55 Gallons of Eye Candy

Thanks I appreciate the words of encouragement.

 

Man that is a huge loss, sorry to read about this.
Not sure I would be as ready to try it again as you are... Very inspiring...
Best of luck to you in re-establishing your tank.

 

sorry to hear about your experience...I didn't read your entire thread so this question may have already been asked....how long has your tank been running? If this happened right after you added the fuge, then most likely it's something from the silicon, I'm just curious as to how long the tank been running.

 

My tank was up for almost seven months before the loss.

 

In the words of Joe Dirt "keep on keeping on"

 

Well over the weekend I started the process of creating my refugium. I added Mineral Mud and bought some live rock. I removed all of the rock from the display tank. Found on of my snails that was still alive. I removed all dead worms and debris on the bottom. Put the rock back in. By next weekend I will be able to add algae and start the process of cycling the tank. Will continue to keep everyone posted...

 

Best wishes on this man ....it's a tough pill to swallow but persistence will pay off. Did you keep the existing substrate? Nice looking tank, btw.

 

Yea I kept the existing substrate. Really vacuumed it up good. Everyday its getting a little better.

 

UPDATE: Over the weekend I got some live sand and some algae from the lfs (kind enough to just give it to me ). The refugium is up and running. I believe that the algae will be a good indication of my water quality. Carbon really helped with the water quality (smell, look, etc).
Until the next update....

 

Sorry for your losses. We've all made mistakes that have cost us something or everything. Glad to see that it didn't kill your desire to be a part of this hobby.

If you decide to redo your silicone job or do any more sealing get the DAP clear from HomeDepot or Lowes. It's 100% silicone with no anti-anythings. The containers say "not for aquarium use" but so do all of them that will work and aren't made specifically for the industry. I feel it's just a disclaimer to remove any liability. I use the DAP clear 100% on anything I need to seal/silicone, it's perfectly safe.
Something to remember is white silicone=bad, usually contains anti-fungals. That's pretty much the rule for any that doesn't cure clear. Also let your beads cure for 24+ hours before putting them to use.