phastroh
Do Not Listen To Me!!!
Ok I am not going to do this because I do not think it would work but let me run this plan by you on how I could do the following all within 5 hours say.
The idea is to take my 80 gallon apart to accomplish the following.
1) Remove Mantis(s)
2) Remove Eel
3) Remove Crushed Coral and replace with sand.
4) Use less rock in the tank.
Set up follows.
80 Gal Bowfront
160 Pounds of rock
80 pounds of crushed coral that is part sand part coral.
5 fish
2 stars
2 anemones
1 Eel
Clean up Crew
10 Corals(not glued down)
Supplies
55 Gal Brute
5 Gallon buckets for rocks
40 Gallon can for waste(water and coral.
Shop Vac
10 Gal Tank
2.5 gal tank
Plan
First mix up as much water as I can in the 55 gal Brute, say 50 gallons and maybe get a second can to have 100 gallon on hand.
1) Remove Corals and place them all in the 2.5 gallon Aqueon Tank with no heater.
2) Remove all the rock and place it into buckets and put the anemone rocks safely on top so I don't have to remove them.
3) Drain water down about 75%
4) Remove fish and put them into the 10 gal tank(2 Damsels, 2 Clowns, one Coral Beauty) I was thinking of putting them Damsel in the coral tank just in case but they only chase each other. I can even bag the fish if I have to.
Put my heater in the tank and a small powerhead I have in there.
5) Remove Eel and place in bag for possible trip to store for trade.
6) Remove as much Crushed Coral as I possible can and vac the rest out while trying not to totally remove all the water.
7) Quickly try to find the Mantis as I put the rock back in the tank. I can try to take one rock at a time into my sink and search for it, unless I hear it and or know where it may be.
8) While I am doing this I can have my brother placing the rock we know is ok back into the tank until we have decided this is how we want it and then begin pouring the sand in.
9) Continue adding the sand and rock until we have it all back in.
10) After that using the glass and rock to slow the water we refill the tank using the same water that we took out to fill 1/2 the tank and then put the newly made saltwater back into the tank.
11) After tank clears up put the fish back in the tank and then the corals and Clean up crew.
My biggest concern is the bacteria loss from the Crush Coral and the rocks that sit in the air or have RO/DI water on them while I look for the Mantis.
I am also concerned about the length of time I can leave the fish in the 10 Gal with just a heater and powerhead.
I have 2 bottles of Dr. Tims One and Only but I would not think that I would need it for this operation.
I am not convinced to do this yet and would be very nervous to kill any fish in the process.
I do think it would be better for my Nitrate control in the long run though.
My ultimate plan was to just leave it as is until I get my bigger tank and then just cycle it and then just move any rock I wanted and then acclimate the fish over to the new tank.
Any thoughts or comments.
The idea is to take my 80 gallon apart to accomplish the following.
1) Remove Mantis(s)
2) Remove Eel
3) Remove Crushed Coral and replace with sand.
4) Use less rock in the tank.
Set up follows.
80 Gal Bowfront
160 Pounds of rock
80 pounds of crushed coral that is part sand part coral.
5 fish
2 stars
2 anemones
1 Eel
Clean up Crew
10 Corals(not glued down)
Supplies
55 Gal Brute
5 Gallon buckets for rocks
40 Gallon can for waste(water and coral.
Shop Vac
10 Gal Tank
2.5 gal tank
Plan
First mix up as much water as I can in the 55 gal Brute, say 50 gallons and maybe get a second can to have 100 gallon on hand.
1) Remove Corals and place them all in the 2.5 gallon Aqueon Tank with no heater.
2) Remove all the rock and place it into buckets and put the anemone rocks safely on top so I don't have to remove them.
3) Drain water down about 75%
4) Remove fish and put them into the 10 gal tank(2 Damsels, 2 Clowns, one Coral Beauty) I was thinking of putting them Damsel in the coral tank just in case but they only chase each other. I can even bag the fish if I have to.
Put my heater in the tank and a small powerhead I have in there.
5) Remove Eel and place in bag for possible trip to store for trade.
6) Remove as much Crushed Coral as I possible can and vac the rest out while trying not to totally remove all the water.
7) Quickly try to find the Mantis as I put the rock back in the tank. I can try to take one rock at a time into my sink and search for it, unless I hear it and or know where it may be.
8) While I am doing this I can have my brother placing the rock we know is ok back into the tank until we have decided this is how we want it and then begin pouring the sand in.
9) Continue adding the sand and rock until we have it all back in.
10) After that using the glass and rock to slow the water we refill the tank using the same water that we took out to fill 1/2 the tank and then put the newly made saltwater back into the tank.
11) After tank clears up put the fish back in the tank and then the corals and Clean up crew.
My biggest concern is the bacteria loss from the Crush Coral and the rocks that sit in the air or have RO/DI water on them while I look for the Mantis.
I am also concerned about the length of time I can leave the fish in the 10 Gal with just a heater and powerhead.
I have 2 bottles of Dr. Tims One and Only but I would not think that I would need it for this operation.
I am not convinced to do this yet and would be very nervous to kill any fish in the process.
I do think it would be better for my Nitrate control in the long run though.
My ultimate plan was to just leave it as is until I get my bigger tank and then just cycle it and then just move any rock I wanted and then acclimate the fish over to the new tank.
Any thoughts or comments.