Steve's new tank thread

[stevewright1]

Ordered a 150cm x 60cm x 70cm tall aquarium and cabinet which should be with me within next 10 days

so the shopping began today for some early essential items required for upcoming reef tank build

sorry for the size of the image
got some sand, Red Sea salt mix and enough SunSun heads to push the water off the balcony of my 3rd floor apartment LOL?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Nice start! Welcome to R2R!

 

[stevewright1]

Nice start! Welcome to R2R!

Thank you NYCaveman
have been advised tank will be delivered as promised tomorrow and I am hoping that does indeed happen

My plan is to fill it with tap water initially just to test it out for a day or so, before emptying and then re filling with RODI /Salt mix on Sunday 16th
don't want to waste a load of salt mix and find out tank leaks after having done so, hence the trial run with tap water

plan to fill it to approx 80% full to enable me to add sand bed (Also on Sunday ) and rockwork (1 week later) and once happy with that Ill top it up as required (depending on if I can keep it Minimalistic rather than a rock wall - I often start with good intentions towards minimalistic but just one more rock and then one more rock later, I have my typical rock wall look LOL?

 

[dantimdad]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Welcome and I look forward to seeing the build.

 

[stevewright1]

Welcome aboard!

Thank you dantimdad

Welcome and I look forward to seeing the build.

Thank you Eagle Steve

well a day late but it finally arrived on Saturday late afternoon /early evening which meant I was up until daft O,Clock in the morning filling the tank and once I had done so, too nervous to leave it just in case it leaked or worse LOL sat there baby sitting my new baby until almost breakfast

image quality is terrible, it looks much nicer in real life (the tank I mean, not the owner LOL)

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Welcome to R2R! That's a very nice looking tank!

 

[stevewright1]

Welcome to R2R! That's a very nice looking tank!

thank you hdsofttail1065

Text update for today but will add images once tank clears

took a few days to achieve enough RODI water to fill the tank up to approx 3/4 mark (left space for sand and rock etc and I prefer to make less than I need and top up once rockwork is completed etc rather than have to remove water to prevent overflowing due to rock displacement LOL)

salt mix added along with the 4 x wavemakers for mixing and left 24 hours to settle before added shallow sand bed (yes I like sand before rock because the cushion it provides should any rock start sliding during aquascaping)

added about 50 lb of Live rock and set up based on my desire to have minimalistic aquascape this time around ( I just need self control now and fight the impulse to buy and add more rock)

Live rock shopping was an excellent experience for me
went to a LFS that I have not visited much before and they were really helpful
they gave me free access to their rock holding tanks to enable me to pick the rock pieces I wanted
they provided me with 2 x Styrofoam carton lids so that I could set the rock up how I liked it in their shop and exchange pieces until I got the scape I was looking for)
all set up on the 2 lids, I took a picture with my phone in order I could remember how they were set up once I got them home
honestly due to the smaller quantity of rock purchased for this set up combined with fact I was only buying and bringing home rock I new would stack nicely , the whole set up in the tank was done inside 30 minutes

Ill add some pictures in a day or so once the tank clears perfectly

it does not seem to matter how clean the run off water from the bucket of rinsed sand is, the tank always seems to be cloudy once you add that sand to the tank

 

[LiveWire]

Welcome to the REEF!! Nice looking setup @stevewright1. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

 

[stevewright1]

Welcome to the REEF!! Nice looking setup @stevewright1. Looking forward to seeing this one come together.

Thank you LiveWire

I think I have got a Minimalistic aquascape achieved?
I do need a couple more small pieces of Live Rock for leveling up some of the coral placement shelves I have created
the structure on right side of tank probably just needs a flat piece under the existing left side base rock to level that shelf and allow stable coral placement in the future
tank not crystal clear as yet, but at least clear enough to capture images
hood is on for photography purpose only and lights went off as soon as these images were taken

 

[Royal_T]

That stand looks real nice. Exciting times ahead! Have you started making up stocking list for fish?

 

[Jon Fishman]

That's a nice looking tank.... I'm a big fan of lots of rock..... maybe get a couple of those Marine-pure blocks for the sump? Following.

 

[stevewright1]

That stand looks real nice. Exciting times ahead! Have you started making up stocking list for fish?

Thanks Royal T
fish stocking list, My 11 year old son wants Clownfish and a Regal Tang (yes part of the Finding Nemo cast)
I like Wrasse species personally so at least one of those will be in there

That's a nice looking tank.... I'm a big fan of lots of rock..... maybe get a couple of those Marine-pure blocks for the sump? Following.

Thanks John Fishman
I always defaulted to the Rock wall type set up as I figured more rock = more spots for corals
but having gone through the Minimalistic thread on this site, I have learned to appreciate that Less is More in terms of visual aesthetics (some great looking set ups on that thread and if I can get remotely close to some of them I will be happy
and your right in terms of biological filtration , I can definitely cater for that with any number of sintered glass or alternative type materials to provide accommodation for the needed bacteria

No Diatoms yet, will this cycle ever be over lol?

 

[stevewright1]

minor update and a couple of additional Live rocks purchased and slight re aquascape to build a bridge between the 2 rock Island
this gives me 3 or more coral placement options and still feels minimalistic based on my previous attempts

 

[Mastiffsrule]

That’s some nice rockscape work. Stands cool too. Keep updating

 

[stevewright1]

[

That’s some nice rockscape work. Stands cool too. Keep updating

Thank you Mastiffsrule

Today is the 2 week anniversary of the tank set up
nothing much has changed other than I have finished filling with saltwater
I do have copepods already , visible on the tank glass early morning typically
I also caught a free swimming bristle worm species (no idea on actual ID) but it was red and white in colour with the red part being about 70% of its mass
caught it in the net that I had my rotting table shrimp in
took a 7 second video of it, but that seems to be too large to attach here

 

[stevewright1]

Update set up is now on Day 18 and I have finally got my Test Kits LOL
I could have gone with Azoo Brand (Taiwanese) from LFS and they are probably perfectly suitable but I chose to go with Salifert (its the brand I always defaulted to on previous set ups ) It did mean internet purchase and a wait for stock to arrive
Its early days yet but I think Ill order my Calc/Alk /Mag kits from same vendor

also found a thus far welcome Red Macro Algae on one of the Live rocks (seems to be doing fine albeit on about 10 mins light every few days when I turn them on to see how things are )

Test results seem to indicate Ammonia is zero as is Nitrite and Nitrate is at 25ppm (my table shrimp was King Prawn size and it did dissolve into Mysis shrimp sized bits I discarded today)
I will repeat tests at weekend and see if they vary
and perform my first water change to work on reducing those Nitrates if the tests show similar results

some beginner corals are on the agenda for the very near future

 

[ScottR]

Nice set up. And nice coralline growth. I use the same Red Sea salt. I switched over last year from the coral pro Red Sea salt and I like the blue bucket more. I have happy params with this salt and I’m sure you will too. Love the pics. Keep updating!

 

[stevewright1]

Nice set up. And nice coralline growth. I use the same Red Sea salt. I switched over last year from the coral pro Red Sea salt and I like the blue bucket more. I have happy params with this salt and I’m sure you will too. Love the pics. Keep updating!

Hi ScottR
Hong Kong I notice, I am over the water from you in Mainland China/ Shenzhen area
Yes I have confidence in Red Sea salt, I have used it on previous set ups and cannot recall any issues with it
happy with the Live rock I have got so far, not seen any Aiptasia or Majanos as yet but they may wait until lights are on full time before making their presence known
I do have either a crab or shrimp or snail in there which I have not yet seen (the trail of thin brown pellets between 2 rocks has given whatever it is presence away)

 

[ScottR]

Hi ScottR
Hong Kong I notice, I am over the water from you in Mainland China/ Shenzhen area
Yes I have confidence in Red Sea salt, I have used it on previous set ups and cannot recall any issues with it
happy with the Live rock I have got so far, not seen any Aiptasia or Majanos as yet but they may wait until lights are on full time before making their presence known
I do have either a crab or shrimp or snail in there which I have not yet seen (the trail of thin brown pellets between 2 rocks has given whatever it is presence away)

Cool. I was just in Shenzhen a few days ago in Futian. It’s not even across the water

 

[stevewright1]

Cool. I was just in Shenzhen a few days ago in Futian. It’s not even across the water

That's True Scott you can drive to and from these days
cannot bring anything live back though, so no coral or fish shopping for me on Fish Street , but I will be going there for dry goods in the near future