MY 7ftx30x24 REEF IN THE MAKING

[Stevesfish]

My 7ft tank is almost ready to go . the plumbings in power heads in place reef wash in and im just starting to fill up with RO . the tank will be run from the same sump that ran my 15x2x2 (which consisted of a 6x2x2 5x2x2and a 4x2x2.) the sump itself is in a shed in my back garden and plumbing is run through a hole in the wall to the back of the tank. with everything running i should be able to turn over roughly 32150ltres an hour which im hoping is going to be enough to run the tank'' The filter consists of a 50gallon tank filled with bio balls and bio tubes then i have a 36x18x12 tank which im going to half fill with sand this will be constantly under light , after this tank there is a 36x12x12 tank that is full to the brim with live rock then there is a 24x18x12 tank that i intend to use for carbon there is an aquamedic 5000baby skimmer and a kalk stirrer that drips into a 25gallon reservior which is protected by a float switch and also has a neveumat top up system installed, 2 7000 litre pumps inside to supply water to the tank and reef wash . i ran this system for 6months with no amonia nitrite or nitrate problems they all tested at zero. there is also 2 50gallon drums 1 for Ro and 1 for SW.

i have abit of a mish mash with powerheads there is 8 newjet 600s 1tunze 6080 1 seio 1500 and an 850. the light will be provided by 2 6ft 140watt t5 luminaires as a temporary measure until i can afford some halides . there is also a 40watt t8 actinic. i have attached some pics of the build so far excuse the mess in the shed it still has the contents of my previous set up in it


http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/mytank.jpg

[Stevesfish]

Here is a pic of my old sump which although was efficient i didnt trust it to run a reef so i got rid of all the bio tubes and the polyproplene header tanks i was using as a sump.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/sump.jpg

as you can see it was used for holdong my livestock whilst i changed my tanks over.

[Stevesfish]

I have spent the whole day today changing over to my new sump which is all glass consisting of 2 3x18x12 tanks 1 24x18x12 a jewel 39x16x15 as a resevior and a 36x12x12 to grow some algae in .

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/05012008003.jpg


http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/05012008001.jpg

[Stevesfish]

And i know you have all seen it but here is a pic of the tank so far . istill have the control gear to change in my luminaires on this pic so its a bit dull

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/17122007001.jpg

[lr85ninety]

wow i bet your running costs are high! lol i bet you try not to think about it!

[Stevesfish]

To be honest im trying to reduce them . i have already removed 6 power heads from the system . and decided on 250watt halides instead of 400watt the next step is to get rid of the halea 200w pumps and change them for OR6500's . im also selling my skimmer so that i change to a V2 skim 1500 that way i wont have the expense of running a big air pump .
With electricity costs constantly rising i think efficeincy is on everybodys minds

[mad pierre]

To be honest im trying to reduce them . i have already removed 6 power heads from the system . and decided on 250watt halides instead of 400watt the next step is to get rid of the halea 200w pumps and change them for OR6500's . im also selling my skimmer so that i change to a V2 skim 1500 that way i wont have the expense of running a big air pump .
With electricity costs constantly rising i think efficeincy is on everybodys minds

Hi steve,
Be carefull with that v2 skim. I bought the 600 to skim my 45Gallon tank but it wasnt very good. Ended up buying a deltec TS1060 (sump skimmer) from ebay (it doesnt use any air pumps). The V2skim stopped working altogether when i put the deltec on. I wouldnt like to think I was relying on one for a tank like youve got. Just my experience anyway.

Peter

[Tangman]

To be honest im trying to reduce them . i have already removed 6 power heads from the system . and decided on 250watt halides instead of 400watt the next step is to get rid of the halea 200w pumps and change them for OR6500's . im also selling my skimmer so that i change to a V2 skim 1500 that way i wont have the expense of running a big air pump .
With electricity costs constantly rising i think efficeincy is on everybodys minds
Hi i would forget the V2 Skimmer as they are a nightmare to keeo going, i would get a good S/H Deltec AP 850 or one of the new ATI Bubblemaster 250s, i have just got one and they are one good bit of kit i did have a Deltec AP902 which took 210 watts of power to run it the ATI 250 uses about 60 watts which is a big saving. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[Stevesfish]

I though the V2's were good . good job i mentioned it eh? does anybody have a second hand deltec AP850 kicking around ?or a bubblemaster 250

[moorish]

would agree the v`2 skimmers are not very good, go for a deltec or bubblemaster.derek

[Stevesfish]

Just googled the bubble master . where in this country would i be able to get one and how much should
i expect to pay?

[Stevesfish]

Hi guys
Sorry its been so long since my last update been busy doing other things . i have now added 2 home made 250watt 14000k lowbay halide lights , i have taken a pic on my mobile but its rubbish . i trid the quick upload tool but couldnt get it to work anyway take a look at my greedy fish VB Image Host (http://www.reefcorals.co.uk/forums/vbimghost.php?do=popup&ed=vB_Editor_001)

[Tangman]

Just googled the bubble master . where in this country would i be able to get one and how much should
i expect to pay?
Hi Steve i got mine from Germany 3 days from ordering to delivery. There are 1 or 2 dealers in this country but IMO you will be better ordering direct from Germany. PM me if you want the site i got mine from. Twiggy:D:D

[Stevesfish]

Thanks tm could you pm me the web address please .

[Tangman]

Thanks tm could you pm me the web address please .
Hi Steve just been on the site and they dont sell them any more . There is a place in Hull that sells them i will pm you the name. Twiggy:D:D

[stevieh]

nice size tank steve keep the pictures coming

[Stevesfish]

Just moved all my olds fish into my system . some of them are cracking fish its a shame i cant keep them for my tank but my old man is a tight git and he wants his money :hmmthink:

[Stevesfish]

hi Guys . i finally got rid of my big skimmer and changed it for 2 aquamaedic turboflotor 1000s i have put one on the side of the tank and the other in the sump , i am now in the process of changing my sump again due to the amount of energy it uses to run. ,My intention is to use the dsb and the resevior only , but bring them back into the house and put them under the tank, this is so i only have to use 1 of the 7000 litre pumps and also save energy on the heating of the water . im going to run a 36x18x12 refugium next to the tank and hopefully grow some algae in it . i have been unsuccessful up until now growing algae but hopefully with the new sump set up things should change. i have been holding fire on introducing new livestock until im happy with the set up. Any sudgestions greatly received

have a look at the pics guys and tell me if you think i need more actinics

[Stevesfish]

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank2.jpg

[Stevesfish]

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank1.jpg

[Tom2006]

Come on, give up a full shot! :D

[Stevesfish]

Hi Guys
Tomorrow is D Day for the sump in the shed, due to rising electricty costs and the amount of power being used to circulate the water to the house i have decided to put the sump underneath the tank . I am in the process of making a phosphate reactor and a carbon reactor out of 2 air tight containers ,which will fit on the side of the sump via a plastic bracket made from a peice of perspex. i have also aquired an ocean runner 6500 which will be used as a return pump this will replace the pair of 7000litre pumps currently running in the shed . The sump will comprise of 24x18x12 filled with bits of live rock a 36x12x12 to be used as a DSB and a 40x16x15 which im going to use as a resevior to house the skimmers, phosphate reactor carbon reactor, float switch, top up , and return pump . The tank is currently looking quite sorry for itself hopefully by reducing the size of the sump it will become more managable, with the sump being in the shed its a case of out of site out of mind, sadly it doesnt receive the care it should . Once this done and settled i can think about stocking the tank cos it will be the final modification.

[Stevesfish]

I have just had a good days work bringing my sump into the house and turned my electric usage down from 2kw an hour to just under 1kw with the halides on . "should keep the misses happy" . i had forgotten just how powerful those OR 6500's are . I had to put a pressure relief valve in to stop the sumps overflowing. the pumps still a bit noisy cos the impellor only has 5 fins on it but i hope to get a new one this week . I have set the lights over the sump to come on for about 10 hours a day does anybody know if this enough ?

[Pinkfish]

Sounds like its comming togeather great, will be fantastic once in full swing.

Mike

[Stevesfish]

I have a couple of things to add like phos reactor and carbon reactor then an arc pod and thats me done for the time being

[Stevesfish]

due to the pressure from the ocean runner the new sump design didnt work very well . i am unable to get a decent turn over in the tank as the holes drilled in the sump tanks are smaller than the outlets on the main tank which meant i had water going into the sumps a third faster than they could cope with, without overflowing , i had to relieve the pressure from the or6500 directing half the turnover back through the resevior i think the turnover in the tank has gone down to appx 3 times an hour . . so i have sourced a complete sump tank with sections and will be fitting it very shortly. hopefully get my turnover back up to what it should be.

[Stevesfish]

Hi guys here's the latest update . i finally have the sump how i want it and ahve also finished building the 2 reactors everything seems to be running fine .now for some livestock. any body got any softie frags going cheap.:)

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/08042008059.jpg

[Stevesfish]

at long last the chaeto and caulerpa is starting to grow in the sump thank god for arc pods

[Stevesfish]

It looks like i have an infestastion of tiny red banded white worms all over my live rock does anybody know if they are a pest or are they harmless?

If they rae pest can anybody recommend a suitable cure. ie something that will eat them.

[Tangman]

It looks like i have an infestastion of tiny red banded white worms all over my live rock does anybody know if they are a pest or are they harmless?

If they rae pest can anybody recommend a suitable cure. ie something that will eat them.
Hi if they are flat and oval shaped they sound like flat worms, which are no bother except they go on the corals and stop the light getting to them and they end up dying. There is a wrasse that will eat them but i have just forgtton the name of , Macca was talking about it yesterday so he will know what its name is. If you can get a pic i can ID them for sure. HTH Twiggy:D:D

[johnl69]

There is a wrasse that will eat them but i have just forgtton the name of ,


Six line wrasse :D but in my experiance with them they hardley touch them unless you can get one that fresh from the wild.

[Stevesfish]

here is a couple of pics of them . after looking at them through the camera lense they do look like bristle worms but i aint sure

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/27042008086.jpg


http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/27042008087.jpg

[johnl69]

They are serpant star fish, Harmless scavengers until the grow big:D

[Stevesfish]

thanks john what should i do about them when they grow up?

[marinemike]

i've got 1 of those of macca,its about 5inch tip to tip,macca is the man for all your questions on these.

[Tangman]

here is a couple of pics of them . after looking at them through the camera lense they do look like bristle worms but i aint sure

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/27042008086.jpg


http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/27042008087.jpg
Hi they are brittlestars i had loads in my rock they are all part and parcel of live rock. One day there will be loads next day hardly any. HTH Twiggy

[Stevesfish]

Thanx guys now i can sleep tonight:)

[Stevesfish]

some pics a few months in getting there slowly but surely.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/15062008108.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/16062008117.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/15062008113.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/15062008107-1.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/15062008109.jpg

[cl0wn]

lovely open scaping, coming on really well.

[Stevesfish]

Its been a while since i done an update so i thought i had better do one.
The tank is almost finished cycling now most of the algae has gone apart from the coraline on the back glass which im not to worried about as i didnt paint the back of the tank, I have had an attack of cyano over the last 2-3 weeks I reduced the lighting to 4 hours and started dosing 10ml of vodka everyday and the cyano is almost gone .

current stocking is

14 inch queen angel
7 inch lipstick tang
5 inch threadfin butterfly
4inch copper band
4 inch yellow tang
4 inch goldrim tang
pair of clarkii clowns
1 percula clown
1 pseudanthias
6 barred wrasse
7 chromis
1 algae blenny
2 peacock gobies
2 orange starfish
12 inch long tentacle nem
1 small purple nem

a couple of leather mushroom corals
devils finger
leather hand
white soft coral
pulsing xenia
colt tree
bush coral

[Stevesfish]

heres a video i took a month or so ago

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/th_04082008002.jpg (http://s207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/?action=view&current=04082008002.flv)

[Stevesfish]

and some pics
http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank15.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank14.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank13.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank12.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank11.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank10.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank9.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank8.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank7.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank6.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank5.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank4.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank3.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank2-1.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/tank1-1.jpg

[marinemike]

some stunning fish,love the copperband.

[Tangman]

Hi its coming along niceley, i love the Queen Angel and the Lippy my fave fish. I like how you have done the rock work is it drill and pegged or just milliputed together. Twiggy:D:D

[Stevesfish]

Hi its coming along niceley, i love the Queen Angel and the Lippy my fave fish. I like how you have done the rock work is it drill and pegged or just milliputed together. Twiggy:D:D

Thanks mate the rock work is just interlocked i havent used milliput or anything just stacked it in a way that it cant move.

[Stevesfish]

I meant to add that earlier on in the thread i said i was going to use the 24x18x12 for breeding shrimps but i ended up putting 2 inches of miracle mud in it as a bit of extra filtration it seems to be doing a grand job.

Also the pics and video were done on my mobile can anybody tell?

[andyprice]

Steve im gunning for that queen i sold you in your video.as ive got my 8ftr on route.:D.

[Tangman]

Steve im gunning for that queen i sold you in your video.as ive got my 8ftr on route.:D.
Hi was that Richards Queen as it is really stunning fish, Twiggy:D:D

[andyprice]

ref queen yes it was,your right though what a stunning fish.quite ironic i flogged his 8ft system a month ago and now gone and bought one:D those big setups are addictive.mikk from derby had the blonde lippie as well that was fantastic.

[Stevesfish]

She aint for sale lol .

[Andy Lister]

The V2 skimmers are awesome pieces of kit for the money they cost so really it all does come down to that. They have won product of the year for the last 2 years so they can't be all that bad. It'sa bit like buying a Vauxhall and saying its not as good as a Porche.

Also as a different variant on the Deltec/Tinze skimmers try looking at the Hydor skimmers, the output easily matches them but they are much much cheaper! Awesome pieces of kit!

[Stevesfish]

The V2 skimmers are awesome pieces of kit for the money they cost so really it all does come down to that. They have won product of the year for the last 2 years so they can't be all that bad. It'sa bit like buying a Vauxhall and saying its not as good as a Porche.

Also as a different variant on the Deltec/Tinze skimmers try looking at the Hydor skimmers, the output easily matches them but they are much much cheaper! Awesome pieces of kit!

To be honest mate im trying to save the money to buy a deltec AP851 i dont know anybody that has anything bad to say about them .
cheers
Steve

[andyprice]

ay steve like i told you on the phone today mate ive got A DELTEC 850. its doubling up as a meccano set at the moment.the game is pick a piece up and guess where it got smashed off from.:) fun game but expensive.

[Stevesfish]

I dont think i would have the patience.

[Stevesfish]

Just a quick update guys to say i have rearranged the rock work and got another couple of tunzes to push the flow up to 40000 litres and hour i am planning to get some more corals but dont know what type yet .

[Stevesfish]

Well i have put the 6080s in so that i now 40000litres an hour turn over in the tank im currently looking for a bigger skimmer cos the one i have isnt man enough. I have read that over skimming can be a problem with taking to many nutrients out of the water hopefully my small miracle mud sump should be able to help with that. I was going to try a few lps/sps frags to see how they get on tho i am a bit concerend about the queens eating habits so she might get swapped for frags . heres a couple of photos of the tank at this stage . it is going to be a slow process but hopefully get there in the end .

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/07122008177.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/07122008178.jpg

[Tangman]

Hi Steve with a tank your size and with the size of the fish in it, i would say that you need something like a Deltec AP902 skimmer. As far as i am concerned i dont believe you can overskim when you have a large bioload like yours. You need to take out the nutrients before they settle and doing this with a large skimmer is the only way.Also the miracle Mud sump will do little with a load that the tank has, Miracle mud is ok for a small fish load tank but not a large load like yours.Your tank looks really well and the fish look good also, but as they grow they will produce more nutrients to be taken out. HTH Twiggy:icon_razz:

[Stevesfish]

Hi Steve with a tank your size and with the size of the fish in it, i would say that you need something like a Deltec AP902 skimmer. As far as i am concerned i dont believe you can overskim when you have a large bioload like yours. You need to take out the nutrients before they settle and doing this with a large skimmer is the only way.Also the miracle Mud sump will do little with a load that the tank has, Miracle mud is ok for a small fish load tank but not a large load like yours.Your tank looks really well and the fish look good also, but as they grow they will produce more nutrients to be taken out. HTH Twiggy:icon_razz:


I have 2 sumps one 48x15x15 the middle section is 26x15 and has about 3 inches of live sand in the bottom and also has roughly 4 gallons of caulerpa in it along side this sump i have a 24x18x12 tank that has roughly 2 inches of miracle mud and a football size bush of cheato in it this is what i was referring to when i said my little sump i know it sounds unusual to have both miracle mud and live sand running together but i had to try it to see what the results were . do you think it would be better to get rid of the miracle mud and just run live sand ? also i was thinking along the lines of an ap851 or 5000shorty for skimming would one of these be man enough ?

[trik]

stev you aint got to worry about the queen eating your lps or sps in all the time i had her she never touched anything mate.:icon_wink:

[Tangman]

I have 2 sumps one 48x15x15 the middle section is 26x15 and has about 3 inches of live sand in the bottom and also has roughly 4 gallons of caulerpa in it along side this sump i have a 24x18x12 tank that has roughly 2 inches of miracle mud and a football size bush of cheato in it this is what i was referring to when i said my little sump i know it sounds unusual to have both miracle mud and live sand running together but i had to try it to see what the results were . do you think it would be better to get rid of the miracle mud and just run live sand ? also i was thinking along the lines of an ap851 or 5000shorty for skimming would one of these be man enough ?
Hi Steve i would go for the 902 as they are awesome skimmers, also you could think of an ATI 250 Bubblemaster as they are awesome as well once set up. 850s and 500 Shortys are ok but they are for a 6 foot tank but yours is a large 7 footer. The amount a 902 will take out will make the others look like they are no working. At the end of the day its what you can afford, but you have to think about your animals. HTH Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:

[Stevesfish]

stev you aint got to worry about the queen eating your lps or sps in all the time i had her she never touched anything mate.:icon_wink:

nice to see your still around mate and thanks for the advice on the queen thats put my heart at rest.:icon_wink:

[andyprice]

god trik thought you,d died mate:icon_razz:.rich from me i suppose,not been on here properly for a while myself.steve im now running a 5000 shorty compact on my tank, but like twiggy says they are more geared for a 6ft tank.says 400 gallons on the tin but id question that to be honest.my deltec 850 still got that, still playing up ,still p$$$$d with it.deltec are back on the case turned out the adaptor for the eheim is the wrong bit:icon_evil:.as soon as thats sorted the deltec will be used they are a superior skimmer i think to the aqua medic shortys.

[Stevesfish]

I will probably go for the biggest i can afford when i have the funds available, been looking at the 703s they look like they could do the job . but its all about money at the moment

[andyprice]

no what you mean mate.:icon_sad:

[Stevesfish]

Hi Steve i would go for the 902 as they are awesome skimmers, also you could think of an ATI 250 Bubblemaster as they are awesome as well once set up. 850s and 500 Shortys are ok but they are for a 6 foot tank but yours is a large 7 footer. The amount a 902 will take out will make the others look like they are no working. At the end of the day its what you can afford, but you have to think about your animals. HTH Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:
Thanks for the advice on the 902 twiggy im off out in the morning to go and fetch one.

[Tangman]

Thanks for the advice on the 902 twiggy im off out in the morning to go and fetch one.
Dont forget the pics when you get it set up LOL Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:

[Stevesfish]

Dont forget the pics when you get it set up LOL Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:

Its up and running now mate heres some pics its doing a one hell of a job on the crud in the system

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/skimmer2.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/bb247/Stevesfish_bucket/skimmer1.jpg

[Stevesfish]

9 hrs in and my water is sparkling clean dont know why i didnt get one of these in the first place :icon_confused:

[andyprice]

looks like its pulling some crap out mate.:icon_wink:

[Tangman]

Hi Steve its like having a Rolls Royce with a mini engine in, it aint upto the job. Moorish had the A-M 5000 Baby on his tank and always had bits in it, he then got a 902 and he got crystal water right away. I am glad your happy with it, plus your fish will benefit from it to. Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:

[Stevesfish]

Hi Steve its like having a Rolls Royce with a mini engine in, it aint upto the job. Moorish had the A-M 5000 Baby on his tank and always had bits in it, he then got a 902 and he got crystal water right away. I am glad your happy with it, plus your fish will benefit from it to. Twiggy:icon_razz::icon_razz:

On the first day it took about 1/4 of a gallon of crap out and its settled down to hardly anything which is brilliant i think:icon_wink:

[Tangman]

Hi it will have been pulling out all your other skimmer left behind, they are expensive but are awesome skimmers. But you can get some good skimmers nowadays such as ATB.ATI. and Bubbleking just to name a few. Twiggy:icon_razz:

[Stevesfish]

At the moment the skimmer is being fed by an eheim 1260 i do intend to connect upto an overflow on the tank to gravity feed . One of the problems i have had with the tank is that the 6500 which is running the spray bars in the bottom of the tank ans also providing surface movement at the top powerfull enough to stop the large peices of crud settling so im considering using the 1260 to feed the spray bars to move the water column upwards and pushing all the crud into the overflows . does anybody know if this is the right path to take :icon_question:

[Stevesfish]

Ive got to the stage where i dont know where to start first to sort out the things that im unhappy with in the tank . so i have decided to strip it all down and start again ,

[Stevesfish]

I have just sold the tank so will be starting the new build very soon im going for a smaller tank and building a wall in front of it but i will start a new thread for the buid.:)