Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Project Reef Tank : )

  • 11-05-2012 11:49am
    #1
    Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭


    I have Started a Project on Building a Reef Tank
    This is currently in the early stages and this tank will not be using a sump .

    I bought the following so far

    Aquarium - 300ltr Jinlong Aquarium
    Lights - 2x T8 Tubes --> JBL SOLAR MARIN DAY T8 30W
    Filter - Fluval FX5 -Maximum flow rate: 2300 l/h
    Wave Maker - 1x 1600ltr/h ( Will need a second one )
    Ocean Rock - Got 15kg which is about 7 pieces
    Background - Black
    Heater - A big one 37cm : )


    I will still need the following
    Coral Sand - Picking up tomorrow for Seahorse Aquariums
    Wave Maker - Going to need a second one
    Salt - Hopefully Picked up tomorrow
    Hydrometer - Picked up tomorrow

    Questions :

    Will I need a Skimmer ?


Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 10,246 ✭✭✭✭Riamfada


    I use a skimmer in my sump to remove waste build up from the inhabitants. I keep it in my sump and its very noisy. It will be extremely noisy and ugly looking if you have it hanging off the top of a tank.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    Riamfada wrote: »
    I use a skimmer in my sump to remove waste build up from the inhabitants. I keep it in my sump and its very noisy. It will be extremely noisy and ugly looking if you have it hanging off the top of a tank.

    Are you using an external Filter also ?
    I also plan to do weekly water changes so im not sure of using a Protein skimmer ,


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 689 ✭✭✭Mr Whirly


    Just a few observations. I've had a couple of marine tanks over the years btw.

    The fx5, if it is filled with sponges, ceramic media etc is going to be a nitrate factory. I'm assuming you are planning to keep corals if you are calling it a reef tank. Nitrates need to be kept very low for most corals. I would advise replacing the sponges etc with crushed live rock.

    You will need some biological filtration, the best being lots of live rock. You'll pick it up quite cheaply on the fish forums. If you stick to soft corals you can do it without a skimmer. I'd change the solar bulb for a marine white bulb. It has a higher kelvin rating which will allow you to keep corals more successfully.

    Get NO2, N03, PO4 and NH4 test kits and test regularly for the first few months. A refractometer for measuring the salt is also important.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    got my tank up and running yesterday ready to cycle

    Some stuff i bought:

    204710.jpg
    204711.jpg
    204712.jpg
    204715.jpg
    204716.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    204719.jpg
    204720.jpg
    204721.jpg
    204722.jpg
    6034073
    So I currently have the tank at
    temp 25oc
    Salinily 1.026

    Just need to get live rock to cycle it now


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    So latest update

    Over the past 3 weeks I have been cycling the tank using live rock and fresh king prawn to boost the ammonia level which went sky high

    Currently I have the following levels

    Ammonia 0 ppm
    Nitrite 0 ppm
    Nitrate 5 ppm
    Ph 8.4
    salinity 1.024
    Temp 25oC

    Strange enough a baby starfish has now appeared this evening


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    Looking good. When are you going to put some fish in and what are you putting in it?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    Looking good. When are you going to put some fish in and what are you putting in it?
    No sure yet

    . This weekend I will be adding 2 x 5000lph wave makers

    The fx5 will be getting carbon , nitrate and phosphate remover media

    Also another 40kg of ocean rock has been posted to me today

    I think I will get a cleanup crew in first before I get fish

    I also don't know if I should add some coral or fish first


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    WIZE wrote: »
    No sure yet

    . This weekend I will be adding 2 x 5000lph wave makers

    The fx5 will be getting carbon , nitrate and phosphate remover media

    Also another 40kg of ocean rock has been posted to me today

    I think I will get a cleanup crew in first before I get fish

    I also don't know if I should add some coral or fish first

    Looking forward to more pics :D


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    here are some things i found growing in the tank

    baby star fish

    207756.jpg
    no idea what theses are but they come out when the lights are on
    207757.jpg
    207758.jpg


  • Advertisement
  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    They're pretty cool. Love the tiny star fish. I presume it came with the rock or gravel?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    They're pretty cool. Love the tiny star fish. I presume it came with the rock or gravel?

    Yeah the starfish is called Phillip

    I think he came from the liverock


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 16,397 ✭✭✭✭Degsy


    WIZE wrote: »
    here are some things i found growing in the tank

    baby star fish

    207756.jpg
    no idea what theses are but they come out when the lights are on
    207757.jpg
    207758.jpg

    They're anenomes i think..they grab particles from the water with thier sticky fronds..animals not plants though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,120 ✭✭✭fungun


    looks great, looking forward to pics when all set up :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,462 ✭✭✭✭Cookie_Monster


    those anemones in the middle pic look a little like Aiptasia anemones but I'm no expert, I just know if they are you need to kill them before they wreck the place.
    Aiptasia sp. are considered pests in the marine aquarium hobby, because they are stressful to coral around them, and occasionally even sting fish and desirable invertebrates. They are often accidentally imported along with live rock. Once present in the aquarium, the polyps are notoriously difficult to remove as attempts to remove often inadvertently create more, due to new polyps regenerating from remnants. Hobbyists commonly put Peppermint shrimp inside the aquarium to control Aiptasia populations, as the arthropods regularly prey on small cnidarian polyps. The nudibranch Berghia verrucicornis is considered one of the best predators for Aiptasia sp.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    3x 5000lph wave makers just arrived in the post

    :D


  • Registered Users Posts: 6,827 ✭✭✭fred funk }{


    WIZE wrote: »
    3x 5000lph wave makers just arrived in the post

    :D

    They'll move a bit of water alright.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,016 ✭✭✭✭vibe666


    those anemones in the middle pic look a little like Aiptasia anemones but I'm no expert, I just know if they are you need to kill them before they wreck the place.
    they come in all sorts of flavours and very few of them are anything except bad news.

    https://www.google.ie/search?q=aiptasia&hl=en&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=Bf_UT5H0OcLMsgaGsPzFDw&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CEsQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=955

    they are *okay* to keep with a small number of fish and inverts such as clowns and shrimp, but they will sting and eventually kill a lot of fish, so as much as it's nice to have things growing in your tank, you're going to have to do them in, sorry. :(

    i had 2 aiptasia in mine and i had to kill them.

    you can buy expensive kits to do the job, but it is simple enough to do yourself.

    just get a hypodermic needle (i got one from my local chemist) and a lemon and squeeze out the juice and suck it up into the needle through a cotton ball (to catch the bits so it doesn't get blocked up) and then stick each of the aiptasia in the middle of it's pie hole before it can close up and squirt a tiny bit of the lemon juice in and wait for them to burst or shrivel up and dissolve, which happens in a few seconds.

    once you've got rid of all the ones you can see, get yourself a peppermint shrimp to do the housekeeping and he will take care of any new ones as they appear, before they can do any harm in your tank.

    i'd hold off on any corals (at least the soft ones) for now until you know your tank is good and stable and you have your full compliment of fish as i'm told a lot of them are actually harder to keep happy than most marine fish.

    the budget here has been tight for a good few months now, so i haven't ventured into the corals territory myself just yet anyway, but it would be nice. :)


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭meoklmrk91


    Cool thread, I will be keeping tabs on progress. I started on tropicals and then went saltwater, went well for a good while and is possibly the most interesting hobby I ever had, however time and money, the former being the most important meant that I had to give it up, really miss it though :(


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    208829.jpg


  • Advertisement
  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    208830.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    208831.jpg


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE


    208832.jpg


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,135 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    Looks good. Looking forward to seeing it stocked!


  • Registered Users Posts: 24,135 ✭✭✭✭Sleepy


    How's this been going for you?

    Thinking of following suit on a smaller scale!


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭meoklmrk91


    Any updates?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,597 ✭✭✭WIZE




  • Registered Users Posts: 343 ✭✭buzz


    Looks well:D

    Why did you get rid of all the live rock you had previous pics?


  • Registered Users Posts: 939 ✭✭✭chriity139


    All I can say is wow. Your tank looks amazing


  • Advertisement
Advertisement