Journy of my 2ft cube..

[tkwees]

One fine day in oct 2010, my wife and myself went to pasiris marine farms to jalan jalan. Happend to see an empty orange 2ft cube with center over flow. the idea of going marine came back. 2008 i had a jbj 24G. things went well till power failure for 3 days. All gone.. Decom and went into crystal shrimps and moses.

Cut story short. Immidiatly, i went to ask aunty is i could have the tank. Her reply " oh. that one is people one. You want you give me your number. I call you when I have one." 2 days later, a gentleman called and asked if im keen in the orange tank. after finalising pricing, I went to irwana and trade with him. Nice bro. He even helped me load up the tank in my car. can't imagine a fiat Bravo can fit in a 2ft cube and cabinet! It was raining than.. my boot cant close properly, he helped me tie a string to sercure the boot and tank. Driving home is terrible.. I have decated my car. Imagine the fume produced by a turbo charged car. Raining and cant wind down the window.. Keep looking out for LTA or TP.. Heng ah.. reached home safe and sound.

But hor. when activated wife to help me carry up the tank. her impression "where the hell you get this! waste $!" *expletive*.. lan lan ask bro in law help. anyway, its dame heavy and have to carry up to 2nd level and out to the balcony. After fixing up the tank, cabinet and sump, I realise the most important thing.. the pipings.. pipings with the tank does not fit! or maybe it does but i do not know how to..

[TayHongSiang]

One fine day in oct 2010, my wife and myself went to pasiris marine farms to jalan jalan. Happend to see an empty orange 2ft cube with center over flow. the idea of going marine came back. 2008 i had a jbj 24G. things went well till power failure for 3 days. All gone.. Decom and went into crystal shrimps and moses.

Cut story short. Immidiatly, i went to ask aunty is i could have the tank. Her reply " oh. that one is people one. You want you give me your number. I call you when I have one." 2 days later, a gentleman called and asked if im keen in the orange tank. after finalising pricing, I went to irwana and trade with him. Nice bro. He even helped me load up the tank in my car. can't imagine a fiat Bravo can fit in a 2ft cube and cabinet! It was raining than.. my boot cant close properly, he helped me tie a string to sercure the boot and tank. Driving home is terrible.. I have decated my car. Imagine the fume produced by a turbo charged car. Raining and cant wind down the window.. Keep looking out for LTA or TP.. Heng ah.. reached home safe and sound.

But hor. when activated wife to help me carry up the tank. her impression "where the hell you get this! waste $!" *expletive*.. lan lan ask bro in law help. anyway, its dame heavy and have to carry up to 2nd level and out to the balcony. After fixing up the tank, cabinet and sump, I realise the most important thing.. the pipings.. pipings with the tank does not fit! or maybe it does but i do not know how to..

u can ask sgbros or coral reef aquarium to fix up a new set of pipings for u for a fee

how is the condition of the cabinet? that is quite important also...considering the total weight of the tank with water n rocks n sand, that is going to rest on the cabinet for the next few years....

[limsc]

u can ask sgbros or coral reef aquarium to fix up a new set of pipings for u for a fee

how is the condition of the cabinet? that is quite important also...considering the total weight of the tank with water n rocks n sand, that is going to rest on the cabinet for the next few years....

Hi bro Siang,

I think his tank already running for close to 1 year already..

But anyway kind of you to share the concerns with him too..

[tkwees]

Next day, went to a hardware shop in Serangoon north. Nice uncle helped me out after i gave him the dimentions. Evening, went home and get it fixed up. Kum chiong lioz. I went to Aquamania to get the cheapest salt i can find as they are closest to my house and operate till late. Red sea is the only choice. paid up and dashed home. Quickly ordered 2ic "quick! get 2 big pails and fill them with water. when filled call me!" whole night i am busy running to toilet to collect water. Shiong.. after filled up, i poured in salt and 2 old pumps..

Next day, went to buy 2 pieces of liverocks form ah beng. together with some old dead rocks, i begun scaping. Here comes the challenge. The tank is middle overflow. dame hard to scape. Anyway, managed to do a simple one due to space constrain.

[tkwees]

Thanks Siang and Limsc, yupz. the tank is already 1 year old. the conditions of the cabinet is good. but with rusty hinges (normal lah).

[tkwees]

Next.. Went to shop for a cheap and good lighting T5 and skimmer. But duno y I so heng.. at that time no one is selling or does not fit into my requirement and budget.. Lan Lan buy new one lah. After 6 months, realise that the sump is not effective. Its unable to hold water at a constant level to properly let the skimmer do its job.

1st DIY.. Modify the existing sump! took mesurements and heed to hardware shop at serangoon north. Uncle so nice. cut for me the exact mesurements given immidiatly. Hapily went home with a tube of eboxy. Emptied the sump and gave it a good wash. During this periob, I keep all valves shut and wave maker moving.

From a empty sump to.........

[tkwees]

During this period of time, got fishes and corals from all over the place. most of LPS are from GO..

[tkwees]

carry on when i have the time.. go slp lioz.

[pokmingsheng]

keep the pictures coming

didnt see any pictures on the fishes you got..

[tropic]

Is that overflow right smack in middle of the tank base?

[tkwees]

Back..

Well, didnt really manage to have any pictures of the fishes I got. There were with me for less than a month except a blue tang, 6 lines, coral shrimp and a ture clown which are still with me till now. All fat fat one loh.

Yes. The over flow is right in the middle of the base.

Back to the History..

Usually, i would buy 4 big bags of NSW from farms to do monthly water change. One fine day, red slime alge hit my tank! no matter how i siphone them or scrub them, the next day it came out even more. Im tired of every 2 days change a pail of water and siphoning.. it lasted me for 2 weeks and i got pissed. Wanted to use medication but afraid my corals will be gone. As most of them are from GO.. heart pain leh..

Another idea struke me. Boil the rocks! since they always grow at the same spot. Im taking a very big risk in this. I have some bio homes blance from my previous shrimp tank. dumped 2 whole bags into the sump for another week. As least it provides some places for bateria to home themself. Next, removed pieces of live rocks showly and gentlely, siphole a layer of sand sway, and off to the kitchen i go. While boiling the rocks, the kitchen smells of freshly steamed crabs. After cooling the rocks, placed them back into the tank.

Congrats! it worked for a month!

[tkwees]

I mean, really a month..

One fine day, happily i went home after a week of holiday. To my horror! the whole tank filled with red Slime algeh! this time its worst than the 1st wave. All glasses were coated with a layer. some even on my presious corals! Quickly i went to do an intense research on red slime algeh. My wife complained lioz.. just reach home only give attention to the tank instead of her. My reply "darling.. didnt you have enough attention for the past 7 days? we are facing a disaster now and I'm trying to save the situation"

It was a waste that at that point of time, it didnt cross my mind to take a picture of it.

Red Slime Algeh is caused by bateria. Went on to research what destroy bateria. Answer: Antibiotic. Yes! You see it correctly. Its antibiotic. I went to search my medical box. happend to find 2 capsuls of amoxcillin. I have started a threat on the use of Amoxillin in

I will not point fingers that the red slime algeh is from NSW or waters from aquarium which i bought the live stock fom. Usually, when i have a new purchase, I just dump it into the tank.

But everything is too late.. most corals cannot make it lioz. all started showing their skeletons and mouth open big big lioz. threw them all away. Balance with a blue tang, 6 lines, ture clown and coral shrimp.

to be honest, at this point of time, i already sian 1/2 lioz. $ gone, beauty gone, passion gone, love for it gone.. Should I decom and give up?

[TayHongSiang]

throw away yr existing rocks and restart...this is due to the live rocks n the biological system is not established properly...happened to me not too long ago....wiped out my sps. The antibiotic tablets not much use if the problem is serious....

i used the word.."recomm"..haha...its ok to be discouraged...give yr tank a good wash and get good live rocks for cycling...n dose nitrifying bacteria

[tkwees]

back to my boring journey..

Past 2 months, i did nothing till I went to GO again.. well, they r just opp of my house. See those nice corals and colours.. Man.. I'm tempted again! Went to start doing my planning.

Stage 1. Change of sump tank, My consideration. 4" Filter socks, should hold a proper skimmer. Decided to stick to NAC3.5. Should have proper bubble trap buffers, Shold sold some Bio home. Should have a Refugiem. Should have a bigger return area.

This took me quite some time to do some research and design idea as the max space i could afford is 18" cube. Some picture of the sump.

[tkwees]

Of cos, I did plan to have a new design tank. The sump I have designed out have consideration of usuability to the current middle over flow tank.

Next, proceesed to give a design of a main display tank. Due to budget constrain and in view of the tank in on my balcony where there are quite strong sun light, i desided to stick to normal 10 mm glass.

The design of the main tank should have 1 out flow and 2 inflow to sump. 1 of the inflow is directed to filter socks and another to refugim. The over flow should be at the back corner to maximise display area. While the tank in under fabrication, its time to transfer current life stocks to a temp holding area. This time, I'm stuck.. I go where find a temp tank to hold them??

Well, rem that I have changed my sump? I used the old sump as a temp holding tank. As they are DIY partition, i removed all buffers, re-measure, and re-silicon them. It holds a filter sock,skimmer, some life sand and an return area. When its ready, i dumped them all in.

[tkwees]

After transfer all live stocks, time to tear down the middle over flow tank...

Step 1 - remove all rocks and send them for boiling again. This time, boiled and sun them for a week. This time I make sure i shall start with totally dead rocks for my display tank. The sump is still running but with more water in it abd not hooked to main tank. I dumped 10kg of life rocks with a strong pump running.

Next, water from main tank drained out as i figured out if i were to keep the water, i need some huge barrals or toyo boxes. I dont have them on hand. Anyway, restating with Salt Mix and some old water from sump is much easier. After that, sands removed and rinsed with DI water and aired dry. I did this because that there are some strains of Red slime Algeh on the sand bed.

BTY, i noticed a funny thing. My refigum sand bed or rocks will never have any red slime algeh growing. it happend only in the main tank. Light in the refigum is always on. Anyone can share why is this so??

[tkwees]

8th October 2011, Display is ready. I went to collect it. Dame.. i hate the process of collection and moving. But aunty very good. helped me to carry to my car and find some cupboards for some protection. She even thaught me how to lift the tank with ease. Anyway, its still dame heavy loh. I asked the Aunty for a favour to use the base styofoam to draw out the in/out holes. This is to facilitate easier drilling of the hole in the cabinet. no need to bring the new tank up n down. Extra job. Next, to my brother's factory to borrow a power drill and some bits for drilling 2" holes on the cabinet for the new back overflow and tools to change out the old rusted hinges. After that to old Serangoon north hardware shop to but some plumbering parts. Of cos, i already have all dimentions and type of joints and valves on hand already. so purchase is a breeze.

When I reached home, 1st thing is to get my bro in law to help me bring down the old tank. Than unload the new tank from my car and bring it up to the balcony again. That night, I managed to drill out the 3 holes and change all 4 hinges only. Shag already.

Next day after my RT, wah lao.. RT leh for a 32 yrs old uncle! somemore this is my 1st RT! people already finish their cycle and i just started nia.. They have left me out for 11 years.. Pay back time now. lol!

Okok.. After my RT, i went to madpetz, Friendly Ken helped me with some advices on restarting my tank. Grabed a tub of H2O salt, over flow comb, a BSI gel which is not in my shopping list but figured out i may need it, and rushed home. 1st thing, hook up the plumbering parts as what i have planned earlier. Wah! this one i must say i am a good planner loh. Everything swee swee as planned and caculated. Next, joint leak test. Tested the over flow and make sure there is no leak to the sump. It would be another disaster if the joins are not joint properly. Imagine, water seeping into your cabinet and all over the floor.. Next, cut the over flow comb to the size required and used silicon to stick it up. The quality of the over flow comb is good. but costly. Anyway, its a one time investment lah.

Now, wait for silicon and pipe glue to dry up time. Guess nothing much i could do. Wait! Salt mix how? mix in main tank? if i mix in main tank, when i pour in the sand and rescaping is gonna be a mess right? with all the salty water dripping everyehere! Heng ah. I still have the old tank.. its exackly the same size. But with a smaller overflow. Dumped all old RED sea Salt and 1/2 tub of H2O salt. next, time to collect DI water.. This time, wife wannot help cos she working. Lan Lan do alone. Filled the 2 ft cube with water and throw in a 2400L/he pump and the wave maker.

While waiting for the water to be ready, another poison sturck me.. shall i use back the 4X24W t5 and led moon light? T5 does not give a shimering effect which i always liked. Quickly sms DR Evil lioz.. Collected a G2 110 with additional 4 blue LED. Dr Evil is good. he thought me how to change out the LEDS and asked me to diy as i could learn something n it would come in handy. I agree with that.

[tkwees]

Back to my boring story again. Next, rescaping.. luckily i bought some BSI gel from madpetz. this stuff is good. dame strong. Layed a layer of egg crate 1st followed by some flat base dead rocks to bring up the level of the scapping. followed by washed sand.

[tkwees]

Pic of the new sump pipe work..

[tkwees]

Alright! ater water all in, time to move the protein skimmer and sock filter into place.

Next, moved in all the life stocks to their new home!

Holey! Mission accomplanished! The picture is taken with G2 110. Under normal lighting and dawn lighting.

I am wondering, why is it the same skimmer in the old sump cant produce such dark skimate? Design of Sump have an impact on skimate?

[tkwees]

to be honest, im taking a risk bu dumping in live stocks without cycling the water 1st. till today, tested no2 n 3 is undetactable. 10 Oct 11 is the day the tank started running with life stocks. The 1st week is terror. brown algeh everywhere. sand, rocks and glass. But Since Yesterday, all brown algeh gone completly.

Lets wait for a month to see if anything major comes up.

[sg993]

Thanks for sharing

[tkwees]

Noitced my tank has some green patch of algeh and patches of purple algeh growing today.. Dont know good or not..

Anyway, non of the rocks are life rocks. Totally dead after intensed heat treatment before restarting..

[Lim999]

keep us updated on your tank progress

[tkwees]

Back! during this period of time, added more LFs. Things are going fine with 0 casualties. SPS r doing fine too. Realise that the current top up container is too small. Every day need to top up into the container. Luckily have some space in the sump cabinet and customised a small tank whick can hold at heast 8L of water. Just got some zous. but they dont seems to be doing well and keep detatching from their main colony. Anyone knows why? Bty,, just added a new toy. MP10W. LOL..