Morcs Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Decided my 3ft would be a better first marine than the little 30L nano... did the switch the other night, got some more rock, modified my aquaclear 50 into a refugium, and dusted off my favourite powerhead and added a wide output nozzle to it. Still waiting on some bits, hopefully getting a double T5 unit, and waiting on two skimmers to arrive to try out. Spec: 90x30x30 Glass tank, 80L (20g long) Aquaclear 70 powerhead with modified output. 1800lph Aquaclear 50 filter modified into a refugium (AC30 impellor, basket cutup and used to create baffles with filterwool sandwidged in between, with the rest of the compartment for nitrate eating algae Eheim Jager 100w AL30 light hood with a 30w powerglo (hopefully changing to a GLO Double T5 unit running a 24w powerglo and 24w actinic. A decent amount of uncured dead lava and coral rock. Temp is set at 24 (probe digi thermometer), and sg is about 1.021. Not monitoring params until my test kit arrives. Also waiting on a nano in-tank hydrometer Stocking: Pair of perculus or ocellaris clowns Yellowtail blue damsel Flame angel Once ive mastered keeping the fish alive will look into soft corals. Got my water storage and mixing equipment sorted. use 2x 20L drums to get DI water from work, and have a 45L container containing a powerhead for mixing and storing salt water (enough for WC for a month?) Lemmme know what you all think. Note the whirlpool on the surface. looks really buzzy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 mean! you putting a wavemaker on there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 13, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 mean! you putting a wavemaker on there? Not at the moment, ive figured ive got enough flow in there already, and the tank is going to be a bit cluttered for equipment once a power skimmer goes in! Might ditch the filter though. the refugium is a bit too small to do anything noticeable, and if i do weekly water changes i can do without mech filtration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh_S Posted June 13, 2010 Report Share Posted June 13, 2010 Looking good! I would love to start up a marine tank like this... so many sweet options out there, so little time/moneys :-? Keep us updated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetra_nz Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 Nice setup! I would advise against having the damsel. They are really aggressive and will harass the much more peaceful clowns. I've seen damsels bite onto the fin of a clown and not letting go! If your tank is covered, then consider gobies like the firefish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEE Posted June 14, 2010 Report Share Posted June 14, 2010 thats sooo kool i always wanted a marine haha maybe in a few years i might sell my tank and get a marine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 25, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Update. Looking a lot better now! got my 2000lph powerheads, power skimmer has broken in, and got 5kg of live rock. T5 unit is fixed, just waiting on a new Marine glo tube. Like my little hydrometer? Whatdya reckon to the scaping? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 I like the scape. I think it is very practical in the long run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetra_nz Posted June 25, 2010 Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 Like the scape, but if I were you I would make sure none of the rock is touching the glass. Coralline alage will grow on the glass, and having rock placed closely to the glass will make scraping very tricky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 Like the scape, but if I were you I would make sure none of the rock is touching the glass. Coralline alage will grow on the glass, and having rock placed closely to the glass will make scraping very tricky. Yeah will probably re-think it soon. Its hard to scape such a narrow footprint. Do you think i could get away with reducing the rock by 30%ish? Not having it touching the back is the difficult one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spoon Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 do you find those wavemaker pumps noisy ? i got one of the same ones its quite loud might buy a sunsun instead and trim the impellor down to reduce the flow. those wavemakers have a stainless steel shaft which is meant to be a no-no for marine too . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 do you find those wavemaker pumps noisy ? i got one of the same ones its quite loud might buy a sunsun instead and trim the impellor down to reduce the flow. those wavemakers have a stainless steel shaft which is meant to be a no-no for marine too . Nah quiet as. sometimes they get a loud hum after ive unplugged them and plug them back in, but i find just moving/adjusting makes the hum go away. Rescaped it just now, looks pretty decent. When water clears ill take some pics. Took out a load of the uncured rock so hopefully thatll help with cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zev Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 I just leave the coraline algae on the back wall, my tank is too narrow to try and scape with the rocks away from all the glass, gives the cleaner shrimp something to hang on to when eating and annoying the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetra_nz Posted June 26, 2010 Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 If you don't plan to overstock (for 80L) I see no problem cutting down the rock by 30%. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted June 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2010 Better eh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 3, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 3, 2010 Update. Everything seems to be working and functioning well. Water params are improving, ammonia has dropped a lot. PH and KH are low since I removed a lot of the dead rock. PH 7.6 KH 6 deg Am 0.25 Nitri 0 Nitra 10 Anyways, I am delighted that I have algae. And is that a tube worm or something in one of the pics? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 Upgraded. Again. :roll: Scored a nice 48cm cube for $40. All sides tinted glass except front. Looks pretty good. Just waiting for the paint to dry on the stand, then hopefully I can get filling tomorrow. Then need to make brackets to hang my T5 unit on as its looks stoopid sat on top of the tank (its longer) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tetra_nz Posted July 9, 2010 Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 The kh and pH should not have changed in response to your removing rock. kh depletes gradually with time, and I think your low pH is the result of the low kh. Your pH is critically low at the moment so you better do something about that! So you are going to have 2 tanks now? Or you transferring everything to the new tank? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 9, 2010 Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 ph 7.6 is fine, mine goes from 7.6 - 8.1 during the day. The tank above is just been set up so ph/kh, does not matter, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 9, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2010 Thanks guys. Yes everything is being transferred to the new tank. The 30cm height and depth of the 3ft is a pain in the A, and is restrictive. Cube should be much better. Getting wood to mount my lighting after work today, then hopefully can start arranging rockwork and filling tomorrow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 10, 2010 Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Pics would be good, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Pics would be good, Look up ^ Will post pics as soon as lighting is in place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Here we go. Got everything finished, put into position - will be hard keeping attention on the TV :lol: Had to use my entire supply of ASW to fill. Just using two heaters to bring upto temp. Rockwork is ok, best I can do without using putty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morcs Posted July 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Pics of filled tank. Hopefully it looks better tomorrow when its cleared, and ill probably siphon the debris left on the bottom, and make any adjustments that are necessary. Then its back to the sitting and waiting game called cycling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted July 10, 2010 Report Share Posted July 10, 2010 Next step is to let mature and add phosphate remover to bind phosphates and remove any organics before they get stored in the rock. Also other trick is to reduce light to a few hours a day, it reduces the chance of major algae taking hold and give your tank time to build up good bacteria which will break down waste Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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