Leonardo's Formosa Forest 2

Glad to see youre still motivated, looking forward to see how things look when youre ready to show some pics of the display. :)
 
Seachem's Aquavitro Salinity looks very promising,
supposedly:
Calcium: target 422 mg/L, range 400 to 443 mg/L
Magnesium: target 1336 mg/L, range 1269 to 1403 mg/L
Strontium: target 8.4 mg/L, range 8.0 to 8.8 mg/L
pH: 8.4 to 8.6
Alkalinity: 3.2 to 3.8 meq/L
I don't have experience with the salt, but lots of good reviews. Not sure if it's available in EU though.

Red Sea Pro Salt is supposed to release very soon in the UK, might be something worth looking into too.
 
just tagging along here. i'm sorry to hear about your loss. these endeavors require so much effort, and when things go wrong, it is just so punishing, in every sense of the word. i am glad you have come back with renewed energy and looking forward to the evolution of FF2!
 
That sump space is lookin' good, Leo. :thumbsup: Must of taken a lot of work to get it that "sqeaky clean". :)

BTW - Leo, I have a question for you. Considering your experience with T5s. What do you think about me replacing my four 400W metal halides with 24 36" (39W) T5s? My tank is 96" X 36" and the actual water depth is only 22.5". Should be OK, don't you think?
 
Leonardo

If you can get the D-D H20 salt, I have found great parameter's. I have used many buckets and always with in what says on the bucket.
I does have a slight film but I prefilter it with my powerhead while it is mixing. I have the Aqua Clear with a Quick cartridge.
 
SumpClose15Sep.jpg


SuperMarine15Sep.jpg

SuperMarine 250 skimming wet

Leonardo

Excellent setup Leonardo, so clean looking.
 
Bjarne; Thank you. Just one more week and the display is acceptable again ;)

Joost; Thanks for your input. Those parameters look really good, but like you said, Seachem isn't easily available over here. Maybe I'll wait and see what the experiences with the new RedSea are.
I think I will try RBS one more time (from a different batch) and give it a chance.

Thirst; Thanks for the kind words :)

Kevin; I know the DD has great parameters, but I haven't found a store that carries it over here :( If I find a bucket I certainly will give it a try.

Arman; Thank you! ;)

John; Thanks, I really like your tank :) Glad to have you on board.

Paul; Thank you! I'm glad that I finally have my cabinet clean and organized.


Leonardo
 
That sump space is lookin' good, Leo. :thumbsup: Must of taken a lot of work to get it that "sqeaky clean". :)

BTW - Leo, I have a question for you. Considering your experience with T5s. What do you think about me replacing my four 400W metal halides with 24 36" (39W) T5s? My tank is 96" X 36" and the actual water depth is only 22.5". Should be OK, don't you think?

Thanks Tom :) It was a lot of work but keeping it like this will be easier.
I really like my switch to T5's. I have to admit I had to get used to them, but now that I found the right bulb combination I'm very happy with the intensity and especially with the spread of the light. Besides that I don't have to cool the tank and room anymore.
A few advantages are less electricity, less heat, better spread of the light. Downside is the more artificial look. Some get used to it, some don't. I would suggest to visit some T5-only tanks and see if you like it.

2x12 T5 on a 36"deep tank give you enough light and intensity to vary and tweak your bulb combination.
Maybe you should go with 54 Watt fixtures, otherwise you have some darker spots on the sides. This isn't a bad thing because lower light corals can be placed here. But it is an option because it will just fit.

To give an impression of the intensity; all my colonies are on the bottom of the tank now (water height 24"). The 7 blue+ bulbs burn for 21 hours and the 7 AquaBlueSpecial for 6 hours. More then six hours is actually too much light.
They were used to two 400 Watt AquaConnects in Lumenarcs :)

If you go T5, I suggest to use the ATI Sunpower pendants. Although the finish is a bit less then the Powermodules, I actually like the design more :)
Ballasts and reflectors are the same, but the Sunpower has a much better price. The cooling is sufficient, especially on the 6 bulb pendants.
Feel free to ask if you would like to know anything else.

Leonardo
 
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I'm looking for (royal) Blue LED strips to supplement the T5's. There won't be any shimmer effect because 14x T5 are too powerful to really bring the shimmer of the LED's out :)

Leonardo
 
I will be tagging to see what you got up your sleeve this time. I see you also joining the
t5 club. Will you be using any zeo or neo on your system, or any cabon dosing? I really like the look of your corals, wish mines were so bright.
 
Thanks for all the info on T5s, Leonardo. Sounds like a change I will probably make. Since my setup is in a fish room, I'll most probably build a new rack with retro-fit kits, as opposed finished units. Do you have any opinion on the best reflectors available?
 
Tom, Best reflectors are the narrow ATI reflectors, and maybe those from ReefGeek (Aqua Illumination). Make sure you actively cool the bulb-ends, and install a Acrylic splash guard to protect the reflectors :)

zaheda, I will start without any carbon sources. Maybe when the tank is matured and stabilized I will use TM Reef-Actif again :)

Leonardo
 
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I'm sorry Joost, not yet! I have to do some large water changes first, and with that bad KZ I can't do it yet :rolleyes:
Will have some new salt next Tuesday.

Leonardo
 
Tom, Best reflectors are the narrow ATI reflectors, and maybe those from ReefGeek (Aqua Illumination). Make sure you actively cool the bulb-ends, and install a Acrylic splash guard to protect the reflectors :)
Leonardo

Thanks! :thumbsup:
 
Looking gr8.

Can you explore you dosing stuff prepration, i mean how much Raw CaCl, Nahco3 you add in how much Gallon of RO water.
 
Thanks!

I recently changed my 2-part recipe. I'll explain what I use now.

Two 8 Gallon (30 liter) Jerrycans.

Jerrycan 1 is filled with cold RO water. Add 3000 Gram CaCl. I also add Balling Trace-Elements. 50 ml Strontium/Barium Complex, and 50 ml Heavy Metal Complex. This is only a fraction of what is prescribed, but I prefer to tweak further dosage by hand.

Jerrycan 2 is filled with warm RO water. 3564 Gram NaHCO3 is baked in an oven at 200 C (390 F) for one hour. This is added to the warm RO water, together with 50 ml Balling Iodine/Fluoride Complex.

Every time I do a waterchange I add some NaCl free salt to the mix, to compensate for the buildup of Na and Cl ions.

Is used another recipe before, described on my blog Leonardosreef.com

Leonardo
 
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