First Marine Tank

[earlybird_124]

hi everyone
ok so this is the set up so far
Aquaone AR850 tank 155l or 34/35 gal with over head filter turned into mini fuge.stock pump running over head fuge.(1kg LR and cheato)with 11w lamp on reverse lighting.
tmc v2 400 skimmer not turned on yet.
2 t5 aquablue+ giesemann and 2 acintic might change these in the future tho too 4 aquablue+ and get a blue led.
and for flow i have 2 hydor koralia 1's might get a sunsun 3000l as well but not sure if that will be overkill so i got roughly 25x turnover per hour.
20kg live rock.
here are a few pics
had just put rock and sand in.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/t2.jpg

pic of my lil overhead fuge
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/DSC_0122.jpg

and this was taken a few mins ago
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/DSC_0177.jpg

hope you all like.

[oakwell]

great start whats stocking plan?

[jameS_94]

looks good :thumbsup:

[TheCoralGardenLtd]

That is actually quite cool, glad to see a reasonable skimmer employed! Like the idea of the Fuge at the rear. Hope it all works out for you.;)

[earlybird_124]

stocking plans are 2 clown's,some type of goby maybe clown goby,
would love flame angel not sure yet tho i know it would have to be added last and after a long time of tank being set up.
and possibly a scooter blenny hopefully i can grow copeods in my fuge.
already got loads of them :D

and for corals soft ones mushroom's,zooanthids,toadstool,things like that.
maybe a bit later when i know what i'm doing and have a proper routine a sun coral and maybe a torch or hammer.

for cuc snails maybe a few hermits and a cleaner shrimp.

[earlybird_124]

The tank has actually cycled i'm just giving it a few more days to be on the safe side as i dont want to rush it.

[cl0wn]

nice looking set up there, sarah. have some spare sunsun's for sale if you're interested. you can borrow one if you want, see how the flow is.

[earlybird_124]

thanks cl0wn pm sent.
and thanks to everyone else for your comments.
i'll keep posting on the progress i make.

[piglet]

That scaping looks brilliant:)

Piglet

[ROB]

Tank looks great and as said that scaping looks realy good cant wait to see this progress,

Rob.

[earlybird_124]

ok so a little update
i now have some life in my tank 7 algae/normal hermits
4 astrea snails.1 sand turning snail i forget the name.
2 clown fish yey no names as of yet.lol
4 different coloured zoa's and a leather frag.oh and pulsing xenia.
a few other bit of coral that are my friends waiting for her tank to cycle hoping to give her a few of the hermits they do a great job as are the snails.

ok so here are a few pics
full tank shot
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/tank4weeks.jpg

snail and hermit
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/snailandhermit.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/red.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/PINK.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/DSC_0060.jpg

thats all for now :D

[Tower]

Sarah, you've made your 20kg's live rock go a long way. Really like your scaping... and your Zoa's. :D

Keep the pics coming... we love em...

Barry

[dollydip]

nice pics tank is looking really well those zoas are lovely too :D:D:D coming on a great

[marinemike]

tank looking nice,keep pictures coming:):)

[stevieh]

looking good well done:)

[Tangman]

Looking good keep up the good work. Twiggy:D:D

[grumpy_banghai]

It's absolutely beyond reproach!!!!!!!!!!! Better looking than some of the Grand master guru reef expert tanks! Nice.

[earlybird_124]

thanks guys
hopefully will be able to get some nice looking corals in the future.
my clowns are settling in nice one is not eating right tho so keeping a eye on it might just take a bit longer thats what i'm hoping anyway.

[Ocean Corals]

Love your rock work!! Them Zoa's & Crabs look familiar :D Looking good Sarah keep up the good work :) Just a thought though you may want to make abit of surface movement as it looks still. That will also keep the dust like film away :)

Paul

[earlybird_124]

thanks paul
i'm going to point my powerhead at the surface hopefully that will help.
:D

[earlybird_124]

another lil update
went to ocean corals yesterday and came back with some awesome stuff.
orange ric
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/orangeric.jpg
under blue lights
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/ric1.jpg
sun coral which i totally love i'm so happy i went home with it.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/DSC_0152.jpg
another
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/DSC_0151.jpg

also got a lovely toadstool coral and a yellow clown goby
here is a full tank shot.
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/fulltankshot.jpg
i'm suffering a bit from red slime algae but hopefully will get this under control soon.

[Buster]

That tank is looking great, The scaping as said is fantastic. The suncoral is a nice looker. :)

[ROB]

Brilliant so far :jawdrop:as I said would enjoy watching this progress and it's coming on in leaps and bounds keep those pics comining,


Rob.

[Ocean Corals]

Looking good :) Sun & the leather looks to have taken very well to your tank... All your corals are looking great well done :)

Thanks again for coming and i'll see you soon

Paul

[earlybird_124]

well things have taken a turn for the worse
looks like i got a case of clownfish disease (Brooklynella)
lost one of my clowns and the other is looking real bad
got a bi colour as well not showing any signs yet but i guess its just a matter of time.
i dont have the space for a qt tank or the money at the mo to set one up

are there any reef safe treatments out there i could try to save my clown with?
am gutted.

[earlybird_124]

Thought i would give a little update and a few up to date pics
well i lost my last clown i tried treating with octozin but it didnt really do much.
However on the brightside i still have my bi colour blenny and he is fit and well never showed any signs of Brooklynella.
one of my zoanthids seems to be dying it was pink but its gone white think this is prob due to me using octozin everything else seems fine.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/ft1.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/ft.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/pulse.jpg
lost my clowns 7 weeks ago now i'm running small internal uv hopefully will get some more in few months not sure how long to wait to be on the safe side i was thinking end of september.
i am having major probs with flatworm at the mo starting to get on my nerves...lol

[earlybird_124]

tank update
i got 2 new clown fish yesterday
great i thought
that was untill this morning when i got up to find none of my plug sockets were working so downstairs i went to the consumer unit
flicked the switch for the sockets and sparks flew out
straight away i knew it would be the fish tank so off i went to find the problem
and this is what i found
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/rcd.jpg
the rcd looking bit worse for wear
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/socket.jpg
plug socket looking even worse
then i inspected my tank
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b123/earlybird_124/swell.jpg
upon closer inspection to the tank its warped quite a bit lifting the tank at one end and tiltin it forward eeek
guess the overhead filter turned into a fuge wasnt such a good idea as this is where the water was coming from
i'm totally gutted and feel like crying
i dont think i'll be continuing with this tank any longer.

[cl0wn]

hi sarah, hard lesson to learn, but show you need drip loops. a loop made in the wire lower than the socket, so that any drip going down the cable don't run down to the plug, but drip at the lowest point in the cable. also show the perils of having equipment around the top of the tank rim. my calcium reactor was returning to the very top of the tank, but was going through the trim, down the outside, round the front and soaking into the settee, nearly ruined it.

[earlybird_124]

hiya
the water didnt run down the cable's as far as i know its been coming from the overhead filter hitting the top of the stand and then dripping from there onto the top of the plug lesson defo learned tho dont mod a aquaone ar 850....lol
i'm surprised tank did not crack as its raised a fair bit at one end eeek
i was thinking of just packing it all up and be done with it
but i really love it so
rather than replace the stand and pull apart the overhead filter and lights decided would just be easier to buy new tank.
maybe a bit bigger as well....lol
i'm just hoping tank and stand last long enough for me to find a good 1.

[lr85ninety]

are your sockets protected by an rcd at the consumer unit? i ask because i think your problem highlights how unreliable the power breaker plug in rcds are, i personnaly wouldnt use one better with an actual rcd socket or even better the whole socket circuit rcd protected, i know some would say its a risk to the tank that way with nuisance tripping etc but i'd rather lose my tank than the house burn down! JMO

[earlybird_124]

no rcd on the consumer unit
the rcd i was using was just a plug in one
defo something to think about tho
gonna have a look at the socket tomorrow see if its a easy fix and might install the rcd socket like u said or get a qualified lecky to do it.
i think we were lucky it could have been a lot worse

[lr85ninety]

looking at the photo i think it'l just be a case of change the socket facia but may be worth just checking no moisture has made it behind the socket but as a qualified electrician i have to say you should get a competant person to test it ;)

[earlybird_124]

fitted rcd socket today works like a charm thanks for the help lr85ninety
there was no damp behind the socket so was just a straight swap for a rcd one :clap: