Elrond's 700x700x650 cube
- Thread starter Elrond
- Start date
Update on my system.
After the initial settling down period I've had a few issues:
1) Cyano
2) Something munching my Toadstool Leather
3) Closed polyps on Zoas
4) Damsel is a bully
1) Long story short, I tried cleaning out sand-beds doing more water changes and nothing seemed to work. I didn't panic too much because I had a massive algae outbreak in my previous system at the 6 month mark so was expecting something similar in this system. Somebody mentioned to me 2 weeks ago that I need to double-check my Magnesium levels as they GAURENTEED this was the cause. I went home and have added the Mg doses religiously over the last 2 weeks and the Cyano is all but gone. Oops on my part. Not sure what the mg was on, but it's at 1320 now.
2) I fragged the toadstool by cutting it off the rock and using an elastic band and an old fishnet, held it in place on another piece of LR. I only took the net off yesterday so will check later tonight that it managed to attach itself properly to the new piece of LR - so far so good. I'm still not 100% sure something was eating it as the damage may be due to a few extra hot day days at the end of summer where the tank just got too warm. My other Sinularia leather is happy as Larry though.
3) The polyps on some Zoa's were closed and others were perfectly happy despite being at the same height and flow position in the tank. Since dosing the Magnesium however, they're looking healthier so we wait and see if they all recover nicely.
4) My Damsel is continuing to bully everything else in the tank. I think I'm going to get rid of him before I try get something nicer in the system - Regal, Copperband etc...
I'll upload some pictures later.
After the initial settling down period I've had a few issues:
1) Cyano
2) Something munching my Toadstool Leather
3) Closed polyps on Zoas
4) Damsel is a bully
1) Long story short, I tried cleaning out sand-beds doing more water changes and nothing seemed to work. I didn't panic too much because I had a massive algae outbreak in my previous system at the 6 month mark so was expecting something similar in this system. Somebody mentioned to me 2 weeks ago that I need to double-check my Magnesium levels as they GAURENTEED this was the cause. I went home and have added the Mg doses religiously over the last 2 weeks and the Cyano is all but gone. Oops on my part. Not sure what the mg was on, but it's at 1320 now.
2) I fragged the toadstool by cutting it off the rock and using an elastic band and an old fishnet, held it in place on another piece of LR. I only took the net off yesterday so will check later tonight that it managed to attach itself properly to the new piece of LR - so far so good. I'm still not 100% sure something was eating it as the damage may be due to a few extra hot day days at the end of summer where the tank just got too warm. My other Sinularia leather is happy as Larry though.
3) The polyps on some Zoa's were closed and others were perfectly happy despite being at the same height and flow position in the tank. Since dosing the Magnesium however, they're looking healthier so we wait and see if they all recover nicely.
4) My Damsel is continuing to bully everything else in the tank. I think I'm going to get rid of him before I try get something nicer in the system - Regal, Copperband etc...
I'll upload some pictures later.
dizzyg
Red Sea Max 250
Elrond: are you making your own RO? any way to test the TDS? since I started with my own WaterBoy RO-DI with a TDS of between 0 and 1 my cyno issues are gone!
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Any updates??
Update (prompted by Evo):
The latest pics I have are from a month ago. I was overseas for 2 weeks so only managed to clean my tank yesterday, I'll try take more pics today! In the mean time...
Some pics from when I fragged the toadstool... (I think this is interesting because you should see how awesome it's looking 6 weeks after the frag)
2 days post frag:
10 days after frag (bad shot not actually of the leather):
FTS a month ago:
I'm not really happy with the aquascaping at the moment. Most of the rocks have shifted and collapsed slightly so it's starting to just look like a pile of rocks
I plan on giving my yellow-bellied damsel to the LFS this weekend so I can start stocking some half decent fish.
The latest pics I have are from a month ago. I was overseas for 2 weeks so only managed to clean my tank yesterday, I'll try take more pics today! In the mean time...
Some pics from when I fragged the toadstool... (I think this is interesting because you should see how awesome it's looking 6 weeks after the frag)
2 days post frag:
10 days after frag (bad shot not actually of the leather):
FTS a month ago:
I'm not really happy with the aquascaping at the moment. Most of the rocks have shifted and collapsed slightly so it's starting to just look like a pile of rocks
I plan on giving my yellow-bellied damsel to the LFS this weekend so I can start stocking some half decent fish.
Looking good bud 
leslie hempel
Professional Aquarist
awsome, lovley clear pics aswell.. nicley done..
Since then, I've had a bit of excitement with the system. If you're paying attention you'll remember that one of my issues was a terrorist Damsel. After the death of 2 new fish, which I blamed on the Damsel, I was told in no uncertain terms by to trustworthy sources, that in order to get the Damsel out... I'd need to unpack the entire system. I tried various traps and nets and all kinds of other ways... but in the end..
I caught the bugger:
And then it looked like this:
I caught the bugger:
And then it looked like this:
But wait... there's more!
2 of the fish that died, simply disappeared mysteriously. No bodies. No mess. Nothing. I had caught a crab a few weeks ago and sumped him and then noticed AFTER repacking the entire setup another rather large crab. Could he be the culprit? After getting up at 5am for the last week or so, putting on my head-torch, setting it to the 'red' light. I saw him hiding on an easily accessible rock... and this morning, finally, I caught him... AND his brother on the same frikken rock. Who knows how many other crabs are in the setup!!
His brother:
2 of the fish that died, simply disappeared mysteriously. No bodies. No mess. Nothing. I had caught a crab a few weeks ago and sumped him and then noticed AFTER repacking the entire setup another rather large crab. Could he be the culprit? After getting up at 5am for the last week or so, putting on my head-torch, setting it to the 'red' light. I saw him hiding on an easily accessible rock... and this morning, finally, I caught him... AND his brother on the same frikken rock. Who knows how many other crabs are in the setup!!
His brother:
Johan van Aardt
I love marines [R.I.P.]
foesnt look to harmfull to me, depending on the type of fish it may have been sick fish etc but those damsels sure are evil little things
O my hat the silent killers of LS.
Sorry for the intrusive question, but this is EXACTLY what I'm trying to set up. A 700 cube with a false backed, full length overflow. Problem is I'm being told its going to cost just as much as my bigger tank! How much did this whole setup cost you to get up and running on your own? I don't have any carpentry skills though
gavster,
I'll try give you a breakdown as best as I can remember...
Tank stand (Steel, cutting and galvanising, self welded) - R300
Wood - R1500
Odds and ends (Glue, Varnish, Stain etc) - R300
Main Tank - R2500
Sump - R600
Perspex - R250
Plumbing - R500
Reeftek TS2 Skimmer - R1800
2 x Seio M820 Power Head with magnet - R950
1 x 2500l Uplift Pump - R350
Lights - R550 per set (1x Osram Ballast and 2x aquamedic 24W T5's) - R1650
300W Jager Heater - R350
Total - R11500 (ish)
Which when I look at it like that, scares the hell out of me.
I wanted a smaller system than my previous one, mainly because I struggled to full the other system with interesting corals etc, I think if I would redo this (as I'm sure I will at some stage) I'd probably go bigger and have more interesting aquascaping to ensure the tank never looked empty or boring. All the costs would be the same for a bigger system, light bulbs arent cheaper at 24W than they are at 54W, I sized big enough skimmer and powerheads for incase I wanted to 'upgrade' so the main cost would be the tank, sump and stand it sits on.
I hope this kinda helps gavster?
I'll try give you a breakdown as best as I can remember...
Tank stand (Steel, cutting and galvanising, self welded) - R300
Wood - R1500
Odds and ends (Glue, Varnish, Stain etc) - R300
Main Tank - R2500
Sump - R600
Perspex - R250
Plumbing - R500
Reeftek TS2 Skimmer - R1800
2 x Seio M820 Power Head with magnet - R950
1 x 2500l Uplift Pump - R350
Lights - R550 per set (1x Osram Ballast and 2x aquamedic 24W T5's) - R1650
300W Jager Heater - R350
Total - R11500 (ish)
Which when I look at it like that, scares the hell out of me.
I wanted a smaller system than my previous one, mainly because I struggled to full the other system with interesting corals etc, I think if I would redo this (as I'm sure I will at some stage) I'd probably go bigger and have more interesting aquascaping to ensure the tank never looked empty or boring. All the costs would be the same for a bigger system, light bulbs arent cheaper at 24W than they are at 54W, I sized big enough skimmer and powerheads for incase I wanted to 'upgrade' so the main cost would be the tank, sump and stand it sits on.
I hope this kinda helps gavster?
Hence the No 1 Rule in Reefkeeping- never keep track of how much you paid for marine related stuff, in other words, always throw away the slips, and block figures out your brain (in case you talk in your sleep)
Since my recent crab episode, I've been spending a lot of time looking in the LR for anything else... I noticed 2 more crabs in the tank this weekend 1 small and another large (5cm) one hiding away... This makes a total of 5 crabs! I'll keep hoping to wake up one morning and catch the buggers chilling on an easy to reach rock...
1 small and another large (5cm) one hiding away... This makes a total of 5 crabs! I'll keep hoping to wake up one morning and catch the buggers chilling on an easy to reach rock...