Hurricane Sandy - Before / After

[jpkrze]

Looking for some advice and what I should do with this tank now. It was an awesome 3yr old SPS reef (30x30x18H) and now it is a coral graveyard. 100% dead corals / fish , even zoas are all dead. I did a 50% water change and the tank no longer smells (man do dead acros stink!). What would you guys do if you were me? Start over with SPS, Nem/Clown Tank, Zoas only tank, try breeding fish, or just take it down (currently how Im leaning). The only positive from this is that my GF now has plenty of bleached coral to use as house decorations!

RIP - Hawkins, Strawberry shortcake, Pink Lemonade, Joe the Coral, Spongodes, Ponape, Tri-Color, Red-Planet, Aussie Torch / Hammer

 

[mnat]

That was an amazing tank, so sorry for your losses. If you can do it, start over. We went through this exact scenario in March of 2009 when we lost power for three days and crashed 3 tanks. I just put up a post in this thread about the first steps of starting over:

http://www.njreefers.org/showthread.php?79274-What-to-do-first

Good luck and keep asking questions.

 

[motortrendz]

Here's my before and after. I wad down for 5 days after the hurricane. And was not home for 8 bc I was out on the barrier islands working with the fire dept. I was able to save a few fish bc they actually let me catch them. I saved my 2 snowcassos, 2 Darwin's, my vlamingi tang and my naso. All my wrasses and other fish perished bc of the highly toxic water and low temps(50 degrees) I was able to put the fish in 2-5galon pails with heaters and an air pump put some ammonia lock and a small bag of carbon brought them to the firehouse and let them sit there for 6 days.

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[motortrendz]

Looking for some advice and what I should do with this tank now. It was an awesome 3yr old SPS reef (30x30x18H) and now it is a coral graveyard. 100% dead corals / fish , even zoas are all dead. I did a 50% water change and the tank no longer smells (man do dead acros stink!). What would you guys do if you were me? Start over with SPS, Nem/Clown Tank, Zoas only tank, try breeding fish, or just take it down (currently how Im leaning). The only positive from this is that my GF now has plenty of bleached coral to use as house decorations!

RIP - Hawkins, Strawberry shortcake, Pink Lemonade, Joe the Coral, Spongodes, Ponape, Tri-Color, Red-Planet, Aussie Torch / Hammer

View attachment 4479View attachment 4480

I would do what you love. Break it down clean it up do some water changes, change the filters and get her started again. Take your time. I lost everything myself. I changed my rockwork a bit for a more open scape. Ive also lost every last piece of coral I was propogating. So I will be starting up all over again myself. But ill be going slow. Getting the tanks ready and then placing coral orders in the spring.

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[jpkrze]

I hear you. I did a clean up job on the tank and pulled all the dead corals etc. Started re-scaping the rocks. Running carbon, heavy skimming. Probably start with just some fish and then see if SPS itch catches me again.

 

[motortrendz]

It will. I said I wasn't gonna get sps for a little while And as I was doing the scape I was like man this spot would be perfect for a nice branching colony this spot for a birdsnest, Bla Bla. It will be there before you put the fish in.

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[jpkrze]

Tank is all clean now, just a hint of ammonia. Since its empty, Im looking for stocking ideas. What would you guys suggest for a 30x30x18 tank? trying to stay with smaller size fish to keep a good sense of scale / proportion.

 

[mnat]

A 70g cube like that you could have a lot of fun. We have always loved a lot of small fish vs a few large ones and I think that strategy would work great for that tank.

Helfrichi firefish or purples depending on your taste
Anthias: Look for the smaller ones
A flasher wrasse pair
Gobies, we have always liked the yashas with pistol shrimp
Pair of clowns
Dwarf angel if you don't mind if it might nip at some SPS

 

[Coolaid]

If it where my tank, I'd def. go with a fairy wrasse pair for sure. Goby and pistol (because I can't have a tank without them) I'm also a fan of Cromis.. I know people look down on them, but they are very personable and pretty fish. I also like Domino Damsels, and Sulfer damsels. Maybe a Mandarin down the road. Maybe a assessor or a Swissguard Basslet. not really that unique in terms of fish, but that's the list of my favs.

I also really want to do a pair of Maroon gold bar clowns once I get the 90 going. I really like flame angels and lemon peels too, but I'm so worried about them picking my my corals. I don't have any sps yet, but I heard they pick on clam mantles, and lps as well.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

If it where my tank, I'd def. go with a fairy wrasse pair for sure. Goby and pistol (because I can't have a tank without them) I'm also a fan of Cromis.. I know people look down on them, but they are very personable and pretty fish. I also like Domino Damsels, and Sulfer damsels. Maybe a Mandarin down the road. Maybe a assessor or a Swissguard Basslet. not really that unique in terms of fish, but that's the list of my favs.

I also really want to do a pair of Maroon gold bar clowns once I get the 90 going. I really like flame angels and lemon peels too, but I'm so worried about them picking my my corals. I don't have any sps yet, but I heard they pick on clam mantles, and lps as well.

I will never add a dwarf angel to my reef ever, ever again. I just rehomed my lemon peel. It killed a clam, some SPS, zoas, acans, favia and wellso. As you can see, it took me a bit to figure out it was the angel and not me killing the corals.

 

[adesimone1]

We have a African flame back Angel in our reef and he is a model citizen. We had a little bristle tooth tang and he keeps the tank spotless in a 70 cube and it was packed with coral.

 

[TanksNStuff]

I've had an Eibli Angel (dwarf) in my tank for quite a while and it's been a model citizen. Never even looked at a coral and is a fairly timid fish in regards to aggressiveness.

When I first got him, I quarantined him for a month in my nano (observation only, no signs of any diseases, etc.) and I added some various types of corals in there with him to see if I was going to have any problems. I had a few small pieces of sps, couple different zoas, some anthelia (was actually hoping he might like some of that, lol) and an acan. I also had a couple snails and crabs in there.

Everything was completely safe and sound at the end of the QT period, so I was pretty confident when he went in the DT. It's been over a year and he hasn't changed yet.

Granted, all species have exceptions... but these are said to be one of the most "reef safe" of the dwarves. Pretty fish too!

 

[jpkrze]

Picked up a nice little Flameback Angel the other day. Also added a Springeri Dottyback and Tailspot blenny. Tank is slowly coming back but tons of GHA on the dead SPS coral branches. Amazingly some microscopic zoas are starting to appear where the old colonies died off!

 

[jpkrze]

So the SPS addiction has kicked back in. Just picked up a few small sticks over the weekend. Maybe I'll turn this thread into a Before / After / Rebirth thread. Just need a few more corals before I can post a decent rebirth pic.