Novahobbies' 37g column tank reset build

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Going to be a slow build, but it was past time to do a reset on this tank. Let me give you some particulars:

This tank has been for the longest time a seahorse tank for H. erectus horses. When it was time to move past the horses, we kept this tank with a pair of clowns and a few other fish. Recently a Velvet infestation swept through the tank and killed EVERYTHING off in a matter of days. I kept the tank fallow for a month, all the while battling a nasty rust red algae/bacteria outbreak that I just could not get ahead of, despite the tank being fish free and not fed. After the tank was fallow, I added a single fish to the system to see how it would do.......and it died in 3 days.

So.........to heck with it. Time for a 100% reset. New sand, new rocks, 100% water change and complete teardown and cleaning. I started with this....


See all that orange crap? At first I thought my GFO went haywire. Then I realized it was some kind of algae bloom. Horrific stuff. I personally suspect dinoflagellates.

I pulled everything out and completely drained it. The few living snails went through a short QT, a scrubbing, and will be rehomed in my main tank. My old rock was thrown out, as was the sand. I kept a couple pieces of really shapely rock, but not sure if it's going back in here or not.



Refilling time. Just fresh tap water for now....


Water and a lot of vinegar has been added. That should make the coraline easy to remove. Once this is done, I'll drain the system, wash it, and restart it. I'm going to use Bahamas Gold for the sand bed, and I'm making a Bonsai style rock bommie for the corals. Filtration will be a Cascade HOB filter, a Tunze nano skimmer (all stuff from the previous incarnation) and a Chinese full spectrum LED.

As for fish, we're up in the air. I know for certain there will be a pair of clowns (hopefully some Extreme Snow Onyx clowns, since those are the Wife's favorite) and a Potter's leopard wrasse. After that, I don't know. I will probably keep a squaretail bristletooth or Kole tang. Yes, the rockwork will be open to allow a tang to circle the column. Although it's not my choice, we may decide to raise juvenile angels in here as well. Wife loves the look of baby annularis and semicircularis angels, and I'm willing to put one in as long as she understands that the fish has to be swapped out once it's "grown out" to 3 inches or so. Other than that, I don't know. Depending on the choice of corals, I may do a couple clown gobies, but that's about it. Any fish list suggestions would be welcome!
 

flower

Well-Known Member
You could boil the rock and keep it for base rock... I wouldn't just throw it out.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
Yeah, I think a reset on that tank was in order. Judging by your other build, this one should be interesting to watch... as well.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Well, I'm not rebuilding the stand or adding extra bookcases to this one, lol. Tho' the current stand WILL likely get a repaint at least...and I want Michelle to paint some cherry blossoms on it to match the rest of the bedroom.
I poured a quart of white vinegar into the tank yesterday night. I'd say about 80% of the coraline is off the glass now. Still have a stubborn spot where it was REALLY thick.
 

pegasus

Well-Known Member
A single edge razor blade should knock it right off... if you have the proper holder for the blade. If worse comes to worse, you can always hold the blade with your fingers very, very carefully. ;)
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
All right, the coralline is GONE! That one patch really was thick, and a pain to get off. I wound up having to risk life and limb (well, fingers) and use a razor blade. Time to empty the tank again and stat shopping for sand. Figures the one I want seems to be the priciest right now.

The rockwork is, as I mentioned, going to be done in sort of a bonsai fashion. I need to get some hydraulic cement to bond these pieces together. I have family obligations on Saturday, but I think Sunday Funday will be spent messing about in tanks.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Oh, and what do you think -- get new gel & reapply the blue background......or just spray paint the back blue? I'm thinking of spraying it.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Not much of an update, but an update nonetheless. I ordered my sunset gold sand today....very pretty gold sand reminiscent of the beaches in the Bahamas I've visited. Should be here Wednesday. A single 20 lb bag will be enough to give me a 1.5" sandbed for this size tank. I'm draining the vinegar water solution from the tank tomorrow, and will be picking up some hydraulic cement from Home Depot as well.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
I'm getting pretty excited about this build! Sand is coming mid-week. I am getting some fiberglass rod for the rock build tomorrow (never made it to HD today) so I'll start testing rock sculptures tomorrow night. I want to keep some coral in here, but I don't want another big mixed reef that's heavy on the SPS like my main 110g display tank. I'm thinking of theming this tank so it's mostly a zoa and ricordea garden, with a single anemone somewhere and POSSIBLY a couple chalices near the bottom. Since I know I will be getting an anemone and I know it will be the only one in the house....I'm going to look for a nice sunburst bubble tip 'nem.

Fish list is still up in the air. The only thing I know for sure is that there will be a pair of clowns (Wife demand #1), and an angelfish of some kind (Wife demand #2). My graile fish for this tank will be a Potters wrasse. After that, the canvas is really blank.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
A few progress shots. Got the back painted tonight:



And.......The Wife started playing with ideas for cherry blossoms on the stand. I don't think this is the final product, but it looks great!


You can see one of the rocks I'm going to use sitting on top of the tank as well.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
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My evening project, curing from the hydraulic cement. Doesn't look like much now, but.....once it's upright and positioned nicely in the tank, I think we're gonna see something real nice here. Fingers crossed.
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
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I was going for an "undersea bonsai" look for this sculpture. Something that looked like it could have formed naturally, but in heavy twisting currents maybe. Not sure if I achieved my goal 100%, but it's definitely visually interesting and full of nooks and crannies for future fish to explore. What do you all think?
 

novahobbies

Well-Known Member
Oh yeah. Such a shame, it was beautiful for a long time. Not sure what caused it to go south like that, but....shtuff happens. The reset is allowing me to do a few things with the tank that I've been meaning to do anyway. Paint the back properly, etc.

I added 10g of NSW to the tank today, and I'm making RODI to mix SW to top it off right now. I should have it ready to start the filter by tomorrow night.
 
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