melev

After 18 months, the 215g tank is finally gone. The tank, the stand, the canopy, the doors, the sump beneath... all of it is now in Mississippi, eight hours away. I posted the tank up for sale as soon as it was empty of livestock, and it sold in an hour. The owner knew it was a great deal, and a lot of local hobbyists bemoaned that sale because they wanted it as well. I just wanted it out of the fishroom because I needed the space.

Two days ago, I posted up on DFWMAS' forum that some extra hands would be appreciated at 1:00 p.m. today to help get it out of that corner, through the door leading into the garage and onto the waiting truck. I bribed those potential minions with frags, and they showed up ready to lift. Frank's Tanks lent me eight suction cups again, which made the job easier. Once the tank and stand were out of the fishroom, I reinstalled the door on its hinges to trap out the cold weather that has struck Texas seemingly overnight. A few days ago we were in the 80s, and now we are warned of icy road conditions and below freezing temperatures.

With the truck carefully loaded, everyone got their frags and headed out. I met a few club members that haven't been to a meeting yet, so it was a nice get-together.

Remember when I said I was missing an Anthias? I found it on the floor behind the stand when we moved it out.

The fishroom is actually accessible now.

I moved most of the corals out of the frag tank into the 400g this evening. This frag was growing like crazy lately, and had to be busted off the eggcrate. And a lot of algae got exported from frag tank while I was in there. The big chalice broke into three pieces, unfortunately. Two pieces are in the 400g and one piece is still in the frag tank. And a sliver went to my tank sitter.

In other news, I downloaded the EcoSmart Live app to my iPhone, which is even easier than the browser version. This background was taken of my 400g back in September 2011. Hoping to get a new picture in nine months.

Since the conversion from the 215g to the 400g+60g tanks, the alkalinity of the tank has dropped and that has required supplementing daily with some Alkalinity dosing. I take a red Solo cup and fill it with RO water and add 5 tsp of baked baking soda and stir it well. Once it is fully dissolved, I trickle it into the tank very slowly for about 90 seconds to give that parameter a boost. The calcium reactor has been adjusted slightly to make up for the difference, but this takes time and small tweaks may be necessary for a few more days to find the sweet spot once more.