Update

[samsreef]

Hi Everyone,

I haven't been on here in a while, have been very busy at work, but have a lot to tell everyone.

My corner aqarium is doing great and all the fish seem very happy. I haven't had any loses* since my anemone ate the my scooter blenny (the anemone is doing great as well, its found itself a home now, right bang smack in the middle of the tank between the LR). I have three new additions: small red star, conch (not sure if queen or fighting, fairly large) & urchin.

(* I have a very greedy blue legged hermit crap that keeps eating my snails when they fall over. I paid £5 for a big snail and I woke up in the morning and the hermit crab had it on its side eating it... £5 crab food... great.)

I have a slight problem with hair algae after I came back from holiday for a week. Have cleared most of it up but its still coming back, hence the new cleanup additions, I think it may be a phosphate issue as well. Next weekend im going to have to clean all the inlets on the pumps as they are full of hair algae.

As I kept on saying in all my other posts that I was going to get another tank to upgrade so my purple tang has more room. I bought the tank today from a local ebayer, only 17 miles from me. It was a great buy and he is sharing some frags as well which should do nicely in my corner tank

The tank is 48x18x18 marine tank made by clearseal and holds 65 gallons, but the tang should enjoy the extra capacity and swimming length. It doesn't come with any livestock other than some frags which will be given seperately but comes with

cabinet is golden oak
atinic tube
t5 compact overtank luminaire (110 watts)
fluval 304 external filter (will be swapping with the 404 on my corner)
modified seaclone skimmer
t.m.c uv sterilizer
hydrometer
2x circulation pumps
heater
thermometer
nitrate test kit
bucket for water changes
2 x 5 gal barrells for ro water

All this only cost me £300.

We are going to pick it up tomorrow so wil post picks once got it home. I can't afford any live rock for at least a month so we are filling it with salt water and letting it do its thing for a month. Im then going to get LR and leave for a month in the tank, after that will start getting some cleanup crew and corals. After another month I plan to get a dwarf angel (undecided as to which one, probably flame) and perhaps a few small fish. I will be adding the purple tang last.

Please let me know of your opinons and if you have any adivce for this new startup, im undecided as to go bare bottom, deep sand bed or just sprinklin. Would also like opinons for cleaup crew, corals and fish. I like SPS & LPS but i like softies as well....

Look forward to hearing from comments

[scubadude]

Sweet sounds good Sam

Glad that you are coming along nicely, as far as the new startup goes I hardly believe that to be much bigger room for a tang then the crnr tank you have now. JMO though bro. Most people want a 6' long tank for swimming distance for a tang

[kevinpo]

Any pictures yet? Sounds like a nice setup.

Cheers,
Kevin

[samsreef]

Sweet sounds good Sam

Glad that you are coming along nicely, as far as the new startup goes I hardly believe that to be much bigger room for a tang then the crnr tank you have now. JMO though bro. Most people want a 6' long tank for swimming distance for a tang

Cheers

With regards to the new setup, it may not be much bigger than the corner tank but the tang will have far more length to swim in, the corner tank doesn't have anywhere near 4' swimming length.

(Also I tend to think that books & guidelines may be a little harsh sometimes, the person I got the 4' tank off had two tangs in it for 6 months without any problems, his new tank isn't even as long as this on, larger volume)

I think everyone would like to meet the guidelines, but due to space constraints or financial situations we just have to do best we can ;;

[samsreef]

Any pictures yet? Sounds like a nice setup.

Cheers,
Kevin

Hi Kevin,

Thanks, my dads digital camera has broke or all the batteries are flat. But as soon as I get it working I will take some pics.


I made some progress with the tank today, painted the sides to match the back (the tank is kind of in-wall, you cant see through the sides so I thought it would look better painted, thankfully it does )

I'm going to be getting a sump as well, i've been eyeing one up on ebay. May need advice on a return pump once i get it

Their are two cabinets on either side of the tank and a large space in the middle, so I intend to put electrics and the UV in the two cabinets and the sump in the space in the middle. (Sump will be aprox 20 uk gallons)

With regards to the UV sterilizer, are you supposed to leave them on all the time, and do you switch on from the very beginning or when you get fish? Never had one before, but it came with the tank.

[samsreef]

Finally got some photos!

The tank is nearly full and I have put a 800 gallon-per-hour power head in to keep the water moving...

The next thing is to get the heater installed and working.

Unfortunately the tank is going to look a bit messy with a lot of equipment inside the tank but I'm hoping to get a sump (sit in the middle of cabinet) to put the majority of the equipment in.

I'm going to replace the large chunky power heads with 4 smaller 1000l an hour (2 on each side) on a wave making machine which will leave one pump running and 3 others turning on and off every 3 minutes ending up with a cycle with them all on for 3 minutes.

The lighting is an overhead 3ft t5 luminare, also going to get another 4ft t5 lamp in the future, a t8 marine blue will also be used.

The luminare has 3 marine white t5's and 1 marine blue t5.

The skimmer in the picture is a sea clone but it has been modified, it will do until I can afford a better one.

The picture with all the clothes hanging is the hood.

the other picture is a misc shot of equipment.

In one of the pictures you can see the fluval canister plumbed into the uv sterilizer (which isn't turned on yet.)

The tank overlaps the wall a little which is a bit inconvenient as it is hard to get access to the back.

To start off with the tank will be FOWLR (getting LR at the end of the month) and when I can afford a better protein skimmer, another t5 lamp and find / build a sump/refugium it will be transformed into a reef system.

The tank has turned into a needed extra home for current fish we have in 2 tanks so I will only be buying one new fish, a flame angel.

Fish stock list (in order of introduction) as follows:
- flame angel

- 3 x green chromis OR 2 x black clowns (migrating from my dads overstocked 100gal tank)

- Blue Hippo Tang - Not full size, slightly smaller than purple tang (migrating from my dads overstocked 100gal tank, starting to be bullied by other tangs and angel fish, looking a bit battered and has lateral line disease, hopping to fix her up as one of the first fish we ever purchased when we set up the 100gal system around a year ago.)

- Purple tang (migrating from corner aquarium, not outgrown but it will enjoy the extra swimming space.)

With regards to the tangs, I know they should really be kept in a larger aquarium HOWEVER for them, in their current state, will be in a lot better environment once moved.

Also provided some update pics of my other tank

[samsreef]

Woops the update pics haven't been uploaded, sorry. Here you go:

Your thoughts and comments on the new tank and the below will be much appreciated

I have a hair green hair algae problem at the moment, I believe it is to do with phosphates, so I have some phosphate remover in the canister and I have been trying to get the majority up by hand. Purchasing new members of the cleanup crew every week and in one of the pictures below you can see my horrible greedy blue legged hermit crab eating a £5 snail. I've got to stick with hermits now.

I'm not sure what's wrong with my anemone, it's been in the middle of the aquarium all open for a good 3 months now. It has decided to move and seems a lot smaller where it is now. I can't even reach it.

[samsreef]

Because I brought another tank with an awkward cabinet, this is what the sump will be.

The main section (the one with the skimmer) will have water flowing into the skimmer chamber from the overflow box, then there will be a bubble trap, and then the return section.

BUT..

I still want a refugium, hence, the mini sump in the second picture (dont worry it will be fully supported). The main pipe from the overflow box will split in to two when it gets in the cabinet, one of the new pipes will go the refugium. The pipe over the refugium will have holes across it so the water trickles and doesn't gush. At the end of the refugium there will be a small chamber about an inch in length created by a baffle. The water will overflow the baffle and into the small chamber, I may use some bio-balls. Lots of holes will be created on the bottom of that chamber so the water trickles into the return section below. I'm going to use some crate to stop any alage or inverts getting into that section.

So, it's a little crazy rofl: , but I have a good imagination right? Does anyone see any problems?

p.s most of this inspiration came from Melevs reef.

(oh yeah, my anemones on the move... I don't know where it thinks its going, main lights aren't on yet so its a little dull)

[samsreef]

Very stressed...

After reading up on dsb and discussing it I decided to do that for this tank. As recommended by kevin po I went for caribsea aragamax, sugar size.

Although I don't know what I did next was a little stupid, but it sounds like a good idea. I put the 30 pounds of caribsea aragamax in and then on top- added 20 pounds of caribsea REEF-ALIVE live sand, it says its suppose to seed the caribsea aragamax... hope I did the right thing.

I also brought around £100 of live rock (I need about £300 more I think, at least £200). I put it on egg-crate as I didn't want sand underneath. Well, I think the rock now looks half buried, any suggestions I will wait till the water is clear until I start fiddling with it.

I have the fluval 304 to filter the water, my overflow box has not arrived (should be here next week) and I still don't have any plumbing or equipment for my sump. Looks like my bedrooms going to be a tip for quite a while longer.

Please let me know what you think of the DSB.

[kevinpo]

Hi Sam,
Did you put 1/2" PVC pipe under the eggcrate? That would have lifted the rock 1" plus the thickness of the eggcrate. The DSB looks fine to me. I would add 2 couple of pounds of sand from your established tank to seed the new DSB. It does not take much. Try to buy the largest pieces of live rock you can. They are more stable (less prone to tipping) and create more open spaces/overhangs for fish to hide in. The more open the rockwork the easier it is to get good water flow through it. This is very important over time so detritus doesn't build up in the rocks and create a favorable environment for unwanted algae.

Regards,
Kevin

[samsreef]

I knew I forgot something!!!

should I remove the LR and add more crate or 1/2" PVC pipe (after the water is clear)?

I'm going to be doing the aquascaping once I get the rest of the LR and can see what im doing, for now I just put it to hold the egg crate in place.

I also need to get my electric & overflow sorted so I can get more pumps in their and the lights, sump and skimmer sorted.

I think its going to be about 3 weeks until I get it looking right, will try and post pix of the progress.

[kevinpo]

I would remove the rock and push the sand forwards, lay the PVC down, and put the eggcrate on top of the PVC. IMO it's best to get it right from the beginning It's a PIA now but you will be glad you did it down the road.

Regards,
Kevin

[samsreef]

Thanks for the advice again kevin, I haven't got any PVC tubing, but I did what you suggested but using cut up crate instead. It looks a lot better now, the rock aren't buried anymore. But.... my floor got wet again

I'm sure it will be worth it in the long run.

I also just spoke to my uncle who used to be an electrician, he figured out that we could wire a new connection to the tank from the old boiler bit, it has a 13 amp rated fuse.

[samsreef]

I figured that my first sump plan was too small and wouldn't hold enough water, so I stole my little brothers 2ft glass tank that used to have tropical fish in. Because the tank is semi-in wall, the small room next to it is actually an airing cupboard, and at the bottom their as a lot of room for a sump, a separate refugium and a calcium reactor, the pipes can run nearly in a straight line from my tank down to the bottom of the cupboard & backup again. Just need a few holes in the wall.

Excellent, but still need to pursuade my mum, if she agrees I want to get it plumbed up as soon as my overflow arrives.

[samsreef]

Hi Everyone,

The tank is coming together nicely, I now have a separate electrical supply so no more worries about that.

My T5 lights, Fluval 304 and UV units are plugged in and working.

I cleared out the old cupboard for my sump and refugium, they fit nicely. Now I just need some acrylic, glue, pipes, a return pump and an overflow box (which is still not in stock)... maybe I have got quite a long way to go!!!

My DSB seems to be going good, but I haven't had one before so don't know for sure. Is it supposed to split as shown in picture.

Also you can see my aquascaping with the live rock, I plan to have corals all along the front to hide crate (I think lots of varieties of mushrooms) and buttons.

Look forward to your comments!

[saltjunkie]

nice looking setup.. i like it...

but i may be very wrong.. isnt a 48x18x18 a 75 gallon thank.. anyhow its a nice set up and yes the tang police will get you.. i have a 65 36xwhateverxwhatever with a hippo tang in it... had her and nemo in it together for over a year now..... wish i knew exactly...

[samsreef]

Thanks for the kind words.

I'm pretty sure it is 65 gals. The 75 is 48 x 24 x 18.

I'm pretty sure my tang will like it a lot better in this tank than my corner aquarium, a lot more swimming (Even though it seems very happy in the corner tank, just chases the bicolor angel a bit :P)

[kevinpo]

Both of your tanks are the same capacity The second one Sam posted is a 90 gal (US gal). The formula for figuring out the capacity is:
Length x height x width in inches then divide by 231.
So for Sam's tank it would be 48" x 18" x 18" = 15,552 divided by 231 = 67.32.

HTH,
Kevin

[samsreef]

Things are coming along!

The overflow box, test kits and reef supplements arrived today. I tested the water and the readings seem positive. Nitrite 0, Ammonia 0, Nitrates 25.
(Also tested water on the other two tanks and nitrate readings are off the hook but I'm going to post another topic about that)

I have had my first algae bloom, brown diatoms? Brown colour on sand and rocks.

The overflow box seems call, now I just need to finish the sump off, get a return pump and get the piping sorted. I want to get the sump & refugium installed by the beginning of next month (have ran out of money!)

[samsreef]

Everything from my old tank was moved across a couple of weeks ago and here are some pic's.

Everyone has settled in just nicely, the fish like the extra space and swimming in and out of the LR wall and the corals seem to have picked up, especially the mushrooms and the bubble coral.

Would love to hear what everyone thinks

(P.S the last pic doesn't live in the reef but is the latest addition to our house, I got him today and he is a hatchling bearded dragon named Eugene. My house is beginning to feel like a Zoo.)