250 gl tank

A friend (Jeff) and,my husband and I had a very interesting day today. One of our employees bought a couple of bearded dragons for her kids and wanted a big tank to put them in . She found someone wanting to sell their 6ft long aquarium for $50.00. She said she would give me whatever was in the tank for free. She didn't need the fish and she didn't want them to die. I agreed and immediately got on the phone to Jeff. My husband , Jeff and I headed out to Kilgore,Tx. this morning to clean out the tank and its inhabitants.

Boy were we ever surprised when we walked in. It was a huge tank...250 gl. Originally we figured it was probably around 125 gl. There were only 3 fish but there was so much algae it was hard to see. There was a Trigger and a couple of damsels. THe gal had not done a water change in 2-3 years. All she ever did was to top off. The tank was a DAS type of tank. (filter, sump tank all in one) There was a bunch of LR in there...no coraline...just algae. Actually I think the algae will be fairly easy to get off. Most rocks were not completely covered. I don't know how many lbs of crushed coral there was....a bunch! That was all thrown out along with the bioballs. It's a good thing we were there or they never would have gotten even the water pumped out. The heaters burst as they were fooling with them and the gals pump was burning up. It was all an electrical hazard!!! We threw out all outlet strips and lighting. They were all really cruddy looking and we didn't want to take any chances.

Jeff rolled up his sleeves and got busy taking out rock. We had no idea there was that much rock. Thank goodness we had brought a bunch of tubs , chests, and buckets and most of all and item that no one should be without in this hobby.....SHOP VAC!!! We got out as much water as we could and then went to town with the shop vac getting the rest of the water and the crushed coral. The shop vac is so powerful and really made the job go a lot faster. We changed out the sand bed in my tank the other nite and used the shop vac also and it worked like a charm..

It took 6 men to carry this monster out to the truck and we really could have used more. Their faces were all really red trying to keep from dropping it and at one pt I thought it was going to crash to the floor. The top of the tank cracked a bit as it hit the door. Was too big to go easily through the door. Jeff had thought about buying the tank himself (the one with the pet dragons didn't realize what a monster tank this was and was kind of hoping Jeff would take it off her hands.) I'm really glad that he decided against it. You could hear it cracking a bit when it was forced off the stand it had been sitting on. Jeff got a Magnum 350 canister out of the deal. We'll have to check tomorrow and see if it works.

Anyway, we finally made it back home and put the rock in a new 96 gl trash can. I'm glad I already had 50 gls of salt water already made up. It took every drop of that water and I could probably use 5 gls more. There's probably around 300-400 lbs of live rock and may be more. Jeff is fixed up now with FREE rock for his aggressive tank. I don't know how much live rock costs. I've never bought any. Loyd says he wants an aggressive tank but I don't know about that. We may fix up my 55 gl qt for something now that we have the rock...something small. He's been wanting a lion fish for a long time.

Is a 55 gl big enough for a lion fish?

I'm kind of worn out after all of that. I think I'll be going to bed early tonight.

How was your weekend?

Cindy

 

Wow! What an adventure!
IMO, a 55-gallon is plenty big enough for a lion fish. I had a beautiful lion for a couple of years in a 25-gallon tall hex tank. He didn't have any tankmates, though.
Remember, they love to eat small fish and crustaceans. The aforementioned lion ate a large arrow crab within minutes of being introduced to his new home.

 

Would a lion fish eat a pom-pom crab since it carries its little anemones with it? I think one of those would be pretty neat.

What else would go good in a 55gl with a lion fish?

Cindy

 

Cindy,
I don't know about the pom-pom crab. As I recall (and this was 15-17 years ago) my 6-inch-long lion ate the arrow crab, tried to eat a large coral shrimp (before I rescued him) and regularly ate guppies and goldfish for dinner. The books say that a lionfish shouldn't be trusted around any fish that could fit into its mouth. Having said that, they're not aggressive and do well with tangs and other medium-to-large fish. I wouldn't put a clownfish with one, even if he had an anemone to hide in.

 

O.K. Thanks!

Someone asked if that tank I got the rock from had ever been medicated with copper. I have no idea. If it has can it be treated in some way to make it safe? What are the effects of it on fish if it has been treated with cooper?

Cindy

 

The effects on fish are no big deal, that's part of an ICH treatment.
invertebrates, however it can kill.

Jim

 

I'll get a copper test kit this weekend and check it out. There's a lot of good looking rock in there and it does have some corraline on it, just not a lot of it.

Cindy

 

ya i think that a pom pom would be a nice treat lol...i had once...in my 12 gal before it crashed, they r really cool guys but they r really small...wow 400 lbs of rock! that could be around $1600 good deal!

 

I had a 4" lion fish, with a 10" - 12" blond naso tang and 2 triggers in a 120 gal. The lion fish was introduced last and since he was pretty mush the smallest fish in the tank he never touch any fish. I used to feed him live vitamin boosted molly's that i had aclimated to saltwater in a separate tank. Cheap food cause you buy a male and female and they supply you in babys forever. At the end he started eating frozen preperation for carnivores...

Marc.

 

Beamer,
You said "Jeff got a Magnum 350 canister out of the deal. We'll have to check tomorrow and see if it works."
Does it work? Did you decide to keep it?
-- Steve