Brandonb's 1.2m reef

brandonb

brandonb

Joined
15 Sep 2008
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Location
Pretoria East
Heya!!!

Finally I am setting up again ... tired of looking after my father 3.2 and not having my "own" tank.

This is the same tank as my first setup was in 2 years ago

I set up the tank on Saturday ...

Everything went 100% but I unfortunate made a STUPID mistake near the end forgot to wash the Aragonite ...

So everything is still pretty much clouded up ...

Anyone have any ideas on how to quickly get rid of this as I want to get LR and Live sand in...

this skimmer is running and I have filter mats too...anything else that could help?

Dimensions:
1200x450x550- not ideal but I have a bigger setup in the pipeline for next year that will replace this one (between 1.4-1.7... still deciding)

Sump is the standard one from Exotics... I am planning on upgrading it ASAP but its difficult as the cabinet has no space and cant be broken open..

Not running ceramics or bio balls (I put Live Rock rubble in there)

I have a skimmer(not sure what got it with the tank but it skims really well), phosphate reactor(phosban150), and chiller(sun sun) in there too

The equipment is not the best but its what I bought when I started out. Plan to upgrade (to reefocto skimmer and hailea chiller) depending on when I get to the bigger system (mention above) in the pipeline...and whether it would be worth buying new equipment and only using it for a few months...

Thats my story for now..please see if you can answer the question on the cloudiness
 
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Hi Brandon
Your setup sounds alot like mine.

Post pics once the cloudiness has disappeared.
You can try to use filter wool in the sump, between baffles to clear up the water, but dont leave it in for too long. Use RO water to clean/rinse the filter wool. Also try an internal filter in the display tank to suck up the cloudy water quicker. Remove the filter and/or filter wool, now you ready to put your LR in.

When you look at skimmers, get the best you can afford. Reef Octopus are really good, but then there are many others as well.

Hope this helps.
Good luck with your setup!
 
Thanks Sumthing Fishy... I decided to empty the tank and take the substrate out and wash it ... it is now running with a few kgs of live rock

will post some pics in the weekend ...

Thanks
Brandon
 
Theres not much Live Rock in ... but its a start (i want to get a bit a liver rock everywhere, for more diversity) ... more will follow...will "borrow" some from the 3.2 too lol

I have found 2 micro brittle stars ...so cute

Here are the pics of the tank (last week)... a bit late sorry

first bit of water:16/10/2010

11854cc5aa072e992.jpg


Running for 9 days (lol)

11854cc5aa803a0c9.jpg
 
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I have about 5 kgs live rock in DT for now..

3 kgs in the sump as Life Rock Rubble...

Substrate is CaribSea sugar fine aragonite and mixed with Caribsea Bahamas Oolite AragAlive(live sand)

Will test the water parameters soon to check whats going on

Brandon
 
Looking gr8 m8!

Glad to see the cloudy water disappeared. Really like the curtain's background effect with the blue light...deepwater :)
 
hahahaha, made the same mistake, not washing the sand, it's now 2 days and slightly starting to clear, the skimmer is working overtime:p
 
Im back from Sodwana (for diving)

Tank is still running with live rock and live sand

Will test parameters tonight...

Will add more Live Rock from the other tank by this weekend

Brandon
 
Parameters are as follows

Day 17:

Temp: 25
pH 8.2
kH 6 (I added a buffer)
NO₂ 0.02
NO₃ 2
Ammonia 0.01(lowest detectable by tropic marine test kit)

Parameters are looking good, the tank is well into its 3rd week of cycling...

Brandon
 
Will upload pics of the tank and sump tonight then...

Thanks for the comments ..

The sump like I said is nothing special I actually hope to get rid of it ASAP..

Brandon
 
Sorry guys I have been busy ... exams

Found a Nerite snail that hitchhiked on my live rock...

Added a leather and GSP frag last week monday already

Added a cleaner shrimp on friday ... still going strong

Yesterday I added a bit of my dads macro algae

Today...(Day 24 of cycle)
I am currently acclimating another cleaner, a fromia star and and boxer shrimp
Also bought a neat looking mushroom and decided to get it...

All parameters are still in check checked them yesterday...

I want to get a proper cleanup crew but I dont have transport at the moment... and the LFS on the way to my house from school doesnt really have snails and hermits etc...

This is it for now ...
Will upload the pics asked for and some of the new additions tonight...

Brandon
 
Ok so ..

Livestock:

2 Cleaner Shrimp
1 Boxer Shrimp
1 Nerite Snail
1 Fromia Star

Corals:

Leather Frag
GSP Frag
Mushroom

Near future add more LR and LRR (only have about 15 - 20 kgs now...)
Add Snails and Hermits...

Pics...

FTS
will do a bit of scaping this weekend when I get more rock...
11854cd991c12937a.jpg


The Mushroom I bought today ... ID PLEASE
11854cd99203a8682.jpg


The Sump (this goes against everything I learnt over the past 3 years I have been reefkeeping I really need to get a better sump ASAP... but might be upgrading sooner though..)
I need to add more LRR (will add that this weekend and set up the Phosban Reactor too)

11854cd993bbba819.jpg


Thanks for watching please comment...;)
Brandon
 
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The Mushroom I bought today ... ID PLEASE
Click to expand...
Very blurry photo but could be a ricordea of some kind.
The Sump (this goes against everything I learnt over the past 3 years I have been reefkeeping I really need to get a better sump ASAP... but might be upgrading sooner though..)
Click to expand...
These sumps keep creeping up on the forum in JHB/Pretoria, not sure who's making them but they are a bit old school and not suitable if you want to run a DSB, apart from that they are fine just to hold equipment.
 
Tested the water today ...


pH 8.4
kH 7
NO₂ 0.02
NO₃ 2
Ammonia 0.02

Hopefully I will get a bit more live rock today :thumbup:

Brandon
 
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