My humble 5.5g

[c est ma]

First off, really glad to hear that it wasn't a larger leak in the first place and that you have somewhat located where it is and stopped it for the time being. I know that I was really freaked out when I noticed that the backside of my 55 gallon was dripping. Of course I frantically ran around trying to find sealant only to realize that it was the skimmer leaking. I know how nerve racking it can be to find a leak.

 

Secondly, it sounds like you have a great plan of attack. Only thing I have a question about it that it sounds like you plan on getting another 5.5 gallon and not using one of those sweet 10 gallons that you showed. Any particular reason why or are you planning on something different for those tanks? The live rock in both looks stunning and would give you extra room to add more coral.

 

Thanks for the comments, Adam.

 

All along I wanted to keep the 5.5 up and running in its little niche on that part of the drainboard...I kind of have a thing for longevity, and just want to see how long the fish will live, how numerous the rics will get, how things change over time, etc....

 

The new tank--15L--was going to take a few of the "oddballs" from the 5.5--the plate, Porites, blasto, and one or 2 other small things that are threatened by the rics--but otherwise be a place to try some new stuff...Altogether, the stuff I intend to move would fit into the bottom of a pound coffee can, with room to spare--so that leaves lots of room for other things...

 

And that's still the plan...I've already moved a Rhodactis that was sort of stuck in the back of the 5.5 to the 15, but have not wanted to move the other things till I get the substrate in the 15, get rid of some aips, etc.

 

Oh yeah, why is it whenever we all decide to do some serious tank maintenance that a problem always crops up? I feel like whenever I actually do some hardcore cleaning of the tank I find some issue that either frustrates me, stresses me out, or takes me an hour to fix Maybe the tanks are trying to tell us something

 

I always feel that way, too! Or, whilst cleaning, one thing leads to another...and what you thought might take an hour at most takes 3 or 4...And my softies always look lushest right before I clean (what you can see of them through the diatoms, anyway!).

 

Beautiful picture of your backyard....what a beautiful home that you have. I could sit there for hours with a pair of binoculars just scoping the area for any and all wildlife.

 

The home's not much--lol!--needs someone more domestic than I am--but the surroundings are so aesthetically--elating! I can't believe I ended up in a place like this...after suffering the suburban life as a kid...then academic poverty housing...Between wildlife watching and tank watching, I don't have enough hours in the day...and never have time for housework!

 

 

Diane,

I would have soooo freaked out and probably jumped the gun and just tranferred everything to the new tank. It is a good thing you have patience. As usual your tank looks fanstastic and I am really loving the rock work you have going with the 15 gallon (the step down feature is really nice). I can't wait to see what you do with that one! But I am confused, why didn't you want to transfer everything to the 15 from your 5.5? I thought that is why you were setting it up anyway? Or are you starting fresh with the 15? Well I am glad things are working out to your advantage and it seems to be warming up there so more things to do outside and more wildlife to see. Keep up the great reef and keep us posted on those other 2 tanks!!

Sarah

 

 

Sarah, it's more laziness than patience! lol! As I told Dive, transferring a few things was the "excuse" I used to justify starting a new tank, but the things I want to transfer would fit in the tiniest pico...but why not go a bit bigger and try some new things while I'm at it...so goes the thought process.

 

BTW, it is true, though that the things I'm gonna transfer need transferring. The rics, which need room to expand, pretty much kill any hard coral they come in contact with (and zoas & Xenia too). So I've got my baby plate in a cleared out corner but I have to keep shoving the rics back, and I've stuck my blasto & Porites rock (with the plate generating site) in the back of the tank, which means this is the only view I get of them:

 

 

That's the actual blasto & Porites to the left, their reflection in the back glass to the right; shot taken awkwardly between the right side wall of the tank and the fuge...You can see some spots on the back glass that didn't get scraped too well...(and the reflection of a goby! ).

 

Here's another shot of them top down--hard to get a good pic under the cabinet like that, but you can see that it's a very nice blasto...I look forward to seeing it more in the new tank!

 

 

Thanks for all your nice comments!

 

Glad the leak isn't major, but I'm looking forward to what comes out of this. You didn't tell me you had TWO other tanks set up, I thought it was just one!

 

Yeah, well, I'm telling myself that I'm not gonna keep the 10 going...I just wanted to hold on to the "extra" LR until I got the substrate in the 15 and some idea of how the 'scaping was gonna work out...then I'm telling myself I'll get rid of any extra LR...I really don't think I want to be doing maintenance on three SW tanks ATM...(you downsized too, right? in terms of number of tanks, I mean).

 

It's just that I have a basement full of unused tanks & equipment that's accumulated over the years, so it was easy to set up a "temporary" holding tank for the rocks...

 

Please keep reminding me that I DON'T need 3 tanks!

 

 

So can you see where it is leaking from and do you know how it started? Nicked it with a razor blade perhaps?

 

You know, the funny thing is--the tank did this when I first "inherited" it. I'd forgotten all about that, but 3 yrs ago or so, when it came into my possession, I could not raise the water level higher than ~1" below the frame, or I'd get leakage...Then, after a while, it just started to hold more...???...patched itself with salt creep maybe?

 

But yeah, I'm sure it's a seam that's had one insult too many...the "extra edge" of the silicone (you know, the part that extends 1/4" or so beyond the union of the glass sides) has been peeling off here and there over the years, and I suppose when I was scraping more or less blindly behind the rocks I jabbed a seam deeper than I should have. I think the leak's in the right back seam, at the current water level (duh). No doubt fixable, but then a new 5.5g doesn't cost that much. The old one can still be a quarantine tank or whatever...

 

Hi Diane

I guess I had not checked your thread for awhile. Sorry about your day from hell. Glad you were not hurt in the accident. Have you gone back to the dentist yet?

As always great photo's and updates. Are you moving only some of the 5.5 live stock to the 15 or 10 and getting a replacement 5.5? What ever I am sure it will look great. Good luck with your new tanks.

 

Hi Deb! RE the dentist--I see him Tuesday. Apparently he assumed I hadn't "found" the old implant and ordered a new one. And the car's all patched up--some $2500 worth, all covered by insurance...

 

I think I've answered your tank questions in previous answers...

 

Thanks for following along and the nice words!

 

oh boy! i'm glad that the leaking stopped. i guess the construction paper created a path for the water to travel out of the seam.

 

And more tanks! hope to see new tank threads very soon! Those rocks are absolutely corallinlicious@

 

Yeah, they are that, aren't they! In a sort of trade off, they're not really rich in super hitch hikers. But that was a conscious decision I made, as I wanted to have already cycled rock and get my few but precious sps/lps transferred from the 5.5 ASAP. That's because my folks are pushing 90 and I never know when I'm going to be called out to Oregon...and when I am, I don't want to have to worry about my coral.

 

 

Wow! You got really lucky. Like you said the timing couldnt be better. What kind of dart frogs do you have? I used to have a crew of Blue Azuras? I yhink thats what they were called. It has been years.

 

Dendrobates azureus, I suppose. I have D. pumilio, Man Creek morph. Here are some pics from about a year and a half ago, before things got so overgrown:

 

 

 

 

ATM I'm also babysitting my son's and his g/f's frogs, while they're out job-hunting in Oregon, so I have a tank of leucs, a tank with 2 spp of Phyllobates, and tank with another morph of D. pumilio as well...plus their 6 tarantulas...

 

 

So, What's up with you Diane?? Nothing much, huh? Same ol' same ol?

 

Quite a bit on your plate there D. Nerve wracking for sure, yet exciting as well.

 

Oh, the possibilities with the new tanks.......

 

Looking forward to the new setups

 

for a sweet, trouble free relocation of all those beauties you have there.

 

Best of luck Diane.

 

--Richie

 

Thanks, Richie!

 

-----

 

Just a few more pics...While I was doing that infamous cleaning (which had been preceded by a feeding of Cyclopeeze), I happened to notice that the water looked even messier than I thought it should be, cleaning and feeding notwithstanding...then I realized the gobies had released their latest batch of babies. I took advantage of the pumps being off to try to get some baby pics, but as always it was harder than heck. But here are a few, anyway. (For some reason I was having a hard time cropping in irfan...I didn't choose those frames, but ended up with them somehow anyway!):

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enough for now!

 

--Diane

 

PS: Sorry again to those whose emoticons I eliminated to get under the limit.

[bluesky]

 

Diane, your new LRs have some crazy coraline on them ... great find. Hope your 5.5 issue will resolve soon.

 

 

 

Enough for now!

 

--Diane

 

OMG ... that's some really nice pics ... and goby babies ...

[divecj5]

Thanks for the explanation of your plans Diane. It was more or less what I thought you were going to do but just thought I'd ask. It sounds like a great idea and I can't wait to see pictures of the 15 once more is transferred over.

 

And Diane, those goby fry pictures are absolutely STUNNING. They are just simply amazing how you've captured them. Another gem from you.

 

Hope you have a safe and happy Memorial Day

[Kraylen]

Let me know when they babies are old enough for adoption!

[tarajean0627]

Oh my goodness Diane I love your blastos!!! I can't wait to see them in the new tank and a ton more pics of them. With how good you are with the camera I know they will be just spectacular! Have a great weekend and definately keep us posted on the new 15 gallon. By the way what filter are you using on it? Or not?

Always

Sarah

[el fabuloso]

I'm gone for a month and I miss all the action! It's a good thing the tank leak wasn't disastrous, I don't know what I'd do if that had happened to my tank. While traveling around over the past month I kept worrying that I'd come home to an empty tank and a wet floor!

[divecj5]

Any news Diane? How are things going with all of your tanks now?

 

Hope all is well and you are having a great Summer up there.

[lilredneckman]

Wow Diane ive been gone for a few weeks and i missed a ton! Im glad that the leak wasn't that bad. I cant wait to see some more pics of the 15 with some coral in it!

[klarion]

Wow, I really missed a lot on your thread, Diane.

 

I'm glad you're expanding!

There is just nothing like that new.... feeling. I'm just sorry it had to come from so much misfortune, but isn't it how life seems to be......and I mean it in the most positive sense possible, that crisis paves the way to success.

 

The coralline on those new rocks is really amazing. Do not get a pencil urchin! Also, I would like to share some worry about my pom-poms with you. I haven't seen them in a week or more and I'm fearing for the worst. Granted, my tank has more caves than Swiss cheese, but it's been the longest time they've gone into hiding.

 

Hoping to see those update pics soon.

[Duncan]

very sharp pictures, you do have an eye for noticing weird stuff going on in the tanks!

[divecj5]

Hey Diane. Just wanted to see how things were going with you. Been a while since I've seen you poking around here.

[Matty1124]

any news?

[Mr. Fosi]

She hasn't posted since mid-June and she hasn't been active since the 27th.

 

I hope we didn't lose her because of the lounge nastiness some weeks ago.

[Matty1124]

i didnt even know she posted in there... i hope shes not gone... i love this tank... and it was about to go through a major change

[Mr. Fosi]

She generally doesn't post in the Lounge but she still sees what goes on. Some of it spilled over into the regular forums too.

 

Hopefully she is just busy with life and hasn't left us for good.

[divecj5]

I hope so too. I keep checking in and checking back on this thread just in the hopes that she didn't leave. She had so much thoughtful insight and great information to share.

 

I would hate it if she left because of something that happened in the lounge and spread into the masses. I didn't realize that she hung out there either. I did for a while but decided to migrate back over into the rest of NR

[spanko]

Never been to the lounge, but it sounds like a place that you need to have even thicker skin than you do out here in no mans land.

 

Oh C est Ma where are you !!!!!

 

[Needreefunds]

Fosi, dive, Henry I agree 100%.

I know she had been upset in the past with some of the craziness that goes on.

 

I do hope you are well Diane, we miss you around here.

 

You bring a unique blend of knowledge, encouragement, kindness, wit and charm to this forum.

 

We really need our Mother duck!

[Pickle010]

I hope everything is OK... Diane's probably one of the best contributors we have here.

 

Come back!!!

[midna]

This tank is gorgeous and to not be able to learn more from it would be very sad indeed. Come back!

[Mr. Fosi]

Well, she stopped by on the 5th but I don't know if she will start posting again.

 

If/when you read this Diane, many of us miss you and we hope that you'll come back despite the nastiness and garbage that seems to make the rounds.

 

Hope all is well with you and yours.

 

~Isaac

[Needreefunds]

Well, she stopped by on the 5th but I don't know if she will start posting again.

 

If/when you read this Diane, many of us miss you and we hope that you'll come back despite the nastiness and garbage that seems to make the rounds.

 

Hope all is well with you and yours.

 

~Isaac

A very big +1 here!

 

Please come back Diane!

 

--Richie

[divecj5]

If/when you read this Diane, many of us miss you and we hope that you'll come back despite the nastiness and garbage that seems to make the rounds.

 

~Isaac

 

I totally agree. I really do miss you following along with my thread and others. You always provided such great insight, knowledge, and clarity to things. You are an incredible asset to this community. Hope that you haven't been lost amongst some garbage that happened somewhere else on here. I don't even know what happened but you are too much to lose because of that.

 

Either way, hope to hear from you in a PM or something else. Hope all is well.

 

Adam

[TJ_Burton]

I totally agree. I really do miss you following along with my thread and others. You always provided such great insight, knowledge, and clarity to things. You are an incredible asset to this community. Hope that you haven't been lost amongst some garbage that happened somewhere else on here. I don't even know what happened but you are too much to lose because of that.

 

Either way, hope to hear from you in a PM or something else. Hope all is well.

 

Adam

 

I would really like to see Diane come back to NR. I really appreciate what Diane brings to the table.

[SPS20]

diane, please come back to us.