A Reef in the Sky

[syedjilani]

Hi Andrew,

How do you check PO4 and No3. Are you using Hanna meaters or any other test kit? Do you recommend me to buy Hanna PO4 and No3 meters and which one?

Cheer.

Syed

 

[raeh1.NZ]

thats so funny I love the going away for a week.

instructions to mother in law, pinch of flake food once a day, and keep water up to the black mark I have made on the sump (use the jug and water out of the tap).

off to europe for 28 days later (no worries, just a bit of algae) no stock loss.

 

[fredlee]

Hi Fred and thanks for the info. Your tank looks great and well done on getting it up and running after the AEFW's.

I use 2 channels to control my PM
Channel 1 controls 2 bulbs (ATI B+ and KZ Fiji Purple)
Channel 2 controls 6 bulbs (other bulbs)

I find that lighting is personal and depends what you are after. Your settings look fine to me and are similar except for the time of day it starts.

Unlike those of us that have tanks in the basement of their house where lighting periods can start at anytime of the day my tank is located in a room with windows where natural light definitely has an influence. I generally follow the daylight hours that are outside with a few exceptions.

Here is a great link that I use to develop an understanding of just how much daylight occurs in the areas of coral reefs Daylight hours on coral reefs. There is a lot of day light!!

Regarding your Zeolites exchange, have you tried changing at the 5-6week mark? I usually change them at the 4-5week mark as the colour start to fade a little.
Also, 129grams of carbon seems low. I use 400-450 grams every 4 weeks

Hope that helps

Andrew, Thanks for your info. Per instruction, 1L will treat 250gal/1000L in a mesh bag running passively and requires daily nibbing. If running with the reactor, I need to cut down the dose by half. That's the reason I am only using 250ml of carbon which only weighs 129g. Please let me know if I am wrong.

Sharing some recent photos taken on 10/28. The Elegance was just puchased a week ago. I would like to add some more colorful corals but the resource is very limited here in Shanghai.

Front View

Back View

Side View

Elegance Coral

Thanks!

 

[padova335i]

tank looks great man

 

[ja3d]

I have another question of the zeovit method, you brush or washed the live rock before introduced in the tank?

Thanks and contratulations for the thread!

 

[dano83]

Nice Video!!

 

[Spirofucci]

I just stumbled onto this thread. I don't have a reef tank but I am obsessed with them and addicted to this site. I'm a lurker and never post however as mentioned many times this thread is the best I've seen for many reasons:

great vision and planning on the total design
incredible documentaton of the pre phase
superb aquascaping, less is more look and room for growth
professional and amazing photography
a reply to every comment
extremely educational to the novice and the expert
beautiful corals and fish

So well done, infact you could take this thread and merge it with the zeovite thread and you would have enough for a "How to" book!

Keep up the great work!
I'll keep lurking!
Thanks, Mark

 

[PurpleMonster]

I would do the bowdown smily face thing but i cant seem to find one!! so "BOWING DOWN!"

Inspiration!

 

[v1...rotate]

Hi Andrew,

How do you check PO4 and No3. Are you using Hanna meaters or any other test kit? Do you recommend me to buy Hanna PO4 and No3 meters and which one?

Cheer.

Syed

Hey Syed, sorry for my delay. I see that you also asked the question on your thread.
I use the old Hanna (blue colour) Po4 meter. HI93713
I use Salifert and LaMotte test kits for Nitrate.

thats so funny I love the going away for a week.

instructions to mother in law, pinch of flake food once a day, and keep water up to the black mark I have made on the sump (use the jug and water out of the tap).

off to europe for 28 days later (no worries, just a bit of algae) no stock loss.

Good luck.. fingers crossed all remains fine.

Andrew, Thanks for your info. Per instruction, 1L will treat 250gal/1000L in a mesh bag running passively and requires daily nibbing. If running with the reactor, I need to cut down the dose by half. That's the reason I am only using 250ml of carbon which only weighs 129g. Please let me know if I am wrong.

Sharing some recent photos taken on 10/28. The Elegance was just puchased a week ago. I would like to add some more colorful corals but the resource is very limited here in Shanghai.

Front View

Back View

Side View

Elegance Coral

Thanks!

Looking great Fred!!...
I understand your carbon explanation however since I don't run mine in a reactor, I can't comment. Maybe drop by the zeovit forum and ask Bob or Alexander directly. They will be able to provide the exact info.

tank looks great man

Thank you

I have another question of the zeovit method, you brush or washed the live rock before introduced in the tank?

Thanks and contratulations for the thread!

Thank you... the rocks I used were not cleaned with a brush or washed. They were in my tank builders aquarium system for 2 weeks before I put them in my.

Nice Video!!

Thank you... working on a new one right now!

I just stumbled onto this thread. I don't have a reef tank but I am obsessed with them and addicted to this site. I'm a lurker and never post however as mentioned many times this thread is the best I've seen for many reasons:

great vision and planning on the total design
incredible documentaton of the pre phase
superb aquascaping, less is more look and room for growth
professional and amazing photography
a reply to every comment
extremely educational to the novice and the expert
beautiful corals and fish

So well done, infact you could take this thread and merge it with the zeovite thread and you would have enough for a "How to" book!

Keep up the great work!
I'll keep lurking!
Thanks, Mark

Hi Mark and thank you very much for the kind words. It has been enjoyable sharing this journey and I like looking back at all the pictures of when the tank was younger.
More to follow soon. Thanks once again.

I would do the bowdown smily face thing but i cant seem to find one!! so "BOWING DOWN!"

Inspiration!

Thanks very much... there should be more smiles created.


Just back from a 4-day trip... nearly had a Heart Attack when I saw the tank this evening. More on it tomorrow... when I get a chance to check it out.

Plus, I picked up a new toy that I'm hoping will help my dirty sand/substrate issue. But maybe it's too late... :hmm2:

 

[PurpleMonster]

Damn, everytime i am gone for the weekend(work) I come back that sunday with a squinting eye bc i dont know what might have changed and gone wrong.... I hope everyting is ok.

On the sandbed thing.... I have a lot of issues with my sandbed getting covered with coraline since its thicker instead of the grainy type. I tried a ton of nassarius but they did not do much for me haha. I will keep an eye on your new toy might get one too lol

 

[shaggss]

woho.......new toys.......:spin1:

Looking good dude.......

 

[gofor100]

You can't keep us in suspense!!!

What happened to the tank? I hope nothing bad or irreversible...

 

[fishypets]

You can't keep us in suspense!!!

What happened to the tank? I hope nothing bad or irreversible...

Yeah Andrew your last post is like a cliff-hanger! What's the dealio?

 

[v1...rotate]

Damn, everytime i am gone for the weekend(work) I come back that sunday with a squinting eye bc i dont know what might have changed and gone wrong.... I hope everyting is ok.

On the sandbed thing.... I have a lot of issues with my sandbed getting covered with coraline since its thicker instead of the grainy type. I tried a ton of nassarius but they did not do much for me haha. I will keep an eye on your new toy might get one too lol

woho.......new toys.......:spin1:

Looking good dude.......

You can't keep us in suspense!!!

What happened to the tank? I hope nothing bad or irreversible...

Yeah Andrew your last post is like a cliff-hanger! What's the dealio?

Thanks for the concern guys... after getting through most of the maintenance today I'm pleased to say things should be okay. Still some more to do tomorrow so here is a quick update.

Before I left on my last trip, I managed to get some Gobies. Well, all I can say is they went to town while I was away, especially the last day. Sand was everywhere when I returned, in particular it was piled up around the front of the island covering the acan and favia corals. Those corals have now been relocated and appear to be fine.


Python Vacuum

I finally had the chance to test my new toy today (actually during the water change) and it is fantastic. It's so easy to use and removes all the debris and associated muck with it. I wish that I had bought it earlier. I will slowly clean the substrate over the next few weeks with little more frequent water changes. This in turn with the x2 Gobies should ensure the substrate remains fine in the future.

Some pics

 

[PurpleMonster]

Nice i have the same one! love that you hook it up to the faucet and just turn it on and watch the water go bye bye no need to haul buckets lol.

 

[erics3000]

Beautiful system

 

[v1...rotate]

Nice i have the same one! love that you hook it up to the faucet and just turn it on and watch the water go bye bye no need to haul buckets lol.

lol, true. It is so efficient I want to use it daily but must restrain myself.

Beautiful system

Thank you


Update time


Well the month of October has been interesting and challenging! After that trip away earlier in the month, things just didn't seem right and I'd been trying to get to the bottom of it.

First is the dosing of Iron and Iodide. I have ceased these as of the 29th Oct since a couple of corals have darkened up and got a light coating of algae. I may lose one since it has been covered in the brown algae since my return earlier in the month. Polyp extension has stopped and it's a pale colour.

Secondly, I realized I let the Alk rise too much and hence some burning of coral tips occurred. I don't know how this occurred as it is all automated however I have learnt from the signs that the corals give. Always a lesson learnt. The corals affected should make a full recovery.

Interesting to note is that the pH at the time also rose a lot (all while I was away) up to 8.6. Over the period of 4 days I ceased any Alk dosing and it fell gradually back to 120ppm (LaMotte). The GHL pH probe has also been re-calibrated.

Some other corals are not looking as good as they did but I'm hoping they will bounce back. The pink birsdnest is not as colourful as it was and few polyps are extended. It has been fragged a little but will probably not survive.

Thirdly, the temperatures have dropped here so the chiller is no longer required therefore it is time to get some heaters.

Finally the sand bed. As already mentioned, I managed to get some gobies and the python vacuum. I refused to manually shift the sand earlier last month as I thought it may contribute to the rise in No3/Po4 and hence increase algae on the corals.


Light at the end of the tunnel

After a couple of days, things are improving on the sand bed situation. There is a lot of dust floating but I guess this will take time to settle. No3 has risen a little however the Po4 is 0.03 (Hanna). I'm looking forward to hopefully bringing these values down during the period of this month.


Anyhow, here are some of the latest pics taken today... 'Day 234'

The video is on it's way

 

[goreefers]

Awesome tank! Keep it up

 

[sahin]

The good looks of this tank continues...

 

[sahin]

I forgot to ask: do you find that low iron glass (starfire/optiwhite/whatever brand) scratches easier than normal glass? I know you have had the tank for a good few months and you would have an idea by now...or maybe even a few scratches already if this type of glass scratches more easily than regular glass...

What do you use to clean the glass?