Tank of the Month - August '06
- Thread starter Skipper
- Start date
Wow!
T(h)ank you very much again,
well, there are still some things to do better and some coral to optimize etc., but I have to confess, I like it too ;-)
@tritonian
"Balling" method is mainly supporting Ca and Alk. and traceelements.
Unfortunately there is no english description, I know about.
I use my own modified version of this, adding also Mg and not adding traceelements that
way. In the original "Balling" method, Hans-Werner Balling mixes also his own traceelements and adds them to the Ca/Alk supplements.
Lot of people stick to using a Ca-Reaktor, also adding some Mg-filling and dosing elements seperately. That'll do the same.
Some weeks ago I tried to explain my understanding of the Balling-method in the SPS-forum.
It sounds more complicated, than it really is. After understanding and getting started it's not
that bad
. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7529861#post7529861
Some of the KH+ products are nothing else, than NaHCO3 solution (chemical pure Soda), which is also the way Balling does it. So you're maybe partly using that method
Btw. you're dosing Iodine once a week? I read about Iodine reacting with UV-light really fast,
so it should be dosed once a day, in the evening. I don't know if thats right, but I dose that way (automatically).
@Johan Susanto
The pipe is part of the outlet of one of the external water-movement pumps,
we thought it is important to have enough water behind the reef-structure, so no
detritus shows up there (where you can't clean it).
Btw. greetings to the home of my LR, they are from Sulawesi ;-)
Best,
Ralf
T(h)ank you very much again,
well, there are still some things to do better and some coral to optimize etc., but I have to confess, I like it too ;-)
@tritonian
"Balling" method is mainly supporting Ca and Alk. and traceelements.
Unfortunately there is no english description, I know about.
I use my own modified version of this, adding also Mg and not adding traceelements that
way. In the original "Balling" method, Hans-Werner Balling mixes also his own traceelements and adds them to the Ca/Alk supplements.
Lot of people stick to using a Ca-Reaktor, also adding some Mg-filling and dosing elements seperately. That'll do the same.
Some weeks ago I tried to explain my understanding of the Balling-method in the SPS-forum.
It sounds more complicated, than it really is. After understanding and getting started it's not
that bad
. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=7529861#post7529861Some of the KH+ products are nothing else, than NaHCO3 solution (chemical pure Soda), which is also the way Balling does it. So you're maybe partly using that method
Btw. you're dosing Iodine once a week? I read about Iodine reacting with UV-light really fast,
so it should be dosed once a day, in the evening. I don't know if thats right, but I dose that way (automatically).
@Johan Susanto
The pipe is part of the outlet of one of the external water-movement pumps,
we thought it is important to have enough water behind the reef-structure, so no
detritus shows up there (where you can't clean it).
Btw. greetings to the home of my LR, they are from Sulawesi ;-)
Best,
Ralf
Really great tank..... The only negative that I can say is that for 99.9% the tank of the month feature is an unrealistic tank that we can never have. In saying that I would enjoy a tank that would be more relevent to the typical person. However, I must say that it is an awesome tank and I am envious.
Melody
New member
Remarkable! Such a lovely piece of ocean art!! You're aquascaping is the bomb.:thumbsup: I was just wondering if you have any problems with your sand being more shallow than most. I really don't wanna put 4-6 inches of sand in our new tank. Looks like you've found the secret of keeping it nice and white. Is it still usefull for denitryfing?
TIA
TIA
Nano Chris
Active member
You are my hero! I wish i had a 870 gallon tank! How many hours you spend a week taking care of it?
NanoCube-boy
New member
Sweet tank man, I am so jelious. I always want a biger tank, but I am still stuck with Nano Reef. I am still debating to go reef or marine, but I do not know which livestock to pick, corals or Angels... Hard huh? I like both...
NanoCube-boy
New member
How did you structure you LR? Did you used coral Epoxy or some kind of glue? What kind of wall did you use? Where did you feed your tank from? sump or directly to the tank. I notice a box with a lot of switches, what is that? With a those wires, how do you manage them?
Thank you so much...
mikekman,
well, if goin' bigger again, I should seriously consider to move to somewhere near a
reef and build an "aerarium" for me into the sea.
Damn can't find that article about a new underwater hotel in the red sea anymore...
bretts3,
I too like to see the hole range of different tanks. Once saw a complete diy low-cost tank,
skimmer made from PE-bottles, tank of wood/epoxy and only viewing-window etc., liked that
one very much. Mediterranian sea tanks with so much different animals, great nano-tanks,
jellyfish-tanks, fish-only systems, there is so much else to see, than just going big.
This tank is only one flavour.
Melody,
the sand is only 2" high (looks less, because the "viewing window" is not showing the whole front of tank, there is about 1" more on each side)'.
It's not meant to denitry, but is surely does a little. Having lots of LR and coral, with
relatively low fishcount, I have NO3 not detectable.
The goby/starfish/cucumbers do a good job in cleaning it. The sand is in for about a year
now and still not getting dark/hard. I do not clean it mechanically.
hugorsf,
its made of an artifical (plastic?) material, one normally build furniture with.
Additional there is a brushed steel shadow gap around it.
It was done by a furniture carpenter, having the same colour than my doors/windowframes.
There is a highres-version of the picture, that shows also the frame at http://www.cashh.de/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1663 ,
maybe that shows more.
Criminal#58369,
due to the fact that it's all highly automatic i.e. pipes and installed pumps for waterchanges etc. the weekly maintenance at my tankday (friday) is about 2 hours, doin' waterchanges,
cleaning windows, cleaning filters, checking dosingpumps/containers, clean skimmer.
From time to time changing bulbs, cleaning pumps, sump, osmosis maintenance etc. is being spread through different fridays.
Feeding / looking if coral are ok i.e. no parasites, right light/water movement etc. is done
while enjoying the tank through the week.
I use a calender on my computer to assist me, not forgetting the repeating tasks.
So change T5 bulb / change MH / clean ext. pumps / clean powerhead / replace UV-bulbs /
change osmosis-prefilter etc. are repeating tasks with email notification in my calendar.
Harif87, Rjp761,
no problem on asking about how much. Please don't hate me for not answering on that.
I don't know the exact amount and am not really willing to tell, what I know ;-).
Well that figure is imho only usefull to someone that's willing to build her/his own.
If doin' your own, you'll certainly have to do your own very detailed planning.
From that detailed planning, it's only a short way to the sum. Add at least 33% there and you'll get what you'll have to pay.
Sorry.
NanoCube-boy,
I know what you talk about. It was relatively easy for me to choose, because I am a little SPS-mad.
Regarding the LR-structure, I tried to describe on page 2 of this thread.
I used no glue, but a little silicone to attach some angels to the glass.
I feed and dose directly into the tank, want the filter to catch it as late as possible.
The switches you're refering to are mostly fuses. Timers and GFCIs (ground fault circuilt interupters (live-insurance ;-)) also took place there. There are three independent circuilts with plugs having their own fuse.
Some of them are real switches for turning pumps in the basement on/off.
Tritonian,
I use PVP-iodine, PVP-iodine (Poly-vinyl-pyrrolidone?) is a complex organic molecule with
Iodine attached to it. PVP(as a kind of carrier) with or without Iodine attached, is not
as agrassive as KI and quickly removed with the skimmer.
It supports elementar Iodine and not ionic forms of Iodine. I was told, that elementar Iodine
is more usefull for coral, than ionic (as in KI). "Lugol"'s solution would of course also
support elementar Iodine.
I buy "Betaisodona" (tm) or "Polysept" (tm) which is normally used for putting in water and bathing human wounds (also open wounds) i.e. after operations in it.
I dose 1 drop per 40 gal a day. (1:10 thinned to use 10 drops per 40gal a day)
I use this Betaisodona also against parasites on SPS with 2 milliliters in 1 liter saltwater
for a 10 min. bath outside tank (new ones or coral with parasites).
Thanks,
Ralf
mikekman,
well, if goin' bigger again, I should seriously consider to move to somewhere near a
reef and build an "aerarium" for me into the sea.
Damn can't find that article about a new underwater hotel in the red sea anymore...
bretts3,
I too like to see the hole range of different tanks. Once saw a complete diy low-cost tank,
skimmer made from PE-bottles, tank of wood/epoxy and only viewing-window etc., liked that
one very much. Mediterranian sea tanks with so much different animals, great nano-tanks,
jellyfish-tanks, fish-only systems, there is so much else to see, than just going big.
This tank is only one flavour.
Melody,
the sand is only 2" high (looks less, because the "viewing window" is not showing the whole front of tank, there is about 1" more on each side)'.
It's not meant to denitry, but is surely does a little. Having lots of LR and coral, with
relatively low fishcount, I have NO3 not detectable.
The goby/starfish/cucumbers do a good job in cleaning it. The sand is in for about a year
now and still not getting dark/hard. I do not clean it mechanically.
hugorsf,
its made of an artifical (plastic?) material, one normally build furniture with.
Additional there is a brushed steel shadow gap around it.
It was done by a furniture carpenter, having the same colour than my doors/windowframes.
There is a highres-version of the picture, that shows also the frame at http://www.cashh.de/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=1663 ,
maybe that shows more.
Criminal#58369,
due to the fact that it's all highly automatic i.e. pipes and installed pumps for waterchanges etc. the weekly maintenance at my tankday (friday) is about 2 hours, doin' waterchanges,
cleaning windows, cleaning filters, checking dosingpumps/containers, clean skimmer.
From time to time changing bulbs, cleaning pumps, sump, osmosis maintenance etc. is being spread through different fridays.
Feeding / looking if coral are ok i.e. no parasites, right light/water movement etc. is done
while enjoying the tank through the week.
I use a calender on my computer to assist me, not forgetting the repeating tasks.
So change T5 bulb / change MH / clean ext. pumps / clean powerhead / replace UV-bulbs /
change osmosis-prefilter etc. are repeating tasks with email notification in my calendar.
Harif87, Rjp761,
no problem on asking about how much. Please don't hate me for not answering on that.
I don't know the exact amount and am not really willing to tell, what I know ;-).
Well that figure is imho only usefull to someone that's willing to build her/his own.
If doin' your own, you'll certainly have to do your own very detailed planning.
From that detailed planning, it's only a short way to the sum. Add at least 33% there and you'll get what you'll have to pay.
Sorry.
NanoCube-boy,
I know what you talk about. It was relatively easy for me to choose, because I am a little SPS-mad
.Regarding the LR-structure, I tried to describe on page 2 of this thread.
I used no glue, but a little silicone to attach some angels to the glass.
I feed and dose directly into the tank, want the filter to catch it as late as possible.
The switches you're refering to are mostly fuses. Timers and GFCIs (ground fault circuilt interupters (live-insurance ;-)) also took place there. There are three independent circuilts with plugs having their own fuse.
Some of them are real switches for turning pumps in the basement on/off.
Tritonian,
I use PVP-iodine, PVP-iodine (Poly-vinyl-pyrrolidone?) is a complex organic molecule with
Iodine attached to it. PVP(as a kind of carrier) with or without Iodine attached, is not
as agrassive as KI and quickly removed with the skimmer.
It supports elementar Iodine and not ionic forms of Iodine. I was told, that elementar Iodine
is more usefull for coral, than ionic (as in KI). "Lugol"'s solution would of course also
support elementar Iodine.
I buy "Betaisodona" (tm) or "Polysept" (tm) which is normally used for putting in water and bathing human wounds (also open wounds) i.e. after operations in it.
I dose 1 drop per 40 gal a day. (1:10 thinned to use 10 drops per 40gal a day)
I use this Betaisodona also against parasites on SPS with 2 milliliters in 1 liter saltwater
for a 10 min. bath outside tank (new ones or coral with parasites).
Thanks,
Ralf
NanoCube-boy
New member
I can see you are a SPS Madness, I like them too, but My tank can only support up to 48watts under compact f. lighting.
You GFCI is very interesting, and I like it. How does that set up? Did you do it yourself? That's really neat how you organized your wires.
What kind of food do you feed your tank? That Powder Blue looking really healthy and nice, it's pretty hard to take care of them sometime. I witness it.
You GFCI is very interesting, and I like it. How does that set up? Did you do it yourself? That's really neat how you organized your wires.
What kind of food do you feed your tank? That Powder Blue looking really healthy and nice, it's pretty hard to take care of them sometime. I witness it.
joubentwin
New member
Congratulations, that is a very nice tank.
NanoCube-boy
New member
I say 30K in US bucks.
Thank you for addressing your concerns.
As you address them to my person (using the cost thing) and not to reefkeeping.com or someone else, it seems to me, that you think I did something wrong here.
That is of course possible.
I felt happy being chosen by reefkeeping.com as totm.
I doubt that you in my situation would have refused it.
I didn't know that it's bad behaving to accept that, being no longtime member at rc.
Well, it happened and I can not and want not to change.
Maybe I am a newbe on RC, reading for a long time and writing only for a short.
But I am no newbe to our hobby keeping coral in first tank for some few years.
I am keeping coralreefs for nearly 15 years now and went through all the highs and lows it has to offer.
Well, writing all this now, let's address part of the cost thing here also.
I am no rich born kiddie. I know how it is to get nothing to birthday and christmas 'cause
no one has any money. I kept low-cost tanks for years not having any money.
I had to work really hard for all this. Nobody gave me anything for free.
@all others
sorry for writing all this boring stuff, but I somehow had to.
No bad thoughts about anyone,
Ralf
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