A Reef in the Sky

Rotate this are you running so many power heads to reduce micro bubbles? What is the flow rate of your return pump. I am trying to emulate the same kind of conditions as you and am having trouble with bubbles and dirty water
 
It's sad your pictures on photobucket aren't available anymore. I was reading the thread but the pictures are gone. Beautiful aquarium.

Very sorry... I didn't realize. I'm just on a work trip right now but will renew my photobucket account when back tomorrow.

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



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'

IMG_7981.jpg


IMG_7986.jpg


The video is on it's way :D

Hello V1.

How you keep your glass so clear afther that amount of time? There is no pink algae(coralline algae) in the corners of the glass and in bottown where the substract start. Usually we cant clean up this point because it may damage the silicon in the corners(which may cause a leakage) and the substract may scratch the glass in the botton.

I read all your topic, man congratz for you organization its an really amazing project.
 
After watching threads like this I wonder how varied the quality and size of sps colonies are in the LFS around the world...here in the United States it seems our local shops are stocked with small frags and rarely are able to source and keep alive large colorful colonies. Thoughts?
 
Andrew, I just finished going through your build thread and let me tell you: your reef is amazing!

I am absolutely delighted with all the planning and flawless execution.

Thank you so much for sharing your setup with us, is truly an inspiration"¦
Thank you for your kind words Andre

I've always loved this tank and consider it the pinnacle of what I'd like to acheive with my next one. SPS and clams only with some cool fish, lots of open space, and a rediculously clean hardware setup. Love it and keep up the amazing work!
Thank you! Good luck with your next tank

I think the best tanks reflect thier owners traits, in your case, class and focus. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Thank you tripdad... your words are very true

I agree. This tank is absolutely beautiful. Come on people, bashing someone's tank is a true testament to pure jealousy. It makes this hobby less appealing. This is part of the reason I don't share my tank on here. I will be modeling my next tank a bit after this one. It is superb!
Thank you MarineGirl411... "it's water of a ducks back" for me.

looking top class as always...
The T5's make the tank look way better
I'm thinking a combo might be good too :lol2:

Stunning tank, an inspiration, although impossible for me to match I'm afraid... I haven't gone through the whole thread, so maybe you answered this one already, but how much time do you put in the tank?
Thanks Euch... to be honest, not too much over the past 6months. It's been on autopilot. Usually it's around 90mins with every water change I do. I did clean my skimmer the other day. Took 4hrs... but worth it.

In my opinion tank looked much, much better under T5. Still is amazing tank but ... T5 is T5 ...
Thank you... both types of lights have pros and cons

This is for all LED fans :):):). I`m sorry guys ... :) Andrew good step back ...
LOL

I like tanks with t5 led combos because you get the shimmer.... Mh t5 combos as well... Your tank would look great with any combo of light. Nice job....
Thank you

Stay tuned. I think Andrew may have something up his sleeve?
Shhhh...

Could that be an ATI T5/LED Hybrid??? :rollface:
I could be... :D

Tank looks great. Excellent work. :thumbsup:
Thank you sir

Rotate this are you running so many power heads to reduce micro bubbles? What is the flow rate of your return pump. I am trying to emulate the same kind of conditions as you and am having trouble with bubbles and dirty water
I have x2 Tunze 6045 in the sump now (for approx 6months now) and it's one of the best things I have done.

There are a few micro bubbles that enter the sump from the drains however they dissipate before reaching the skimmer due to the glass barrier I have in place. The return pump is a 6500L/per hour at 0ft head. I did calculate it all in the planning stages but have forgotten now.

It's sad your pictures on photobucket aren't available anymore. I was reading the thread but the pictures are gone. Beautiful aquarium.
Up and running again

I know i'd have lots of frags up my sleeve after a visit to Andrew's 'just to look'.......:D

Sounds like you're up to something mate......... sneaky stuff.....:twitch:
Well if you were here biggles you could take some. I need to prune again soon.
Yep... I'm up to something... bet you can't guess LOL

After watching threads like this I wonder how varied the quality and size of sps colonies are in the LFS around the world...here in the United States it seems our local shops are stocked with small frags and rarely are able to source and keep alive large colourful colonies. Thoughts?
I've seen many fish shops in Europe and North America and IMO, the reason why there aren't as many large colonies for sale is due to $$$. The corals have a lot further to travel, which reduces life expectancy and increases cost. I'm sure the shops/online retailers receive large colonies but due to $$$ they frag the corals so they can maximize sales.

South East Asian countries are spoilt in this regard due to faster shipping times, hence cheaper corals/larger colonies.
 
I think it's precisely because SPS are easy to wild collect and relatively cheap in countries such as Aus that we have a p@ss poor aquaculture industry compared to the US. I know we are spoilt lol, i can go into my fav LFS here any day of any week and know that there will be SPS for sale that we'd all like to have. That being said i'm really envious of you guys being able to but an acro knowing what it can look and grow like if you treat it well.
Btw Andrew, thanks for the inspiration - i've got montis and acros stuck all over each other now. I always feel bad shoving a lump of putty on a perfectly happy coral, i imagine they must have quite a 'what the.....' moment. The acro crabs throw a hissy fit running all over the place at the rude intrusion to their homes lol.
 
WOW WOW WOW.

Thank you for showing such detail on every step of your build.

There are a lot of people all over the world that will be helped by such an awesome build thread. Myself included.

Your a saint.
 
Hi "Reef in the sky",

Here is "Dutch Royalty Reef" as I already managed on your post in my treat on RC I have some questions for you.
I was wondering as you travel a lot as I do how you can keep your zeovit system running. I saw you'r post in you'r treat that you where telling about running"auto pilot".
Can you tell me more about how you manage this.

BR

Michel
 
I think it's precisely because SPS are easy to wild collect and relatively cheap in countries such as Aus that we have a p@ss poor aquaculture industry compared to the US. I know we are spoilt lol, i can go into my fav LFS here any day of any week and know that there will be SPS for sale that we'd all like to have. That being said i'm really envious of you guys being able to but an acro knowing what it can look and grow like if you treat it well.
Btw Andrew, thanks for the inspiration - i've got montis and acros stuck all over each other now. I always feel bad shoving a lump of putty on a perfectly happy coral, i imagine they must have quite a 'what the.....' moment. The acro crabs throw a hissy fit running all over the place at the rude intrusion to their homes lol.
LOL... no worries biggles. I am getting a bit carried away with placing corals on other now.

Your Reef still beautiful.
It is a joy to visit your post.
Cheers!!!
Thank you sir!! Your tank is stunning too!!

Just read through this thread and hands down one of the cleanest builds I've seen, what an inspiration.
Thank you very much!

WOW WOW WOW.

Thank you for showing such detail on every step of your build.

There are a lot of people all over the world that will be helped by such an awesome build thread. Myself included.

Your a saint.
Your welcome!! Thanks for following along

Great tank, any reason you decided to do 2 part dosing instead of a calcium reactor or kalk doser?
Thank you. It is mainly because of the extra room a Ca reactor would take. Plus as a beginner, the 2 Part seemed easier. But now, the amount of Ca and ALK I go through is increasing :worried:


What a lovely tank ..... :thumbsup: I have started mine as well
Thank you Syed!! Yes I've been following along but must catch up!!


Hi "Reef in the sky",

Here is "Dutch Royalty Reef" as I already managed on your post in my treat on RC I have some questions for you.
I was wondering as you travel a lot as I do how you can keep your zeovit system running. I saw you'r post in you'r treat that you where telling about running"auto pilot".
Can you tell me more about how you manage this.

BR

Michel

Hi Michel, your tank setup is amazing!! Great planning and execution so far.

As for your question... Yes I travel a lot therefore I plan a month ahead. To do this I use iCal on the Mac and write out my whole dosing regime in advance. This is synced to i-cloud and is the sent to both my wife's phone and mine.

And that's my biggest advantage... my wife!! She doses Zeovit supplements while I'm away and monitors the tank (ie: water level in sump and ATO, corals if they fall over and feeding of the fish). She'll even make new ATO water if required. :eek2:

All Ca and ALK is dosed automatically through the GHL doser. I just have to monitor the amount and replenish when its time. I rarely check water parameters nowadays... instead look at my coral reactions.

An example of this months calendar Zeovit



Hope that helps
 
The LAST pics with the ATI Powermodule

The tank is doing well. I have been catching up on maintenance the last 2 weeks. Water changes didn't occur as often as I would have like but I'm making up for that now.

It doesn't really look like there is an island on the left side anymore due to the growth of some corals in the middle. There was a little re-arrangement the other day because I knocked over one of the corals on the island. Thankfully I could stand the affected coral on another one.

I hope to make x2 new videos in the next few weeks. They are long over due!!


Latest pictures

This ATI PM has served me very very well!! German engineering at its BEST!!
















 
Awesome update :thumbsup:, honestly, I can barely even wait for the next update with the new light....call me greedy :p

I really like the growth pattern of the pink acro beside the overflow box :thumbsup:

Waiting...waiting...:lol:
 
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