Trainwreck of a tank--what would YOU do?

[skylsdale]

Okay, so a local chiropractic clinic gave me a call at home yesterday. It turns out they have a SW tank that is in poor shape and heard that I'm into that sort of thing. I went down to meet with one of the chiropractors and talk about the situation, possible changes, etc. The wet/dry broke a few days ago and leaked, so they removed it and decided it was time to do something different with the tank.

It's been up and running since the early 90's, in the same form as when they bought it fromt he previous owner. I was told it was 110 gal in volume. It's acrylic, although I'm not sure of the exact dimensions (I'll try to attach the pic below). It's got a single overflow in the back left corner, with a single return plumbed from that overflow. Substrate is large crushed coral, and the tank is decorated with what looks like large pieces of lava rock...covered in algae. Inhabitants are a few fish, ALL adult sizes: tomato clown, 3-stripe damsel, hippo tang, Chaetodontoplus melanosoma, and a French angel. This tank is cramped! The hippo has HLLE, but I'm sure that's mostly from poor water quality and diet.

I talked with one of the chiropractors for quite a while, and told him that ideally I would like to get rid of all the fish and start over. He would like to do a full blown reef tank, and didn't even flinch when I began dishing out prices for skimmer, halides, etc. This will be a work in progress and we plan to slowly change the system over. However, a few things that I would appreciate your input on:

1) He can pretty much do what he wants with all the fish in the tank (e.g. get rid of them)...except for the French angel. Evidently this has become sort of a mascot for the office. His father (who is in practice with him) might not be up for letting it go, and its the fish all the patients love the most. So, worst case scenario is that the French stays. My plan would be to then find homes for all the other fish in the tank and set it up catering to the French as much as possible. The tank is too small for it, but I would plan on opening it up as much as possible and create only some low-relief aquascaping with some LR. I suggested that instead of using a wet/dry (which they already ordered a new one...and they're trying to cancel the order) he should just stick a 55 gal tank under there and use that. My plan would then be to cram that with as much LR as possible.

Now, let's say we're dealing stricly with the French at this point. From all the reading and research I've done, they'll eat anything. So, this means that the LR will pretty much be picked clean. What about inverts like hermits and snails? Would cleaner shrimp be safe with it? I was thinking of maybe a small shoal/school of chromis to add some extra movement and color since no corals would be safe around it. If the angel has to stay in there, then I want as low a bioload as possible, but still make it visually interesting for the average joe who's sitting in the waiting room. I'm going to pose all this to him and see what he says.

Another aspect is the equipment. The two flourescent bulbs are being run by a (seemingly ancient) Coralife electronic ballast. I couldn't find any other information on the ballast, so I have no idea whether this is NO or VHO. Anyone familiar with Coralife's ballasts? I have a pic of it...will attach below?

Alright, that's about all I'll dump on you guys right now. I would appreciate any info you can provide.

 

[mooner]

The tank is nice! Try your best to save it. I will suggest this as if money is no object but within reason. As if you were starting from scratch:

Take all the fish to a LFS to hold for you. If he dosen't want the rest try for a swap or credit.

Scrape and clean the tank.

I'd start fresh with some new LR (perhaps save some of the old after a cleaning?) and partial sandbed refresh and re-cycle the tank as if it were new. Plumb in a large circulation pump and get it turning over. Calcium and Alk will need to be reactor most likely unless he has a full time staff to maintain it. New Heater/Chiller. New skimmer. New power heads. Then add a mixed cleanup crew that matches the tank size.

Do some MH and PC mix for good color as it is an office display.

Add the fish back in after the cycle and then go for the rest (reef stuff an more fish) very slowly over a multi-monthly time frame.

It will cost but it sounds as if there is a lot that will need to be done. Of course anything that can be salvaged should be as long as it looks pretty reliable.

Good luck.

 

[skylsdale]

Take all the fish to a LFS to hold for you. If he dosen't want the rest try for a swap or credit.

The only LFS is a Petco...the next closest is 3 hours away (east or west). In all honesty, they don't have a tank big enough for the French, and I don't think they're into "holding" fish. Keep in mind I said all these fish are adult size having been in the system for the last 10 yrs or so. These are the largest damsel and clownfish I have EVER seen. Not quite the size people like to put in their tanks.

I'd start fresh with some new LR (perhaps save some of the old after a cleaning?) and partial sandbed refresh and re-cycle the tank as if it were new.

Planned on it. He definitely wants to get LR in the tank, although I'm thinking doing so with 3-4 increments rather than one big dump (limit die-off, etc.) since the fish may in fact need to be put back into the tank after the initial cleaning.

Plumb in a large circulation pump and get it turning over.

He actually just plumbed his pump in-line beneath the tank in place of the broken sump...so it is turning over. I'm wondering if the best suggestion would be some powerheads on a wavemaker strip, or something like a Wave2k unit. A closed lood with a SCWD or somethign would be ideal...but not sure I can pull that off. He wants to move the tank to another area in the waiting room, so if I can't find a place to keep the fish for a little while, most of this will all need to be done in a single day of emptying, plumbing, etc.

Calcium and Alk will need to be reactor most likely unless he has a full time staff to maintain it. New Heater/Chiller. New skimmer. New power heads. Then add a mixed cleanup crew that matches the tank size.

I'm assuming this is for corals...but as I said above, if they insist on keeping the French angel, this is pretty much a non-issue as they are anything BUT reef safe.

I'll try to talk him into the skimmer toward the beginning. As for cleanup crew...how safe are they with the French?

Eventually he would like a full-blown reef, but the French angel will be the biggest hindrance. Halides, Ca reactor, etc. won't need to be put in until the angel is removed (or finally kicks it). I plan on putting a float switch and auto-topoff under the stand to make it even more "hands off" for the employees...and we're going to work something out where I come in on a monthly basis for water changes, maintenance, etc.

 

[mooner]

Hmmmmm. Well sounds like you are in a bit of a bind with that French. Perhaps a note here on RDO for some nearby reefer to house it for you? I have no idea what to do with it unless you can somehow keep it in there during all this but that will be very harsh on the fish and the cycle will most likely preclude you from doing that.

If it will not be reef safe I say do as you said with the LR and cleanup crew. I would think that red legs and some snails might be OK but I know nothing about that fish and what it might do to the clean up crew. I am sure a shrimp, nudis, or the like would be free game for lunch.

If he is set on keeping that fish I think it's mutually exclusive to having a reef tank. BUT, you could do the LR, fish and cleanup to get the tank fully cycled and mature until the fish is no longer. Then go for reef inhabitants.

 

[skylsdale]

I just got back from his office to take measurements. We ended up talking for a while, and after doing some thinking he wants to just start from scratch--get rid of all the fish and get going on a full-blown reef.

They are remodeling the entire inside of their offices, and their is a basement. He was wondering if it would be possible to drill through the floor and put the sump and everything down there...YES!

This is going to be a blast...

 

[mooner]

I envy you!

The dream tank with someone elses cash stash.

Do it justice and post results!

 

[skylsdale]

I will...

 

[Anonymous]

Ok Ok.....Take the fish to the LFS and get credit for them..tell the doc that the French Angle passed away and you made funeral arangements. Fill the tank with fresh water...purchase some cool rockwork(dead rock) and make it a Mbuna Tank. I call them False Salt Water tanks. They are way cheaper than a marine tank,look great,and even a moron can maintain it.

 

[hillbilly]

Skylsdale, That old ballest is electronic NO.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm green with envy! :mrgreen:

I like the fact that they decided to get rid of the French, but I would like to see you find someone to baby sit the clowns and any of the other reef safe fish that look good. My reason is that it takes a long time to grow a fish to an impressive size, and it would be worth paying someone a few bucks to house it for a couple of months so you can get nice big clowns instead of tiny ones.

If I where you, I would start thinking about metal halides and a very tall back leaning wall like structure so you can cram the tank full of corals and clams. Then lots of small colorful fish for movement. No nudis or anemones because the tank is bound to be neglected at some point.

I would also think about tank maintenance...a 55 gallon sump full of live rock with no lighting is a detritus trap that would need to be cleaned now and then...and if you light it and throw critters in to keep it clean, then you might as well make a lighted refugium in that space. For simplicity's sake, you might just want to go with the large wet dry and house only the return pump, skimmer, and a sack of carbon in it so it can be easily maintained.


By all means post some pictures as things progress.

 

[skylsdale]

I'll definitely post pics as it goes along. Since the sump and all equipment is going down in the basement, I'm planning on using a 100 gal Rubbermaid stock tank for a sump. This way I'll have plenty of room for plumbing in a Ca reactor, skimmer, etc. The wet/dry he ordered was only 30" long, so not much could have been done with it. I'm debating as to whether or not I should put much LR in the sump. However, I'll be doing the maintenance on the tank: we're going to work something out where I come in like once a month or something to do water changes, general maintenance, etc. The original idea for the 55 gal crammed with LR was assuming that the French would be left in there and maximum swimming space would be needed in the tank, hence all the LR in the sump.

The owner was talking anemones today, and I would like to try and dissuade him from them. I'd like to do some open aquascaping rather than a big wall, possibly a couple bommies or something. I'm a pretty strict biotope kind of person, so this may challenge me as to how it gets stocked (whether I stick to specific habitats or not).

Regardless, it's going to be a big enough project simply getting this thing plumbed into the basement. I would also like to drill it for a closed loop...but I've got no experience doing that kind of thing and I'm having trouble finding any threads that really explain the process.

 

[skylsdale]

Thanks hillbilly, I'll probably keep it around and just use the current 48" NO's he has for actinic supplementation to the halides.

 

[BlennyBabe]

Skysdale, where in central wa are you? I go to CWU and am helping convert a 300 gallon tank in the science building over to a reef. We just put in 450lbs of live rock on friday. I dont know any other reefers in this area and it would be great to meet up with someone else.

 

[skylsdale]

I'm in Cashmere (about 45-60 minutes away). I only know of a couple other people with reef tanks in the area--we are few and far between in central Washington!

I might have to come over and check that tank out sometime when it gets going. If you need some fish, let me know (I'm still looking for homes for the ones in this tank).