JackJackJack

went to the LFS today and bought my first coral, an Euphyllia ancora or Hammer Coral. Seems to be doing ok, as it has extended it polyps alot further than at the fish shop, but i guess that would just be due to better lighting. its no acro.. but enough to have me excited! there is a photo of it on my website, which is uploaded but only partially finished. address is http://jacksreef.t35.com due to my lack of webdesign and photography skills its not the most spectacular site, but i'm learning Jack

also note, the temp is easier to keep steady as i have an open top and use the pendant type hang down lighting and also hang my fluoros from the roof. without the closed top it is alot easier to keep cool.

tank temp sits at a steady 27, although we havent had any real stinkers yet, which im worried about. i cool it down by using 3 fans, one that is aimed at the air between the light and the water surface, and another 2 aimed at the water surface itself. creates alot of evaporation which cools the water rather fast. have aquired a small bar fridge that i intend to use as a DIY chiller, just need a full weekend from work. there is alot of evaporation, which was a problem with changing SG and the such, but just set up an auto top-up system with a float valve. i was surprised at the amount that evaporated now that i can measure it accurately using the water resevoir, about 9L a day or so, lets me dose more kalk though i guess. waiting on the arrival of my test kits this week, interested to know what my calcium and alkalinity is. the room has an airconditioner (just an old crappy one that hangs in the window) that is timed to come on 11-1.30. and have not seen more than a 1 degree difference yet. that was my major concern, but i suspect i might need to get that diy chiller in for hot days. i was told the same thing, that DSB's work well, if you know what your doing. so that will wait until the next tank (and we all know theres always a 'next tank')

ok, sounds like a fairly good idea. yes i can get a regular supply of frozen or live brine shrimp, which would be better, live im guessing. will add the clowns first as it is at the moment, as it will be a few months or more (probably alot more) until the shop i go to will have bangai's in and i'd rather stick with this store as they have been extremely helpful and so far everyone i talk to has praised their fish-stock. and there is a definate bio-load in the tank, recieved alot of 'hitch-hikers in the rock. 3 brittle stars, about 10 hermits, uncountable amounts of smaller snails and 3 or 4 larger snails, a decorator crab, a hermit crab and im sure theres more i havent seen, i know these wouldnt be creating huge amounts, but i have been testing almost daily, and there were large amounts of ammonia in the first few days, and it did appear to cycle. i will leave it for the 6 weeks, as ive waited this long( tank has been 'under construction' for about 3 months now) im sure i can wait 2 or 3 more weeks! circulation is rather weak, on my last calculation tank turned over 4 times an hour, but i will be recieving a 4000l/hr pump in the next few days (was meant to arrive today) which will boost it a bit. at the moment there is no random current, which is a project im looking into. heating is 2x200w heaters. lighting is said above and MH is on for 10 hours rest are on for 12. no refugium as tank wasnt drilled. looking into setting up an above tank refugium in the next few weeks with a 2' glass tank. skimmer isnt great, i got it from the same guy that the rock came from, it is a weipro sa-2014 ( i believe they sell them on aquaria.com.au) and is powered by a 4000l/hr pump, is producing a dark skimmate though, its rated for 150 gallon aquariums. this will be upgraded within the next few months, but seems to be doing the job for now. (although it did run a tank of the same size, that looked extremely healthy for a year or so). i use NSW, and due to having to drive past my chosen collection point to get to and from work, weekly waterchanges will be no problem. no DSB, i went with a half inch layer of sand across the tank, and have more that can be added if advised too, although i have heard this is not a good idea. wow, long post. thanks again. jack will have those pics uploaded tomorow hopefully!

tank has been 'wet' now for over 4 weeks. ammonia, nitrate and nitrite have been at 0 levels for 2 and a bit as nearly all the rock came from an existing aquarium. i will wait for the 6 week mark though, as ive been told this by others aswell. the plan was to introduce the mandarin last, so it would be about a year from now until it was added, as i was told to let the co-pod population build for as long as possible. at the moment the tank has 70kg of live rock, and although its fairly full physically, i would like to add more slowly (2kg or so at a time, just as i see rocks at the LFS that i like) until i have closer to 100kg, also i have 10kg or so of dead rock in there that should hopefully have some life in it by the time this fish is added. what other fish would you reccomend, as pies said i havent included any of the 'worker' fish, like gobies and etc. reefing sure does test your patience sometimes though!! thanks for all your help guys! books are great but its reassuring to get advice from people with experience. Pies: yeah its a real 'nemo' fish list, haha, but i couldnt resist the colours of those fish!! i am working on a website similiar to yours at the moment to keep track of everything, i'll upload all that tomorow and with it i'll have some pics.

ok, finally think i have everything ready for fish. nitrate, nitrite and ammonia have all gone down to zero. this was nice and fast as i used cured live rock and the cycle was extremely small. now for the fish..... i am not sure about stocking marine tanks, what is the reccomended order to add things, corals, other invertibrates or fish first??? and unsure about stocking levels. my tank is 5'x2'x18" (112gallons 405L). so far the fish i am looking at having eventually are blue tang yellow tang 2 ocellaris clowns (fake percula) 1 mandarin dragonet 2 bangii cardinals is this too many fish?? one book i have says yes, the other says no... so im guessing its borderline? also are these going to be fine with any shrimp or other invertibrates i keep??? also corals. i have a 400w metal halide, one NO 38w fluro and 2x NO 38w actinic fluoros, am i going to be able to keep any sps corals? what other limits do i have with this lighting? sorry about all the questions!! thankyou, jack^3

sounds like a line from an arnold swartzenegger (spelling??!!!) film

are you running any filtration on the water?

also at the same place they had high pressure sodium lamps, 400w units. they give out alot of light! would these be any good for reefs?

well i had a good day today!! went to a salvage yard today to look for tiles for around a pond. after finding the tiles i asked if they had any light fittings in at the moment and he said they had about 10 metal halide units in from a horticultural store and a few fluoros. thought it was my lucky day but when we went to find em the other bloke said a guy had come through and bought them all, for $20 each!!!!! so i just bought the 4 fluoro reflectors ($40 for all 4..... bargain!) and as i was loading up the car i saw the person who had got the MH's, and walked over and talked to him and told him about what i was doing with the tank, and he gave me one for the $20 he had paid... so i have a 400w MH for $20!!!!! i have bought alot of things from this salvage yard (including and oven!) and have found that if the owner says it works, it works, and if it doesnt he'll take it back. so now im gonna go to pro lamps on monday and buy a globe for it... if im running that and the 4 fluoros, what globe should i have in it? 10,000k??? and what fluoros? all 4 as actinics? or 2 actinics and 2 daylight tube??

thats true, but if there is a big distance horizontally between the two then it would have to be a fair vertical drop to push the water at a decent flow rate, unless you want to drill in 90mm stormwater overflow into your tank hehe. the two pumps would be pretty dangerous if one failed. the only way i can see that working is if you use iras idea and have the intakes for each at the desired water levels in the sump and the tank. but thats going to create alot of noise as they suck air, and does anyone who knows more about pumps know whether this would damage the pumps? as they would be running half dry for alot of the day. nowhere upstairs you can put your sump?

yeah, i'll go the MH route then. once i have the hardware for this tank i dont want to go changing anything. want all my money to be used for corals! im waiting for our local trade and exchange paper to see if i can pick up some second hand MH. i take it the ones used for horticulture and other uses are the same as for fish tanks? maybe have to change the bulbs, but ive seen 10,000k bulbs for $110 and in the past ive seen MH's go for $120 second hand, so it would still work out cheaper even with a new bulb. no rush for lighting anyway.

point taken as to whether ive ever seen a great tank without MH's. the way i saw it was that the advantage of MH was that it penetrated deeper tanks. the lighting i was going to go for was a 150w MH with 2x 30w actinics, totalling 210w. which is fairly low i know. the hood i am looking at is 8x 30w, totalling 240w, still low, but still higher than the other lighting choice. i dont know alot about lighting, but isnt the higher wattage better? what lighting do you have above your tanks reef? thanks for all the help!!

lol

yes having them there helps alot! at one of them the guy has said when i have my equipment bought he will come out, set it up, cart all the water over and show me how to do everything. also as he collects water from the beach down the road from me he also offered to drop water for waterchanges over to my house if i supplied a container. cant top that for service!! also has been more help than anything else in making decisions and is very honest about what he sells. cant beat that. yes, that law does sound rather stupid. the lionfishes are very beautiful, and i wish they were compatible with the fishes i will be keeping but alas that will have to wait til i set up another one, hehe. havent even got my tank set up and im addicted!! from my reading the critters from the beach can handle the heat for short periods of time but if it is permanently heated it may affect some of the less hardy animals.

well after lengthy discussions with a few local reef keepers and the bloke at the local marine shop i've decided not to go with halides. seeing as my tank is only 18 inches deep it just doesnt need that kind of light penetration. even emailed my old physics teacher and he agreed with what id worked out as far as how much light will penetrate the tank. what i have decided on is getting a custom light hood made up with a bank of 8x 5'fluoros running 50/50 globes. it will give the most even lighting and it will be identical to a hood i saw running on another tank which had many corals thriving and looked great. MH just gave out too much heat for my liking, and werent nessesary for my liking. and i know the light bank will give out alot of heat aswell, but not nearly as much. the hood will cost $650 and is a nice wooden one that matches my stand. that includes bulbs, fixtures everything, all switches have individual switches. its a really nice hood, not just good lighting! thats one decision out of the way.

just a comment after reading this thread and being in the process of setting up my own reef tank, its a lot easier (AND cheaper) to set up a reef tank in australia!! for a start i have 2 dedicated marine fish shops within 20 minutes drive. both stock an enormous range of fish including alot of the fish that dont seem to be available in NZ like lionfishes. also i think i saw only about 5 types of fish over $100. live rock is available and sells for $11 a kg depending on what kind (decorative coral encrusted or just cycled rock, the decorative is about $15) also despite the prices here being quoted in $NZ equipment is alot cheaper. not bragging or anything, just something i found interesting. why is live rock not available in NZ?? or have i got that wrong? update on my tank; its now full of water and 60kg live rock and another 40kg 'dead' rock and has 2 crabs and a shrimp in it. lighting is next followed by a skimmer.

yeah, at the moment i dont see the tank even being set up until about late march. talked to an electrician mate today and have decided on getting 2 150w with 10000k bulbs and 2 blue actinic. what size skimmer for a tank that size? yeah the sump will be above, as that way i can have it in a different room. the chiller is the piece of equipment that will cost the most. how important is the temperature while it is cycling? i ll be putting about 50-70kg live rock in with a small amount of plain rock, how long should i cycle that for?? sorry, as you can tell im a SW newbie here!

well i could run the sump on the top shelf of the stand next to the tank so it is above the tank and so all the drilling will be done on the plastic sump. is this a decent option? pros/cons? what do you think of the units on this page: http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category64_1.htm?? are they any good? will they be any good for the hardier corals until i can afford another MH after setting up the tank?

hi, i am doing the same as ira, building up parts for a marine tank slowly. i bought the tank and stand, its a 5x2x18, now i am looking at getting the lighting sorted out. i am looking at a unit that has a 150w metal halide in it with 5000k double ended bulb and on either side has 2x 24w fluoro's. how much more lighting do i need. i am looking at a reef setup. the rest of the lighting would just be fluoro tubes as i dont think i can budget any more to lighting than the one MH. also i am going to convert a plastic 30gallon container into a sump underneath to hide heaters, skimmer etc. (i know someone has said in the past not to put sump underneath due to noise and mess, but i dont really have any other options ) can i do this without drilling? how? and if i need to drill, what is the best way to do it? can you do it with an already made tank? thanks.

HAHAHA.... that was an awesome post ira! made me giggle

ok, i finally set it up. after all the painting, clenaing and moving in has finished i went down to the beach and got some water, rocks, sea weed and critters. just caught a few crabs and an urchin for now. saw an anenome but decided that i should let the tank cycle for a week before adding too much. all the rocks were from inside the pools and so is the water. couldnt believe the amount of living things in my tank when i set it up. little invertibrates swimming everywhere! the sand was from one of the pools aswell, and seems to have heaps of tiny living things burrowing in and out of it. well cant wait to stock it properly. just catching the crabs was an adventure, running after them as the retreated into the water! have an 'australian seashore life' book ariving tomorow so i can identify anything i get. oh, the tank is filtered by an aquaclear with crushed coral in as a filter medium and hopefully after this weekend it will have a skimmer aswell. tank has been set up for about 8 hours now and the crabs seem happy, roaming around the tank and not hiding even when i get close. anyway as u can tell im happy with my tank! hopefully have some pics of it tomorow!

yeah, these same filters are about $45 normally i think from memory. www.aquariumproducts.com.au has them on special. these are not the only options, but the cheapest for now. the tank is 4' and will only have 8 or so fish in it for now, so it will do until i decide what to do with the tank then i will upgrade the filtration and use these for a smaller tank. yeah i like the AQ i have on another tank, as you said so easy to clean. anyone here who lives in australia i would suggest going to www.aquariumproducts.com as they have amazing prices and charge only $7.50 postage no matter what the order. (and before anyone asks NO im not affiliated in any way! hehe, just extremly happy with the service ive had so far.)

hi. i'm going to buy a filter system for a 4' tank and i was wondering if anyone could tell me which of these is better or the pros and cons of them. the local fish shop has hang on the side filters for sale at $20 each, the aquaclear style ones. they are 570lph and come with filter media the other choice would be an internal power filter which is 1000lph and has a spray bar attachment and also comes with filter media i would also have a sponge filter in there to provide biological filtration. thanks

i am in one of the northern suburbs of perth, so it is hot in summer and moderatly cold in winter (but not as cold as where you guys are!) but the room in which the tank will be in is the room where the air conditioner is, so hopefully i will be able to control the temperatures, if not i might have to make one of those bar fridge coolers ive seen on DIY sites. i love DIY! so DIY skimmer it is! and hopefully will have the tank setup in a week or 2 weeks from now!