Simon
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Registered: 24th Apr 03
Location: Oxfordshire
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quote:
Originally posted by drunkenfool
quote:
Originally posted by Simon
I do agree with Cosmo a little though. I've seen very few marine setups that don't look 'messy' I think tropical can look a lot more effective with good planting.
I think this tank is stunning 
That does look good! 
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drunkenfool
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Registered: 7th Feb 03
Location: Hereford Drives: Audi R8 V8
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quote:
Originally posted by corsa120
still dont get after all the money etc you put in you dont let nature take its course with the nitrogen cycle........... its the one thing nobody ever does and it pays to wait and not have fish in it....... they will suffer even if they dont look like it.....
you say about disease they will get disease as the tank cycles if your not careful as they will get stressed it can cause fin rot and all sorts the list is endless... you have such a awesome setup but you let yoirself down with poor knowledge unless i missed something  good luch though
This is our second tank and we moved the rock, sand and water over from our old tank as well as adding 33kg of sand that was removed from someone else's aquarium (so fully mature) and well as another 40kg of live rock which came straight out of somebody's tank too. The main reason for leaving it fallow this time was not for it to cycle, but to leave enough time for the marine white spot to disappear. Our water parameters are pretty much spot on and I test weekly for salinity, ph, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, phosphate and calcium. Our problem last time with the marine white spot, which is a parasite not a disease like freshwater whitespot, was because we didn't quarantine any new fish being put into the system because aside from having nowhere to do it, I also didn't really know how necessary it was! 
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corsa120
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yeah thats kool but the live rock will have had some die off between moving from your friends to yours which in turn can start a new cycle if you not careful
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drunkenfool
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it was out of the water for less than an hour so it shouldnt be a problem, and even after 6 weeks of being fallow the readings are pretty much zero. At least with uch a large tank we have quite a lot of leeway with fluctuations :-)
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strick206
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You got a link to your thread on UR mate?
I'm looking into this, but a complete beginner really so doing alot of reading first
Won't be likely to start for a year or so, will be getting things bought to start towards the end of the year, once i know what i want
Would love to put one in a wall but dont have any suitable walls in my house at the moment, i dont think anyway
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corsa120
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there not as hard to do as most people think... ive just upgraded from my recent 70ltr nano which had corals and about 5 fish in it and it was perfect never had an issue....
why dont you try a 60-70 ltr tropical convert tank with couple of powerheads and live rock some shrimps crabs and pair of clown fish and see how you go this will be very cheap to do and will teach you the basics and you could even keep some bhardy coirals with cheap lighting like mushroom corals as they reuire intense lighting
[Edited on 09-06-2010 by corsa120]
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a_j_mair
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considering something like this although alot smaller to start after mt daughters new found love for nemo, may read up on it and get something for her christmas
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drunkenfool
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quote:
Originally posted by strick206
You got a link to your thread on UR mate?
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=391097
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drunkenfool
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quote:
Originally posted by a_j_mair
considering something like this although alot smaller to start after mt daughters new found love for nemo, may read up on it and get something for her christmas
Sounds like a great idea, but don't forget that you will need to have an established tank to put fish in so if you wanted to surprise her on christmas day then you should probably set it up quite a few weeks before hand! Be prepared to fork out more than you expect though, I reckon my current setup has cost in the region of £5k 
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drunkenfool
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I caught the bluespotted jawfish in the act of making his burrow, and then later that night got a few shots under the moonlight LEDs.
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drunkenfool
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I thought this thread was due an update for anyone who may be intersted :-)
We have a few new corals, two new clams, a couple of new fish and a bit of a rearrange. All the details are on the thread on UltimateReef but I'll just post the pics here to save writing it all again!
I tidied up the cabinet too with some spice racks off ebay
and some pics of the tank lit up at night with the blue LEDs. Some of the LPS corals are incredibly fluorescent with the blue lights and look stunning at night, the camera really can't pick up the colours properly!
We have the next lot of fish on order now which will be going into quarantine for 8 weeks before going into the tank, so after those are added then that will be all of the fish apart from a green spotted mandarin fish that I will get when the tank is more established. I've just started culturing my own copepods and rotifers too 
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drunkenfool
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This is what the two new fish will look like when fully grown, and both will be around 10" at adult size so will be the 'feature' fish, along with the crosshatch trigger.
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chloe16v
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Location: Rotherham
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i would watch your corals with them, they can take to them and they will be nothing left
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drunkenfool
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Tangs are herbivores Our Foxface rabbitfish has had a few nips out of the large toadstool coral but apart from that no problems at all.
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drunkenfool
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Oh, and a few pics of the tank lit up at night with the moonlight LEDs.
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drunkenfool
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One year in and here's a quick video of how the tank is looking at the moment. It's surprising how much some of the fish have grown!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilbJ-_DYAxk
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MarkM
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Registered: 11th Apr 01
Location: Liverpool
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I've got a 180 litre tank sitting here empty that I fancy going marine with. What am I looking at to get a decent looking set up money wise?
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Brett
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Looks amazing as usual
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Whittie
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That looks awesome Matt, fair play.
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corsa120
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mark to get going you will need coral sand, medium sized protein skimmer, salt, ro water, live rock, heater, power head and some good lighting...... not so important if you want to keep just fish..... t5 bulbs are common.
id say 250quid would get you going potentially.... best thing to do is buy equipment bit by bit to less the pain as there is alot involved once established i.e test kits and fish which are'nt cheap
my smallest 60 litre tank has
clown fish 15quid
gramma 15 quid
black stripe dottyback 10quid
white stripe goby 18quid
shrimp 16 quid
snails 5 quid x3
hermit crabs 5 quid x5
mushroom corals 20 quid
couple of other soft corals 30 quid
live rock about 6 kg's and that is 10 quid a kilo soon adds up haha
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MarkM
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Registered: 11th Apr 01
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This whole sump business confuses me too. I'm used to freshwater set ups.
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corsa120
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sump business is basically the clean the main tank up i.e have you seen how ugly and big protein skimmers are along with all the other stuff like heaters and filters etc etc
so what you do is have a pump sucking the water from the tank to a smaller tank hidden in the bottom of the cabinet in this smaller tank you fit your filter and heaters and protein skimmer etc and then you have a pump sending it back into the main tank so it keeps all the equipment out of the main show tank.......
its just alot easier to clean things like the protein skimmer as you dont have to upset the main tank with prized fish etc in it lol
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drunkenfool
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quote:
Originally posted by MarkM
I've got a 180 litre tank sitting here empty that I fancy going marine with. What am I looking at to get a decent looking set up money wise?
Whatever you budget you will need to double it
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drunkenfool
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T5s would be fine for soft and LPS corals too, and you may even get some growth with SPS if you can place them quite close to the lights.
As for setting up a new tank, you should definitely sign up to UltimateReef and keep an eye out on the classifieds forum. The going price for live rock from a tank breakdown is £5/kg so you can save youself quite a lot of money there straight away, and 2nd hand protein skimmers are just as good as new ones if they have had a good clean.
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drunkenfool
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quote:
Originally posted by corsa120
sump business is basically the clean the main tank up i.e have you seen how ugly and big protein skimmers are along with all the other stuff like heaters and filters etc etc
so what you do is have a pump sucking the water from the tank to a smaller tank hidden in the bottom of the cabinet in this smaller tank you fit your filter and heaters and protein skimmer etc and then you have a pump sending it back into the main tank so it keeps all the equipment out of the main show tank.......
its just alot easier to clean things like the protein skimmer as you dont have to upset the main tank with prized fish etc in it lol
Baiscally right but the water is actually pumped from the sump into the main tank, then when the water level in the main tank rises it goes down an overflow back into the tank. When you turn off the pump the water in the main tank flows back down to the sump until it reaches the top of the standpipe. Make sure you have a spyphon break in the pumped feed though otherwise the water will just reverse flow through the pump and fill the sump in a few seconds, causing a massive flood on a new wooden floor....
Also, the sump is very useful for growing Chaetomorpha/Caulerpa algae in for reducing nitrate and phosphate levels, as you don't want the main tank overrun with them.
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