Tank Journal Archive

[Joshwaaaa]

Figured I would start this up with what will end up as my quarantine tank for the 4fter, just to get used to the maintenance and up keep.

Display System:

Initial Fill Date: Tomorrow finger crossed 4/1/2012

Display Tank Dimensions: 500x350x500

Display Lighting: DIY LED, 14x 3W dimmable


Support systems:

NSW or ASW: ASW for now, will switch to NSW when I have the time

Display Water circulation: Tunze 6015


Skimmer: bubble magus bmqq NAC

Evaporation Top Up: manual

Couple of pics before fill, it's a bit messy but was made from stuff I had lying around, glass included

 

[VaultBoy]

Nice... Plans for any stock?

Or are you just going to cycle it and QT some stock for the 4ft?

 

[MTG]

fancy looking QT !

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Will just be stocking a few simple corals, with maybe a a couple of occy's. Just want a nice uncomplicated setup

It will be getting stripped back to barebones when it gets turned into a quaratine obviously, haha


anyone point me in the direction of a cheap HOB skimmer? dont want to spend too much as it will probably have minimal use

 

[Josh M]

Mates got an occy mod350 he wants to get rid of....?

 

[Joshwaaaa]

got 60L of ASW mixing overnight in the kitchen and have an extra 40L of RO. Had to go buy my RO water from the local LFS at $5 for 20L so RO/DI filter is next on my list I reckon. Will really need it once the big tank is up and running.


Thinking I will get 5-6 kg of rock tommorow and see how we go from there

 

[NiCd]

yeah RO filter is a great purchase

 

[VaultBoy]

If you are interested I can get you a really nice RO unit for cheap (under $200 for an auto RO unit) Got to help the south aussies out when I can! Send me a pm if your interested.

Will give me an excuse to head down south and check out marine plus' new store! I havent seen it since they have really started stocking their tanks.

 

[Joshwaaaa]

^^ Will be keen once I go back to work and start getting paid again I'll flick you a PM next week or the likes, cheers mate

Been to marine plus every day this week:worship They are still setting up alot of there tanks, but have plenty of room for a heap more, alot better then their last place.

Actually went in today to get my rock and was told all they have left is the dregs of their last shipment with a mantis in their somewhere, but they have a shipment of fresh rock coming in tomorrow morning which will be 100% better so decided to put it off till then, I'm in no rush

 

[VaultBoy]

Mantis?... I might have to make a call!!! I want one!!!

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Mantis?... I might have to make a call!!! I want one!!!

See my reply to your otherthread ;)

and away we go, need to work on my photo taking ability. 4.5kg of rock

 

[Joshwaaaa]

I need to build my bommies taller I reckon, should have used less silicone building the tank too:p

can see the dodgy container the mantis is chilling in too

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Now have some xenia in my tank. I know it's way too soon and not he best thing to do but my mate rang me today and said if I didn't grab this bit it was going to end up in the bin as he trimmed it off his way over grown. Fingers crossed it will survive the cycle, it opened up and started pulsing about 5 mins after going in the tank.

Using my API test kit so far we are at
PH= 8.2
Ammo= 0.5ppm
NO2 = 0
NO3= 5ppm

and a lot of the red growth on my rock is starting to turn white, I believe that to be a normal part of the cycle?

Been hearing some quiet clicking coming from the tank, hope I dont have another mantis, would have to be pretty unlucky to get 2 in 4.5kg of rock

 

[VaultBoy]

Thanks for the Mantis Joshwaaaa not that we have seen it since it went in the tank. I dont have room for any more though!

That xenia is looking good and healthy... It should survive the cycle if you keep up water changes to keep the ammonia spike at bay, besides that they are really hardy... Mine was introduced really early (not as early as yours) and went great guns until my butterfly took a liking to it!

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Ammonia still hasn't gone anywhere sitting at .5ppm :(

Added another chunk of rock and did a bit of scaping

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Sand has gone brown rocks have a heap of brown growth over it, suppose thats a good thing;) doing what it's meant to do, ammonia has started dropping might add a couple turbo's at the end of the week

also added a couple of true violet LED's to my setup, gives a touch nicer hue, will be good once it has some corals in there

 

[VaultBoy]

Glad to see this tank coming along. This is the painful part... The waiting!

 

[Joshwaaaa]

It's really made me want to get the 4fter running, thats for sure

 

[VaultBoy]

I will never stop wanting another tank! Hurry up with the 4 footer! (sounds easy when im just typing!)

 

[Joshwaaaa]

Thought I'd try a bubble magus bmqq NAC up in the back corner, only been running a couple of hours and already pulled a little gunk out. No sure if it will work though getting a fair few micro bubbles in the tank. might give it a few days and see how it goes

also the xenia has pretty much doubled in size, so much for thinking it would shrivle to nothing