Leonardo's Formosa Forest 2

ok so let me sum this up, there is no carbon source that will be used in this tank. Only the big skimmer, some LR and the RDSB and the refugium. CA and ALK will be taken care of by the grotec which will also dose trace elements? How often will you be doing water changes Leonardo and how are you going to stop corraline algae from growing in your skimmer as you will have the Refugium lit? Thats a problem i currently have. reason i am asking is because i want to run my tank exactly like you but i want to have a big crypic zone filled with LR about 20 to 30kg(will be prefiltered to ensure no or very little detritus gets in),want to also grow algea some cheato and calurpera, dont want to make the solutions for the balling method as i want to use a CARX any specific reason why u no longer using the CARX?
 
Why run the tank exactly like I do? ;) Don't think it's better then other methods...
You say you want to use a Grotech for ALK and Ca solutions but don't want to make Balling solutions and use a Ca reactor? Will you use them both?
The refugium will be a separate 50 gallon rimless cube. My sump won't receive any light to prevent coralline algae growing in the sump.
I explained the reason why I chose for Balling on my blog.
In the sump I will have a cryptic refugium for all the sponges I have already growing. (see Lagoon thread).

Leonardo
 
because of the success u have :)

Cool stuff man so u going to have a seperate light refugium and a sump?

lol what i meant was i dont want to use the balling method as i would rather just prefer to setup a CARX instead of having to make solutions.
 
I was a Formosa fan, and now I will subscribe to this build as well.
Great inspiration and beautiful acros; can't wait to see them grow into the cube.
What are you going to do with the shallow cube?
 
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Hello Dan, I'm making progress slowly. Live Rock came in yesterday and is cooking right now.
Besides that I'm finishing the stand and preparing the equipment. And of course a lot of studying for my exams. I will make some pictures tomorrow of the progress so far :)

Machiel, The quality was alright, although it was a bit smelly because of some die-off. That's why the rock is cooking in a dark container right now, replacing all the water every day (30G). Heavy GFO and GAC filtering makes sure the rocks will be free of any stored phosphates.

Joost, thanks for providing the link. I would like to make clear that this is my non-commercial blog where I will write about reef related subjects that go beyond this thread. So this thread will stay active and will be updated every time I have something to share :)

Leonardo
 
Yesterday I finished the basic construction of the stand, and was able to place the tank and test fill it with tankwater. Both tank and stand could hold the 200 gallon. The stand have to finished with polished aluminum strips on all sides and high gloss white panels.

Stand-1.jpg


FTS.jpg


Last week a box of fresh Indonesian Live rock arrived, and is currently cooking in a separate container. The 30 gallon of water was changed every day the first three days, to prevent a huge build up of (ammonia) nitrites and phosphates, caused by the dying organisms. The water is filtered by a large amount of GAC and GFO to preserve as much life as possible. The rocks have some interesting shapes and next week I will be very busy creating a rockscape.

LR.jpg


Besides test filling the tank, my shipment from Germany came in yesterday. Most important were the two ATI Sunpower 4x39 watt pendants with ATI bulbs. I was surprised by the beauty and quality of the pendants and I'm sure I will be very pleased with them in the future.

Sunpower.jpg


I will make progess as much as I can and fill the tank with saltwater asap to start the aquascape. (and make my first FTS ;) )

Leonardo
 
The tank is gonna have a super clean look Leonardo. Can't wait to see the transformation. Are you planning on adding any lighting to create some glittering effect?
 
Thanks Dan! I trying to make as clean as possible, white high gloss, stainless steel + aluminum pendant and BB tank. Not everyones flavor but I just like it very much :)
The white painted bottom came out really well. Normally the bottom will act as a mirror when viewing from the front pane, but with the paint directly on the bottom glass it will appear white without reflections.

I will combine the two 4x39 watt Sunpower pendant with two 400 Watt Aqua Connect SE MH in Lumenarcs. The combination of these two gives me the best of both worlds regarding to light spread, aesthetics and power usage.

pendant2.jpg


Leonardo
 
Oops, sorry Leonardo read your prior post and thought you were going all T5s. Guess I shouldn't be up and posting so early :o. Enjoying your build...
 
Very nice Leonardo :thumbsup: I still have our PM's saved and things have started to settle in since the break in ;)

Are you getting a reactor for this set up :) There is not as much too it as people think as long as you have a regimine. I'm a spreadsheet guy so its been pretty simple for me :reading:
 
Thanks Mark! ;)

A Reactor, do you mean Zeo? ;) I will keep the setup and maintenance very basic initially; Two-part dosing, large weekly waterchanges, few trace elements, no Vodka/Carbon etc.
So in a later stadium when the tank is running constantly I can always give it a try to bring things a step further :)

Leonardo
 
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