Storm Tank

Storm

Storm

Joined
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Hello everyone, ive been away from the Online seen for a while. Now that im back I think its time to share my setup with you all. The system is still kinda new, finished cycling though with green algae growing. All parameters are stable at 0 Also I plan on getting more Malaysian live rock at a later stage, which shouldn't be to long.

Anyways here are my tanks specs:

Hardware:

* 250L Tank + 70L Sump
* 2X 54w T5 Lights (Blue/White) [2 more to come later]
* 240w Heater
* Thermometer
* 2X 1200L Flow pumps (tweaked) (Have a extra canister filter added with Bio Balls)
* Macro Aqua Protein Skimmer
* DSB (Seeded from our lovely ocean)
* Overflow Box + Return Pump
* Crushed Coral Substrate

LiveStock:

* 1X Long Pinned Sea Urchin
* 1X Baby Anthia's
* 1X Blue Zoanthids
* Tons of Copods/Bristleworms ect

Pictures:

Full Tank Shot:

IMGP0522.jpg


My Zoanthid Colony, which has been doing well with target feeding + Lighting conditions

IMGP0523.jpg


My baby Anthias, which i caught from a rock pool i was getting sea water from, still cant believe it. His been a hard one to feed, luckily his keeping healthy on the copods supply.

IMGP0524.jpg


The LongPinned Sea Urchin, pics a bit blurry but i aint a pro at cameras so sorry ;p

IMGP0525.jpg


And lastly a picture of my sump

IMGP0527.jpg


And thats about it, let me know what use think, suggestions are also welcome.
 
Hi Storm - welcome back to MASA man!

OK - first comment from my side - the skimmer is tuned to be FAR TOO wet.... It should be producing much darker skimmate..... Could you possibly try and tune the skimmer some more, to produce a bit darker skimmate at least?

Secondly, the canister filter with bioballs in it, would be FAR better as a combination phosphate remover and activated carbon filter (each of these in a seperate bag for easier replacement..... Please remove the bio-balls. They will (nearly guaranteed) end-up giving your nitrates head-aches that you don't want.

Another thing - do you own any testing kits? If not, get at least the following:
- hydrometer (to test salinity/salt level)
- ammonia testing kit
- nitrite testing kit
- nitrate testing kit
- pH testing kit
The rest you can get later on.....

How do you topup water loss from evaporation? I would suggest using RO (Reverse Osmosis filtrated) water..... NOT TAP WATER.....

Otherwise, your tank is at least starting to look like a decent marine tank! Congratulations man!

Sorry - just ome more question - do you perhaps have a DSB (deep sand bed) either in the tank or sump, or perhaps both?
 
OK - first comment from my side - the skimmer is tuned to be FAR TOO wet.... It should be producing much darker skimmate..... Could you possibly try and tune the skimmer some more, to produce a bit darker skimmate at least?
Click to expand...
Ile look into the skimmer thanks.

Secondly, the canister filter with bioballs in it, would be FAR better as a combination phosphate remover and activated carbon filter (each of these in a seperate bag for easier replacement..... Please remove the bio-balls. They will (nearly guaranteed) end-up giving your nitrates head-aches that you don't want.
Click to expand...
combination phosphate remover and activated carbon filter, sounds interesting, not sure what it is though so ule need to please elaborate more, maby a pic or 2?

Another thing - do you own any testing kits? If not, get at least the following:
- hydrometer (to test salinity/salt level)
- ammonia testing kit
- nitrite testing kit
- nitrate testing kit
- pH testing kit
The rest you can get later on.....
Click to expand...
Yes and as mentioned parameters are 0

How do you topup water loss from evaporation? I would suggest using RO (Reverse Osmosis filtrated) water..... NOT TAP WATER.....
Click to expand...
Topup with Bottled RO Water yes

Sorry - just ome more question - do you perhaps have a DSB (deep sand bed) either in the tank or sump, or perhaps both?
Click to expand...
Checkout the last pic, DSB is the big lump off sand in the middle compartment :p

Anymore questions? :p
 
Last edited:
Coolio Storm - many thanks. And yes - it was an oversight on my side - I did not see the DSB in your tank's sump. I was not able to make out how deep the sand bed in your tank is, though....

What I meant about the activated carbon and phosphate remover:
- you can buy some activated charcoal/carbon (ask for charcoal made from coconut and not BONE charcoal) and put it in a "filter bag" (or an old "stocking" - or at least piece thereof)....
- you will have to buy phosphate remover and also place this in a filter bag or a piece of old stocking (the suggested type of Phosphate remover to use is SeaChem Phosguard).....

Many thanks for answering the other questions.....
 
Ok ile look into the Activated Carbon and Phosphate remover the weekend, also to answer your question about how deep the DSB is, its 15cm. As for in the tank its 2-3cm.
 
Ive been reading up on "Activated Carbon + Phosphate Remover". It seems its gotta be removed every few weeks and replaced as apposed to BioBalls that stay intact and underwater with beneficial bacteria all the time? Woudlnt removing the bags of Activated Carbon + Phosphate Remover and then being replaced cause a imbalance in my water the whole time? and cant i let my DSB just handle it and leave the bioballs?
 
Looks good we will see what this look like later(a real stunner i hope)
 
Problem with bioballs is they trap detritus and will eventually give you nitrate problems which will in turn fuel algae and cyno.

When removing PO4 remover and carbon you generally replace straight away. These two products are not additives rather removers, so won't effect the system when changing or removing.

One thing I do, is make sure I kneed the carbon bag every 4-5 days, so there is no muck building up on the bag.

Po4 remover is only replaced every 4-6 months depending on your PO4 load.
 
Storm said:
Topup with Bottled RO Water yes
Click to expand...
Bottled water is not suitable for top up. And RO is not suitable for drinking.

Storm said:
Checkout the last pic, DSB is the big lump off sand in the middle compartment :p
Click to expand...

Sandbed looking good Storm. The downside of working with a cannister filter IMO would be a mission to change media, whatever that may be. When something becomes a mission; no disrespect; simple human nature; we will always put it off. It is for this reason that i advocate that all media be removed from the cannister , and use it just for circulation.
 
mmm i could take off the canisters and put on a extra nozzel that came with the pumps. Sadly im scared as I wanna have a nennie at a later stage. And the powerheads might just decide to make nennie soup when im not looking.
 
Ok after much thought, ive decided to remove the canisters under the pumps completely, replacing them with just a powerhead protection nozzel. Alot of shit floating in the water now, went a tint murky. But i take it everything will sort itself in the next day or 2 when it finds its way to the protein skimmer.
 
yeah usually happens. What I do is to use my canister with some filter material to clean up the debris in the water column [temporarily] - just remember to replace the filter material at least once a week too, in order to clean the debris from the filter material. I use some kind of lining used in the making of windbreakers - paid R50 for a 2 meter piece, which is about 1.1m wide too! Tinus :)
 
Hi Storm - that is EXACTLY what's supposed to happen! The skimmer and micro critters should make light work of the crap in the water.... give it until Sunday - you should see a distinct difference by then....
 
The newest member of my family, the Yellow Tang, heres a pic (Cant believe it came out so nice) :)

IMGP0535.jpg
 
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