Taking the Plunge

[JohnL]

This thread was automatically split due to performance issues. You can find the rest of the thread here: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showth...4#post13166394

[kar93]

I think somebody might need to swoop in and split it for her.

[raen]

YIPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE HOOOORRRAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!

Way to be Schwe!

[Tswifty]

Congrats on the split Schwe!!!

[Schwe]

Wow! Thanks, guys! I never thought this day would come. I'll try to type up a summary later. Busy day!

[Aquarist007]

Originally posted by Schwe
Wow! Thanks, guys! I never thought this day would come. I'll try to type up a summary later. Busy day!

Congratualations----I think I mentioned to you along time ago that your "Club" friends would help you split this thread

It is a very useful thread for alot of reefers and I am sure it will continue to grow and grow

[timschmidt]

Grats Schwe!

[timschmidt]

Bah double post. Sorry.

[2frosty4u]

Congratulations on your first split of your thread. Way to go.

[Schwe]

"Rainbow bridge" that's the second time in a day I have come across that--where did that saying come from

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...


Scott, this website has wonderful support for those of us struggling with the loss of our furry kids.
http://petloss.com/


The following two poems touch me greatly when I think of Nike, my little baby who I tragically lost all too soon (12 weeks).

I ONLY WANTED YOU

They say memories are golden
well maybe that is true.
I never wanted memories,
I only wanted you.

A million times I needed you,
a million times I cried.
If love alone could have saved you
you never would have died.

In life I loved you dearly,
In death I love you still.
In my heart you hold a place
no one could ever fill.

If tears could build a stairway
and heartache make a lane,
I'd walk the path to heaven
and bring you back again.

Our family chain is broken,
and nothing seems the same.
But as God calls us one by one,
the chain will link again.

Author unknown


I AM NOT THERE

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn's rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush,
I am the swift uplifting rush
of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there, I did not die.

Various sources attribute this poem to the one of the following authors:
(A) Mary Frye
(B) Joyce Fossen
(C) An unknown member of the Hobi Native American Tribe

[Schwe]

OK, Recap. I don't have the time to make a fab listing of events like T.J., but I'll do my best with the few spare minutes I have...

I purchased my drilled 90 gallon AGA w/DIY canopy & stand off of craigslist.com for $150.




After cleaning it out with bleach, then rinsing with a dechlorinator


Pete painted the back glass for me, but as you can see in the picture, accidentally got a blue line of overspray on the front of the stand.


We obviously can't let that go... so we stripped the stand and canopy, and I stained it a dark mahogany, sealed it with polyeurethane, and DIY'd an overflow. I also installed brand new bulkheads.

[Schwe]

I looked for a while for a used 20G long, but couldn't locate one for the life of me! So, I had to buy new. I also purchased a EuroReef RS-100 off of Ebay, and a QuietOne 3000 pump from the for-sale section here on RC.




I got two Stealth heaters from DF&S, as well as a digital thermometer. I got about 60lbs of LR for $120 from a guy on craigslist.com who was breaking down his tank. I "cycled" for a few weeks in the spare bedroom. It really didn't cycle and it looked like I didn't have any die-off in transit. I also got my first marine inhabitant, an astrea that hitchhiked!



Fill 'er Up!



I used 80lbs. of CaribSea Aragonite "seaflor sepcial" and 80 lbs. of superfine Ocean Direct "live sand" to create a deep sand bed (5").

Water started in the tank Dec. 9th 2007. By Dec. 16th I started to spot bristleworms in the sandbed and rocks!

I never really had much of a cycle. Nitrates spiked to 15 at most, Nitrites remain zero. Nitrites are at zero now.

December 27, 2007:
Pods are crawling all over the glass.
No algae bloom, but Astrea has hair algae all over his shell.
Nitrates zero.
Pick up 2 Chromis.

Right around Christmas, I flooded the apartment for the first time. It was an RO/Di incident, as usual. I was filling a bucket with RO/DI and flaked out, forgot it was on, and flooded our spare bedroom/hallway. The RO is hooked up to our laundry room and dripped over the dryer, onto the floor, and under the wall into the adjacent room. The icing on the cake? We have wall to wall carpeting. I spent a few hours sucking water out of the carpets/floors with our carpet shampooer-- which is a GREAT investment for reefers with carpeting in these situations. Just stomping on towels trying to soak it up would NOT suffice. We had about 20 gallons of water on the floor.

In January I added some livestock-- First 10 Nassarius snails, that original Astrea, and then fish... 2 Chromis and 2 ORA Ocellaris.

A week later I bought 10 zebra leg hermits and a Diamond Watchman Goby.

By this time I had a very diverse menu for my fish.
-Brine Shrimp
-frozen Cyclopeeze
-Mysis Shrimp
-Marine Cuisine "carnivorous diet"
-Formula One
-Formula Two
-Spectrum Pellets

I lost one of the Chromis for an unknown reason... I just found it sucked in a powerhead one day. I hear Chromis don't do well in groups in a small aquarium (read, only very large where they can get away from eachother), or else they pick eachother off. They school during the daytime hours, but at night separate.

January 13th 2008 I spotted a baby featherduster on one of the rocks that hitchhiked. My clownfish also started to "gyrate" and start pairing behavior.

The first FTS w/fish


Diamond Watchman Goby

[Schwe]

January 23, 2008. Pete and I go to the LFS and leave with our Potter's Angelfish. :love:




January 27, 2008 I added two Koralia 3's.

February 13, 2008. I realize I have an outbreak of ich. I tried to do the "wait and see" approach, but it didn't help. I added a skunk cleaner shrimp, too... He was awesome!





I had to break apart my rockwork to get the fish out... The Potter's took a jump into the overflow when I was trying to net him.


Reconfigured rockwork.

[Schwe]

I FW dipped the clowns and QT'd all fish for 6 weeks.




Right after the FW dip


The Potter's didn't do very well with QT/hypo and got beat up in the 20G high tank. I tried using eggcrate to separate the Potter's from the clowns, but the little bastards wriggled through the holes.


My goby took a leap of faith out of the QT and onto the rug. I don't know how he got out through the egg-crate.




My Potter's tattered tail


I put him back into the DT I believe after 4-5 weeks of hypo, because I started to fear for his survival.

[Schwe]

I got this blenny and put him in QT.


He didn't do well with that environment, so I put him in the DT after a week. He slowly wasted away and starved to death. I had plenty of algae on the rocks at that point for him, and he tried to eat some Nori... but just wouldn't thrive.




My T5 retrofit kit from ReefGeek arrived at the end of April.

Duke inspecting the delivery:




In June I added my Barred Sleeper Goby to help maintain the DSB.


Potter's update:


The lights arrived April 25, but I didn't get around to installing them until June 18th.

Potter's under new lighting.


FTS

[Schwe]

My first coral was little striped mushroom, but my first REAL coral was this Duncan. I purchased it with this large head and one smaller one, and it now has 5 total heads.


I also got a nice green Favia


I then got bit by the Zoa bug.


I also added a Frogspawn

I got a pair of Anthias from a fellow reefer July 2, 2008.

[Schwe]

That was also the time that the monster fuzz started to show up...


7/6/08 I added my Crocea


FTS 7/11/08


...More to come later...

[jenjen]

Originally posted by Schwe

I got a pair of Anthias from a fellow reefer July 2, 2008.

[/B]

Schwe, what type of Anthias are these? Are they a male & a female? And how frequently are you feeding them?

[Schwe]

They are Dispar Anthias, male and female. The one with the red Mohawk is the male. He is especially pretty when he is flashing, and his body is deep pink and orange, and his head is a deep lavender color.

I feed the tank 1-2 times a day. I try to feed light, since I am battling this nuisance dinoflagellate/hair algae problem.

[Schwe]

Brief intermission on my recap (which is turning out to be a lot less "quick" than I intended! )

I was cleaning house today, and my snake looked like she wanted to go for a cruise... So I took her for a ride around the house while I dusted.




Her colors are a bit drab because she should shed soon.


I also did a WC. Only two buckets-full, and I pumped water back into the tank via the sump. Trying to take it easy on the 'ol back.

I turned off all of the pumps and scrubbed down the tank again. I managed to snap a decent picture of the clam.

[Aquarist007]

Fantastic recap Leysa---- you have raised the bar again for thread summaries.

Thanks for the poems and rain bow bridge explanation too--very touching

[Kieth71]

I have Just finished reading this entire thread "rubs eyes".

It has been very informative and interesting. I am planning on

starting up my 100g tank again and this time i am gonna take it

slow and do it right.Your tank is very nice and i hope you enjoy

continued sucess

[MPeer]

Congrats on the split Lesya. Thank you for the very informative summary. Umm about the snake, you're so brave, I can't even go near a snake without freaking out. I'm a girly girl.

[Schwe]

Originally posted by Aaron Peer
Congrats on the split Lesya. Thank you for the very informative summary. Umm about the snake, you're so brave, I can't even go near a snake without freaking out. I'm a girly girl.

Aaron, don't be silly! My snake is a kitten, totally "hand tame." She's the perfect ambassador for people who have phobias about snakes. Even my mom held her, once, for maybe 30 seconds. But that is huge for her, who wouldn't even dare be in the same room as a snake a year ago.

[2frosty4u]

Originally posted by Schwe
Aaron, don't be silly! My snake is a kitten, totally "hand tame." She's the perfect ambassador for people who have phobias about snakes. Even my mom held her, once, for maybe 30 seconds. But that is huge for her, who wouldn't even dare be in the same room as a snake a year ago.

My mother in law has a major fear of snakes. Last week we went to the Erie Pa. Zoo and in one area of the Zoo they had a couple of Boas in Glass tanks and she wouldn't even walk past them...lol. She went around the other direction and left the building.