09-22-2006, 06:42 PM
major teardown started this week due to an ever-growing brown algae problem. unfortunately this was not due to letting the tank sit in the sun or anything....it was a result of not quarantining new reef rock before putting it in my tank. after 5 years i'm still making stupid noobie mistakes :?
the dead organic matter on new rock (from shipping to the store) results in a ridiculously huge phosphate buildup in the water that i thought i could ignore because i bought a small quantity of rock and i change my water alot. algae, if you didn't know, pretty much loves phosphates in the way i like tony roma's. now every damn peice of rock and all the sand is laced with phosphates that could take years to deplete.
thankfully i can recover the rock by putting it in a strictly zero-light environment for about a month. i also found someone with leftover sand from another project, so no new expenses or anything. tank has been dumped, refilled with sand, and the all rock is in quarantine. the fish and the corals are currently living in a state of the art bucket. ghetto fabulous!
new tank will be pretty hot. totally fresh, clean rock and sand and i'm cooking up a pretty killer aquascape layout. lost a coral or two during the tear down but i've got a lock on a couple freebie that some locals are trading off/getting rid of. and this time...the MM sticker is going on the stand for good luck!
the dead organic matter on new rock (from shipping to the store) results in a ridiculously huge phosphate buildup in the water that i thought i could ignore because i bought a small quantity of rock and i change my water alot. algae, if you didn't know, pretty much loves phosphates in the way i like tony roma's. now every damn peice of rock and all the sand is laced with phosphates that could take years to deplete.
thankfully i can recover the rock by putting it in a strictly zero-light environment for about a month. i also found someone with leftover sand from another project, so no new expenses or anything. tank has been dumped, refilled with sand, and the all rock is in quarantine. the fish and the corals are currently living in a state of the art bucket. ghetto fabulous!
new tank will be pretty hot. totally fresh, clean rock and sand and i'm cooking up a pretty killer aquascape layout. lost a coral or two during the tear down but i've got a lock on a couple freebie that some locals are trading off/getting rid of. and this time...the MM sticker is going on the stand for good luck!
2010 Civic Si
2019 4Runner TRD Off-Road
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Past: 03 Xterra SE 4x4 | 05 Impreza 2.5RS | 99.5 A4 Quattro 1.8T | 01 Accord EX | 90 Maxima GXE | 96 Explorer XLT
2019 4Runner TRD Off-Road
--------------------------
Past: 03 Xterra SE 4x4 | 05 Impreza 2.5RS | 99.5 A4 Quattro 1.8T | 01 Accord EX | 90 Maxima GXE | 96 Explorer XLT