Sixty’s Ecosystem Build
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thatmanMIKEson
Reefing ain't easy$
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Mmmmm....Last night pic, my missus left my light off and that was counterproductive unfortunately
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sixty_reefer
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Where was I yesterday:
my return from the under gravel broke
The experimental substrate or the old sand kept raising phosphates to 0.6
And Cyanobacteria was established.
where am I today:
replaced the return for a less powerful eheim pump 65 gallon per hour
added a lot of continuum captive phos, wend I say a lot probably a pound of the stuff in the last 48 hours, this has removed all the phos currently at 0.2, should be at my desired level later on tonight
The Cyanobacteria is not fully gone yet, still got a few patches here and there but the tank is stable now and hopefully shouldn’t be long till it’s gone.
The stuff it’s actually crazy at it has successfully removed the yellow stain from the water that I couldn’t do with water changes.
I remove the algaes that weren’t doing well 48h ago, I believe they were one of the reasons I couldn’t get my tank stable just left a few healthy ones that should regrow soon.
mad per stocking the tank I got a variety of crabs from the local fish store, they are cool unusual hitchhikers that can’t be sold under normal conditions although I think they will fit well with what am trying to achieve with this tank.
the tank is still not were I want it to be but is only at the start of its journey hopefully and am pleased with the results so far.
how the tank looked 48 hours ago
how the tank looks this morning
One of the new cool tank inhabitant
my return from the under gravel broke
The experimental substrate or the old sand kept raising phosphates to 0.6
And Cyanobacteria was established.
where am I today:
replaced the return for a less powerful eheim pump 65 gallon per hour
added a lot of continuum captive phos, wend I say a lot probably a pound of the stuff in the last 48 hours, this has removed all the phos currently at 0.2, should be at my desired level later on tonight
The Cyanobacteria is not fully gone yet, still got a few patches here and there but the tank is stable now and hopefully shouldn’t be long till it’s gone.
The stuff it’s actually crazy at it has successfully removed the yellow stain from the water that I couldn’t do with water changes.
I remove the algaes that weren’t doing well 48h ago, I believe they were one of the reasons I couldn’t get my tank stable just left a few healthy ones that should regrow soon.
mad per stocking the tank I got a variety of crabs from the local fish store, they are cool unusual hitchhikers that can’t be sold under normal conditions although I think they will fit well with what am trying to achieve with this tank.
the tank is still not were I want it to be but is only at the start of its journey hopefully and am pleased with the results so far.
how the tank looked 48 hours ago
how the tank looks this morning
One of the new cool tank inhabitant
Last edited:
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sixty_reefer
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Had to be done, can’t have a tank without the old family favourite fish, they staying by the mangroves.
and the full tank
and the full tank
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sixty_reefer
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Thank you, I still can’t believe that cycling a tank with aquatic compost worked. Going to take my time now and evaluate if it will bring any benefits to marine life.
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sixty_reefer
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Now that all is looking on track again is time to concentrate on the main goal of this tank.
since the excess organic been removed I’m noticing the coral becoming more active, it’s too soon to see if they are actually feeding, they lost body weight whilst everything was going crazy and been closed. This is the first time am seeing some polyps open for a wile.
my Chironephthea with some polyps open, wondering how long it will last.
and full DT
since the excess organic been removed I’m noticing the coral becoming more active, it’s too soon to see if they are actually feeding, they lost body weight whilst everything was going crazy and been closed. This is the first time am seeing some polyps open for a wile.
my Chironephthea with some polyps open, wondering how long it will last.
and full DT
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sixty_reefer
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The tank is stabilising at 5 nitrates and Phosphates is currently at 0.05.
A Young Reefer
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way better than I expected ngl.
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sixty_reefer
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Evaluating what I did at the beginning I think I’ve made a massive mistake In not cooking the substrate.
not took in to account that they could have been phosphates bound from were it was collected from.
Overall now am satisfied how is all working together.
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sixty_reefer
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Finally got some time to dust the old dosed unit out, am well above the target 3 plugs although still not to bad at 5.
There’s now a couple more Elysia slugs in the ecosystem hopefully they will have more babies in there.
There’s now a couple more Elysia slugs in the ecosystem hopefully they will have more babies in there.
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sixty_reefer
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decided that I like to see some rock and added a wall of rock to create a background, this will aid me in planting some more algaes and soft corals as I find interesting ones.
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sixty_reefer
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Adding a new nudibranch, it looks like a soft coral may start feeding on Xenia hopefully
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pod population doing well to with the aid of a external culture.
And a NPS to see if I got enough to sustain it alive
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pod population doing well to with the aid of a external culture.
And a NPS to see if I got enough to sustain it alive
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sixty_reefer
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Week 9 update
still working on the plenum flow, been having issues from right the beginning firstly the compost compacted and stopped flow, secondly I’ve tried removing some compost at both ends and replace it with sand that didn’t work also after that I’ve tried to add 2 small pieces of tubing as shown in the yellow arrow, that improved flow although it wasn’t the best, I have now replaced them by two 40mm drain pvc pipes that are mostly filled with large rubble and a small amount of sand, they are in the red arrow positions this fix should work.
The new dosing system is working well I’ve dosed the equivalent of 800 ppm of nitrates in the last few weeks without any affect to the overall nutrients of the tank they still remain at 5 ppm constant. With the new dosing regime I don’t see a advantage of keep feeding 4 cubes of frozen a day and that’s been reduced gradually to just 1 a day. The macros are enjoying it at growing at a steady pace, both my first nps are always open with a good polyp extension also.
regarding diversity am still struggling to find spionid worms and spaghetti worms they would be a good addition to the system, still keeping my eye open for some more exciting invertebrates and considering adding a pair of seahorses or mandarin fish.
plenum plumbing adjustments
algaes starting to grow well
NPS
development from last week to this week
still working on the plenum flow, been having issues from right the beginning firstly the compost compacted and stopped flow, secondly I’ve tried removing some compost at both ends and replace it with sand that didn’t work also after that I’ve tried to add 2 small pieces of tubing as shown in the yellow arrow, that improved flow although it wasn’t the best, I have now replaced them by two 40mm drain pvc pipes that are mostly filled with large rubble and a small amount of sand, they are in the red arrow positions this fix should work.
The new dosing system is working well I’ve dosed the equivalent of 800 ppm of nitrates in the last few weeks without any affect to the overall nutrients of the tank they still remain at 5 ppm constant. With the new dosing regime I don’t see a advantage of keep feeding 4 cubes of frozen a day and that’s been reduced gradually to just 1 a day. The macros are enjoying it at growing at a steady pace, both my first nps are always open with a good polyp extension also.
regarding diversity am still struggling to find spionid worms and spaghetti worms they would be a good addition to the system, still keeping my eye open for some more exciting invertebrates and considering adding a pair of seahorses or mandarin fish.
plenum plumbing adjustments
algaes starting to grow well
NPS
development from last week to this week
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sixty_reefer
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Not seen the nudibranch since added a few days back, everything seem to be growing well, my macros are all exploding in growth
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A Young Reefer
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Looks greatNot seen the nudibranch since added a few days back, everything seem to be growing well, my macros are all exploding in growth
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sixty_reefer
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Thanks mate
