Hiya from gstanton

G

gstanton

Joined
13 Jan 2009
Posts
13
Reaction score
0
Location
Port Elizabeth
Hi All
Just joined MASA, so a quick hello to you all.

I currently have a 1300(L) X 600(W) X 600(H) FOWLR tank installed in a cabinet system with only the front pane viewable. The last 250mm on the RHS of the tank is an integral 'sump' housing ceramic rings, the skimmer (Red Sea Prims POro Deluxe), heater and return pump. The tank does not have a separate sump.
This leaves 1050mm viewable, as can be seen in the pic.
TankVIEW.jpg

RedSeaPrismProDeluxe.jpg


Lighting is proved via a 2-tube Aquamedic unit.
AquaMedicT5lightfitting.jpg


Livestock is as follows
Regal tang
Yellow tang
Yellow-tailed damsel
Bicolour angel
Common clows X 2
Clark's clown
Tomato clown
Dutoity (spelling?)
1 Soft coral
2 nennies.

Substrate is crushed coral.
05012009332.jpg



Circulation is provided by 2 AquaMedic PH2000's and 1 AquaMedic PF1000 (Modified to remove the filter) on an AquaMedic Wave.

Presently I am fighting down a nitrate (and algae) problem which originated because of a very bad water change regimen. I have since switched to salt mix from NSW and have drastically improved my water change frequency and volume to get on top of the nitrates...

I built a DIY denitrator which has matured nicely and has started to give off a lot of nitrogen gas - effluent from the denitrator is at 0 nitrite and nitrate, so things are looking up there.

I also have a canister filter which houses my activated carbon and ChemiPure Elite to help get things in order.

I started with an 80 nano which I kept going once this boy was up, but I took down the nano in December 2008 so that I could focus my energies and bucks on the main display tank.

Think that's it for now..
 
A very WARM WELCOME to MASA GStanton! I am VERY glad that you found MASA, and joined us!

Awesome to have you on-board!

Please feel free to have a look around. Read up on the "algae turf scrubber" thread from our member "SantaMonica" (in the biological filtration forum).

Thanks for the pic and decent desciption! Awesome looking tank and life stock man!

BTW: how watt's are those lights/globes? Nemmies require HUGE amount of lighting to keep happy.

W.r.t the nitrate issues - you have taken some decent steps to try and get your nitrates down.

Another source of the nitrates, is MORE than likely those ceramic rings you have in your "sump" area..... I would definitely want to suggest to remove them. Rather place some chaetomorpha macro algae in that area, with a strong light that shines on the chaeto...

This will most definitely assist in removing phosphates and nitrates in your tank's water, which in turn will get rid of the nuisance macro algae in your tank.

Another thing you can try - is to use a loose power-head, and blow a stream of water directly at area on the live rock, where the nuisance algae is growing - you COULD possibly see white "dust" appearing, and clouding the water - this "dust" is hidden detritus which accumulates within live rock over a period of time. And the detritus then leaches nitrates and phosphates into the water.
This could cause localized leaching, meaning that you might then not even have nitrate readings in the tank's water, but you could have problems with nuisance algae growth.

Good luck in your journey! Enjoy our company on MASA!
 
Shaun said:
:welcometomasa1:gstanton

So your tank has only been running from December?

How about some pic's of the engine room.
Click to expand...

No... Sorry bout the confusion. Set it up December 2007 and ran it in conjunction with the nano until Dec 2008. But the nano always looked like hell 'cos I wasn't spending enough time and money on it... So I broke the nano down... Sister-in-law got a nice gift for her boyfriend....

"Engine room' pics is awful as it shows how untidy I can be... But here is the pic for what it's worth..
SumpVIEW.jpg
 
Thanks for the tips jaquesb.

I'll check the wattage on the lamps... The nennies are nice and close to the surface, so they should be OK... Also, the body of the smaller one on the left was snow white when I got it... I know that is NOT a good thing.. But he has since taken on a nice beige colour!!
 
Last edited:
welcome to MASA Gstanton, very nice to have you here.

Thanks for a decent write up, seems like you have a good tank there. :)

Out of interest how course is your substrate, often crushed coral leads to a build up in detrius and that leads to all sorts of problems, although as Jacques says those bio balls are possibly the first things to look at:)
 
Welcome to MASA!!
 
Welcome to MASA. I agree to remove the ceramic rings and bio-balls (if you have them as well) - do it slowly over a few weeks to give the bacteria a chance to catch up. 4 clowns in that size tank? Don't they fight?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom