Cade Hl900 Tank Set Up
So, I've finally gotten around to setting up my CADE HL900.
Siting and testing the Tank
I got underneath the house and mapped out where the flooring beams were. I then sited an old table top (114cm x 71cm) made from solid wood to spans across three beams. I have located the aquarium on top.
Next I filled the tank with 225 litres of freshwater and let it stand overnight. I also cut some old Perspex to size and am using it as a lid until I make a better one. During the fill, I stopped after I’d added 100 litres and I adjusted the cabinet feet to level out the water depth.
No problems with the water test, so the following day I emptied the tank, then went ahead and added approximately 40kg of used Pisces micro grade coral sand to a depth of about 6cm.
Coral Sand
I had about 40kg of Pisces coral sand that I had removed from my then current tank in about June 2015. The sand had been sitting in two buckets with salt water in a sheltered spot around the side of the house. I had rinsed the sand a couple of times since June, each time rinsing with atleast ten washes of fresh natural salt water (nsw). Each time I found a lot of grey sand that smelled of rotten egg gas in the middle of the sand. It appears that anaerobic bacterial still lives in the sand. I washed the coral sand one final time before I added it to the tank.
Cycling the Coral Sand
When I added the coral sand, the sand still had some grey foul smelling sand in the middle even though I’d only washed it two days before. So I added 100 L of nsw, a Tunze 6025 pump for circulation and I aerated the water to help remove sulphur dioxide. I also added a small amount of live rock and I let it sit for one week.
I noted during the week that the bristle stars, spaghetti worms and pods that came in with the live rock survived.
I expect that the anaerobic bacteria that I think is still present in the coral sand has migrated into the middle of the sand bed as the sides of the tank and the bottom of the tank show no grey colouration.
Siting and testing the Tank
I got underneath the house and mapped out where the flooring beams were. I then sited an old table top (114cm x 71cm) made from solid wood to spans across three beams. I have located the aquarium on top.
Next I filled the tank with 225 litres of freshwater and let it stand overnight. I also cut some old Perspex to size and am using it as a lid until I make a better one. During the fill, I stopped after I’d added 100 litres and I adjusted the cabinet feet to level out the water depth.
No problems with the water test, so the following day I emptied the tank, then went ahead and added approximately 40kg of used Pisces micro grade coral sand to a depth of about 6cm.
Coral Sand
I had about 40kg of Pisces coral sand that I had removed from my then current tank in about June 2015. The sand had been sitting in two buckets with salt water in a sheltered spot around the side of the house. I had rinsed the sand a couple of times since June, each time rinsing with atleast ten washes of fresh natural salt water (nsw). Each time I found a lot of grey sand that smelled of rotten egg gas in the middle of the sand. It appears that anaerobic bacterial still lives in the sand. I washed the coral sand one final time before I added it to the tank.
Cycling the Coral Sand
When I added the coral sand, the sand still had some grey foul smelling sand in the middle even though I’d only washed it two days before. So I added 100 L of nsw, a Tunze 6025 pump for circulation and I aerated the water to help remove sulphur dioxide. I also added a small amount of live rock and I let it sit for one week.
I noted during the week that the bristle stars, spaghetti worms and pods that came in with the live rock survived.
I expect that the anaerobic bacteria that I think is still present in the coral sand has migrated into the middle of the sand bed as the sides of the tank and the bottom of the tank show no grey colouration.
