The_Rider - Zen Garden (~250g system)

[the_rider]

Stone.David : Thx, I will take some picture once I have clean it up a little bit lol

AquaMan : Merci du tip, mais c deja identifier C'etait un distichopora.

Stunreefer : Thanks Austin I really love my new skimmer

It's been a while since I updated ... I did 2 new addition to my tank I added a Borbonius Anthias and a Multicolor Centropyge

Unfortunately, I may have to trade/sell my Borbonius Anthias ... After a lot of research I want to go with a lot of smaller fish rather than big one. I want to add some more anthias but it will not work with my Borb so I will have to let it go

On the material side, I did bought an Emperor Aquatics Smart UV 40w, but it's been in it's box for like two months lol Didn't have time to install it yet.

I'm also reading a lot lately on NPS tank. I try to be resonable and finish setting up this setup but a nano NPS tank is always in the back of my head lol

I'm also thinking about adding a acclimation/socializing box but I'm not sure about the design ... I mean, will it be better to drill a lot of hole or to put some slice in it, because if i put slice, I'm scare that small fish may be able to get out ... Do you guys have some picture or your acclimatation/socializing box ??

Thanks

PS I will try to post some picture as soon as possible

Alex B

 

[spsworld]

Marinetech sump

Marinetech sump

Great tank.Where did you have your sump done ? Looks awesome.

 

[troynel]

What parts did you buy to make that low flow outlet of your return? And where can I get them?

So after a long long wait, my setup is finally running !! :bounce1:

Almost :uzi: lol, still missing around 20-30g too be able to loop the system but I'm almost there

So I began last week to fill my sump with RO/DI water to add salt but since I don't have my solenoid yet, I'm only filling it when I'm at home near the tank so it took way longer than I expected but today my sump was full and I was ready to finally close the sump on my current setup (110G+70G). So I remove the ballvalves I needed, bring down my skimmer, media reactor and rocks.

I finished my manifold today

From left to right
Outlet 1 : Skimmer
Outlet 2 : Media reactor
Outlet 3 : Future UV Emperor
Outlet 4 : Spare, maybe gonna use it for water change in the beginning
Outlet 5 : Low flow outlet, acclimatation station, and other uses that I don,t know yet lol

And here's the skimmer I'm using a Marinetech RC-8X, it's around the same dimension as the Deltec AP-851, a little taller 36" and a pump that was developing 1500 LPH. I LOVE this skimmer, even if i'm really low on livestock right now, 1 large foxface, 1 CBB, 1 sleeper goby, 1 cleaner wrasse and 1 chromis, it's skimming more then my old skimmer with a larger livestock, at that time I had 1 large goldrim, 1 small half-black mimic tang, 2 clowns, 5 chromis + the fishes I have now. And since I change my skimmer, I went from 25-35 nitrate to 2.5 nitrate in a week and been there since.

Here's an overall view.

The color is off because of the light bulb i have directly on top of my tank. It's still messy, I just litterally finish gluing and test the setup. My first impression is that I LOVE my marinetech 3200 GPH pump, this pump is so silent, i didn't ear a thing (except the water going in my tank) but for real, the seios pump I put in my tank make more noise than this pump, it's amazing :eek1:

The rocks are only separate in pile, small and big piece that I remove from my sump, they will go in the sump again For now, my sump is acting as a big mixing tank so I cannot put them in there yet.

I'm still missing water, so hopefully by tomorrow, I will be able have enough water to loop the system

There will be update soon this time

Thank for reading
Alex B

 

[Crab Rangoon]

I'm also thinking about adding a acclimation/socializing box but I'm not sure about the design ... Do you guys have some picture or your acclimatation/socializing box ??

Mine is ghetto fabulous

At work, we keep small Eels & Bluespot Jawfish in gerbil balls - and mantis shrimp, or goby/shrimp pairs in cricket or tarantula containers. I bought the "cricket keeper" for my own use, and simply drilled holes in the sides & bottom to allow for some water to pass through. One thing I DID forget to drill... was the little opening portion of the lid, which is also clear plastic. The action of actually opening/closing the lid when it comes time to feed whomever is inside usually spooks them quite a bit - so I need to put a couple holes up top so I can simply squirt food through w/my syringe.

I only use mine from time to time, though, I keep all my delicate fish in my 'fuge for some time before they go in the display. The only time I use the box here is if I have a similar fish already in the display, to try and lessen aggression. The next fish to go in the box will be my Goldflake, to minimize hazing by my Flagfin. I plan to use the box for all future Butterfly introductions as well.

FWIW, I too was unsure about holes vs slits - but we weren't so sure that the plastic material we were working with would resist cracking if we tried slits.. I plan to replace it with an acrylic box, something around 12x7x7.

 

[akidnamedchad]

sweet set up

 

[the_rider]

Great tank.Where did you have your sump done ? Looks awesome.

Thanks spsworld I had it done by marinetech here in montreal, actually laval lol it's a suburb of montreal. He's really skilled ! I'm doing practically all custom stuff by him lol I just had 2 UV holder done by him Will take picture soon of that If you haven't seen it, his tank is the 750g L-Shaped by Tipou. It's his and his girfriend's tank. And the amount of custom part is just WOW lol

What parts did you buy to make that low flow outlet of your return? And where can I get them?

I had it done custom by marinetech. It's basically just in treaded insert but it's so useful and easy to acclimate fishes or invert or wtv I'm really glad I had that idea lol

Mine is ghetto fabulous

At work, we keep small Eels & Bluespot Jawfish in gerbil balls - and mantis shrimp, or goby/shrimp pairs in cricket or tarantula containers. I bought the "cricket keeper" for my own use, and simply drilled holes in the sides & bottom to allow for some water to pass through. One thing I DID forget to drill... was the little opening portion of the lid, which is also clear plastic. The action of actually opening/closing the lid when it comes time to feed whomever is inside usually spooks them quite a bit - so I need to put a couple holes up top so I can simply squirt food through w/my syringe.

I only use mine from time to time, though, I keep all my delicate fish in my 'fuge for some time before they go in the display. The only time I use the box here is if I have a similar fish already in the display, to try and lessen aggression. The next fish to go in the box will be my Goldflake, to minimize hazing by my Flagfin. I plan to use the box for all future Butterfly introductions as well.

FWIW, I too was unsure about holes vs slits - but we weren't so sure that the plastic material we were working with would resist cracking if we tried slits.. I plan to replace it with an acrylic box, something around 12x7x7.

Thanks for the idea If I was going with slits, I would ask Marinetech to do it on his CNC, so this way, no problem but I'm still not sure about slits vs holes lol but I will think a way to have a hole made for feeding! really good idea I was thinking about a black top also so the fish won't be stress about being so close to the source of light.

sweet set up

Thanks akidnamechad

great progress. cant wait for more updates

Thanks I will take some pictures as soon as possible

 

[the_rider]

So I just finish my intership Have a week of vacation before school begins. My plan is to work on my setup

I bought an UV sterilizer in june but I didn't have time to install it yet But before I can install it, I want to clean all the wires, it's a real maze lol.

Other than that, my trio of gramma are still doing awesome ! I think I caught a mating dance, but wasn't sure what it was suppose to look like lol And then, the light went out and spooked them so I could see it all

I also made up my mind about the fishes I want. I definitely want more small fishes then big so I want to remove my borbonius anthias to be able to add a school of 3-5 parvirostris anthias, then try an multifasciatus again. A friend of mine is selling hers, so I will have one that is acclimated and eating well. I won't add a couple since it really didn't work last time. I'm not sure I talked about what happen here, but to make a short story.

They were together for a couple weeks and one day, I came home to my female mutlfasciatus practically beaten to death ... I transfered her to my fragtank but she didn't make past the night. And then a couple days later the male past away probably from the stress of batteling.

I also bought a 60mm macro but my glasses are to dirty to take pictures lol I manage to take 2-3 pictures but more will follow once it's cleaned up lol

I didn't add any coral this summer, except maybe a frag of blue hornets zoanthids that a friend gave me. I also bought Corals of the world !! What an awesome series ! Still have to learn all the term to be able to understand the differences between subspecies lol but it's really interesting.

My super Borb lol

And my hammer head

I will take more pictures and a FTS.

Thank you all for reading

Alex B

 

[Crab Rangoon]

I also bought a 60mm macro

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8? Good one.

 

[Last Version]

Very nice pics and nice coral... I really like

Perfect!!

 

[the_rider]

Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8? Good one.

Hi Crab Rangoon,

No it's a Nikon 60mm f/2.8 AF-D. Old lens, but I picked up a pratically new one for a bargain I'm really happy about it and still learning with it, but for now, I'm really impressed.

Very nice pics and nice coral... I really like

Perfect!!

Thanks a loy Last Version, your tank is definetely an inspiration !

 

[snaza]

Awesome setup. Just wandering what size glass on your tank. I just ordered one the same dimensions

thanks

 

[leslie hempel]

wow really awsome.. love the detailed plumbing..

 

[gts1218]

Fantastic work, Nice Montis.

 

[the_rider]

Awesome setup. Just wandering what size glass on your tank. I just ordered one the same dimensions

thanks

Thank you Snaza Sorry for the delay answers. My tank is 1/2" on 3 sided, the panel with the external overflow is 5/8" and tempered and the bottom is either 5/8" or 3/4". I couldn't take an exact measurement because I have little plastic strip. I removed one, but it didn't look good so I had to order one to reinstalled it lol but I remember I took measurement and it was either 5/8 or 3/4 but can remember :S

wow really awsome.. love the detailed plumbing..

Thank you Leslie, it's have some details that are bugging me, like the return to the frag tank is not straigth But I will live with that for now lol.

Fantastic work, Nice Montis.

Thank you GTS

 

[Leonardo_]

Looks great! Your photo's are beautiful. How about some skimmer-in-action pics

Leonardo

 

[ksed]

Skimmer pics +2

 

[SPIN (QC)]

I take the pictures of Alex beast in action on the french canadian forum for you :

 

[s.reef]

That is some really dark skim!

 

[the_rider]

Hehe ya it's really dark and considering I only have a really light bioload ... 8 fishes, I cannot wait for my tank to be full and let the beast unleashed !! lol

So this weekend, I had a pair of semi-picasso Actually, it's 1 semi-picasso and 1 true percula and I also add two hammercoral. One is fluo green but it's incredible, it's so fluo it's look unreal lol and an purple/green tip hammer. My LPS island is nearly complete. I want to add a Pink Hammer but I think that one will take a long time to hunt down lol And I want a torch coral, purple with yellow tip

I also saw a orange tip elegance ... Didn't even know it exist but I will have to think about it, my tank has so much flow, I don't know if there is a place I could put it :'(

I just add the hammer, so picture will be taken tomorrow and my semi-picasso ish couple are still in my fish trap ... They are not use to that amount of flow so I let them build up some muscles lol During the day, it's ok, but at night when they try to sleep, they are blowned around in the tank :S

Some photos will come soon

 

[the_rider]

I didn't have time to complete my photo session ... lighting schedule shorten due to new coral, but I still manage to take 2 pictures And clean my glass.

I know i promise a FTS but the lens I owned are 50mm and 60mm and I don't have enough room to take FTS, I will borrow a lens soon so I will have take plenty of FTS

Thx
Alex B