cabinet, which I added to the sump. Maybe that will help until my new RO/DI filters arrive.

I also discovered that the BioCube filter was nasty! Thankfully, I had a replacement in the fish cabinet. I better get my act together or these tanks are going to rebel and do nasty things!

ReefGrammie · Dec 12, 2022

Well, I lost another fish today, my cherub (pygmy) angel. It was fine yesterday. I had to think about it, but I've had the fish 9 years. It was my second oldest fish after the 14-year-old clownfish. I've never had a dwarf angel live that long, so I guess 9 years is pretty good.

I'm considering a coral beauty, or maybe a flame angel or lemon peel angel. I have to have a dwarf angel!

MrsBugmaster · Dec 13, 2022

ReefGrammie said:
I've never really thought about using pellets! I think that's a great idea. It makes sense they would be easier to control. I feel like with the flakes, the feeder sometimes dispenses a big glob or hardly anything at all if a large flake gets in the way.

Do the pellets sink easily? I use a feeding ring with the flakes to keep them floating around the tank and ending up in my sump.

You can buy sinking pellets but I feed into a feeding ring too. The fish get to know the schedule and will be waiting under it for the pellets to drop so not much goes to waste. I do set it to a lighter feeding too when I’m on vacation. I tried mixing different kinds but that didn’t work very well. They seem to get clogged then. So I went back to one kind of all the same size.

Sorry for your loss on the angel

ReefGrammie · Dec 13, 2022

MrsBugmaster said:
You can buy sinking pellets but I feed into a feeding ring too. The fish get to know the schedule and will be waiting under it for the pellets to drop so not much goes to waste. I do set it to a lighter feeding too when I’m on vacation. I tried mixing different kinds but that didn’t work very well. They seem to get clogged then. So I went back to one kind of all the same size.

Sorry for your loss on the angel

Thanks, @MrsBugmaster, on the angel. I hate losing a fish, even an old fish.

Good info on the pellets. I'll definitely buy some and "practice" with my auto feeder before our trip this winter.

I hope you're going to do a build thread on your new tank!

MrsBugmaster · Dec 13, 2022

ReefGrammie said:
I hope you're going to do a build thread on your new tank!

Yes I am!

Zionas · Dec 14, 2022

@ReefGrammie Hey! Just stumbled across your build thread and I’m glad it’s still going well after over a decade.
I would love a list of your current fish, how old they are and their sizes. Think another dwarf angel would be great. Did you purchase your 9-year old (at time of death) Cherub Angel as a fully grown fish? If it was fully grown then we don’t really know how old it was but I’m sure in total years it was over a decade old.
Do you have plans to add any more fish?

BranchingHammer · Dec 14, 2022

Wow, this tank is great! What a good comeback story, and I love the detailed build updates. So glad you kept at it and didn't give up!

ReefGrammie · Dec 17, 2022

Zionas said:
@ReefGrammie Hey! Just stumbled across your build thread and I’m glad it’s still going well after over a decade.
I would love a list of your current fish, how old they are and their sizes. Think another dwarf angel would be great. Did you purchase your 9-year old (at time of death) Cherub Angel as a fully grown fish? If it was fully grown then we don’t really know how old it was but I’m sure in total years it was over a decade old.
Do you have plans to add any more fish?

Thank you, @Zionas! I actually can't remember if the angel was small or full grown. This was my 2nd cherub angel. The first one didn't live nearly as long. One of them was tiny and one of them was larger, but I can't remember which one! Maybe this was the tiny one since I had it 9 years.

I definitely have plans to add more fish. My current fish:
Prior to my reboot in 2019:
O. clownfish - 14 years
Azure damsel - I'm guessing about 6 years
Clown goby - I'm also guessing about 5-6 years

Added after my reboot in 2019:
Yellow watchman goby - 3 years
Royal gramma - 3 years
Kole tang - about 2 years

I'm down several fish, but I'm going to wait a few months. If I order, I definitely want to wait until winter is over to trust shipping live fish. If I buy from my LFS, I still need to wait. He just recently moved to a new location and had to cycle the tanks all over again. I want to be sure everything is well established before I buy from him.

Fish I'm considering:
Hawkfish - This is one I've never had in my reef tanks. My biggest concern would be my shrimp. Both of my shrimp are pretty large, so I don't know if this would be a problem or not.

Wrasse - I have to be careful here. My tank tends to be on the semi-aggressive side. I might try a Lubbock's fairy wrasse since then can hold their own. I would love to have another melanarus wrasse, but once again, I'd have to worry about my shrimp.

Dwarf angel - This will be a definite future fish, but I'm not sure which one. I'm a little concerned about my SPS, but I've had several dwarf angels over the years and I've never had an issue.

Mandarin - I've always been intrigued by mandarins. I would hope my tank could sustain one with a 14-year-old system. I would work on my pod population before considering a mandarin.

I'm open to suggestions! I have a mixed reef with SPS and LPS, plus I do have the cleaner shrimp and fire shrimp, so I don't want anything that will eat my shrimp!

ReefGrammie · Dec 17, 2022

Nothing like changing the RO/DO filters by myself. What a mess! I panicked a few weeks ago when I realized my TDS was up to 17...oops. I had noticed some hair algae around my corner overflow and just happened to check the TDS. Ugh, I have no idea when I last replaced the filters, but the last order I found was in late 2020. Surely it hasn't been since then, but it wouldn't surprise me considering that 2021 was not a great year. Oh well, it is what it is.

I ordered from SpectraPure on Cyber Monday and just got the filters. They said there would be delays due to the sales from Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so I waited. I kept playing chicken with my ATO reservoir, hoping the filters would show up sooner than later. I was trying to add as little "bad" water as I could get away with. Sure enough, the morning I was going to install the filters, my ATO pump was sucking wind and I shut it down. I went to work in my fish room, which is basically what used to be a wet bar around the corner from my tank. It's a tight space, but the cabinet houses my RO/DI system and it's where I keep all of my fish supplies now (the real "bar" is in the kitchen

).

First, I had to pull the system out of the cabinet. That thing is heavy!

Did I mention I made a gigantic mess? Thank goodness I brought in some towels.

Leak test, then back in the cabinet!

TDS back to zero!

MrsBugmaster · Dec 17, 2022

ReefGrammie said:
Nothing like changing the RO/DO filters by myself. What a mess! I panicked a few weeks ago when I realized my TDS was up to 17...oops. I had noticed some hair algae around my corner overflow and just happened to check the TDS. Ugh, I have no idea when I last replaced the filters, but the last order I found was in late 2020. Surely it hasn't been since then, but it wouldn't surprise me considering that 2021 was not a great year. Oh well, it is what it is.

I ordered from SpectraPure on Cyber Monday and just got the filters. They said there would be delays due to the sales from Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so I waited. I kept playing chicken with my ATO reservoir, hoping the filters would show up sooner than later. I was trying to add as little "bad" water as I could get away with. Sure enough, the morning I was going to install the filters, my ATO pump was sucking wind and I shut it down. I went to work in my fish room, which is basically what used to be a wet bar around the corner from my tank. It's a tight space, but the cabinet houses my RO/DI system and it's where I keep all of my fish supplies now (the real "bar" is in the kitchen ).

First, I had to pull the system out of the cabinet. That thing is heavy!

Did I mention I made a gigantic mess? Thank goodness I brought in some towels.

Leak test, then back in the cabinet!

TDS back to zero!

I have one under the sink like that too. I always make a mess when I have to change filters.

ReefGrammie · Dec 26, 2022

This has nothing to do with my tank, but I had to post about it. Life has come full circle. For my boys' 3rd birthday, I started my first tank (supposedly for them). It was a 10-gallon FW tank. I kept that tank running for years and years, even moving it to another state. There was an odd assortment of fish, starting with the usual tetras, guppies (and babies...lots of babies), eventually goldfish. It was still running when I started my first reef tank in 1998, a 46-gallon bowfront. I later added two BioCubes as mantis tanks (fun for teenaged boys) before upgrading to the 90. I also have a small BioCube set up as a zoanthid tank, with a possum wrasse and a few hermit crabs. I finally took the FW tank down after the last goldfish passed.

My son in Nashville has always had the tank bug, and our grandson is just like him. I had a 20-gallon tank sitting in the garage, which I used from time to time as a QT. My son asked if he could have it recently. He said Teddy (3-year-old) had been telling everyone he was getting a fish tank for Christmas! Teddy loves to visit my tanks and will sit in my "captain's chair" and watch the fish/snails/crabs/shrimp.

Son would send me pictures of the progression of the new tank, which was going to be a FW planted tank. The tank was set up on a wall in the den, but our son made a wrapped box with a bow to fit over the tank during the day so the kids wouldn't know what it was. Teddy would ask about it, and he would just say it's a Christmas present. Meanwhile, he would slide off the box and work on it after the kids went to bed...sand, driftwood, rock, then water, cycling, live plants, and finally a fish. He then added a frog and algae eaters, finally added some neon tetras before Christmas.

Teddy got all of these great presents, but they sent me this picture earlier today, which just melted my heart! There he is, parked in front of his new tank, just like at Grammie's house.

The circle of life. I can't wait for the reef tank in a few years!

MrsBugmaster · Dec 27, 2022

That’s so awesome!! A future reefer for sure.

ReefGrammie · Jan 2, 2023

Tank drama. I'm so sick of bubble algae in the BioCube! I finally decided to use Vibrant. The tank only has zoanthids...and bubble algae. I've manually removed as much as possible, but I think it's growing out of the grate and I can't get to it. I've used Vibrant before in that tank for some weird algae. Seems like I had a cyano outbreak afterwards, but ChemiClean took care of it. I'm not adding anymore zoanthids, so if I can get rid of it, I should be clear. I tend to keep that tank "dirty." Zoanthids like it dirty, and so does bubble algae apparently! I've also read about using Vibrant along with MicroBacter7, which I happen to have on hand, so I might look into that further. I'm dosing 1.5 ml twice a week in the 16 BioCube each Tuesday and Saturday. Will see what happens over the next few weeks.

Here it is in all it's glory, growing out of the grate. I'm going to remove those two sections very gently with a dental pick and hope I don't pop the darned things!

Next drama. Skimmer woes with the 90. It was acting weird a few weeks ago, so I gave it a good cleaning with citric acid. It seems back to normal after that, but yesterday it was not running at all. I unplugged it and plugged it back in and nothing. It's on my "nonessential" power strip, but everything else on that strip was running. I took it out and tried running it in the sink and the pump started. Something was still off because when I took the red top off this tube thingie, it wasn't hissing like it normally does. I yanked on some tube thingies and put them back in and it started hissing again. I put it back in the sump, but it still doesn't seem quite right. It's a Bubble Magus Curve 5, and I've had it about 9 years. It's the only thing left I haven't replaced since I set up the 90 in 2013. I don't know if just replacing the pump would help anything or if I should just bite the bullet and replace the whole unit. Always something...

MrsBugmaster · Jan 3, 2023

I hate it when equipment fails. I’m not that familiar with that one but does it have a controller or just a straight plug- in? Could be controller and not pump. If you like the Curve 5 maybe replace the pump. But could also be a good opportunity to try a different brand.

Paul B · Jan 3, 2023

ReefGrammie said:
I had to think about it, but I've had the fish 9 years.

That is excellent, I doubt I ever kept one that long so I am jealous and your fish must love you.

Paul B · Jan 3, 2023

ReefGrammie said:
Teddy (3-year-old) had been telling everyone he was getting a fish tank for Christmas! Teddy loves to visit my tanks and will sit in my "captain's chair" and watch the fish/snails/crabs/shrimp.

ReefGrammie, I also have a Teddy Grand Son.

ReefGrammie · Jan 3, 2023

MrsBugmaster said:
I hate it when equipment fails. I’m not that familiar with that one but does it have a controller or just a straight plug- in? Could be controller and not pump. If you like the Curve 5 maybe replace the pump. But could also be a good opportunity to try a different brand.

It's "running," but it still doesn't seem right. I may take you up on a different brand, one with a smaller footprint at least. The skimmer goes in the left chamber of my sump, which is also where the filter socks go in the back corner. I usually have to take off the skimmer cup to get behind it to change the socks.

I might even go back to Reef Octopus. Seems like that was my original skimmer on my first tank. I love their Octo Pulse power heads, so I might have to check out their skimmers again. Let me know if you have any other suggestions!

ReefGrammie · Jan 3, 2023

Paul B said:
That is excellent, I doubt I ever kept one that long so I am jealous and your fish must love you.

@Paul B, that's really nice coming from you, Mr. Reefing Expert!

The angel wasn't even my oldest fish. I still have my O. clown, which was my very first saltwater fish. I've had "Baby Clown" 13 years, as of last October! Hopefully, I didn't just jinx him!

ReefGrammie · Jan 3, 2023

The tank madness continues! I'm wondering if I have a hitchhiker pistol shrimp. That would actually be pretty great. I've noticed this a couple of times in the last week or so. It always happens at night. I just might have to pull out the red flashlight and do a little nighttime spying.

I have some kind of earth mover, pushing the sand around at night. The only thing I've ever seen do this before was a pistol shrimp. My only "sand dwellers" are the large Tongan nassarius snails. They just pop out of the sand when food arrives and go right back in. I have a yellow WM goby. He will do some sand sifting, but never to this extent (and not at night). The powerheads haven't been moved, and if it was a powerhead, I would expect sand blowing around (and why does it just happen at night??). The Kole tang is kind of pointing at it.