[Blacktip]

Hello

Now that I've moved into the 21 century with knowing how to upload pics I though I'd show a couple of shots.

This system has been running for a few years but had a wipe out and lost pretty much everything. I cant get corals easily so it has taken time to collect them. Also new to SPS so had a few issues to say the least.

These are pictures of my system at the moment. There are a few areas where the system could be improved and so I have a new tank coming in January and so I'm going to use this post to show what I want to do, going to do, and results from it.

Cheers

Jeff

[ben]

nice one. great pair of watchmans

[tiberboy]

looks good mate.
also like the watchmans and the red bubbletip

[Blacktip]

Thanks guys.
Stock is a nightmare!!
My fish I buy straight from the bag as the LFS is a white spot magnet which is fine until I want something a bit special like my majestic, then its all a bit of a risk.
Soft corals are all brown so haven't got many, my leather is from an LFS in Essex.
Clams and hard corals are mostly from the mainland. Such things need CITES licenses which are also a nightmare. Jason has been brilliant as when I get stuff from him he's happy to hold them until I can get over to collect them.
So my tank is a bit empty.
Biggest problem to be honest is advice. I've kept marines for 12 years in Spain and London so have no problem keeping fish but fine- tuning a reef tank has been difficult. for example I've had a ca reactor for a couple of years. Only recently have I really set it up properly because no one here has been able to show me. You guys have been invaluable, for which I thank you.
i've lost more SPS than I'd like to admit to. Having said that most of them have died except for a inch or so but are now coming back and with great colours so hopefully now the system is going well they'll come back strong and the new system will be much better.
Always happy to home frags
Cheers

[Blacktip]

Another few weeks and I expect the new tank in. So why the new tank??

My system manages to keep most things alive. The SPS dont do great, growing slowly but pretty good colours. LPS grow well. Softies dont do great but put that down to the fish. Fish do great with my Maroons regularly laying. All the different systems work well but I think work against each other. My nitrates are about 5-10. Pipework is very noisy. Flow is high but not very effective. On the whhole the system could be alot more effective. So the planned changes are:

- An extra 120 liters. More volume, greater stability. More swimming space, more growth space. Main aim is greater stability. Temperature can fluctuate a bit being in the kitchen with a big oven and over summer/winter. At least its ok during spring / autumn!

- New plumbing. Current system has one open stand pipe. New system will have a durso standpipe for a bit of piece and quiet. It will also have a second standpipe for emergencies. Had a few with blockages in the one pipe. Hopefully two will reduce the risk. The piping from the return pump will be a straight up, over a short distance reducing internal friction, increasing flow. The current system has a very convoluted design. The skimmer will be gravity fed as opposed to a feed pump saving leccy and heat transfer. Hopeing the skimmer will be more efficient too! The skimmer will take 2000 lph leaving 1000 lph to go through the sump. Currently the sump as a flow of 3000lph which is far too fast as the solids go straight through the sump and up the return leaving the DSB under fed and less productive. The first section of the sump will use bioballs.'

Rock work - I like the shape of the reef but there is too much rock so I want to reduce the amount of rock and open it up. hopefully I can get away with less rock (which can be used in my other system) but make it more efficient. Less rock should also improve the flow around the system.

More flow - I'll be using the return pump on 3000lph and two Tunze giving a combined flow of 12000 lph in total giving a 34 times per hour flow. Plenty!

remove sand - I always had a nitrate issue in the system. No matter what I did, I always had nitrates of 25, even though everything on paper was great. I eventually linked it to a malfunctioning DSB in the display tank. I removed as much of it as I could and that dropped nitrate to 5-10. I still have quite a bit of sand under the rock work so I'm confident that once the sand has been removed the nitrate will drop to zero. I want a shallow layer of sand because I prefer the look and for the benefit of the sand star and gobies.

dimensions - The current system is deeper than it is wide, not great for gas exchange. The new system will be 70cm wide and 60cm deep,hopefully another improvement, helping stabalise the pH.

Stock - My Angel will be removed. He likes LPSnd soft corals so out he goes into the fish only. My regal tang will also be moved out. He was tiny when I bought him but he's grown to 4" or so and he can swim! Get the feeling he is cooped up so will move him the longer and more open Fish only system. he's got quite aggresive so hopefully he will calm down a bit. Not part of the tang police but having had him grow so much and having had PBT and Clown tangs I'd not keep them again. They really can swim. I'm leaving my Yellow tang in the system as they always seem happier in smaller systems.

So these are the main reasons for the change. Hopefully the system will settle and corals grow like fury! Any thoughts on improving the system further will be gratefully received.

[lindsay]

Hi m8,it sounds good so far,ask away if you have any questions,the guys are good on here for giving practical advise .

[Blacktip]

I'm stripping the old tank and in with the new tomorrow.

AC seem to have used an irregular size whole for the weir so might have a bit of fun with the plumbing.
My salt never arrived from the mainland so will have to use treated natural water then do a series of big water changes wit salt mixes when the salt arrives.

Last but not least I think the tank may be 1mm to long - might have to take some of the plaster board off!

All good fun - sure it will be alright on the night.

Finally how bloomin' heavy are these tanks??!

[Blacktip]

Well I didn't get it done.

The old tank is out and the stock is in 3 different and very simple holding tanks.
Put the new one in place but the tank was too big so ad to hack the plaster board of the wall! Never trust an idiot with a tape measure!
My mate who is a sign writter stuck some blue material to the back and side of the tank and that looks great.
I ad my wife's Grandpa in too help with the plumbing. He left a system 2000 heating element out of the water wen it was switched on - soon turned into a literal fire ball!
Play was stopped once the bulkheads had insufficient thread. Will have to try again Monday when the shops are open.
Just hope everything will be okay in the holding tanks. There's not really any light on the corals. Not bothered about the LPS but will have too see with the SPS.
Cheers

[Dave.I]

They should be fine with no light for a day or two.Its stressfull but hang in there and remember that one day you will look back at this weekend and laugh infront of your stunning system!

Dave

[lindsay]

Try to keep good flow around them in the holding tanks and they should be ok.

[Blacktip]

Well what a day!

First of all my mate dropped his spanner into my sump, smashing it! water everywhere. It was a DSB and has now been rendered useless.

Got all the plumbing done. Tested it and all was well so in went the sand and almost all the water. Did a quick check and the bulkheads were leaking! Drained the whole thing down again. So got nowhere today.

Lost my RBTA today and my acro's have had enought now and are dying back. Not good. All fish and other corals are fine.

Will be pleased when this is all over and the good stuff can begin.

[Blacktip]

Got all the stock in today!
I lost my already injured RBTA and a few coweries.
Pleased with the new tank.
Hope everything is still ok in the morning.
Will add some pics when I get a camera sorted.

[Blacktip]

No losses so far. Everything looks well. My BTA looks a little unhappy and there is die back on the SPS but everything else looks happy. I guess thats not surprising with a new set-up.
I've put most of my corals on the sand to adjust them to the light again.
I really like the width of the tank. Been able to get a much more 3D to it. My BTA is on a big piece of rock that is in the middle of the tank so at the moment it looks like a wall of rock but once the BTA moves I'll take that rock out to make it look very 3D again.
Need to build a new sump this week and get the skimmer and reactor hooked up but sosfar so good.

Some Pics:

[bobba fett]

Comming along nicely!

Its a shame you had the setbacks but its great to see that it mostly went ok

[dave14]

Looking good, hopefully with all the disasters happening at the start it should all be plain sailing from now

[Blacktip]

Some up date shots. The tank is doing well. I used some local sea water for the odd water change. It was full of food for the corals and the filter feeders and they loved it but as a result I know have a bit of an algae issue and all my SPS have gone poo brown which is a bit gutting. Theyare getting lighter now but still not good. All my SPS have lived in this system which is great but colours are poor so that isi what I'm working on next. Any tips for colours?

[lindsay]

Tanks looking good,it will take some time for it all to settle,sps colour should return giving the normal light,flow and nutrient levels,i remember reading an article on a big wholesaler who uses sea water for large water changes on his fish systems and lps tanks but said if used on the sps systems would turn his acros brown because of the increase in nutrients,funny thing is i suspect that as long as the nutrients dont get out of order,then the acros probably would enjoy it lol.

[Blacktip]

By way of an update:


Corals and fish are all doing well. I've had my marroon clowns and my watchman gobies breed in there and my anthias are very flirty but dont know if anything will come of that. I've now removed my regal tang and clowns as they were getting disruptive. They've been replaced by onxy clowns. Started getting blasted aips so put a peppermint shrimp inbut not seen the shrimp since!
I've not lost any corals and I'm getting some growth but not as much as I would like. And all my Acros are turning a bright green. A nice colour but I dont want them all the same colour. Need to get to the bottom of this before I add more in. Getting good polyps too. My trachys were getting attacked but have recovered nicely.
One of my bulbs blew and took a week to replace and then a new bulb upset things for a bit. I used sea water and that turned all my corals brown but things are returing to normal now.
My nitrates are up to 25 which I'm not too pleased with. Got a few plans in place though. First off is cut back on feeding for the time being. I now feed 3 times a day with flake, Marcus's pellets and a frozen food such as brine shrimp or my own concocsions. Also using brine shrimp eggs that either get eaten or hatch. Secondly, Given my skimmer a real good clean out and put it on 24/7 as I did just run it at night to help the filter feeders, which it did, but need to get my nitrates down now. Thirdly I've put a much smaller flow through my sump so that solids come out of suspension and settle on the DSB. The life has really grown in my DSB since doing that so over the coming months I hope it will really make a difference to my nitrates.
so all in all I'm happy but really want to improve my growth rates. I'm getting now corals in January from Jason so looking forward to that with confidence.
Cheers

[lindsay]

Blacktip, on Sep 8 2010, 05:33 PM, said:

By way of an update:


Corals and fish are all doing well. I've had my marroon clowns and my watchman gobies breed in there and my anthias are very flirty but dont know if anything will come of that. I've now removed my regal tang and clowns as they were getting disruptive. They've been replaced by onxy clowns. Started getting blasted aips so put a peppermint shrimp inbut not seen the shrimp since!
I've not lost any corals and I'm getting some growth but not as much as I would like. And all my Acros are turning a bright green. A nice colour but I dont want them all the same colour. Need to get to the bottom of this before I add more in. Getting good polyps too. My trachys were getting attacked but have recovered nicely.
One of my bulbs blew and took a week to replace and then a new bulb upset things for a bit. I used sea water and that turned all my corals brown but things are returing to normal now.
My nitrates are up to 25 which I'm not too pleased with. Got a few plans in place though. First off is cut back on feeding for the time being. I now feed 3 times a day with flake, Marcus's pellets and a frozen food such as brine shrimp or my own concocsions. Also using brine shrimp eggs that either get eaten or hatch. Secondly, Given my skimmer a real good clean out and put it on 24/7 as I did just run it at night to help the filter feeders, which it did, but need to get my nitrates down now. Thirdly I've put a much smaller flow through my sump so that solids come out of suspension and settle on the DSB. The life has really grown in my DSB since doing that so over the coming months I hope it will really make a difference to my nitrates.
so all in all I'm happy but really want to improve my growth rates. I'm getting now corals in January from Jason so looking forward to that with confidence.
Cheers

Sounds good,when you get 5 mins put some pics up,esp the acros?.