Reefnut2010
New member
Nice build. It looks great. Updates?
Regards from California.
Regards from California.
Dutch Built-in 240 Gallon tank
- Thread starter vanvelzen
- Start date
vanvelzen
New member
Thanks you all for reacting. It has been very silent from my side but that's not because nothing happened here. In fact a lot has happened and I will describe shortly the events over the past year and a half...
Starting October 2010 I started having issues on Fish health... Fishes started to breath too quickly and basically stopped eating. This was a slow process and I couldn't identify at all what was causing it. Some fishes (eg. my foxface and mandarins) were very hardy but for instance all my tangs and shrimps quickly died. New additions were even worse; they died sometimes within the day with the same symptoms.
I have really tried everything to find out and correct all possible causes but nothing worked. All in all it was a very slow process until at a certain point even my foxface died (after not eating for almost 8 weeks).
By that time it was already June 2011 and I think I lost almost 50 fishes over that timeperiod... :worried: The only survivors were two Pholydichthys leucotaenia's.
What to do? STOP or????
I decided differently and I completely disabled the tank (July 2011). Took out all the live rock and left it in the backyard to dry.
Cleaning the tank was done by pooring 180L (almost 50 Gallon) of natural vinegar in the tank together with tap water. I had it running for almost a week after which I did the same twice with only tapwater.
180L of Natural Vinegar:
Also the background had to go to be replaced by blue foil so I would see more depth. All in all, the tank got cleaned very well; alot of work!!
Starting October 2010 I started having issues on Fish health... Fishes started to breath too quickly and basically stopped eating. This was a slow process and I couldn't identify at all what was causing it. Some fishes (eg. my foxface and mandarins) were very hardy but for instance all my tangs and shrimps quickly died. New additions were even worse; they died sometimes within the day with the same symptoms.
I have really tried everything to find out and correct all possible causes but nothing worked. All in all it was a very slow process until at a certain point even my foxface died (after not eating for almost 8 weeks).
By that time it was already June 2011 and I think I lost almost 50 fishes over that timeperiod... :worried: The only survivors were two Pholydichthys leucotaenia's.
What to do? STOP or????
I decided differently and I completely disabled the tank (July 2011). Took out all the live rock and left it in the backyard to dry.
Cleaning the tank was done by pooring 180L (almost 50 Gallon) of natural vinegar in the tank together with tap water. I had it running for almost a week after which I did the same twice with only tapwater.
180L of Natural Vinegar:
Also the background had to go to be replaced by blue foil so I would see more depth. All in all, the tank got cleaned very well; alot of work!!
Last edited:
vanvelzen
New member
Meanwhile, the rock was drying out nicely in my backyard and turned beautiful white.... Except for one rock that dried completely black and red, which one could never see when it was fully grown with calcium algae.
When I lifted the rock, I also felt it was much heavier than all other rocks and when I smashed it, the inside was completely rusty.... Would this have been the reason for my fish problems? Forgot to mention that my corals have been thriving all the time, so really tough to find a good answer.
Anyway, I gave up on the idea that I would ever find a plausible explanation: live goes on...
Also investments were made on equipment: I sold my Metal Halid lightning and my Deltec calcium reactor and invested in a Dastaco and LED Lightning (30x 10W; 210x 1W) as well as a Profilux III aqurium computer
When I lifted the rock, I also felt it was much heavier than all other rocks and when I smashed it, the inside was completely rusty.... Would this have been the reason for my fish problems? Forgot to mention that my corals have been thriving all the time, so really tough to find a good answer.
Anyway, I gave up on the idea that I would ever find a plausible explanation: live goes on...
Also investments were made on equipment: I sold my Metal Halid lightning and my Deltec calcium reactor and invested in a Dastaco and LED Lightning (30x 10W; 210x 1W) as well as a Profilux III aqurium computer
vanvelzen
New member
AQUASCAPING (end of July 2011)
With the help of a friend, we managed to build a completely different aquarium in the same tank using the same (dead by now) rock. Of course, the strange black/red "meteorite like" rock never made it back into the tank.
After the usual (but longer due to the dead rock) start-up period the tank looked like this:
Starting up with dead rock has it advantages.... No more wurms, crabs and other not-so-wanted friends.... :fun4:
With the help of a friend, we managed to build a completely different aquarium in the same tank using the same (dead by now) rock. Of course, the strange black/red "meteorite like" rock never made it back into the tank.
After the usual (but longer due to the dead rock) start-up period the tank looked like this:
Starting up with dead rock has it advantages.... No more wurms, crabs and other not-so-wanted friends.... :fun4:
vanvelzen
New member
Thanks! From what I've read, your problem looks indeed similar. Would be a coincidence however if you also had a "bad" rock in your scaping.
Thanks qwuintus and Mybabynews for your kind words.
Just two pictures of my Rock Flower anemone from Florida. Probably nothing special for you in the US but very rare over here. It is a true eye-catcher, specially under Blue LED. Every time my LFS can order animals from Florida(only a couple of times per year), I am asking him to order another one but with a red heart. I know they're out there but sofar they've never been shipped. I remain patient...
vanvelzen
New member
And some pictures taken with my Iphone.
First one is from my three "See through" Cynarina's. I really like this type of coral; the difference in how the coral looks during the day and night are really spectacular. In this picture you actually see both appearances at the same time...
First one is from my three "See through" Cynarina's. I really like this type of coral; the difference in how the coral looks during the day and night are really spectacular. In this picture you actually see both appearances at the same time...
Euler Kernighan
The "DIY Guy"
that's amazing thread vanvelzen!
why you decide to change tank's background? and are you dosing something, like prodibio, zeovit, balling, Randy's two parts?
i have a lot of other question, but not to do in just one post!! :strooper:
i'm working in a big 'in-wall project' like yours, when you have time, visit: Flying Dutch here at ReefCentral
why you decide to change tank's background? and are you dosing something, like prodibio, zeovit, balling, Randy's two parts?
i have a lot of other question, but not to do in just one post!! :strooper:
i'm working in a big 'in-wall project' like yours, when you have time, visit: Flying Dutch here at ReefCentral
Last edited:
vanvelzen
New member
Thanks Euler for the compliment.
The background had to go as I found that the corals were not so visible when placed before it. Now with the Blue background, I find that the corals are much nicer to look at as the growthform is much better to see. Furthermore it gives a much cleaner look and feel to the tank.
Lastly: no "dead water' anymore as there is always some water behind the polystyren back (which was inside the tank).
The only thing I am still doubting is whether I will replace the blue foil by black. I saw some tanks with a black background and the colours of the corals just look amazing...
With regards to dosing: actually I don't dose so much.
Just regular waterchanges with a high quality salt and weekly addition of strontium, jodium and vitamin C.
Lastly I still dose (irregularly) bacteria (Biodigest and/or Zeobak) and sometimes dose some Spongepower.
I was already tagging along your thread; great to see the progress you are making and the detailed way of describing every step in the build... :thumbsup:
The background had to go as I found that the corals were not so visible when placed before it. Now with the Blue background, I find that the corals are much nicer to look at as the growthform is much better to see. Furthermore it gives a much cleaner look and feel to the tank.
Lastly: no "dead water' anymore as there is always some water behind the polystyren back (which was inside the tank).
The only thing I am still doubting is whether I will replace the blue foil by black. I saw some tanks with a black background and the colours of the corals just look amazing...
With regards to dosing: actually I don't dose so much.
Just regular waterchanges with a high quality salt and weekly addition of strontium, jodium and vitamin C.
Lastly I still dose (irregularly) bacteria (Biodigest and/or Zeobak) and sometimes dose some Spongepower.
I was already tagging along your thread; great to see the progress you are making and the detailed way of describing every step in the build... :thumbsup:
Euler Kernighan
The "DIY Guy"
thanks for tagging! drop me a line when you have time.
btw, before move to "All Black" team
just check out this:
is it possible to believe that background isn't "natural"? it is not an adhesive or stuff like that... it's made by hands, can you believe?
quick question: "all black?" :ape:
btw, before move to "All Black" team
just check out this:
is it possible to believe that background isn't "natural"? it is not an adhesive or stuff like that... it's made by hands, can you believe?
quick question: "all black?" :ape:
Similar threads
