My new tank - step by step account
- Thread starter wayne
- Start date
if you like, you may email them to me and i will host them for you...ive got some server space
camaro79@ucla.edu
camaro79@ucla.edu
Some pictures are on the way.
However, this tank is no more in it's current format. The live rock, most of the substrate and the fish have been moved to a larger tank. This wasn't the original plan, but the tank became free and I couldn't resist it.
I was happy with the 3 foot long, but just going to a tank 4 feet by 16 inches base is a big improvement. The fish behaviour is different. Moving from tank A to tank B took about 2 hours last Sunday. I spent Thursday cleaning the tank with freshwater as best I could. I then stuck in 30 litres of 1 and a half strengh saltwater to kill any freshwater algae et al I'd missed. On the Friday I did more cleaning and scraping, then empited the tank, cleaned with freshwater and then put in 60 litres of water and added salt.
On Saturday I started by moving 20 litres (I use 10 litre buckets by the way), and putting in , with acclimation a hermit, a Trochus snail and a leather coral frag to check, I guess for any toxicity. Nothing happened by the Sunday, so I then moved the live rock. I did this by putting it into buckets with water and acclimating it to preserve any sponges et al that have appeared. I also shifted, by syphoning into a bucket, about half of my now live sand.
Once this has been done, and some preliminary aquascaping, I moved another 20 litres of water + the fish.
Basically these fish have had a colossal water change into a new tank. Left behind is a tank with some sand, a lot of coralline and 6 inches of water. I've left a powerhead in there to provide water motion, and my T5's are in the hood to light some frags I have kept in there.
The new tank has a total of 2000 lph of water movement (more to come), but only NO lighting so I've had to move my corals into the top of the tank to get as much light as possible - for them water depth is only a few inches. So far all is well, and I don't expect any problems.
The 30 gallon was fun, but in all honesty this will be better, for a limited cost to upgrade.
However, this tank is no more in it's current format. The live rock, most of the substrate and the fish have been moved to a larger tank. This wasn't the original plan, but the tank became free and I couldn't resist it.
I was happy with the 3 foot long, but just going to a tank 4 feet by 16 inches base is a big improvement. The fish behaviour is different. Moving from tank A to tank B took about 2 hours last Sunday. I spent Thursday cleaning the tank with freshwater as best I could. I then stuck in 30 litres of 1 and a half strengh saltwater to kill any freshwater algae et al I'd missed. On the Friday I did more cleaning and scraping, then empited the tank, cleaned with freshwater and then put in 60 litres of water and added salt.
On Saturday I started by moving 20 litres (I use 10 litre buckets by the way), and putting in , with acclimation a hermit, a Trochus snail and a leather coral frag to check, I guess for any toxicity. Nothing happened by the Sunday, so I then moved the live rock. I did this by putting it into buckets with water and acclimating it to preserve any sponges et al that have appeared. I also shifted, by syphoning into a bucket, about half of my now live sand.
Once this has been done, and some preliminary aquascaping, I moved another 20 litres of water + the fish.
Basically these fish have had a colossal water change into a new tank. Left behind is a tank with some sand, a lot of coralline and 6 inches of water. I've left a powerhead in there to provide water motion, and my T5's are in the hood to light some frags I have kept in there.
The new tank has a total of 2000 lph of water movement (more to come), but only NO lighting so I've had to move my corals into the top of the tank to get as much light as possible - for them water depth is only a few inches. So far all is well, and I don't expect any problems.
The 30 gallon was fun, but in all honesty this will be better, for a limited cost to upgrade.
but, i can't wait to see the pictures, and i understand fully the lure of something bigger...how big is the new tank? based on the dimensions you gave, sounds about like a 70g?
Yes, it's become a larger, easier to maintain tank, built round a 240 litre juwel tank. Filtration is still the same though. A bunch of decent quality live rock, vigorous water movement , a one inch layer of dead sand and a skimmer.
Annoying it was only up for 7 months. So I moved it just as it's really getting stable. I think it's notable I've started seeing more stuff appearing recently, plus it's start to respond well to some real abuse, notably I'm feeding pretty heavily, without problems. Hopefully the speed of the move has preserved most everything as was.
I think the 30 was a good tank, and I was always pleased with it, but I like the freedom the extra floorspace gives me. I've pulled out of it's QT a Chaetodon kleinii, and I also purchased ,because they're fantastically cheap (same as a damsel here, about 7 dollars) a squamapinnis anthia to find out if they're as tricky as they're meant to be (so far no, just needs feeding 3 + times a day). I do need to work out lighting though - this means metal halide I think.
Right no the 30 is my frag tank. It has T5's, good water movement, a dreadful looking substrate of dirty sand and 6 inches water depth. I got some acropora frags some time ago, and they've been a bit rocky till now, but just being in a tank without fish seems to suit them quite well, and I see growth tips already in less than a week
Annoying it was only up for 7 months. So I moved it just as it's really getting stable. I think it's notable I've started seeing more stuff appearing recently, plus it's start to respond well to some real abuse, notably I'm feeding pretty heavily, without problems. Hopefully the speed of the move has preserved most everything as was.
I think the 30 was a good tank, and I was always pleased with it, but I like the freedom the extra floorspace gives me. I've pulled out of it's QT a Chaetodon kleinii, and I also purchased ,because they're fantastically cheap (same as a damsel here, about 7 dollars) a squamapinnis anthia to find out if they're as tricky as they're meant to be (so far no, just needs feeding 3 + times a day). I do need to work out lighting though - this means metal halide I think.
Right no the 30 is my frag tank. It has T5's, good water movement, a dreadful looking substrate of dirty sand and 6 inches water depth. I got some acropora frags some time ago, and they've been a bit rocky till now, but just being in a tank without fish seems to suit them quite well, and I see growth tips already in less than a week
I never posted many pictures as I never took enough, and they didn't scale down terribly well. They didn't show much or were useful either. Tank still chugs along and is nice and stable thanks. Bit of an algae fight since December but it's all under control now. The original contents got shifted to a 250 litreish, and I plumbed in a refugium.
I'm humming and hahinh on building a nano, but I'm not sure how much work travel I'm going to be doing. I'm not especialy big on nanos but I want to experiment with natural sunlight a bit. It will be easier to get perm for this from the wife if it's not to big or costly
I'm humming and hahinh on building a nano, but I'm not sure how much work travel I'm going to be doing. I'm not especialy big on nanos but I want to experiment with natural sunlight a bit. It will be easier to get perm for this from the wife if it's not to big or costly