Pies Posted May 11, 2003 Report Share Posted May 11, 2003 Well just thought i'd let people know where I am at. Tank is finished and in place. Just under 700 ltrs. Skimmer is plumbed in and running. A temp sump is in place and running. Hope to finish the larger sump (3ft glass fishtank with back and side replaced with acyrilic) and have it running this week but am moreinterested in finishing the lighting frame 1st. Lighting Frame. Wooden frame will sit on top of the tank and hold the T5 lights and also provde a banner for the Metal Halide pendant to hand from. The tank is full of LIVE ROCK! This rock was purchased 2nd from Auckalnd. This rock is mostly purple with corline algae and full of worms, copods etc! Also some AIPSTASIA Not sure what to do about these little fuxors. The rock was also covered in blue/green mushroom corals! And some have grown, some have moved. This is over 30 in the tank! I have purched 2 Percula Clownfish (pair) and 4 rocks with Coral. 1x Zooanthid, 2x not sures & 1x Calutrea (Candy Cane or Trumpet). I also have a pink brain but it died within a day (was in VERY bad shape when I got it). I am topping up with about 3L of KALKWASSER made from RO water every day. I am adding about 5ml of SALIFERT Coral Food every day and 1 squirt of SALIFERT Calcium every week. Water: Calcium - 400. I havn't tried to increase this at all, 400 is good, and cause I have nothing that can really use it other than the corline algae i'll just keep up as is for now. Salinity - 1.026. Am taking this down slowly. Aiming for .024 MAX. I had this down to .024 but run out of DI water and there was a few days between that and getting my own RO unit. Nitrite - 0. This is excellent and just shows how good the rock I brought was. Nitrate - 1.5ppm. This is actually PERFECT for saltwater. I am aiming for 0 Nitrates but am using ocean water so this reflects its natural pressence. When I plumb in the new sump it will have a PLENUM built into it, and that should act as a NIRATE export filter. Soon... Phosphate: Detectible, but just. I am using some SALIFERT phosphate remover now (half a containter, wraped in a stocking and filterwool droped in the sump). I am also using some filter wool over the tank sump drains to catch Diatom. Since I did this the tank water is cleaner and less algae has grown. Thats it! Most things in the tank are getting Corline algae on them, a very fine dusting. There is brown Algae all over the place (Diatoms, to be expected) and some green filimentis algae too, mostly on the back glass. I am leaving most of this there. Its easy to clean it off the glass so I figure if it has to grow, it can grow there I also built a reef rack to put a lot of rock on (keeps it off the floor, better cirulation and makes it look like you have more rock!). I am 100% happy with the tank, but have also found a 1000 things I would di differently if I could start over. Tank project 2 has already started in the back of my mind Cheers! Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted May 12, 2003 Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 Sounds good Pies I've got a friend who is looking at making the plunge into marine tanks, so I think I'll learn vicariously through him before going there myself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 Get into it Aqua! hehehehe. I love my marine tank so much, I am planing to dump ALL of my freshwater interest and just have the 1 marine tank (+ sump + refuge etc). Its more 'exciting', but its a serious investment in both money and time. Anyone who is in Wellington and wants to see is more than welcome. One thing to note about reefkeeping (maybee not quite so true for fish only) is the need for stability. And by that I mean owning a house or never moving from where you are Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqua Posted May 12, 2003 Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 yeah, I want to wait until I own a house :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted May 12, 2003 Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 Pies big ups on your progress As for the Aiptasia the best way i have found to eradicate them is with the use of 12ml syringe and a hyperdermic needle, the trick how ever is to pull the Aiptasia out of the water so it has no internall presure and cannot retract. Then insert the needle filled with boiling water inside its blastopore and fill with boiling water untill it turns milky white, be sure not to go through the side of the anemone and if you are lucky will be able to scrape its basal disc and body off the substate for disposal (hello waste master). Any way this works very well for me on the 4 tanks i maintain. Personally i would go for D&D Rowaphos over saliferts as it has an unlimited lifespan BTW keep boiling the jug as the H2O has to be red hot when injected. HtH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted May 12, 2003 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2003 Thanks for that! I know pwoplw who use the hot water method as well as the KALKWASSER paste. Both are a real pain but I guess there is litte you can do but try and stay on top of it! I am thinking about getting a copperband butterfly. He/she will eat them! But I hear mixed things about this fish. Your thoughts? Thx Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogmatix Posted May 13, 2003 Report Share Posted May 13, 2003 Copperbands can be great, from my expeiance you have a 33-50% chance of getting one that will actually eat it, and if they do he/she will grow nicely and be very healthy. They tend to leave the larger ones alone and just munch on the babies. In the top 5 of my butterfly lists, and one of if not the most hady IMO. Just watch it for several hours over a couple of days and u should be able to tell if hes munching glass anems b4 u buy (that is if he is in a live rock tank with no Cu present ) HTH B.P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted May 13, 2003 Report Share Posted May 13, 2003 Personally i would go for D&D Rowaphos over saliferts as it has an unlimited lifespan rowa phos does not have a unlimited lifespan . basically when it is full it will not leech back in the tank. Rowaphos is Iron Oxi-hydroxide as is Salifert although the two are dry and a different structure Rowaphos is amorphous, Phosphate Killer from Salifert is crystalline. Both are FeOOH (iron oxy-hydroxide). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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