Tank Journal Archive

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
1200x600x500 Reef... of some sort
Introduction: I have kept aquariums since my teenage years though back then success was varied with the info that was around. In the last few years I have had several tanks going with the old oscars (had my pair for 9 years) and other americans. I then turned to South Americans, Eartheaters (geophagus species) in particular. I had both varients of the Orange heads and Columbia/Venezula sp. Recently moved to melbourne so shut down all my tanks and sold most. I brought a 3 foot stand down with me with the aim to set up a small south american biotope houseing a pair of Apistogramma (probably near as hard as marine as far as water requirements go) until I found a link to this place on a bonsai forum :rolleyes and the rest as they say is....

Reefing Since: Now. I tried about ten years ago back in brissie but with bad advice on poor equipment it wasnt a success. Armed with more knowledge i aim to be successful with this one (fingers crossed)

System Objectives: To have a healthy tank that I think looks good and that keeps any critter or coral I put in there alive.

Type of reef: FWLR.....Mainly softies and LPS and a CLAM!! Maybe if the tank will handle it a Monti, so far the only SPS that takes my fancy ;)

Display System:

Initial Fill Date: Still to far away :( Hopefully by mid year.

Display Tank Dimensions: 1200x600x500 Front panel will be starfire glass.

Display Lighting: Either Illumagic if the funds permit otherwise DIY :cool:

Stand: Timber.... building it myself though I am no handyman :confused:

Hood or Rimless: DIY = Hood. Illumagic = No hood. Probably going to have an allround brace budget doesnt extend to laser cut euro bracing

Sump Design: Skimmer in front, heaters and LR and macro in the middle (maybe FBF if need be) return pump at the back.

Filtration: Sump

Support systems:

NSW or ASW: NSW

Display Water circulation: Tunze 7096 Controller and two 6055 pumps (maybe 3 if i need it)

Return Pump: I would say it will be an ehiem Compac

Skimmer: Bubble Magus CS180

Evaporation Top Up: Undecided probably manual to start with.

Chiller: Hailea 250a

Heating: Two 300w Fluval heaters. Long term interested in the heaters Mj has.


Chemical additions:

Calcium Addition: Probably start with Red Sea when needed but aim to use randys reciepe

Alkilinity Addition: See above ^^^

Magnesium Addition: See above the comment above^^^

Prodibiotics Addition: More Reading needed ;)

Coral Food Addition: Some aminos might try 100% reef safe and others... See above ^^^
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
about time this has started! :D
I have been meaning to start it for a while but never got around to it. Even last night I started it then got distracted by MW3 for a few hours then finished it off when I should have been sleeping :(
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Mid Year is not that far away :)
Haha I know I'm not in too much of a rush but still getting a bit antsy.

I'm still doing the stand atm I had it done but I wasn't happy so have just pulled it to pieces to correct the mistakes that I made along the way that would have annoyed me :)
 

firebird

Member
Aug 2, 2011
1,906
752
love Apistogrammas-never kept them though!!
Can I start nagging for pics:poidh in advance?:p
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Pics of the reef or apistogramma? Cause I have neither lol ;) I was going to set up the apistogramma tank but found this site and changed my plans.
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Couple of pics of the stand. Once i got the top on it wasnt completely flat so i knew something was wrong somewhere. The base and top had slight twists in them as I used the wrong saw to make the cuts and when they were screwed together it pulled them out of wack a bit. I had them square to a mm and the twist straightened with weight which was ok.

Also when i cut the top and bottom of the corner posts I ended up with the same problem using the wrong saw and the cuts werent perfect but it was tollerable. Roughly taking a level I knew I was out it one corner but that is easily fixed with a bit of packing so no biggy, BUT when i put the top on it wasnt right so I pulled it all apart to start again :mad: I've got time ;)

I decided to do the top and bottom frames again now I have the right saw to get a decent cut and by upgrading the timber to 45mm wide it will allow me to recut the posts top and bottom to make the cuts straighter. One post down and 100% improvement... I hope. Also with the posts not one was the same height :eek I had the lenght cut at bunnings into the leg sizes so not sure how but the cuts were all wrong and i must have not checked them before I started :rolleyes

I will make it easier to paint in pieces too!


stand2.jpg

stand3.jpg

Edit you will also notice my handymand skill in the first pic. When I took that photo I looked at it with pride then realised I had braced it all up with out putting the bottom piece of ply on lol
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Fish (short) list will probably be....

2 clowns, probably just perc or occy's (these will be the first fish in)
Lawnmower Blenny, personally I love the look of them
3 x schooling fish, undecided as to which maybe Bangaii Cardinals but they may require more than 3 as they may get cranky with the odd one out if they pair up. The Anthias look nice but i'd have to go the easiest to care for.
Mandarin
Copper banded butterfly, unsure as I have read they are prone to parasite infection, gill flukes seem to get a mention.
Sixline wrasse, Stunning fish!
Coral Beauty.

thats all I can think of at the moment. Far from a final list.... well clowns,blenny and the mandarin are... but we will see what happens ;)
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Slowly reworking the stand :rolleyes

Recut all the legs which knocked it down from 900 down to 850 and recut the top and bottom with a better saw and am pretty happy with it 98% better than the last time. I was using 90x35 now i have cut it to take 90x45. $25 in new timber I can live with to make the stand better!

stand 4 resize.jpg
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Starting to come back together finally. 100% improvement so far levels are all pretty good too which is a bonus as i may not have to pack it up :p The bottom frame is still slightly out of whack as one of the 1240 lengths had a small twist in the wood. I will finish screwing it all up tomorrow and get painting. I got a piece of mdf from work for the back for nicks (otherwise wouldnt have used it) so i'll put a couple of coats of paint on to seal it up and it should be sweet.

I'm going to put a top and bottom mitred architrave (trim?, whatever it is called when used for this purpose) around it then finish the side panels in ply and figure out what to do for door and then stain and varnish it. Then i will order my tank... hopefully.

edit 2nd time round.jpg
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
That's why I grabbed one as they are a good price brand new and the reports from guys here using them was good.

The stand should be solid as a rock. I finished screwing the main frame together today and it is all good... Well
It seems to be anyway. I'll paint everything else over the weekend and get the supports in and the sort out the ply for the outside which I will stain and varnish in choc walnut. Fingers crossed I can make it look good ;)

Oh and then figure out how to make doors lol

I wish I had it going itzmatty has a damn nice clam for sale atm and I saw a really nice pair of clowns to :(
 
V

'vspec'

Guest
Awesome bud, always fun times starting up.
Keep an eye on the reefing circles for preloved gear, tank included. Who knows, you may be lucky.
Where you at in vic bud?
 

Sarg

Member
Dec 11, 2011
2,559
926
Cheltenham
Yeah the chiller and pumps were matts old ones. I dont think he looks after his stuff so it probably wont last long lucky they were a good price :p

cheltenham to V man.
 
V

'vspec'

Guest
If you need a hand with anything, anything at all, just let me know,.............I'll see if I can send you to someone else :)