GoToSleep's 700g Build Thread (& complete remodel)

Friday the 13th Tank Disaster

So I got the CUC added without a hitch and was feeling pretty good about things. That's when I noticed that my purple montipora had been knocked off it's perch and was resting on the bottom of the tank in a little hole in the aquascaping -- definately not the ideal lighting and flow conditions for this guy. I grabbed the tongs and tried to get the coral out of the hole but the hole was too tiny to get ahold of the coral. There was a fairly small (around 10 lbs) piece of live rock sitting right at the front and I seemed to recall that it was put in place after all the other live rock was set up so I figured that I'd just move it out of the way and then be able to reach the montipora. This is an early shot of the aquascaping but you can see the piece resting on the bottom at the very front of the tank and almost all the way to the right side.



That little hole right behind it is where the monti had fallen. Anyway, as soon as I started to move that one piece of rock, 3 or 4 other big pieces of rock came crashing down. Fortunately, there were 3 brain corals and my new Maxima clam on the sand bed to cushion the fall of the rock . I had several more corals sitting on the rocks that fell and they didn't fare too well either.

I should be worth about 10,000 Karma that when disaster struck, I actually grabbed my camera to take a picture of the devastation for ya'll before I even finished getting things straightened out.



I did get the rock pieces off of the coral before snapping the first pic and this next pic was after I'd used the tongs to pull several of the fallen pieces up to the surface.



The piece of rock right beside the tongs weighs over 20 lbs and it is tipped over from it's original position. No matter how much I struggled with the tongs, I couldn't get that !@#$% piece of rock back into position. I was also starting to get seriously worried that in my haste and frustration, I might cause an even more devastating avalanche.

 

dang that really sucks!

 

yea i knocked like 2 things over today too.

Fortunately my tank is all within arms reach.

I could feel the frustration/panic you might have been experiencing as you recounted the days events.

Glad that you got it all worked out.

You have taught me to never set up a tank more than 24" deep.


Ever....

 

I was just gonna say you should post up in that thread of "what did you do to your tank today"

and then i saw your post.

Maybe the corals will heal?

Hows the glass lookin?

 

Well it does have its rewards as well as its frustrations. The blinds were open when I got back from dinner tonight and the tank really looks amazing even when you see it from outside the house. I'll try to get a pic for ya'll but the weather in VA is pretty nasty tonight with this storm that blew through.

 

Yea, i can only imagine how rewarding it must be when you are watching it...

if i could give you 10k karma at once i would...but it doesnt seem to be working

I just hope that you arent planning on moving... for the rest of your life

I k+'d pufffer just so i could give double K for your episode tonight lol

 

This is the thickest glass I've ever seen and it's completely unscathed. I should be gratefull for that since I've heard of people having their tanks blow out as the result of avalanches. I will be interesting to see how tough the corals are but I realize that I may be stretching my "no dying policy" a little bit here.

 

I think you should try that idea back on like page 10 first...

Somthing about an upside down child and you holding the ankles

 

Well, as I said before, I just wasn't able to maneuver that heavy piece of rock at the end of a 48" pair of tongs so my wife grabbed my daughter's swim goggles for me. I took a deep breath and then took the plunge . This is me perched on a ladder with my feet over 48" above the floor, stripped to the waist and doubled over the side of my tank so that I can reposition a 25 lb piece of rock below the level of my feet while I hold my breath and get my eyes squeezed out of their sockets by a 9-year-old's pair of swim goggles.



Oh yea, while I was trying not to flip entirely into the tank and drown, I kept seeing these bright flashes of light. When I finally came up for a gasp of air, there was my wife holding the camera and laughing her *** off. Thanks Honey.





The good news is that my skin diving technique did allow me to get that first piece of rock approximately back to where it started.

 

dangggggggggggggg that's crazy lol that's basically what i have to do with my tank but on a completly different scale!