SFlow's Twin towers

[SFlow]

Hi guys,

This thread is long overdue. My (2nd) tank has been up and running for 4 months already. I just haven't gotten around to creating this thread. But here it is.

Before I give you the rundown on my current tank I'll give a bit of background on my previous, and first, tank. (If oyu only want te pictures, they'll be below). I got my first marine tank earlier this year in the end of march. It was 3.5ft Powerlab tank. The dimensions are 980x540x380mm (LxWxH) with a total volume of around 200L. The overflows are tiny which was quite annoying but I learned to live with it. The equipment on the tank was as follows:

• Dolphin 2000L return pump
• BM Curve 7
• 2 300W el-cheapo heaters
• and dreaded filter socks

As for livestock it ended up with the following (in the order they were added):

• 3 snails (1x turbo and 2x Trochus)
• 2 hermits
• 3 purple firefish
• 1 orange-spotted goby
• 1 red mandarin
• 1 small blond naso (don't kill me yet)
• 2 fire shrimp
• 1 cleaner wrasse
• 1 cheaner shrimp
• mushrooms
  
• some GSP
• zoas
• green torch coral

Here are some photos of the old tank (The quality sucks but you'll get the idea):

With the old tank out of the way, we can get to my current tank. But I'll only get around to writing that post tonight.

 

[Brendan6]

Looking forwards to the current tank write up.

 

[tekkengal]

Looking forward to the update!

 

[SFlow]

Ok so a few days later, here is part two of my tank build. So In this post I'll be giving you all a quick rundown of my curent tank and what has happend in the six months it has been set up ( know I said it was 4 months but my math sucks).

My current tank is a 400-ish liter tank (probably a bit more). The tank dimensions are 120x60x60 built out of 10mm glass. It has a standard daro 3ft tank converted into a sump with three compartments, earch overflowing into the next.

My current equipment is as follows:

• Jebao DCP-6000 return pump set to 50%
• BM Curve 7 (Same one from old tank) set to skim a bit wet
• 2x Dolphin heaters (which I'll replace regularly and have backups incase)
• 1x SunSun Powerheard pushing about 20000LPH
• 2x PowerLab Reef LED lights (each gives about 54w. Equal blue and white LEDs)
• 1x Dual Oddessea 54w T5 unit with one blue+ and one white 10K bulb

There are still a lot of stuff I need to change equipment wise. I need to get more flow to get to the detritus buildup that occurs in the flow deadspots in the tank. I need to replace the bulbs on the T5 unit as the bulbs are old ones I got with the light when I bought it second hand. And I need to look some form of backup power solution.

My current livestock is as follows (I'll omit those that are no longer in th tank):

• 1x Hermit crab (They just don't seem to last)
• 1x Turbo snail
• 6x Nerite snails (They are work horses)
• 2x Fire shrimp (pretty sure they have paired up)
• 1x Cleaner shrimp (That grows way too quickly)
• 2x Purple firefish (Lost 1 to flukes)
• 1x Orange-spotted goby
• 1x Red mandarin
• 1x Cleaner wrasse
• 1x Goldrim Tang
• 1x Purple Tang
• 1x Sand sifting Starfish
• 1x Pygmy Yellowtail Angelfish
• 1x Bicolor blenny (GF forced me to add one)
• 1x Banggai Cardinalfish

I currently have the following coral in the tank (This is the last list I promise):

• Green mushrooms
  
• GSP
• Zoas
• Green Torch
• Lumo-green Hammer
• Purple tentacle Green Hammer
• Green Blasto
• 2x Ausie Acans

Ok enough words, time for some pictures. (Will follow in next post)

 

[SFlow]

This is the tank just after I filled it:

 

[SFlow]

Here are some pictures taken in the last few days:

 

[SFlow]

I don't generally take much pictures, but I'll try to do my best to document the future changes.

You may notice the Copperband Butterfly in the above pictures. He was happy and eating till this weekend. I've had him for just over two months now. He went through five weeks of QT where he learnt to eat everything (frozen, flakes and pellets). Once I introduced him, and the Pygmy angel who went through QT with him, into the DT he was harrassed a bit by the Purple Tang (the tank bully) but within two days they were all co-existing and were knocking into each other as they competed for food. From then on he was actively eating and healthy.

On Sunday morning I got a call to inform me that the CBB got himself stuck in the powerhead. After putting the powerhead off he clearly showed signs of injury (take note: I witnessed all of this through pictures and videos as I was not at home at the time). I had him put in the Isolation box I had in the tank to protect the Acans from the angelfish (Yea of course he took a liking to my Acans). When I got home that evening he was already gone.

I m 99% sure that the Purple Tang was the culprit as in the video footage he can be seen actively going at the CBB even after it was injured.

 

[Brendan6]

1. That extra height makes the tank look nice and tall. Pretty cool bud.

Damn sorry about the loss, I have taken a surprising liking to cbb's. Horrible to have had it take to eating and then this happens.

 

[SFlow]

Damn sorry about the loss, I have taken a surprising liking to cbb's. Horrible to have had it take to eating and then this happens.

I really liked the little guy. He had quite the personality. I have a feeling the Purple Tang is still going to give me a bit more grief.

 

[Breado]

I really liked the little guy. He had quite the personality. I have a feeling the Purple Tang is still going to give me a bit more grief.

So sorry bud - these tangs can be a pain - my yellow tang is a terror even though it is small (just larger than a R5) - has killed 2 CBB, and clown tang. I love CBBs but I guess until I make a decision not o have a yellow tang, a CBB remains a dream

 

[SFlow]

So an old contact contacted me today and asked if I was still interested in buying his live rock as he was shutting down. I jumped on the opportunity to be able to hoard more live rock. I currently have a 55L drum full standing around if I ever want to embark on a new build or just a rescape. This is what I got (for a bargain no less).

Pallet and 25L buckets for scape:

 

[SFlow]

I bought two second hand Jebao SW8s from a fellow member shutting down to add some much needed flow to my tank.

 

[SFlow]

Here are some update pictures of the livestock and coral:

 

[SFlow]

Late last night as I was going to sleep I noticed my Banggai Cardinal doing something weird. He was swimming in a circular pattern gulping at the water. There last feeding was hours ago so there shouldn't be any food and the lights were off. Upon closer inspection the water column was filled with tiny white spasming shrimps.

I assume that my fireshrimp spawned. I have two fire shrimps that have been paired up for a while. Guess it can't be the cleaner shrimp as I only have the one.

 

[SFlow]

I got a new phone (a long overdue upgrade) so I can finally take some half-decent pictures of the tank. I have been battling cyno over the past week and the fight is finally turning in my favor.

Here are some close-up shots:

 

[SFlow]

 

[SFlow]

And some fish shots:

 

[SFlow]

Hi guys, tank has been going along nicely. I'm still battling the last of my cyano outbreak. The tank has been mostly on auto-pilot over the holiday season so not muc hhaas changed. At the start of the new year, I added a few new soft corals (Xenia and Kenya Tree).

Here are some update photos:

And lastly, a FTS:

 

[RiaanP]

what light units are those?

 

[SFlow]

what light units are those?

The tank has both LEDs and T5s. They are:

• 2x PowerLab Reef LED lights (each gives about 54w. Equal blue and white LEDs)

• 1x Dual Oddessea 54w T5 unit with one blue+ and one white 10K bulb

I do, however, plan on upgrading the lights to either MH or add more T5s. I bought a bunch of lights the other day from a guy who had a stockpile in his garage.