Tank Journal Archive

[Wrangy]

Spent a few hours at Deer Park today just chilling and chatting with Mark and Dave, didn't buy anything but I had nothing better to do so it was the best way to blow 4 hours :p haha poor buggers!
That being said I did get to check out the kick ass range of Aquaforest products now in the store and given how amazingly priced they are, I'll be moving to AF for my big 3 dosing and some trace as well I think. Might give some of the other crazy products a go down the line too! :)

The real highlight of the trip was getting to see my sump in a near finished state :D D holy crap it's going to be soooo amazing to have a play with!! :D Dave has done a marvelous job with it and I was certainly not wrong entrusting the sump to him! I cannot wait to have this bad boy running! Everything looks fantastic and it's going to be a breeze to work with as well :) There's so much room lol frag tank/acclimatisation tank is going to come in a great deal of handiness with all new additions too! Anyway I took a couple of snaps of my sexy new sump!






I do feel a little bad for the tank builder :p (not really :rofl) haha

 

[daveH]

Can you actually explain to us how you spent 4 hours at an LFS and not buy anything.

 

[Wrangy]

Can you actually explain to us how you spent 4 hours at an LFS and not buy anything.

Haha because I have to buy the sump, new vectra return, some aquaforest products and a whole lotta expensive fish :P I'm trying to pace myself haha plus being broke makes that a heap easier to do :P Hahaha

 

[MagicJ]

Can you also provide an explanation for the compartments in the sump :confused:

 

[Wrangy]

Can you also provide an explanation for the compartments in the sump :confused:

I'll admit I left the description out on purpose to see if I got a reaction :P so the sump works like this, going off the front on picture without the skimmer :)
- The back right corner is the overflow and skimmer section.
- It flows into the front middle which is for some of the matrix, as I'm going to use some under the frag section for a more anaerobic environment.
- That then flows into the frag tank section on the left. I'll also use this section for acclimatising new fish to the system before they go upstairs for the real fun lol easy to observe and catch them down there :)
- From there it's into the filter sock section (I have mine just before the return in stead of overflow). I'm not going to run them all the time, mainly before and after water changes and if I clean the sump or move stuff around in the tank
- And finally the return section and I'll have ato sensor in there too.
- The crazy raised pieces and the section you see underneath the right side is actually my RO tank!! Completely out of the way and about 35l! I'm really happy with this little gem on the sump!

 

[Trentwalsh]

I waz there for 2.5 hours also lmfao!!!!!!
Seen n loved ya sump,
I did however buy 13 sps 3 fish
Glue epoxy aminos
And had an awwww at the AF PRODUCTS and shalll also be usuing them when i can afford to, probably 1 PRODUCT at a time, and then all the other smalller bottles just because i like to waste money, hahahaha

 

[Wrangy]

I waz there for 2.5 hours also lmfao!!!!!!
Seen n loved ya sump,
I did however buy 13 sps 3 fish
Glue epoxy aminos
And had an awwww at the AF PRODUCTS and shalll also be usuing them when i can afford to, probably 1 PRODUCT at a time, and then all the other smalller bottles just because i like to waste money, hahahaha

You spent just a little more than me haha although my next visit is going to be an expensive :P
It looks like a lot of fun!

 

[Sam Parker]

Shit, I'm lucky if I get an hour before being broke

 

[Mattres]

Man hats off to the builder, I think I count 15 peices of glass in there!
Very innovative design, love it.

The AF products look the goods, can't wait for them to spread to other states

 

[Wrangy]

Shit, I'm lucky if I get an hour before being broke

You could look at it this way lol I'm broke from spending too much at Dave's a week before I even get to spend the money :P hahaha

Man hats off to the builder, I think I count 15 peices of glass in there!
Very innovative design, love it.

The AF products look the goods, can't wait for them to spread to other states

It is an amazing sump and I am so excited to get it home and play with it!! :D going to be lots and lots of fun!

They have a pretty impressive range of products AF! I'm definitely keen to give some purple products a go lol

 

[IJG3145]

That sump is amazing. May I ask the cost and the overall dimensions? I'm designing my new sump atm and may steal an idea or two......:)

 

[Wrangy]

That sump is amazing. May I ask the cost and the overall dimensions? I'm designing my new sump atm and may steal an idea or two......:)

Thanks Ian, no idea on cost yet lol $250-350? I've got $350 set aside so we'll see what it turns out as :) as for the dimensions it's 1000x500x400mm.
Steal away!!

 

[Sam Parker]

If that is the cost, Dave is crazier than I thought. He must have poured so much time and thought into that sump (not to mention a heap of intellectual property). Dave, if you're reading, charge Dom more!

 

[Wrangy]

If that is the cost, Dave is crazier than I thought. He must have poured so much time and thought into that sump (not to mention a heap of intellectual property). Dave, if you're reading, charge Dom more!

Don't encourage him! I'm already in trouble for supporting the idea of a shop tank :P haha
It is an amazing piece of work from an amazing man!

 

[Wrangy]

Parameter update as I did another water change today

Alk: 5.04dKH (I should get on to some dosing to bring it up lol)
Nitrate: 0ppm
Phos: 0.012ppm
SG: 37ppt (already adjusted for this, will double check later again tonight)
Ammonia: 0ppm

Pretty happy with how the nutrients are going in the tank so far. Got some nice fuzz growing on the rocks and some good glass growth but I figure I've probably still got another few weeks of ugliness before things settle down and return to a pretty state

lol

Tanks has been running just over 6 weeks though and I'm very much getting ready to add some new and colourful fishie friends

I did make a slight change to my plans of stocking the tank too lol instead of opting for a few flashers of the same species, I'm now going to get the following three for a nice mix:
- Paracheilinus carpenteri (Carpenter's Flasher)
- Paracheilinus filamentosus (Filamented Flasher)
- Paracheilinus attenuatus (Diamond Tail Flasher)

 

[slin1977]

Parameter update as I did another water change today View attachment 54691
Alk: 5.04dKH (I should get on to some dosing to bring it up lol)
Nitrate: 0ppm
Phos: 0.012ppm
SG: 37ppt (already adjusted for this, will double check later again tonight)
Ammonia: 0ppm

Pretty happy with how the nutrients are going in the tank so far. Got some nice fuzz growing on the rocks and some good glass growth but I figure I've probably still got another few weeks of ugliness before things settle down and return to a pretty state View attachment 54691 lol

Tanks has been running just over 6 weeks though and I'm very much getting ready to add some new and colourful fishie friends View attachment 54692 I did make a slight change to my plans of stocking the tank too lol instead of opting for a few flashers of the same species, I'm now going to get the following three for a nice mix:
- Paracheilinus carpenteri (Carpenter's Flasher)
- Paracheilinus filamentosus (Filamented Flasher)
- Paracheilinus attenuatus (Diamond Tail Flasher)

Very good, on the back of your tests and visual lack of my tanks PE I checked mine 5.8dKH
Time to bump up that alk : just hope my SPS haven't suffered a setback from this.

 

[Wrangy]

Very good, on the back of your tests and visual lack of my tanks PE I checked mine 5.8dKH
Time to bump up that alk : just hope my SPS haven't suffered a setback from this.

Doesn't sound like too bad a jump so hopefully they'll just bounce the pe back with no negative response :)
It's nice getting to the point where you can look at the tank and see that something might be off or not right

 

[slin1977]

Doesn't sound like too bad a jump so hopefully they'll just bounce the pe back with no negative response :)
It's nice getting to the point where you can look at the tank and see that something might be off or not right

I've bounced it back to 7.7 at 11am today and wound it back a notch and now it sits on 7.0 happy P.E and colour return. I think a good save!!!

 

[Wrangy]

I've bounced it back to 7.7 at 11am today and wound it back a notch and now it sits on 7.0 happy P.E and colour return. I think a good save!!!

Phew! I'd imagine they would have perked up straight away! :)

 

[Trentwalsh]

My alk was 14