Tim's 43 Gallon Reef Project - New Fish, PICTURES 16/12/12

[Gerry]

beautiful pics bud

[Tim]

Cheers Gerry.
If anyone wants any more pics of anything or info of how i've done things feel free to ask here

Thought I might add that i have been dosing vodka in small amounts in order to control nutrients while allowing me to feed more heavily.
This has been going for about 11 weeks now and has only been positive so far i think mostly due to my slow and steady approach to it.
Currently dosing 1.5ml morning and night.

The idea behind this process is to fuel bacteria that feed on phosphate which then die off and are skimmed out via a protein skimmer.

When keeping SPS corals it is importan to keep phosphate levels down to little more than trace levels as phosphate inhibits calcification (growth in corals).

The main thing it improved in my tank was stability, which is very welcome to the relatively small amount of water i have to play with.

[Alan]

Stunning mate

[TimP]

Huh, thats an interesting and effective method Tim, where ever did you hear of that one?

[Tim]

First heard of it on an Australian reefing forum and thought "huh thats a little crazy".
I then did a lot of research and decided it was worth a go for improving the health and colour of my SPS corals.
In the end its been very cheap and effective so far

[Tim]

Stocked up on zip ties and elbow grease and modified my hood further to fit all the lights in.
The OCD part of me couldn't stand things looking messy any longer
I was gonna post some pics but it doesn't look any different to how it did before I got the T5s

Nothing like a bit of DIY

[Tim]

Ok got a little picture update while I have some time. Just outlining how i've mounted my lights.

I apologise in advance for the image quality as they were just quickly taken with my phone.

This picture shows the lights with the lid open for feeding etc. These are the T5s. There are 2 of them mounted towards the front of the hood leaving enough clearance for my LEDs to not be obscured.


I opted to cut a hole in the top of my hood just the right size for the LED fixture to fit snugly into. This was because if I mounted inside the hood they would be too close to the water and the light would not spread as well as I needed it to.


This is what the tank looks like from the front with the lid closed and the LEDs in position. The camera exaggerates the light spill as it really is unnoticeable in person. The LED fixture is neatly seated on top and my T5s are completely hidden within the hood.


All together they give me all the light I need to grow any LPS, SPS, clams etc. I had originally started with LEDs alone but came to the conclusion along with many other reefers that there appeared to be gaps in their spectrum that I opted to fill with some T5 supplementation. My LED fixture is a standard BSLED style setup with 50/50 white/blue 1W LEDS. There are other fixtures out there now that advertise to cover all necessary parts of the spectrum so it pays to shop around and do your research. Since adding T5s my corals have been looking a lot healthier and colourful especially reds and pinks.



Sorry if I repeated anything that was said earlier in the thread, it's starting to get a bit longer between updates and I lose track

[befries]

vEry nice set up tim:D

[Tim]

Thanks, I'm learning as I go. I think the tank has probably been running for close to a year now

[Gerry]

This is a good thread to follow for ideas. well done Tim

[Tim]

That's what I was hoping for Gerry, I actually went back and read through the first few pages of this thread earlier on today and realised how useful some of the changes I've made along the way would be for anyone else looking to take the plunge into saltwater.

Main things I've found so far:

If you buy cheap gear - you will end up spending more in the long run buying the right gear later.
If you cut corners - you will end up either going back later and fixing them when it is a lot less convenient, or you will live with things that continue to niggle you.

Don't be afraid to try out a bit of DIY rather than shelling out lots of money on big name products. Yes they use better components that the entry level gear but if you're handy you can produce something with equivalent specs for a lot less. Don't pay for work that you can do yourself, you will pay more attention to detail and learn things along the way that will be valuable later.

Don't skimp on your protein skimmer. Very important. One of the most critical parts of your system if keeping corals.

DRILL YOUR TANK. You may not be comfortable with the thought from the start but trust me, you will regret it after starting up and it's a lot more of a headache to do it when you have livestock to accommodate. (been there, done that.)

Take everything slow, this is something I've done from the start with the majority of aspects on this build. Probably the only thing I haven't felt I should change along the way.

Be prepared to spend good money on vital equipment, so you only buy it once.

MOST IMPORTANT POINT:

In my opinion, Marine tanks aren't the fine art that people make them out to be and they don't have to send you broke. Start basic and slow, learn as you go.
There are fine arts to keeping sensitive livestock but if you start with easier things to keep and do your research you will slowly expand your comfort zone and improve out of sight.

Now come on some of you guys itching to bite the bullet, taking snippets of reef-keeping from me, take the plunge, it's much more rewarding in your own tank.

[k0y0te]

Looking good. Your thread does have some nice read and helps in it but for me, i have tried my hand on the salty side and just cant seem to get it to work for me...lol (hair alage has overtanking my tank ) Actually the past few days been debating on how much to sell the tank, it best for me to stick with fresh water and just look at others salty...lol

[Tim]

I think nutrient control is probably the hardest thing to conquer that i have encountered so far. I've got it fairly well under control but still some roof for improvement (I want undetectable nitrate and almost undetectable phosphate for keeping SPS)

If you're interested in trying to control the algae with some alternate methods have a look into vodka dosing, it's a sensitive process but if you bring the dose up slowly it can be done safely. Heres a useful link:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Other than that, there are products like "rowaphos" that can be used in a fluidised bed filter (basically just a cylinder that agitates the rowaphos and keeps it moving) only negative to products like this is that they are expensive and need to be replaced regularly (normally 4 weeks or so).
Vodka is cheap and I only dose around 3ml per day so it will last many months. It also leaches phosphate back into the water once it is saturated so you need to monitor levels carefully to see when it needs to be changed.

There are also much more simple methods of nutrient control such as simply reducing feeding or increasing filtration can help. Small feeds for livestock mean that they will eat more of the food before it ends up in your filtration or in the rocks/sandbed etc. This doesn't mean your fish have to starve, just feed these small amounts more frequently.

Soft corals and LPS also like nutrients in the water column as they feed off them, this is one of the reasons people have trouble keeping SPS and LPS thriving at the same time in one system. It means you have to feed heavily to make sure everything gets the necessary amount of food and then have effective enough filtration to remove and leftover nutrients from the system as efficiently as possible.

This would be one of the fine arts of marine tanks that take the most experience to pick up. I'm definitely not there yet, but am taking slow and steady steps in order to get there eventually.

Hope I've been of some help, apologies if I have mentioned some things you already know, I figured starting basic and working up to complicated was the best way to make sure I didn't miss anything

[callen]

Nice this how people learn thank you for posting.

[TimP]

In my opinion, Marine tanks aren't the fine art that people make them out to be and they don't have to send you broke. Start basic and slow, learn as you go.
There are fine arts to keeping sensitive livestock but if you start with easier things to keep and do your research you will slowly expand your comfort zone and improve out of sight.

Now come on some of you guys itching to bite the bullet, taking snippets of reef-keeping from me, take the plunge, it's much more rewarding in your own tank.

It has developed in to quite an informative as well as exiting thread Tim and good for you for keeping it up to date! I promise as soon as Sara and I move out this year, I will setting up the brand new 40 breeder that I have in my basement, just waiting for me to drill it and make a sump for it and fill it. What do you thing of using a 20 long tank for a sump on that, adequate?