jolliolli Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 So as you know a few weeks ago i bought an existing reef setup off trademe and over the past few weeks have been setting it all up, making a few modifications to the plumbing etc, so tonight i thought i'd add some pics. These are all progress pics. I've added the sand, rocks and corals during the week and have it all running and should be picking up the livestock tomorrow all things going to plan Before the cleanup Needed a good clean up, cleaned all the woodwork. Previous owners had painted the back of the glass which annoyingly had gone on to the cabinet. Lots of scraping and cleaning to get it off. All cleaned up Tank and Skimmer. Well this definitely isn't my area! my fiance did all the work on this so i have him to thank. The cabinet was lined with black water-resitant rubber, then foam to line the cabinet for noise reduction. Ball-valve was added so that we can shut the overflow off if necessary (which in the end was just as well as after filling the tank we found the overflow had a very slow leak in the main tank.... you can imagine what would happen if the power went off... resilicioned it all and now its good. Probably looking at changing the sump down the road. Anywayt thats it so far, if anyone has any suggestions or comments fire them through, ill add the more exciting photos of actual tank contents tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 nice job cleaning it! where does the water go from that super tight skimmer area? back to the tank? is there a larger sump area? and how did you get your arm down that tiny overflow? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 how did you get your arm down that tiny overflow? very trickly, luckily my arms just fit (guess thats the advantage of being a girl, no bulging muscles). Water goes back to the tank via return pump but you;re right its very tight and not well designed so i'm thinking about a rebuild. Overflow i'd like to be bigger, in fact we were thinking of changing it to a full siphon but we don't have the room in the current one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Smallest overflow I've ever seen :lol: . At least it's nice and small and tidy lucky you have a thin arm :lol: . Nice looking tank lots of potential. How's that algae problem you mentioned on the rock? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 The sump is pretty small, maybe get a hang on skimmer and remove the sump. The sump is so small that the skimmer will be skimming the same water coming out of the skimmer. This is not very efficient. I would keep the set up how it is and see how it goes as you don’t want to be spending more money upgrading the faults in the tank. Buying second hand can end up costing more than starting from brand new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 the cleen up looks like it went well then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
raeh1 Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 amen to that reef. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Also great job on cleaning the tank. looks like new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted August 31, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 How's that algae problem you mentioned on the rock? Algae seemed to reduced quite a big when i took it out of the holding tank, ive added phosguard as i still have some algae growing on the sand (which i think is also caused by a dead spot in the flow) Need some fancy tunze nanos so i can direct hte flow a bit more once the budget allows. I have the TWO smallest overflows in the world My previous tank i bought was a Rio 300 for my freshwater tank which was converted to marine. It also had the same size overflow (9cm x 9cm) but we ripped that out for the freshwater setup. I believe both overflows were done by redwood aquatics so they must build them small. The sump is pretty small, maybe get a hang on skimmer and remove the sump. The sump is so small that the skimmer will be skimming the same water coming out of the skimmer. This is not very efficient. very true, i have a hang on red sea skimmer which i was using on my interim tank but found out it has a leak :evil: Ive only been running the skimemr for a day so will be interested to how much it pulls out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 Algae seemed to reduced quite a big when i took it out of the holding tank, ive added phosguard as i still have some algae growing on the sand (which i think is also caused by a dead spot in the flow) Turn the lights off for 3 days. very reduce the algae. corals will be ok Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cookie extreme Posted August 31, 2007 Report Share Posted August 31, 2007 just by the looks at the overflow i would guess it was designed as a full syphon system already. it has the flow valve below the tank. and with such a small sump you will never able to flood your living room as the tank should be able to take all the water without a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 just by the looks at the overflow i would guess it was designed as a full syphon system already. it has the flow valve below the tank. No we added the ballvalve ourselves, previously it was just plumbed straight through. Not sure about the sump/tank flooding thing, atm the tank is filled all the way up to where the trim starts. I don't think there is any glass inside the trim which could mean if the tank level rose even an inch or two it could possibly leak through the plastic. i might give it a test and see what happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Well the livestock arrived today, and are all in the tank now, only problem i had was the mandarin goby, i was floating him in a bag in the tank acclimating him and all of a sudden he turned upsidedown stopped breathing and appeared dead! i hadn't added any water from the tank at this stage but maybe the stress was a bit much for him, or perhaps ammonia had built up in the bag, anyway i had to pretty much get him of the bag and in the the water without acclimation. He recovered in the water and swam around but then disappeared behind in to some rocks and i haven't seem him since, so i'm hoping he's just hiding and hasn't died under a rock somewhere... The shrimp, tang, clownfish, blenny and clam all adjusted well, acclimated them over the period of around 40 minutes. At the moment i have a lot of microbubbles, i'm just going to wait them out and see if htey disappear as the skimmer break itself in. Right some pics Full tank shot Left side Right side with clowns Length on with tang blue Clam One of the shrimps lots to still sort out but should be lots of fun. Couldn't get a photo of the lawnmower blenny he's too quick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 there cool Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 found the mandarin goby all alive and well, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Well you've got a real jump start with all that stuff already growing, bet you're stoked! Interesting story about the mandarin. For me I like to get the fish in as fast as i can, sometimes they can do themselves more damage stressing in the bag than what it is worth. When I'm putting in a new fish i test the salinity in the bag, if it's same as the tank i'll change 50% of the water in the bag with tank water, sit it in the tank for 5 minutes and then straight in. If salinity is markedly different it might take a few hours though or I might do it in a different tank over a few days with some fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 thats good news about the fish Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted September 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 Well you've got a real jump start with all that stuff already growing, bet you're stoked! Sure am pretty much captivated at looking at the tank all the time, its so hard to keep your eyes off with all that movement . managed to get a pic of the blenny, i just love that face! Spotted the mandarin at this morning looking for food, which leads me to my next question. I've read about their need for a live food supply and i think i'v emost likely killed off any copepods living in the sand when i washed the sand. Is there anything i can do to increase my copepod population? Also anything in particular i should be doing in terms of care/maintenance in the first few weeks? i figured i'd water test daily to make sure their aren't any spikes in ammonia etc with the addition of the livestock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted September 1, 2007 Report Share Posted September 1, 2007 nice photo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 That's one of those blennies that's do ugly it's beautiful LOL. Almost certainly there will be some copepods on the rocks just depends how long for them to build up enough to sustain the mandarin, but the algae film you had will help them. Not much you can do other than wait it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidb Posted September 2, 2007 Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 hmmmm... I have been looking for a Lawnmower blenny like yours for months with no success From what I have seen with pods, they don't really live IN sand, they live in rocks and my lovely giant bushes of Bryopsis :evil: .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted September 2, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 2, 2007 yeah had a look last night with a torch and it teeming with creepy crawlies so at least now i know hte mandarin will have something to eat ;0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolliolli Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 some new additions thanks to cookie extreme, still battling some aiptasia and cyano though Can't remember the name of this one, can someone enlighten me? Xenia Leather Acro frag on right Hammer, frogspawn and clown Anenomes have started hosting the clowns :bounce: and they've become very protective of it, tried to feed the anenome yesterday and got several sharp nips from the clowns. I've also had to move the feather duster twice as they've taken a disliking to it and have started headbutting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 Looking good! Yes it's funny the way the clowns give a nip if you are too close to the anemone, got to give them 10/10 for taking on a creature 1000 times their size! :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slappers Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 another well looking tank on its way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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