AUSTRLALIAN r0cksteady's attempted 8ft (500G'ish) Angelfish compatible REEF display

Hi All,

Had a productive weekend and the tank is all ready for its fresh water test once the sump has had its 10 days to dry. Which will be in about a weeks time.

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Cleaning the residue finger prints and glue from the tape holding the tank together when it was drying.


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I ended up cutting 3 holes in the wall. The first in the bottom left hand corner is for my ventilation fans to blow the air into the wall cavity rather than just getting blown into the face of a wall 1 inch away. The 2nd hole up the top middle is for my overflow bulk heads to fit into so I could push the tank near flush against the wall I have also ensured that on the other side of the wall (our toilet) if ever a disaster was to occur I know exactly where I can cut into and there is no longer any studs in the way as I relocated them. 3rd hole in the bottom right hand corner is where the equipment cupboard will have all the filtration etc and its outlets protruding.


<a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/?action=view&current=P1010005.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/P1010005.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
Ive glued sound proofing foam between where the cupboard will have the equipment and where it will connect into the sump as im going to have a lot of noise and equipment going back and forward. This way I have just cut slits into the foam and shoved the pipes etc through, without risk of having vibrations and pump\water noises spilling into our living area.


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My new 7ft x 2ft (wide) x 18" (high) sump which replaced the recently smash and poorly designed 7ft x 2ft x 2ft. This clearly gives me much more room to place sand\rock etc and also has now enabled me to no longer need bracing due to the low pressure placed on the shorter sump. I also took advantage of the time without the sump in stand to sound proof the whole cabinet.


<a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/?action=view&current=P1010013.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/P1010013.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
I cut foam around my fan to limit noise and light spilling into the living area and in addition this will form a primitive vent into the wall cavity.

<a href="http://s212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/?action=view&current=P1010031.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/P1010031.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>
My first full tank shot (FTS) against the wall ready to be filled. As you can see the cupboard is hiding all the equipment as if there was nothing there.


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Just a shot showing the awesome bracing.


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Sump with lights on


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Sump plumbed in and ready to go.


So there you have it im finally starting to actually get excited again, something I haven't felt for 6-8 months. I would love to get the tank cycling with a few boxes of fresh liverock before xmas but im not going to rush it on only going to do it if everything works perfectly beforehand.

THANKS FOR LOOKING!
 
Hi outcastjra,

The temp should be file as I had a 1.5HP chiller on the roof and a 6HP Daikin Aircon infront of it. Plus in Melbourne we tend to only have about 15 or so days a year where the temp is in the extremes of heat.
 
Great thread. Thanks for sharing all the build details. We all learn a ton from other peoples fortunes and misfortunes. I love the Bat fish!!
 
Hi Jarod,
The foam is the same egg crate stuff they use in music studios to dampening noise. This way the only noise im hoping you will hear is a trickle of my horizontal overflow but nothing else.

Pheromo,
THe Annularis hasnt nipped a thing yet though it could just be a matter of time, only time will tell. I am striving to have Angels and a Reef Tank at the same time so if they start eating certain corals then I will find more noxious ones until I get the desired result. I have a frag tank plumbed in-line with the display which will act as a hospital tank for any of my corals being nipped. So far though I feed my fish 'very well' and as such they are fat and their colors are quite bright.

Bas,
Thanks mate, Im really looking forward to seeing it all come together now. Hoping to get it cycling next week after a successful freshwater test.
 
Hi Pheromo,
I am predominately going for a hard coral theme so monti's, acro's etc. I have witnessed dwarf angels especially nip at acro polyps etc. My understanding of adult angels also is that as a juv they may be a model citizen but once transformed into their adult coloration they can get much more hungry for a variety in their diet. Thats why I have found the DIY seafood mix the best option as you can make sure there is a large variety of fresh smelly foods available and you also get an idea of what certain fish like eating and what they do not.

Thanks BlueSeaDevil

Hi Sardaukar, as I have essentially 'overkill' exhaust fans inside the cabinet vented into my wall cavity I should not actually have any humidity as these will be running 24/7. In talking with the foam\rubber experts they informed me that they should be able to cope quite well with a moist enviroment though I guess ultimately only time will tell. Worst case scenario I have to replace it as it begins to deteriorate though this would take many years so im not too concerned. Eitherway ill be sure to keep everyone updated if it does look like it was a bad idea.
 
Hi Everyone,

Overdue for an update. Tank is cycled (nitrite\ammonia 0). I was avoiding pics due to my shameful spaghetti cupboard but I may as well do a before and after show, as my mate who is an AV tech is going to come around in the next few weeks and give it the professional finish with conduit etc. Should look great when its done.

Everything is setup and working. Ive had a few minor problems like the cheap crappy Marine Sources Calcium Reactor and De-Nitrator leaking from every possible join\fitting so I cracked it completely and decided to make the change now to Reef Octopus instead of having it all running and needing to change it later. I ended up with a Octopus CalFusion 2500:CR-140 AND Reef Octopus SNF-200.

Officially I reckon im becoming the poster child for Tunze and Reef Octopus. lol. One day though I would love to qualify for Deltec poster child. But that will be a few years yet.

I also underestimated the ammount of miracle mud I needed by half so have to wait a month or more for it to be imported.

One disadvantage to purchasing all your equipment 12 months before cycling is you find all the faulty equipment and DOA all at the same time. One of my Tunze Waveboxes and one of the Tunze Stream 2 were dead so Im sending them back under warranty hence the wavebox missing from the right hand side.

My favourite techno feature of the tank is the auto top off. What a great invention. I have my RO\DI hooked up the the main water supply which in turn has a 12VDC Solenoid attached to the Tunze Osmolator which has 3 levels of fail safe so there is near impossible chance for it to fail on. No more buckets or water spillage for me!

I have loosely structured my rock to get an indication of how much more I need. I was originally intending to get at least two more boxes but now Im thinking maybe only one more box in the top right hand corner.

<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/_IGP5218.jpg">

<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/_IGP5226.jpg">

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<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/_IGP5252.jpg">
 
I also picked up this amazingly bright red carpet to go with the blue one. Only and bright green and purple to go and all the bright colours are complete :)

<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/_IGP5261.jpg">

<img src="http://i212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/_IGP5260.jpg">
 
I love the signature Jason! So here goes...
Why did you choose to not use bracing on your sump? If it were a display tank, I'm sure it would have it. It just seems there's a lot of flow down there and the sump looks to be as long as the display itself. Are the legs on the stand holding the sump together? They look like they touch the glass in some photos.
 
wow. this tank is a great setup. great job. one question would be is why do you have your lights on while it cycled? i can see you have a lot of algae, when i cycled my tank I only had the lights on for a couple hours a day to minimize the algae bloom. congrats in getting the thing started, looking forward for future updates
 
Looks awesome, great job! Can' wait to see some angels in there :thumbsup:

welldigger, bracing is put in place to prevent bowing of tanks, which could potentially lead to a "blow-out". Jasons new sump is only 18" high, which doesn't produce as much pressure as the previous 24" high sump. The glass is thick enough on it's own to prevent bowing, therefore bracing is unecessary.
 
Hi Welldigger,

Stunreefer is correct and in addition to the sump being only 18" high and 10mm glass, the tank builder placed the 7 baffles of 8mm glass during the construction process rather than afterward like most of us do, the opinion was that it was not required.

The sump touching the frame was not designed\planned to hold it though certainly it would to a limited extent if the sump ever split at the seams. Was there a reason for your concern? Thanks for asking by the way :)


Hi Aaron,
For me personally I dont see algae as a bad thing and if anything it speeds up the cycling process by taking away all the nutrients. This is my 3rd tank now and last time I had a large amount of Bryopsis appear all over the tank during the cycling process, but because I didnt panic and just waited for it all to disappear before adding any inhabitants it just starved itself away and as such I never really have issues with algae.

Having the lights on for the full period have also allowed me to retain a lot of the hitchhiker corals that came with the live rock. Im more inclined to do water changes during the cycling process than messing with the lights. But thats just my experience.


Thanks for the feedback Austin, Im really looking forward to seeing it all complete over 2010. Now that I can see it all coming together Im quite excited as you can imagine.
 
HI All,

Ok finally got around to taking some pics. Now be aware this is just after I have moved all inverts and corals across from the 6ft display so not everything is happy and flourishing yet but in a few weeks everything should look great. Im having trouble with the red carpet anemone wanting to go walk abouts so we will see how well I can convince him to stay.

I purchased a Fluro Green Sticky Pizza Anemone. I intend to put multiple porcelain anemone crabs in the red carpet and some anemone shrimp in the pizza anemone. Live rock structure wise I have manage to make a vast amount of caves including two large caves (one on the right at the rear) and one on the left in the middle of the rock work.

I have also purchase a pair of blood shrimp but of course they aren't the photogenic kind being nocturnal and all.

I have my A/V tech mate coming over next Friday to neaten up all the cables with a professional finish so I won't be posting pics of the cupboard until that's done.

I have moved the Occ Clownfish with the Blue Gigantica Anemone as they would have been left with no host and the potential of the Tomato Clowns attacking them. The Tomato Clowns are still in the existing 6ft as they are able to stay in the half a dozen green BTA's.

RE: Miracle Mud - Still waiting for the next shipment from thereefshop.com.au but the current mud I have seems to be working great.
I haven't had any luck tightening my fish list but haven't given up yet, maybe sourcing and prices may dictate the end result but currently this is the intended stock list in the order they will be added:

1 x Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris) [ALREADY ADDED INTO 8FT DISPLAY]

1 x Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris var) [ALREADY ADDED INTO 8FT DISPLAY]

2 x Tomato Clownfish (Amphiprion frenatus) [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

2 x Pinnate Batfish (Platax pinnatus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Longhorn Cowfish (Lactoria cornuta)

Paired Pistol Shrimp & Goby

1 x Copperband Butterflyfish (Chelmon rostratus)

Paired Bangaii Cardinals (Pterapogon kauderni)

Paired Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)

Paired Blackcap Basslet (Gramma melcara)

Paired Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani)

6 x Yellow Coral Goby (Gobiodon okinawae)

1 x SeaWeed Blenny (Parablennius marmoreus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Harlequin Tusk (Lienardella fasciata)

Paired Flame Hawkfish (Neocirrhites armatus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Moorish Idol (Zanclus cornutus - canescens) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Bi-Colour Blenny (Ecsenius bicolor) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Potter's Angelfish (Centropyge potteri)

1 x Regal Angelfish (Pygoplites diacanthus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Blue-Ring Angelfish (Pomacanthus annularis) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Powder Brown Tang (Acanthurus japonica)

1 x Flame Angelfish (Centropyge loricula) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Blonde Naso Tang (Naso lituratus) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]

1 x Achillies Tang (Acanthurus achilles)

1 x Six Line Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)

2 x Male/Female Pair of Green Mandarinfish (Pterosynchiropus/Synchiropus splendidus)

1 x Zebra Moray Eel (Gymnomuraena zebra)

1 x Blue Ribbon Eel (Rhinomuraena Quaestia)

1 x Sohal Tang (Acanthurus sohal) - [CURRENTLY HOUSE IN OLD 6FT SETUP]


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Ive never posted a movie before by one of my mates misses took this vid whilst we were lifting the 8ft onto the stand. I must say after the disasters i have had I was extra nervous about this move.

<embed width="600" height="361" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullscreen="true" allowNetworking="all" wmode="transparent" src="http://static.photobucket.com/player.swf?file=http://vid212.photobucket.com/albums/cc108/r0cksteady_scarlett/My%208ft%20Marine%20Aquarium/MOV06157.flv">
 
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