Bigtuna's Ocean In A Wall

[Biulu]

I can't judge on sw but for fresh water ich incidents, I dose according to the instructions and only at the end of the treatment I do a large water change.

 

[FishFanatic04]

How's it going with the tank?


LA Kings are 3-0 as of 2 mins ago. Just sharing the joy

 

[SaltNoob]

How is petey the puffer doing?

I was in the pet store a couple days ago and saw a 2" long picasso trigger like yours. SO TINY!


-Tyler

 

[BigTuna]

There's not much to report on these days. Still doing the Para Guard treatments every day. Petey looks like he is pretty much free of white spots, but I am going to carry on until the weekend before I quit and do a water change. He looks very happy, and isn't shy at all when he sees me approach the tank. There is a ledge on the live rock along the backside of the tank that he loves to use as a bed. Every time I even come close to the tank he slowly gets up to greet me. I feel bad when it isn't feeding time and usually reward him with a couple flakes for his efforts

Most of my attention aside from Petey has been directed towards the plumbing of my new overflow and pump. It's been pretty tricky, and I still don't have everything in place. The first go with the overflow was a disaster because nothing I could try could allow me to go from the 1" bulkhead to the flex tubing that leads to the sump. CPR has goofy bulkheads so no plumbing adapters would thread on. I tried forcing an adapter over the threads and using PVC glue. Did not work. Of course the new standard 1" bulkheads wouldn't fit into the overflow box, so I had to do some cutting to flatten out an edge. This time I'm going to PVC glue a piece of 1" PVC pipe into the bulkhead, and the Flex tube should fit over top and clamp.

On the pump side of things I hit a road block as the beast of a pump I got as a 1" out. So I need to redo the plumbing on my UV Sterilizer as well as the return nozzle. I'm hoping that side of the operation goes well, I am just waiting on a few supplies in the mail.


While I was in the FS looking at plumbing options I was captivated by a new Tang display they set up. The Asst. Manager set up a large tank with a lot of Regal Tangs and Powder Blue tangs to show that they can get along. It was a relatively new set up and there were absolutely no signs of aggression in the two hours or so that we were discussion plumbing all kinds of other fishkeeping topics. As everyone who has followed me on here knows, I am a sucker for tangs. I'll definitely keep an eye of these guys. For now my attention is getting Petey 100%.

oh and Go Kings!! Bring the cup home Darryl!!

 

[BigTuna]

Well my 1" return nozzle has finally arrived. I swear it was delvered cross country on horseback. Anyways, it was the finally piece to my plumbing puzzle and I can't wait to get the new pump/overflow in. I am hoping to start on it right away, and should have everything running shortly.

Other than that, nothing exciting from me. The Trigger has more personality then I ever thought possible from a fish. He likes to show off at times, he plays with Petey, and he even likes to landscape. He's so much fun that I am going to do some research on a clown and see if he would make a suitable pal for Picasso. As far as I know the Triggers should be fine with eachother, but there could be issues with the other fish. Shocking how friendly the Picasso is, I think that's a rare occurance and I got lucky.

I'll let you all know how the new equipment turns out, wish me luck

 

[FishFanatic04]

Sounds like your tank is going wonderfully! Glad they healed up quick.

 

[BigTuna]

Well the new overflow and pump are installed and running smoothing, I guess. They are certainly performing at a high level. The flow is incredible, but the noise, not so much. There is no way this is going to be acceptable. I will either have to put back in the old parts or figure something else out. I am now considering the possibility of getting a new custom tank.

Won't lie, a little stressed right now.

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

oh dear i had the same problem with my overflow... the constant "gurgling/splooshing" of the water mixed with the annoying pump almost drove me to insanity (and i only had it for 2 days lol). Keep us updated though! good luck

 

[BigTuna]

I actually had troubles sleeping last night a bit because of this. Cost wise of switching to a custom tank isn't my issue. I know I could make a decent return on this tank as well as all my canister filters and overhangs. My problem is how in the heck do I empty this tank and move it out of the way, get the new one stocked up and fired up in its place? All efficiently and with as little stress as possible on the fish? It would be a tremendous amount of work to pull this off. I don't exactly have a competent FS nearby to baby sit for a day or two while I perform the switch.

Any ideas?

 

[ainsy]

You would need some LARGE water containers!

Put the water in food safe 25L jerry cans or similar

Get a plastic 'tub' like a small pond - the sort of thing that LFS keep Koi in - water out rock level - then remove rock & put in large tub - put fish in too top up with as much water as possible with filter, flow pumps, heater etc.

Remove old tank

Replace with new

reverse process.



Not an easy thing to do...are you sure the current set up can't be fixed?

What is making the noise? Is it the drain or the pump?

 

[BigTuna]

The biggest issue is the noise from the overflow. It sounds like a toilet flusing non stop and can be heard throughout the house. The pump is loud too, but not nearly as bad as the overflow. Putting the old overflow and pump back in is still an option. It was loud as well, but not this kind of loud. The biggest concern with my old set up was power outages. If we lost power due to an electrical storm for a long enough period for the overflow to run out of supply, it could cause issues if power came back and nobody was around to siphon the overflow. With this new one, there is an electric Aqualifter pump that will fire up the overflow on its own. So while flow was nice, the confidence that the system would be safe when I'm not home was also a huge factor. I'm probably rambling a bit here now.

I did call a place somewhat nearby for adice. They claim to specialize in custom tanks, and the guy told me to drill an overhang into this tank. I told him I was worried that that was a recipe for disaster and he just laughed at me. Probably thought I was crazy. I think its crazy to have me attempt to drill holes into my fish's home while they are in it...... ahhhhhhhhhh Someone come drill my tank for me!

 

[FishFanatic04]

I just did a full scrub down on a 75g, a 46g, 10g's, 2 external filters, and 2 internal filters....ALL of the equipment, rinsed all of the sand....blah blah blah....seriously. Get the custom tank put all your fishes in big tubs and do the switch. It can't be as much work as a complete restart.

If I had the cash to do it, I would do it. Always do get the quality product and your money was well spent. There I go being a bad influence. hehe

 

[BigTuna]

I just did a full scrub down on a 75g, a 46g, 10g's, 2 external filters, and 2 internal filters....ALL of the equipment, rinsed all of the sand....blah blah blah....seriously. Get the custom tank put all your fishes in big tubs and do the switch. It can't be as much work as a complete restart.

If I had the cash to do it, I would do it. Always do get the quality product and your money was well spent. There I go being a bad influence. hehe

You could come do my swtich!! It will seem like a vacation for you. The hard work part of it doesn't discourage me at all. The fear of something going wrong and my fish suffering is my biggest fear.

 

[FishFanatic04]

Oh, I know, sorry. I forgot about the stress to the fish. I did my gravel to sand change with only platies to worry about. I cared about them but a $1 a fish isn't the same thing. Salties aren't as easy to come by as a platy or freshwater schooler.

I hope you figure it out then or learn to sleep through the noise

 

[Biulu]

Big Tuna, you have some saltwater fish experts living around the corner. Ask them if they can help you out, either by taking care of your stock for the time necessary or by fixing your problem.

Good luck!