Jump to content

CW's


pcw
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • SRC Member

Hey guys,

I've decided to start a tank thread to document my new tank's progress. I started my previous tank some time in May 2014 and I guessed that it's now time to start a new tank that is bigger. I've had my fair share of failures and I think it would be apt to note some of them here. Before proceeding, I would like to thank the many friendly reefers who have helped me a lot along this journey. They would know who they are (: Thanks! Any errors remain my own of course haha

URL]URL]IMG_20151010_110358.thumb.jpg.c051e141ae

Here's my previous tank. With this tank, I had a couple of issues. First, I had a cowrie climb into my overflow pipe and die there. Choked all the time and it was pain to deal with perennial flooding. Second, as with all reefers, there can never be too much space (hence the upgrade). Third, spaghetti worms kept stealing food from my corals. Fourth, bristleworms were all over the place. I had to drop a lot of pellets in so that my dragonets would get to them.

Around April this year, I started searching for equipment and a new tank. Eventually, I got hold of enough equipment to start my tank and after cleaning everything, I started cycling some time around October (if i recall correctly)

Equipment list (everything here is pretty low budget so take whatever I say with a huge bucket of salt ;) ):

- 2 x 165W China LEDs

- 2 x 39W DIY T5s and 2 x 24W DIY T5s (not up yet but will be up soon)

- Hailea HS-90A (1/2hp)

- Jebao DC 12000

- 2 x TLF Phosban reactors (one of them is running on rowaphos and the other on biopellets)

- Jebao RW-4 (gonna add WP-10 and WP-25)

- Skimz SM 151

- Marine pure block

- Revoreef reef salt (decided to give it a try after testing the parameters. They had a sale anyway so why not)

- Revoreef nutricore/ intense/ reef start (discount once again)

- DIY floating algae scrubber (inspired by Xiggie's build)

The rest are DIY stuff, with a lot of help from Leon. For the pipes, I decided to use multiple unions all over so I can dismantle them for cleaning (lesson from the cowrie incident). Dead rocks + dead sand so I don't end up introducing all sorts of "freebies". Anyway, here are the pictures from the set up.

IMG_20150713_045506.thumb.jpg.10f1d65c4f

 

IMG_20150713_045525.thumb.jpg.ccbef37049

IMG_20150713_123410.thumb.jpg.4a4a8d0e13

Spent almost 2 months cleaning with vinegar. Got the tank at a great price though. Beggars can't be choosers anyway.

IMG_20150817_222439.thumb.jpg.27028ad87c

IMG_20150818_191902.thumb.jpg.d97dd83222

IMG_20150906_214915.thumb.jpg.ac2675536d

IMG_20151005_091924.thumb.jpg.0eff3fdb59

Spent almost 2 months playing around with my rockscape till I was satisfied.

IMG_20151109_230242.thumb.jpg.157c9a8866

Sump with DIY piping

IMG_20151107_121554.thumb.jpg.638dd333e8

DIY light stand with aluminium profiles. With Leon's help once again. Thanks! haha

IMG_20151109_230256.thumb.jpg.793c95054d

The chiller. I've rigged it up to a separate controller outside the cabinet but I haven't taken photos of that yet.

IMG_20151107_121547.thumb.jpg.cbe4456527

Cycling...

IMG_20151111_001117.thumb.jpg.b358e00250

My pair of black clowns were the first inhabitants of the new tank.

IMG_20151211_005557.thumb.jpg.15e26e8716

Current state of the tank (with a duncan recovering still :/)

As regards the "theme" of my reef tank, I suppose it's gonna be a mixed reef? With a lot of dragonets or course.

Live stock (less sessile invertebrates) (pellet trained):

2 x Green mandarins

2 x Spotted mandarins

2 x Scooter dragonets

6 x Blue green chromis

4 x Lined chromis

1 x Bannerfish (H. diphreutes)

2 x Black ocellaris clowns

2 x Orange ocellaris clowns

5 x Banggai cardinals

1 x Tail spot blenny

4 x Nassarius snails

(Only eating frozen mysis):

1 x Red scooter dragonet

1 x Kuiter's dragonet

I'll upload more stuff later on.

IMG_20151006_111152.jpg

 

Edited by pcw
Link to comment
Share on other sites

That tank looked familiar...from a sengkang reefer? Lol, nice scape!! Keep the update going.

Display Tank : 36" x 20" x 20" Herbie overflow box design, Sump : 36" x 21" x 17", Frag Tank : 16” x 20” x 16”, custom built by Tank Culture.

Lightings : Ecotech  Radion XR15 Pro x 2 for Main Display Tank, Inled R80 x 1 for Frag Tank.

Chiller : Dalkin 1hp compressor with build-in drop coil.

Skimmer : Skimz Octa SC205i Protein Skimmer.

FR : H2Ocean FMR75 Fluidised Media Reactor with Hailea HX-2500 (Feeder Pump) running Rowaphos.

CR : Skimz Monzter E Series CM122 Calcium Reactor.

BPR: Marine Source Biopellet  Reactor with Continuum Reef Biopellet Fuel. 

Main Return Pump : SICCE Syncra ADV 9.0 & Jebao ACQ-10000 Water Pump.

Wavemaker : Jebao MOW-9 x2 for Main Display Tank & Jebao SLW-20M  Sine Wave Pump for  Frag Tank.

Water Top Up: AutoAqua Smart ATO Lite.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • SRC Member

nice... keep the updates coming. :)

haha will do (: thanks

Nice scape bro! Keep it up :)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks!

Looking gd!!

thanks (:

Way to go CW ! You got patience that not all reefers have! I'm sure this will be a solid tank as it builds up. 

haha still a long way (: thank you hahaha

This patience thingy only you have . And nice scape btw! 808f69b09fa32650269cfe0d369877f3.jpg

Got secondhand one to sell also?

That tank looked familiar...from a sengkang reefer? Lol, nice scape!! Keep the update going.

yeap it was (: thanks!

Camping here to to learn from Dragonet Master.. Lols.. Nice scape bro.. emoji1.png

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

still have my fair share of failures luh haha still learning. thanks (:

Nice scape CW !! Maybe you want to consider covering up your reactor from the refugium light as it can cause unwanted algae growth inside your reactor.

 

that's true haha thanks (: I shall go cut some black acrylic sheets lying around haha

Just did a measurement of my tank's PAR values. Decided to turn up the blue channels by a larger ratio as compared to the white channels. It doesn't actually look so blueish in reality but my camera can't capture the colours as I perceive it. Shifted stuff around till the light values were acceptable. I'm still gonna add t5 tubes so this is probably not the final look.

edit.thumb.jpg.598af9c441d8735bd5bf303fe

Thanks Leon for the advice!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • SRC Member

Nice scape.

 

Sent from my LG-H815 using Tapatalk

 

 

Thanks!

bro you mean bristleworm snatch food from your dragonet?

anyway i like your new rockscape! 

seems like you did a wonderful job cleaning that tank. cant wait for more photos!

The bristleworms eat quite a number of pellets before the dragonets get to them :/ Slow fish haha but mainly, it's my bannerfish that eats most pellets even before they end up on the rockscape/ sand.

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • SRC Member

Updating with a couple of old photos

Decided to DIY an algae scrubber as an alternative means for nutrient export. I only installed it 2 weeks after cycling. At that point in time, diatoms were all over the place. While the this is characteristic of a new tank, it nonetheless is unsightly. In any event, a few days after installing the scrubber, diatoms were reduced significantly. Interesting how effective a scrubber can be in controlling algae outbreaks. Here are photos of the build.

IMG_20151020_001700.thumb.jpg.c85cc55eea

Daiso tray with sponge that was cut to size and glued appropriately so the tray sits nicely inside

IMG_20151115_231823.thumb.jpg.bef1e784b8

Roughened and epoxied plastic knitting mesh to the tray. Hot glued pieces from cable ties. Strings were then tied to the plastic pieces. The intent here is to remove some strings and replace them whenever it's time for "harvest".

IMG_20151128_130053.thumb.jpg.27090cbf7e

IMG_20151128_171234.thumb.jpg.766fed44c3

Par 38 grow light. 6 Red, 1 Blue. 21W in total.

Unrelated to the algae scrubber. Found it quite fascinating that the marinepure block was so porous

IMG_20151115_232727.thumb.jpg.4646ee9940

IMG_20151128_130053.jpg

Edited by pcw
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...
  • SRC Member

Just some quick updates

Picked up a NYOS test kit to compare with Salifert test kits (I'm comparing two brand new boxes of Magnesium test kits here)

img3.thumb.jpg.e55dc4cb90a0912668ebab285

Img1.thumb.jpg.1cecb065e77c7f511dd950b23

Salifert (above)

img4.thumb.jpg.d710ea7296be237104dbdcc1a

NYOS (above)

Salifert's test kit gave a reading of 1300ppm while NYOS gave a reading of 1350ppm. Not that far off I suppose. The NYOS test kit does seem more aesthetically attractive though. 

Update on the algae scrubber: I pulled out another lump of algae to dispose off from the scrubber last night

Algae.thumb.jpg.14c61d17c557af73029065b6

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • SRC Member

Fish ID help needed!

fish.thumb.jpg.2f0f26a84c1127e7c5efcbb25

Looking to confirm the ID of this flasher wrasse. Has a red tail that doesn't look forked (unlike P. filamentosus) The tail turned a little more reddish after I added it into my DT but i can't get a proper picture of it. The orange portions of the fins in the picture are more towards yellow instead in real life. Right now I've got a few suggestions as regards it's identity. Just want to get more opinions (especially from the wrasse experts out there)

Thanks in advance!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • SRC Member

Quick update. Gotta let these sticks grow... slowly lol

2.thumb.jpg.257a4bddd3cf6576b0997ea9521a

3.thumb.jpg.ad37e2f489e693a0f4a2d83635f7

5.thumb.jpg.64268dad96111d28a19971187098

4.thumb.jpg.50eb74b262ed3772e7145f0c9f10

LPS:

P2010171.thumb.JPG.1243c7ea54a266cdc53df

Galaxea

P2010265.thumb.JPG.fa6c71923c2e19c3c7eac

Leptastrea

P2010173.thumb.JPG.9a0a522f667e4d0c92915

P2010202.thumb.JPG.58173850a5b9ce4134e7e

Torch

SPS:

P2010184.thumb.JPG.24f9057df93d9e3d85081P2010186.thumb.JPG.9de080c8e159168cb0b2dP2010188.thumb.JPG.ab410f58a67eee2ebe0f4P2010190.thumb.JPG.db34ef8351c6b4562328cP2010251.thumb.JPG.d2415ebf613050105794cP2010262.thumb.JPG.b07b61e40a9cd8fe85eefP2010264.thumb.JPG.e8d823cae948db0f28e47P2010267.thumb.JPG.e95b26f0b757d8a552c1fP2010268.thumb.JPG.223fe18d1de688c6ec5c8P2010269.thumb.JPG.2edb433458da598f716a4P2010272.thumb.JPG.197df37872a36e8ce19e7P2010273.thumb.JPG.c5c034032d1ef27eafe88

Zoas:

P2010192.thumb.JPG.2f00a08911ac4d1fab6a0

Captain America

P2010197.thumb.JPG.df16f6b53dcb08fddfc15

Pink Elephant (?)

P2010205.thumb.JPG.d8be8d0ad347a722d610b

Blondies

P2010249.thumb.JPG.b2f914a97bbd79f5a4cdf

(Cat Eyes, Utter Chaos, Candy Apple Red/Orange (?), Sunkist, Blue Hornets...)

P2010254.thumb.JPG.345b75c494d71c8675712

Sunny D

P2010282.thumb.JPG.aad49803e9ca6e90f0972

Purple Death

P2010284.thumb.JPG.b8dcce20faba3d9387c73

Indigo Death

P2010286.thumb.JPG.6626998912fa99ee809ed

P2010287.thumb.JPG.4e189969ddd7562a01e61

Taiwan Rastas

P2010288.thumb.JPG.28676e1d4beea2b4530cb

Rastas

P2010290.thumb.JPG.481d6935fce3ac7069e05

Candy Apple Red/Orange (?)

P2010291.thumb.JPG.2df80a28a0c9bec61350d

King Midas

P2010294.thumb.JPG.057e8b61d77bd6980d5c2

Superman (?)

Other softies:

P2010179.thumb.JPG.4c0be8927f40849ec5db0

Blue Efflatounaria (or is it purple?)

P2010266.thumb.JPG.79d71bb19f10e54dea162

GSP garden

P2010285.thumb.JPG.3ca33ae73f46b25f56521

Clam:

 

 

P2010200.JPG

Edited by pcw
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share




×
×
  • Create New...