Coral Maternity in Portugal
- Thread starter Machado deSousa
- Start date
Machado deSousa
New member
There was a minor accident with the mounting of new Day-care tank when we were putting it in its place and hit the structure of steel. I was seriously scared when I heard the crash noise and i saw a fragment of glass with 6 " long falling to the floor. After reviewing in more detail the part of the aquarium affected with the collision, localized on the lower part of the back panel, I grow calm when i saw that although a large piece of glass that got lost from the back panel i didn’t see any signals of splits in the aquarium panels, which could progress when the tank become filled with 750 liters (200 gal) of water.
Day care tank after be executed in the Vidromoldura factory and subjected to a rigorous test of cargo. The anorexic boy we see inside the tank is Mr. Rui, Vdromoldura's worker, he is who built all 5,100 liters (1,350 gal) existing tanks in my prop system.
Here the new Day-care tank before the accident.
Mr. Rui with one of the reinforcement pieces to receive silicon. Inside the aquarium Mr. Paulo, a friend of mine, glues the reinforcement pieces.
Mr. Paul contemplates the reinforcement that has been performed. As you can see the aquarium was strengthened gluing pieces of glass in the interior of the affected corner.
Next time i need to take more care when moving tanks. Despite the fright, I look like a lucky man......with the happy end.
.
Cheers,
Day care tank after be executed in the Vidromoldura factory and subjected to a rigorous test of cargo. The anorexic boy we see inside the tank is Mr. Rui, Vdromoldura's worker, he is who built all 5,100 liters (1,350 gal) existing tanks in my prop system.
Here the new Day-care tank before the accident.
Mr. Rui with one of the reinforcement pieces to receive silicon. Inside the aquarium Mr. Paulo, a friend of mine, glues the reinforcement pieces.
Mr. Paul contemplates the reinforcement that has been performed. As you can see the aquarium was strengthened gluing pieces of glass in the interior of the affected corner.
Next time i need to take more care when moving tanks. Despite the fright, I look like a lucky man......with the happy end.
Cheers,
chris wright
In Memoriam
Geez mate you are very lucky to not have cracked that tank, whoooo :lol: Looks like it cost you a few beers to 
Great to see the tank repaired and ready to go :thumbsup:
Cheers
Chris
Great to see the tank repaired and ready to go :thumbsup:
Cheers
Chris
Machado deSousa
New member
chris wright: you are attentive! Beer bottles for scale!! (and we needed a whole lot more of them to do the job...). 
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Machado deSousa
New member
Cprowler: I know what you are talkin about
zurk666: Where have you been? You need a GPS. As you said, the 4th tank is almost ready... always bombating!
Stephencraig: Did you mount already your babies in the tubes? I hope so, and good lucky.
jaws_too: Thanks for your comment. Soon I will be playin again with my camera for another video of my prop. With more quality, I hope.
zurk666: Where have you been? You need a GPS. As you said, the 4th tank is almost ready... always bombating!
Stephencraig: Did you mount already your babies in the tubes? I hope so, and good lucky.
jaws_too: Thanks for your comment. Soon I will be playin again with my camera for another video of my prop. With more quality, I hope.
Machado deSousa
New member
Hi skeeter-doc!
There is no only a hint or two that I could tell you to avoid problems in a prop. Although I point you some measures that I consider useful to reach a healthy prop. Without order of importance, for me all points are equally important, I suggest you some hints: (I try not to be negligent about any of them):
- Make frags only from a healthy donor
- When you make a frag you must keep it under the same conditions of illumination as it was before the separation from the donor.
- Maximize oxygenation of the water (don’t rely on skimmer for oxygenation).
- Ventilate the space to obtain an atmosphere with the maximum Oxygen and the minimum CO2 concentration
- Elect the algae as your worst enemy
- Reduce to zero the concentrations of phosphates and nitrates in the system
- Feed your fish in a manner that everything is consumed in just one or two minutes
- Keep high water flow to improve the photosynthesis and keep sediments in suspension
- Siphon sediment when changing water
- Keep as stable as possible the temperature, salinity and levels of calcium, alkalinity and Magnesium.
- Inspect all coral entering in the system, so they can bring unwanted visitors like Red Bugs, Acro Eater Flatworms, Monti Nudi Eaters, algae or spores, etc. Do quarantine and make dipping before.
- Change 10% water at least every two weeks to remove pollutants and replace consumed trace elements
- Control your RO and resins. Be sure they are in good conditions
- Provide a strong skimming
- Don’t explore too much the lifespan of the bulbs
- Avoid photo shocks when replacing the bulbs
- Avoid putting your hands in the water. HUFF!!!
May be I forgot any other important hints, but if you take all these measures it will be very good for your prop!
I’m going on making frags. Is not easy to reach the point you are talking about. It would be very good for me if I had necessity to rent another room for my corals….
I have them pumping the water.
Cheers
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Machado deSousa
New member
Hi sandry!
The dosers are feeding the calcium reactors in order to maintain constant water flow in these devices.
About lighting, in Portugal most people use also metal halide bulbs in combination with T5. I like line glitters effects produced by MH bulbs but using exclusively T5 bulbs I have no problems with cooling in the summer.
You can achieve good coral colors if the nutrients in the system are reduced to minimum, especially phosphate. The spectrum of the bulbs is also important to achieve good colors. Some measures I mentioned in my last post will help.
Cheers,
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Machado deSousa
New member
Hi fatrip!
We can dissolve oxygen in the system in various ways through the water surface in contact with air. When I projected my setup I decided a largest possible area of the tanks in contact with air, the same is to say I select the least highness possible both in aquariums and in sumps. I enrich water promoting the movements of the water and avoiding stagnant zones and stratification so that the upper surface layers, rich in oxygen, are permanently replaced by the lower layers that contain less oxygen. I trust also in overflows, in cascades and falls of the water to dissolve oxygen to my system. I use a ceiling fan working 24/24 hours to further improve O2 concentrations in the water. Through algae filters, because i have a significant mass with lights on 24/24 hours, i can dissolve more and more oxygen in the water reaching over saturation levels.
About the contribution of skimmers in the oxygenation, some authors are of the opinion that due the surface tension of micro bubbles with organic matter they attract prevents the exchange of oxygen between the air and water, moreover flow-through rates are normally relatively low.
What I have just said about skimmers is true relatively to the kind of skimmers we use in Europe. I have a completely different idea about downdraft skimmers, widely used in the USA, because of their height and high flow-through rates and the use of cascade that confer on high capacity to increase the dissolved oxygen.
Cheers,
fatrip
Yup That Stuff
Interesting. i have all of those things in and around my system for O2 except the algea filter, i was just seeing if you used something else. now is an algea filter just a refuge with macro algea growing in it or is it actually some type of filter??thank you. very beautiful system by the way. thanks.
coralfever
New member
Great job as usually Machado. The video was a great look into your system and equiptment.
I have one question for you, How do you keep the glass and eggcrate so clean? I didn't see much coraline at all. I have a small frag system and the coraline is everywhere, totally covering all the eggcrate and all those hard to reach corners. Honestly I could do without it. Whats your trick?
I have one question for you, How do you keep the glass and eggcrate so clean? I didn't see much coraline at all. I have a small frag system and the coraline is everywhere, totally covering all the eggcrate and all those hard to reach corners. Honestly I could do without it. Whats your trick?
brandon7491
Member
how can i put this? this has to be the most beautiful thing i have ever seen or heard of an aquariast doing great work awsome work spectacular!! if i ever go to Portugal i will be sure to look u up. this is inspirational and can benifit the future of coral reefs. It can be called "Machado deSousa Aquaculture" great work man keep it up. have u ever considered making a tank called grown ups only which houses the full colonies of acros? i think that would be awsome! like build the stair effect with the eggcrate and ull have literally a mature reef it could be TOTM no problem! n e ways just a thought, magnificant tank
Machado deSousa
New member
Hi brandon 7491, thanks for your kind words. I’m waiting for you to clean pumps ... i never have visitors loving to do this job! I will appreciate to be and talk with you. May be you give more some ideas about to grow up a sps collection. About TOTM i would like to have a tank deserving such nomination.
Cheers,
I will appreciate to be and talk with you. May be you give more some ideas about to grow up a sps collection. About TOTM i would like to have a tank deserving such nomination. Cheers,
coralfever
New member
??^^
Machado deSousa
New member
Michika: I am preparing the 2th Day-care tank destinated to move the corals existing in the Nursery tank, and you’ll have opportunity to see how I will move them from tank to tank. Please be a little more patient.
Aqua11878: .'&%!"#$%&/(()=! Thanks. welcome!
Sjonathan: Come on, my friend!
Coralfever: Sometimes, after posting, I’m absent for some days and when I return to the Net I usually respond quickly to the last comment I find in the thread and later, when I have a little more time, I reply to the other comments on delay as I am doing now. After reading your last post I realized that this is not the proper way to respond to participants in the thread. In future I will respond to all but one by one in order of participation in the thread so that nobody will feel disregard. Coralfever, and other participants in this thread, please don’t get me wrong.
About your comments thanks for your words. The eggcrates are recent. They and panes have no coralline perhaps because calcium and magnesium levels are normally very low (Ca = 300mg/l and Mg = 1200mg/l) to very high alkalinity levels (kH above 13º). I think that Mg has been low due to the excessive mangrove consumption. The clean aspect of eggcrates and glasses are due to the action of the cleanup crew and bacteria and respective food I add regularly in order to reduce nutrients in the system.
Aqua11878: .'&%!"#$%&/(()=! Thanks. welcome!
Sjonathan: Come on, my friend!
Coralfever: Sometimes, after posting, I’m absent for some days and when I return to the Net I usually respond quickly to the last comment I find in the thread and later, when I have a little more time, I reply to the other comments on delay as I am doing now. After reading your last post I realized that this is not the proper way to respond to participants in the thread. In future I will respond to all but one by one in order of participation in the thread so that nobody will feel disregard. Coralfever, and other participants in this thread, please don’t get me wrong.
About your comments thanks for your words. The eggcrates are recent. They and panes have no coralline perhaps because calcium and magnesium levels are normally very low (Ca = 300mg/l and Mg = 1200mg/l) to very high alkalinity levels (kH above 13º). I think that Mg has been low due to the excessive mangrove consumption. The clean aspect of eggcrates and glasses are due to the action of the cleanup crew and bacteria and respective food I add regularly in order to reduce nutrients in the system.
With your addition of so many tanks, and with tanks comes more corals, how are you keeping up with the calcium demand of them? Do you have to upgrade the equipment or do you just keep a close eye on everything by testing and supplement as needed? Great work though someday I hope to build something similar.
Machado deSousa
New member
Nammy: Thanks for your words.
Tcmfish: By now only Aquamedic calcium reactor is working. The other one (diy) is a reserve for when i have higher consumptions.
Urb77: 10% of the lighting is lit for 12 hours. Remaining lamps are lit for 8 hours. The cycle begins at 21h up to 9h of the day after. Whole lighting is controlled by two watches associated with contactors. Are you a adult artemia producer? Do you produce large quantities? Very nice job.
Tcmfish: By now only Aquamedic calcium reactor is working. The other one (diy) is a reserve for when i have higher consumptions.
Urb77: 10% of the lighting is lit for 12 hours. Remaining lamps are lit for 8 hours. The cycle begins at 21h up to 9h of the day after. Whole lighting is controlled by two watches associated with contactors. Are you a adult artemia producer? Do you produce large quantities? Very nice job.
