The Fire Swamp's 50g SCA Starfire Cube- 🔥🐊. Upgrade Coming Soon

[ECLS Reefer]

SCA Starfire 50g cube with sump

Started (4/16/19)

 

Equipment: 

Current Orbit Marine LED w/ Eflux wave pump 660gph x2

Inkbird temperature controller

Smart ATO micro

Atman 2500 return pump

Atman 1100 skimmer pump

SCA 301 skimmer

In Tank Fluval Chamber 2 media basket

 

Filter Media: Seachem Purigen 100gm x2 bag

                      Seachem Phosbond 100gm bag

                      Fluval 100gm carbon x2 bag

                      Seachem Matrix Carbon 300gm

                      Seachem Matrix 150gm

                      Seachem De*Nitrate 300gm

                      In Tank Filter floss x2

 

Substrate/Aquascape:

Carib Sea Hawaiian Black Live Sand x 50lbs

Purple live rock from LFS~ 20lbs

Fiji live sand from LFS~ 14lbs

Maori live rock from LFS- 26lbs

 

Livestock: 

Electric blue hermit crab x2

Halloween hermit crab x2

Dwarf blue hermit crab x2

Dwarf red hermit crab x9

Randall's shrimp (red banded pistol)

Bumble bee snails x3

Trochus snails x 4

Cerith snail x1

 

BRISTLE WORMS!!!! 

 

Star polyp x 2 (one split into two sections thanks to hermits, so there’s three-ish)

Palys x1 (nebula)

Hairy mushroom x3 (all on one big rock)

Hammer x 1

Torch x1

Superman Montipora x1

Strawberry shortcake Acropora x1

Zoa x3

Sun coral x1

Red and white gorgonian x1

Bubble tip anemone x1

[ECLS Reefer]

So this was my post from yesterday, when we moved our Evo tank stock into the new tank.

 

Yesterday, we set up my new SCA 50g tank with sump. It was a rather harrowing task because my assistant doesn’t like honey-do projects nor putting stuff together, and he had to suffer through both. At the end of it all we got it together and fixed all the leaks, and let it run. 

 

Today I moved the Evo inhabitants over, and their water, and watched as a disaster slowly took place right before my eyes, that I couldn’t fix. Granted, I have to witness this frequently for a living, but as if been doing so well with my little tank, I didn’t expect such horror to occur. I lost all three remaining fish, over the course of about three hours. The Red Baron. Dangly Bells. My corals have been fine the whole time, and it seems the crabs and Snappy at this time will pull thru, as well as all the bumble bee snails and possibly a couple trochus. My son mourned like he’d lost one of our dogs. Truth be told, I was as upset as he, and powerless to fix it. Every parameter checked out okay but pH, which I’ve tried fixing all day. I’m not sure if it’s the new liverock that caused this, or just what exactly. I’m at a loss, with no obvious answers in the water test. 

 

Today is definitely a failure for the books. 😢

[ECLS Reefer]

Today, I have fought the battle of too high kH. It took dosing the tank with baking soda last night to buffer out the pH enough that it would stay above 7. My guess is the new liverock and live sand just weren't cycled enough, though I thought that with moving their current water and live rock in as well would help keep it to a short cycle. Only problem was something new to the tank leached the pH right down to toxic levels, and the fish didn't tolerate the move. Fought the acidity all day with kalk but it didn't help. In the end it truly buffered the pH with the dose of bicarb. Only problem was, the kH shot up and that deeply upset the corals. The crabs and snails seem to have weathered all of this move, which makes me happy. I'm pretty sure the Randal's pistol shrimp is still okay as well. The water was murky all day until this evening. I ended up doing more than one fair sized water change today- a 30% and then a 20% later. I also did a very slow exchange over most of the day using the skimmer drain, allowing it to pull off multiple gallons of water and replacing with distilled water or SW depending on salinity. The kH was so high! 350ish. I ended the night on 256.6. I'll let the tank settle over night and if it needs more adjustment in the morning, I'll do another 20% water change. All other parameters are perfect at this time. Following dosing the tank with Dr Tim's and Microbacter 7, there was a small nitrite bloom up to 0.25, but it was already gone this morning. The corals were very pissed all day, but by tonight they were pondering opening back up and participating. The gorgonian has been happy the whole time, so at least I didn't kill him. 

 

It's been a tough two days for me, working to build then save my tank. I'm guessing I made one of the rookiest mistakes out there, being impatient and moving my stock over too soon, rather than letting the new tank settle and cycle longer. I'll never make that mistake again. I just hope that a nights rest for both me and the tank will show the kH to be even lower, back towards normal to start the day.

[WV Reefer]

6 hours ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

SCA Starfire 50g cube with sump

Started (4/16/19)

 

Equipment: 

Current Orbit Marine LED w/ Eflux wave pump 660gph x2

Inkbird temperature controller

Smart ATO micro

Atman 2500 return pump

Atman 1100 skimmer pump

SCA 301 skimmer

In Tank Fluval Chamber 2 media basket

 

Filter Media: Seachem Purigen 100gm x2 bag

                      Seachem Phosbond 100gm bag

                      Fluval 100gm carbon x2 bag

                      Seachem Matrix Carbon 300gm

                      Seachem Matrix 150gm

                      Seachem De*Nitrate 300gm

                      In Tank Filter floss x2

 

Substrate/Aquascape:

Carib Sea Hawaiian Black Live Sand x 50lbs

Purple live rock from LFS~ 20lbs

Fiji live sand from LFS~ 14lbs

Maori live rock from LFS- 26lbs

 

Livestock: 

Electric blue hermit crab x2

Halloween hermit crab x2

Dwarf blue hermit crab x2

Dwarf red hermit crab x9

Randall's shrimp (red banded pistol)

Bumble bee snails x3

Trochus snails x 4

Cerith snail x1

 

BRISTLE WORMS!!!! 

 

Star polyp x 2 (one split into two sections thanks to hermits, so there’s three-ish)

Palys x1 (nebula)

Hairy mushroom x3 (all on one big rock)

Hammer x 1

Torch x1

Superman Montipora x1

Strawberry shortcake Acropora x1

Zoa x3

Sun coral x1

Red and white gorgonian x1

Bubble tip anemone x1

 

I hate that you had issues with the transfer but the tank looks great. 😊

 

We all make mistakes and sometimes there is no way of knowing until it’s too late. Hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here on out. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

Wow, Holly that tank looks so nice!! Did you order that online or local store have it??

[ECLS Reefer]

59 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Wow, Holly that tank looks so nice!! Did you order that online or local store have it??

Thanks! It’s an amazon package deal. The plumbing though- I designed it from pictures I’ve seen of other sumps. With help from my grumpy assistant 🙄. 

 

 

[ECLS Reefer]

2 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

 

I hate that you had issues with the transfer but the tank looks great. 😊

 

We all make mistakes and sometimes there is no way of knowing until it’s too late. Hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here on out. 

I sure hope so! The corals looked like they were all pondering coming back to life when I went to bed last night. I am about to build up the courage to go look at the tank 😬. Sure hope I see something positive. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

1 minute ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

Thanks! It’s an amazon package deal. The plumbing though- I designed it from pictures I’ve seen of other sumps. With help from my grumpy assistant 🙄. 

 

 

Oh  nice...I've looked at those tanks before. I really like them, but funds are never there lol. I think Katie would like a nice looking tank like that. I'm going to be doing a sump for the first time with the 75g. Should be fun doing the plumbing lol.

2 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I sure hope so! The corals looked like they were all pondering coming back to life when I went to bed last night. I am about to build up the courage to go look at the tank 😬. Sure hope I see something positive. 

fingers crossed!!

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

Oh  nice...I've looked at those tanks before. I really like them, but funds are never there lol. I think Katie would like a nice looking tank like that. I'm going to be doing a sump for the first time with the 75g. Should be fun doing the plumbing lol.

fingers crossed!!

I enjoy putting stuff together like that plumbing. It’s always the impatient husband that makes the job frustrating and we bitch at each other like two cats. But it’s done, with fixtures for future add ons like two media reactors. I tried to make it so I planned ahead. And I put screw on fixtures so it can be unscrewed and pulled out if needed. 

[StinkyBunny]

2 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

. But it’s done, with fixtures for future add ons like two media reactors. I tried to make it so I planned ahead. And I put screw on fixtures so it can be unscrewed and pulled out if needed. 

You are learning Grasshoppa.

 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

8 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

I enjoy putting stuff together like that plumbing. It’s always the impatient husband that makes the job frustrating and we bitch at each other like two cats. But it’s done, with fixtures for future add ons like two media reactors. I tried to make it so I planned ahead. And I put screw on fixtures so it can be unscrewed and pulled out if needed. 

yup when Katie and I do projects we usually bicker back and forth lol. You did a good job though. It looks really clean.

[righttirefire]

When did this happen? I dont remember this being under discussion

[StinkyBunny]

23 minutes ago, righttirefire said:

When did this happen? I dont remember this being under discussion

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

yup when Katie and I do projects we usually bicker back and forth lol. You did a good job though. It looks really clean.

Thanks I feel pretty proud of myself for copying the pictures so well. Helps being an HVAC/plumbers daughter too. 

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, righttirefire said:

When did this happen? I dont remember this being under discussion

That’s why I’ve been absent for a few days. Busy. Not to mention I’ve been hard core procrastinating on my homework. Have a paper to write today and two kids who are not conducive to homework at all. 🤦🏽‍♀️

[ECLS Reefer]

1 hour ago, righttirefire said:

When did this happen? I dont remember this being under discussion

That and I was so ashamed that so many of my critters died from my stupidity. 😢. Not used to failing at keeping things alive. Well, not too used to it I’d say. I do get my share of unsavable patients unfortunately. That’s how I felt Wednesday. 

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

4 minutes ago, Dirté Sanchez said:

Thanks I feel pretty proud of myself for copying the pictures so well. Helps being an HVAC/plumbers daughter too. 

That does help. I'll probably have to visit university of youtube when I finally get mine started. Looks like the cichlids are going to the lfs this weekend. The 75 build will be starting soon and I'll have to learn plumbing lol.

[Snow_Phoenix]

Congrats on the upgrade! Sorry to hear the transfer didn't go as smoothly as planned.

 

I'm upgrading my 20G to a 60G in the next 1 to 2 weeks and I'm nervous as heck. It's supposed to be a simple TT, but I think I'll re-add my fish slowly, in pairs at a time. My greatest concern has and always will be NTS whenever I do the TT method for tanks. I've had some upgrades go smoothly, and some of them go very badly too. 

 

 

[ECLS Reefer]

13 minutes ago, DSFIRSTSLTWATER said:

That does help. I'll probably have to visit university of youtube when I finally get mine started. Looks like the cichlids are going to the lfs this weekend. The 75 build will be starting soon and I'll have to learn plumbing lol.

I looked up pictures of what people had done with this actual tank. The cleanest job was one I found done on a SCA 66g and I liked it, so I did my best to copy it. Would have been better but more time consuming to measure everything exactly, but my husband's patience level does not include extra time for measurements, so it was more of an eyeball job. But at least its working!

[ECLS Reefer]

11 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Congrats on the upgrade! Sorry to hear the transfer didn't go as smoothly as planned.

 

I'm upgrading my 20G to a 60G in the next 1 to 2 weeks and I'm nervous as heck. It's supposed to be a simple TT, but I think I'll re-add my fish slowly, in pairs at a time. My greatest concern has and always will be NTS whenever I do the TT method for tanks. I've had some upgrades go smoothly, and some of them go very badly too. 

 

 

What I should have done was bagged the fish and done a drip method to get them used to it. I thought since I was using all their water, and water I made which is what they're used to, it would be okay. I didn't factor in the new rock making the water so acidic. Or the sand. regardless of whatever it was, it shocked them right to death, quickly. But now I've learned a painful lesson.

[StinkyBunny]

24 minutes ago, Snow_Phoenix said:

Congrats on the upgrade! Sorry to hear the transfer didn't go as smoothly as planned.

 

I'm upgrading my 20G to a 60G in the next 1 to 2 weeks and I'm nervous as heck. It's supposed to be a simple TT, but I think I'll re-add my fish slowly, in pairs at a time. My greatest concern has and always will be NTS whenever I do the TT method for tanks. I've had some upgrades go smoothly, and some of them go very badly too. 

 

 

If you have the room, do several water changes and add the old water to the new tank. That way you acclimate the fish and you get bacteria and food for the new tank. 

[FISHnChix]

2 hours ago, righttirefire said:

When did this happen? I dont remember this being under discussion

Right!!!.. this is big news. Wtf???? I feel so left out🤣

[ECLS Reefer]

12 minutes ago, FISHnChix said:

Right!!!.. this is big news. Wtf???? I feel so left out🤣

No, I didn’t make a huge deal out of it. Besides the Lounge is awkward these days. I spend more time stalking rather than commenting. And good thing I didn’t make a big deal, since it went over like a turd in the church offering plate. 

[ECLS Reefer]

21 minutes ago, StinkyBunny said:

If you have the room, do several water changes and add the old water to the new tank. That way you acclimate the fish and you get bacteria and food for the new tank. 

I put all their water in the tank, the live rock and their sand. Wanted to make sure they got all their bacteria moved with them. Also used their media from the tank too for the same reasons. I can only think it had to be the new live rock or live sand. But still, my mistake for not acclimating them appropriately.

[DSFIRSTSLTWATER]

Just now, Dirté Sanchez said:

No, I didn’t make a huge deal out of it. Besides the Lounge is awkward these days. I spend more time stalking rather than commenting. And good thing I didn’t make a big deal, since it went over like a turd in the church offering plate. 

I does suck that we can't talk about things sometimes. The whole world seems to think the sky is falling lol.