Reef update

[miareefer]

Hey guys
Long time no post so i figured id give you all a little update on things happening on my slice of reef.Ive been spending big over the last few months doing some long overdue upgrades on my 2 setups i crave to have my tanks automated to some degree so have planned most mods to make things more reliable. So i have upgraded all my lighting from 250 watt 6500 k iwasakis to 20000 k corallights globes and bought 2 good skimmers and 2 good pumps and made major mods to my old skimmer ghetto style.And also renewed all my testkits bought a tds meter and a Ph probe. Replumbed my sump upgraded my lighting on my sump from fluro to 10 k 150 watt halide got my reverse osmosis filters renewed. Added a ghetto style algae scrubber to my sump. And have cut my fish stock bigtime. And ive reduced my biological filters by at least half with the aim to remove bit by bit till theres none left and rely on the natural method of filtration with the ability to heavily skim when required.

[miareefer]

Well to be honest ive never really seen 20 k lighting before except on the internet the joys of living in a isolated region.Ime only 200kms away from the great sandy desert and my nearest town is only 300kms away so ime a mailorder junkie .And yes i was a bit blown away with the blue tinge lets just say my house is looking a little blue at the moment. The manufacturer of the globes said that acticnics not required i dont think they where lying at alL. The corals look awesome ive never ever had enough blue in my tanks so its a nice change.

[miareefer]

So heres my sump upgrade ive been growing the same strain of caulepra for 3 years and ive normally only used 60 watt pc lighting so i decided to upgrade to 150 watt halide lighting to improve growth for faster export. My algae scrubber is just a small plastic tray setup above the sump with green turf algae growing in there it doesnt grow under pc lighting but grows very fast under halide lighting. I remove half the tray once a week when its established . Ive also got a amazing red algae that grows like a lettuce its very pretty.

[miareefer]

So i bought 2 venturi counter current skimmers they are 690mm tall and they are rated for 1000 litre systems they are made by a aquaculture company in oz called aquasonic. I was a bit suss on the output for the size but these babys sure can pull a bit out of the water at the time of the photos they have only been running for 48 hours and its some quality skimmate maybe not quantity but its quality what matters i intend to run 2 on the one system so should be a good combo.
I have another skimmer i made a few years ago that didnt really work well infact it couldnt pull the skin of grans rice pudding unless i put a 9000 litre pump to run it . i could get it to work if i put powerheads inside the reaction chamber with a venturi setup and a heap of airstones and it would work to some degree but not efficently. So after reading Rockys thread and all the other DIY skimmer projects i went back to the drawing board and reduced the throat height and width added a twin collection cup setup set it up for some major air injection.I bought a 7000 litre powerhead to run it and a 2000 litre air compressor to give it a bit of sting and a heap of special airstones used in the aquaculture biz for transporting fish these are supposed to have very fine bubbles . Who knows if its going to work for all i know it just might launch out my sump and land on the moon .

[miareefer]

So how does one reduce fish levels in a heavily stocked reef tank without pulling it down it can be a very daunting task i for one can never justify upsetting a DSB moving rocks to remove fish . So after giving this some serious thought it occured to me that catching fish in a 6 foot tank is really no different then catching say reef fish on a coral reef. Professional fisherman utilize fishtraps to say catch red emperor on a coral reef i use a simple wide mouth 3 litre bottle to catch clowns and chromis all i did was not feed for a day then bait up my bottle put it in the tank and whamo presto check out the pics .

[miareefer]

Okay ive got a few pics taken tonight of a few inverts and corals so ill just post away .

[miareefer]

How could i post so many pics without postin my trophy inverts i devote this postin to the loves of my life the things that make my tank different and unique Everybody has inverts like this i doesnt need to be rare or anything unique its just those special things that you have cared and catered for a long period of time. Perhaps your first clam or maybe your first SPS or maybe that other person who helps you fuel your reefing addiction .

[Poseidon]

WOW!!!

Very Cool Mia!! I guess being so far away you REALLY need to MAIL order!! Way to go, looks like wife loosened the spending chain a bit huh?

[zhenya]

Very nice,Mia I like the upgrades you made and that you were able to catch the fish without tearing your reef appart. I might have to give that bottle trick a try becouse I'm just about ready to go to work on my 110g tank as well. I know I'll be able to catch the clown this way but not my two tangs or the foxface,plus I'll probably keep them with exeption of the yellow tang. Your reef looks very nice to me,especially that blue squamosa and your elegance
Like you, most of my eqipment is mailorder,not becouse I can't buy it locally but becouse I refuse to pay stupid prices that LFS wants for dry goods.

[miareefer]

Thanks poseiden and Gene for your kind comments they are always greatly appreciated. As far as the missus cutting me some slack we have recently got engaged and are getting married within the year .Man i can ask for anything at the moment its a very blissfull time. I did the sweet dinner and couple of bottles bubbly and got on the knee and gave her a $2000 dollar credit card from our local travel agent and said it was my commitment to her to getting hitched.So looks like we are getting married somewhere in french polynesia .Excellent chance for a dive here and there.

Gene as far as mailordering its a neccesity ime sure most people wouldnt mind paying a little extra to help out a local LFS but when they are marking up obscene percentages on products it starts to get beyond a joke .

On another note Well done Gene on your effort and contribution to helping Erics Elegance Project. I was impressed with the amount of leg work your willing to put in and your Sizeable financial contribution to really make it work
WELL DONE ...

Also ive taken a few pics of my new skimmer pump and compressor i ordered a 7000 litre pump and they sent me a 12000 litre pump ?Yep there mistake but ime not sure if my pvc fittings will handle the output or my possible marriage will handle the noise.
Take care Mia