[miareefer]

Hi
Ime sorry for not Posting for so long guys i hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me for being a non contributing member of this site .A lot of things have changed for me as far as work and family commitments over the last 6 months so i havent had the time to do little else other the work Reef and be a Dad .

Changes to the System in say the last 6 months .
Beckett skimmer
2 x Tunze 6100
Bigger Zeovit filter
Removal of all LPS and Flubber
Overall new Aquascaping
Bought 20k then 14k and have settled on 10k lighting as the best.
Auto topoff for topup
New 5 stage RODI unit
2nd chamber for Calcium Reactor

[miareefer]

Heres the old and heres the New

[zhenya]

Hey,hey... that's not going to work my friend. Where's the picture of the tank? J/K.

Nice to hear from you again, the new gadgets look super.

Don't worry about not contributing for a while, we all have real life that needs tending and we all understand.

[miareefer]

This is without a doubt the best place to hang out and here the Beckett sing in full steam. Some ppl reckon they are noisy but i think its music to my ears.(Noisier the better )
Becketts are becoming very popular here in Australia there is nobody Importing them into OZ but there a few Fellow Reefers making Knockoff models that are Amazing in construction and performance .For those that are curious heres the link http://www.aquaticaaustralia.com.au/beckett.htm

[miareefer]

Okay this is what it looked like after i dumped the DSB and used some special racks to get it all of the bottom of the tank .Gee it all sounded good in theory but the tank was OVERLOADED with rock and this system failed as nitrate and Phos levels increased due to poor flow capabilties and a huge increase of waste caught up in the Dead spots . My SPS capability was non existant at this point and i tried to nut out a better way of setting the tank up

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by miareefer

Gee it all sounded good in theory but the tank was OVERLOADED with rock and this system failed as nitrate and Phos levels increased due to poor flow capabilties and a huge increase of waste caught up in the Dead spots .

Do you mean to say that levels of PO4 and NO3 increased after sand bed removal or before hand?
How's things now? FWIW, it does look like you have tons of rock in that picture, did you remove some?
How's that Elegance coral doing?

[miareefer]

After many many hours of deliberation it occured to me i needed to make a permanet fix to support the rock work and maintain great flow so i could keep everything in suspension .
This is not as easy as it seems let me give you the tip.
Turning point was thinking of a way to make 3 individual sections of reef independant of eachother but when all 3 are in a line they would appear as one So that if one failed 2 would be fine Preventing mass reefslides .So i decided to elevate all my rock using nice rock for the legs and using a 25mm holesaw to drill my rock and using 25mm pvc pipe and about 100 cable ties to thread all the rock together.
Complicated you better believe it but worth the effort because everthing is very stable and flow is excellent at 30 x turnover .On discovery she is now known as cable reef

[miareefer]

Originally Posted by zhenya

Do you mean to say that levels of PO4 and NO3 increased after sand bed removal or before hand?
Nah it was all due to low flow and rocks that where leaching sand and building up in the rockwork .

How's things now? FWIW, it does look like you have tons of rock in that picture, did you remove some
Yes i removed at least a 3rd of it enough to setup another tank and gave some away to other Reefers
How's that Elegance coral doing?

Elegance Babies
Remember how she was pooping out babies shes had 4 more for me and still has a few more to come.

[miareefer]

Its official i eat breath and dream SPS almost every waking minute of the day ime thinking about where ime going to get my next fix and what i can do to maintain it at a flourishing level .Ime learning more now more then ever about flow and lighting placement of different species and can almost get my tounge around a few of there names.
And my wife wants me commited for jerking off over the tank all the time and for teaching my Daughter the different growth forms between certain Acropora she says i have Compulsive Disorder when she hears me hailing Latin and quoting Vernon in my sleep .




Heres a Funky 20 k shot i took before i went to 10k

[miareefer]

I think nothing now of driving the 600kms to the coast and picking up a few new pieces ime so sucky sucky with the collectors now and ime almost in weekly contact in preparation of being ready when i get a sniff that they are doing a dedicated SPS trip .Guess whos there waiting before they start packing.

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by miareefer

On discovery she is now known as cable reef

She's a fine looking reef for sure.

So, where did you stick that huge Elegance? I gues there is no more room in that other tank anymore with all the sps and all...
Also, I still can't find anyhting that remotely resambles your blue Squamosa, all we get here is your standard squamies that everyone has in their tanks. My own grew pretty large and hardly fits in the tank on the sand, probably would be better off in some other, larger tank...

You are lucky that you can go and get your corals directly from collectors and have a first pic...lucky devil

[miareefer]

So ime finally growing SPS at the moment Zeovit has worked very well for me as far as nutrient Export and i feel that there is so much more to come as far as enjoying the tank and watching it all grow .And to think i almost bailed out of this hobby .

[miareefer]

Originally Posted by zhenya

She's a fine looking reef for sure.

So, where did you stick that huge Elegance? I gues there is no more room in that other tank anymore with all the sps and all...

Thanks Gene you are right about the room factor but it was more a flow problem if i had it in the main tank she would of suffered so i set up a separate tank for her and all those other little things i couldnt bare to let go.
Also, I still can't find anyhting that remotely resambles your blue Squamosa, all we get here is your standard squamies that everyone has in their tanks. My own grew pretty large and hardly fits in the tank on the sand, probably would be better off in some other, larger tank...

Its Amazing i remember the first time i posted a pic of it i thought it was a nice clam but had no idea they where uncommon let alone rare i have seen maybe half a dozen of them but surelly one cant horde all the worlds Blue Squamosa to himself .

You are lucky that you can go and get your corals directly from collectors and have a first pic...lucky devil

Yes i am but the demand for SPS in Australia is poor so they only collect what sells I remember the first direct order i placed and when i got there it was all brown and totalled about 10 pieces.
After some slight Reducation on the following trip i picked up all the blue Stags and a Pink Posclipora .I get them cheap as well ime paying about 10 bucks AUS for a nice blue stag colony .


Sorry Gene http://www.perthaquarium.com.au/clams.htm
Heres a link to a shop that had a blue squamosa here in australia. It has sold but they had it for a while i think its overpriced but considering it would cost you guys about 100 bucks ime sure some of you will cry .
Mia

[middlemark]

Wow, love the aquascaping. The `cable reef' had to be a lot of work - but IMO worth it. Can't wait to see it all grown out, will be stunning [with good flow, too].

Just lovely

[Samper]

Very beautiful congratulations on all your hard work.

[miareefer]

Originally Posted by middlemark

Wow, love the aquascaping. The `cable reef' had to be a lot of work - but IMO worth it. Can't wait to see it all grown out, will be stunning [with good flow, too].

Just lovely

Thanks a lot for that MiddletonMark
It was a lot of work to set up i can assure you but its a big ask to try and balance 300 pounds of live rock on about 8 pivot points
Yes ime really looking forward to watching it grow out a bit more i intend let thing get very stable get a few Montipora caps in the lower areas to fill up the spaces that are here and there in the lower lighted areas. And get some really nice SPS sourced from the East coast of Australia Barrier Reef.

Thanks Samper Look forward to keeping you all updated on its progress
Mia

[Samper]

Mia you seem to know what you're doing but I'm just curious if you have taken into account the weight those colonies will add to the structure when they grow out?

[miareefer]

Actually someone said that only recently about the weight factor with only the glass .So i am aware some have recomend i go Starboard on the base to equalize the weight distrubution .
The idea of squezzing a boogie board under my rocks doesnt fit to well with my scope of thought. Anyway i enjoy actually climbing in under the Tank and looking at my reef from underneath i got busted the other day when we had people come over and i was stuck under the tank and they wouldnt let me out .They said i was doing naughty things to it
Thanks
Mia

[Samper]

I will run bare bottom systems until the day I day or until I can afford a system larger than 300 gallons.....

I don't get to enjoy the underside cause of my stand but it's starting to encrust with corraline anyway. In the 75 I'm plannng Starboard is a definate possibility.