I set up a biocube 14 reef about three years ago. With rocks, sand and equipment, it held about 10 gallons of water. I traded for a couple of small frags and bought a pair of baby clown fish at my first frag swap.
Things grew, I was happy. The tank was stable and flourishing. Then it started getting crowded and I started thinking about upgrading - but I procrastinated. I had a crazy, complicated plan that involved plumbing tanks together, building my own this, that or the other thing - you know - my next tank was going to do everything this one didn't.
Last weekend, I went out of town for a couple of days. When I got back I discovered that something (I think it was the fiji leather) had become unhappy and started a chemical fight. I should have started ripping things out of the tank, but I thought I could save it. I did huge water changes, I stuffed bags of carbon in the tank, but in a horrible domino effect over the next few hours, I lost my shrimp, all of my coral, and the entire clean up crew. The tank was teetering on the edge of something happening and I knew it, but I was lazy and didn't feel like doing the work.
I've managed to save the fish, the crabs and possibly one frag of GSP that was the very first coral I got from Dubs. Hopefully they'll be safe and happy in the new tank that I should have set up last year...
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
Things grew, I was happy. The tank was stable and flourishing. Then it started getting crowded and I started thinking about upgrading - but I procrastinated. I had a crazy, complicated plan that involved plumbing tanks together, building my own this, that or the other thing - you know - my next tank was going to do everything this one didn't.
Last weekend, I went out of town for a couple of days. When I got back I discovered that something (I think it was the fiji leather) had become unhappy and started a chemical fight. I should have started ripping things out of the tank, but I thought I could save it. I did huge water changes, I stuffed bags of carbon in the tank, but in a horrible domino effect over the next few hours, I lost my shrimp, all of my coral, and the entire clean up crew. The tank was teetering on the edge of something happening and I knew it, but I was lazy and didn't feel like doing the work.
I've managed to save the fish, the crabs and possibly one frag of GSP that was the very first coral I got from Dubs. Hopefully they'll be safe and happy in the new tank that I should have set up last year...
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/extension/
