My 65G Shallow Reef Tank

[joshky]

Hi Josh,

I thought about buying one of these, but never got round doing so. There is always something more urgent to buy:

http://www.shopvacuk.com/vacuum-cleaners/?CatID=11

Shop vacs are nice and I have used one in the past, the problem they present is it requires you to do a water change, which in my case once the sump is full it would require a rather large water change to clean it well. The EHEIM Quick Vac Pro pulls it up and catches it in a net, water passes through the net back into the sump, basically a neat little tool that lets your cheat a little bit. Not to mention it's a smaller piece to hide away, but not multi-functional like a shop vac.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Shop vacs are nice and I have used one in the past, the problem they present is it requires you to do a water change, which in my case once the sump is full it would require a rather large water change to clean it well. The EHEIM Quick Vac Pro pulls it up and catches it in a net, water passes through the net back into the sump, basically a neat little tool that lets your cheat a little bit. Not to mention it's a smaller piece to hide away, but not multi-functional like a shop vac.

Point taken Josh. But I have only a small sump. I thought about cleaning each section at different times while changing water. Finding a place to store a bulky vacuum cleaner has been another reason why I procrastinate.

How fine is the EHEIM Quick Vac Pro's filter? Do you not get a lot of very fine detritus in your sump after cleaning?

 

[joshky]

Point taken Josh. But I have only a small sump. I thought about cleaning each section at different times while changing water. Finding a place to store a bulky vacuum cleaner has been another reason why I procrastinate.

How fine is the EHEIM Quick Vac Pro's filter? Do you not get a lot of very fine detritus in your sump after cleaning?

It's not perfect, but does pretty well. I've thought about cutting an old felt filter sock up and putting that on the inside to help, or maybe just stuff it with like filter floss or something like I used to do with HOB filters. Overall I'm really happy with it and surprised at how well it does, it's very satisfying to empty it out after a good sump cleaning.

 

[biodegraded]

The setosa! Best captive I've ever seen. What an outstanding system.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

The setosa! Best captive I've ever seen. What an outstanding system.

Thank you for your nice words about my setosa. It will probably be the only Montiporid I will be transferring to my upgrade in two years time, providing that I keep it healthy.

 

[biodegraded]

Orange and blue form a high contrast combination that visually "pop" to humans. There are lots of shades and intensities of blue in acroporids but I've never seen a real orange. The setosa would be a worthy addition for that reason alone, aside from its unusual morphology. Just a thought for that next tank. In any case, your current system is outstanding. I saw that is is featured on another site's TOTM. Very worthy in my opinion. Cheers.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Orange and blue form a high contrast combination that visually "pop" to humans. There are lots of shades and intensities of blue in acroporids but I've never seen a real orange. The setosa would be a worthy addition for that reason alone, aside from its unusual morphology. Just a thought for that next tank. In any case, your current system is outstanding. I saw that is is featured on another site's TOTM. Very worthy in my opinion. Cheers.

Thank you again for your compliment.

I have also a Porites cylindrica in my tank, but I deliberately keep it in a low light position to control its growth. It looked almost yellow once when kept under 10000K MH (BLV). It sadly looks dark green in these days due to blue-dominated light spectrum. This is another coral that will be migrated to my upgrade.

Do you have a tank thread that I can look at?

Thanks

Bulent

 

[drawman]

Tank looks great Bulent! Is that an aiptasia eating filefish? I love mine definitely a cool fish.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Tank looks great Bulent! Is that an aiptasia eating filefish? I love mine definitely a cool fish.

Yes, Tim. It is a matted file fish. Its name is Mr. E.T. Occasionally, when he feels very hungry it nips at my A. aspera and nothing else. Thanks for your feedback.

 

[plyle02]

I love the most recent video Bulent, the colors are so defined and stand out on one another so beautifully! You tank is becoming absolutely jaw dropping, the corals are getting massive, and it just looks amazing Well done sir!

 

[biodegraded]

Do you have a tank thread that I can look at?

I do not. Disruptive life events have precluded aquarium adventures for some years now. I do enjoy vicarious experiences with fine systems here, though.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I love the most recent video Bulent, the colors are so defined and stand out on one another so beautifully! You tank is becoming absolutely jaw dropping, the corals are getting massive, and it just looks amazing Well done sir!

Thank you for your praise Perry. I really appreciate it.

 

[reefmutt]

Beautiful cover Bulent!!
Congrats!
I will go read the article with interest.
Nicely done.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Beautiful cover Bulent!!
Congrats!
I will go read the article with interest.
Nicely done.

Thank you Matt. Much appreciate it. I am looking forward to your feedback.

 

[Myka]

Great write up Bulent! I wrote the Perchlet article, and my photo was under scrutiny for the cover too. I'm glad of all people it was you I "lost" to! I loved reading your article though as it summed up your thread nicely. I didn't actually realize you had so many big fish in your tank. I was considering a Watanabe Angelfish for my tank, and was thinking it's too big, but yours seem to do quite well. Maybe I'll consider. I'm also very surprised that you can hit your Acros with that much light for such a long photoperiod! I have the 6-bulb dimmable over my tank and I run ch1 for 12 hours at 100% and ch2 for only 5 hours at 70%. You're killing me!!!!

 

[sahin]

Bulent congrats on the TOTM. Colours and growth of the sps is excellent and your tank looks great. Well done. :thumbsup:

 

[biggles]

Congrats Bulent, very well deserved recognition mate

Excellent write up and awesome pics of a wonderful SPS display :thumbsup:

 

[reefmutt]

Beautiful spread and write up.
Simple, elegant and effective.
You have done a such great job of distilling all of the important elements of reefkeeping and implementing them perfectly.
Very nice, Bulent!

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Great write up Bulent! I wrote the Perchlet article, and my photo was under scrutiny for the cover too. I'm glad of all people it was you I "lost" to! I loved reading your article though as it summed up your thread nicely. I didn't actually realize you had so many big fish in your tank. I was considering a Watanabe Angelfish for my tank, and was thinking it's too big, but yours seem to do quite well. Maybe I'll consider. I'm also very surprised that you can hit your Acros with that much light for such a long photoperiod! I have the 6-bulb dimmable over my tank and I run ch1 for 12 hours at 100% and ch2 for only 5 hours at 70%. You're killing me!!!!

Hi Mindy,

Thank you for your compliment. I have read your article and enjoyed it very much. I also noticed that you wrote another article in the previous edition. You must be a regular contributor.

When I submitted my article, I had no idea that it would be featured in the front page. It came as a nice surprise.

Yes, I have many fish in my tank and fortunately they all seem to live together without territorial disputes. However, I am conscious of the fact that sooner or later I will need a bigger tank, which will mean that I will get even more fish :wildone:. Having got large fish in a small tank is not without its problems. I tried to have a female Genicanthus watanabei last year. The first one jumped out because it was mildly harassed. She was not particularly small compared to other fish. My experience suggests that size matters when introducing a new fish to an established tank, i.e. get as small a fish as possible. My second attempt also failed because the second female, which was also fairly large, also jumped out, but this time into the outflow box (weir) where it was stung by aiptasia and thus had no chance of survival. I have been waiting for a small specimen for over a year without success. Furthermore, my much prized Genicanthus semifasciatus, which featured in my recent videos, has recently died of deep cuts on her body. I suspect that she must have been spooked and scratched her body on a sharp Acropora skeleton. The cut was so severe that she did not survive for more than a day. I am at work right now, but will post her picture later today. I got very upset when I took her out of the water.

My Acros handle a lot of light. Evidence from light experts (e.g. Dana Riddle) suggests that Acroporidae do not need very intense light, but I am a contrarian. Having said that I can reduce the photoperiod, but this would not help with maintaining high pH levels as I can only dose so much limewater in a day. When so many Acroporidae start to give out CO2, pH start to sink very rapidly.

 

[DiscusHeckel]

Bulent congrats on the TOTM. Colours and growth of the sps is excellent and your tank looks great. Well done. :thumbsup:

Thanks Sahin.