[Twistedpro]

I thought i would start the thread for my new tank. I have finally moved house so have a bit more room for a new tank. The old 3x2x2 took a real hammering with the AEFW which pritty much wiped out all the SPS, i now think this was more the stress of constant dipping and stressing the corals allowing the worms to take hold of the corals. So this has left me with some LPS and a clam (I hope). SO the new tank will be a fresh start.

I am planning on building a 5 x 3 x 2 tank eurobraced with a sump system based outside giving a total volume of around 1000l. I want to put all the equipment outside to reduce the noise and provide better air exchange and cooling. The tank is going to be located in my kitchen and will have a bar set around it mirroring the breakfast bar i currently have.

Lighting i am thinking of going down the T5 route, mainly because i like the idea of being able to change the spectrum and it runs less heat than halides. If this does not work out i will probably swap to 2x 400w halides.

Flow is going to run from a single 12000l red dragon run with an ocean motion 4way, i also have a vortech i can use if this is not enough.

Stocking wise its going to be SPS based, however i dont want to have too many species. I plan to have 3 separate areas in the tank, with the largest rock structure having mainly Acropora humilis, Acropora gemmifera and other similar corals with maxima clams mixed in. I will try and find different colour combinations of these. Then i am hoping to have 2 bommies one in the middle and one the other end of the tank. The one at the far end i fancy trying the deeperwater smooth corals like, Acropora Loripes, Acropora Granulosa, Acropora lokani etc and the middle bommie with 3 different coloured milli's on that i hope will plate out. I will also try and fit a couple of hysterix corals in. Then around the base i will have the LPS space fillers with a few euphylias acans etc that i still have.

Well that is the plan, i will try and take some pictures when i get to start the project and have the funds to allow it

[lindsay]

Sounds great,i will keep an eye out for any updates.

[BOM8ER]

Awesome look forward to some pic's

[gray]

Cool

good luck

[Tony B]

Sounds great Peter, I look forward to seeing this project develop.

Tony

[ben]

yeh should be interesting.

[dave14]

Sounds good look forward to seeing the pics

[jason@jasonsaquatics]

Be good to see a step be step Pete ,Are you going down the UNLS route with this one


jas

[Twistedpro]

Hi jason, i do want to do a ULNS type system but i dont think i will go down the zeovit only route. i will look into vodka, sugar and vodka for dosing. I really want to incorporate a heavy feeding regieme with this tank using a dosing style system to dose live frozen food a few times per day as i dont think i feed enough with the last tank.

I will try and do a step by step build but its going to be a couple of weeks before i start

[jason@jasonsaquatics]

That would be cool Pete ,,i will try find the pappone link if you like as thats a good food IMO

Chat soon m8


jas

[Twistedpro]

Yea that would be interesting Jas, i will have to see how this one takes shape

[lindsay]

Hi Pete

This is a link to the Pappone food ,i had great results with it m8

http://www.internationalreefers.com/index....&hl=pappone



jas

[Twistedpro]

well i got back from my trip to Malaysia last monday and got to see some stunning reefs corals and fish and thought it was time to get started on the new tank build.

This is the space before we started



We built the top and bottom first



After this we leveled the tank in position adding all the uprights



due to the radiator decided to build th stand over the top as it would have been a nightmare removing it. I will drill some access holes incase it needs draining



we then fitted the bottom to square up the bottom frame



then we have the finished stand in position after a days hard graft.



I have to thank my mate tony who without the woodwork would have been a no go

The next job is to find a suitable work top to build the overhanging bar which will surround the tank but i have a slight cashflow problem now after getting robbed of 3k so it might be a bit of a wait before the next update.

[lindsay]

Sorry to hear about your 3k.The tank build going well,keep updates coming.

[Jonny]

Looking good so far mate, keep the updates coming!!

Jonny

[Twistedpro]

thanks for the comments, i am not quite sure what colour to do the bar yet, i wanted to match the exisiting worktops in the kitchen but i cant find it so i am wondering if i should go for a solid black polished or maybe a wood effect, i would be interested to hear peoples ideas

[bobba fett]

Looks great, are you concerned about the radiator? Have you thought about switching it off permenantly?

Will follow this build with interest!

[Twistedpro]

Well i have hit a small sticking point with the build, i cant find a matching worktop so it fits with the rest of the kitchen. I have attached a sample to see if anyone has something similar and might be changing kitcens and thus might be getting rid of a match

[tillysreef]

b and q have a worktop sale on and 15 percent off replace them all, that would keep everyone happy

[Twistedpro]

I did think of that but i would need another 8M of worktop and a breakfast bar, starts getting expensive