My reef tank (Part 2)

[Darren Sim]

Hello guys!

After 2 years and I’m back into reefing again. Decided to get a secondhand tank than buying a new one as this person really take good care of his tank and his equipments is in a good condition.

Equipments list:

422 Tank System w Herbie Overflow
- Nyos 220 Skimmer
- Compressor Coil System
- Ecotech L1
- Maxspect XF250 x2
- Alkatronic
- Santa Monica Surf
- Skimz CR
- Milwaukee PH Ctrl
- Avast Marine Media Reactor
- Tunze ATO
- ATI Sunpower T5 8x
- RODI 5 Stage

 

Stay tune for more! It always feel good to be back. 

[MarCal]

Don't make us wait too long for your photos 

[JD]

Quality equipments there! Pictures please!


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[Darren Sim]

Last Saturday I engaged SGbros to help move my tank over to my house. I was quite shocked to see only 2 person came over to carry such a heavy tank. They did a really good job and affordable pricing. Totally recommend for people who wish to move their tank. 

 

BACK BREAKING JOB ! 

1) Went to soak all my equipments in a vinegar for 24hours and wash thoroughly with tap water to get rid all of the algae and sand. 

2) Bleached all my rocks. Bleach -> Scrub -> Rinse -> Sundry -> Vinegar soak -> Scrub -> Rinse -> Sundry before putting it into the tank. 

 

 

Took a day off to visit Hai Cheong Plastic (Kallang outlet), Prestech and Sim Lim Square.

Gotten a lot of PVC pipe at an affordable price because I’m intending to change all the piping for the tank.

Went Prestech directly to consult on the light stand because I can’t drill it on my walls this time round so I have to design it to fit behind my cabinet. 

 

Went over to Sim Lim Square to get a replacement fan for my ATI. Some shops selling bigger size fan but you need to ask around to get the exact size. (Tip: bring along your fan) I took around 5 minutes to change one fan out. Beware of the 2 rubbers on the side because I broke one due to pulling too hard. Once the rubber break, the fan won’t sit in the hole properly. It will be shaky so becareful.  

 

 

 

I reused back his gate valve and replaced the rusty screws. 

 

 

Next up ill I’ll show you guys my piping my light tank! 

 

[SubzeroLT]

Keen to see the piping. So many valves there

 

[Admiraltian]

Looking fwd to ur tank build, bro.

[Darren Sim]

Over the last 2-3 weeks progress

My prestech aluminium profile arrived 2 days after ordering. They indeed provide good service and good advice. Designed my light stand to fit on the back of the tank. When my aluminium profile arrived the screws are quite easy to fix in, you just need an “Allen key” to get the job done. Consulted Leon on how he managed to screw the profile on the cabinet, he uses only 2 fastener joint on each side (Side, Bottom) but I decided to get 1 more fastener joint to join on my side just in case because mine was ATI so I’m afraid two is not strong enough to hold on to it’s weight. 

If you’re looking in doing something similar to mine feel free to pm me so I can send you mine drawing. 

 

Filled my tank with RODI water to check for any leaks. I used dead sands so it’s okay to mix with RODI water first. Try avoiding using tap water in my case because the sand might absorb the tap water. 

Went to tidy up my cable management once I get all my equipments ready. Those who are looking for these grey “hidden” cable thing can get from those hardware shop near your place.

 

Final product! 

Placed my sand and live rocks in along with my ATI. Everything looks good. All ready to start cycling my tank. Some who’re curious of my piping, I removed all the old pipes and change it to a new one. A lot of work have to be done because I need to ensure no pipes are leaking and also the pipes are cut correctly. 

 

Heard good reviews about about the new Maxspect biomedia so I went to bought two box of 2kg from SGREEFMARKET. Heard it won’t become soft after long usage. As you can see from the photo it’s packed with small and big balls. It also came with a netting inside the box for you to fill your medias. Overall I’m quite satisfied with the product packaging. I need to monitor further to see whether it’s effective. Because I read from review 10 pieces of bio sphere can replace 10kg of live rocks. 

 

 

I always wanted to buy the Clarisea-5000 but a brand new cost will cost me almost $600 so decided to put in on hold but my prayers was heard and that night one reefer selling his Clarisea-5000 on this forum. Went down to grab from him immediately. Went home to remove the glass on my sump to fit my Clarisea. If you wish to remove please be extra careful and do it slowly. I used penknife and cut the middle silicone to remove the glass.

 

My tank have three drainage pipes. 2 is normal drainage pipe and another is emergency pipe. After changing to Clarissa-5000 I need to combine two drainage to one. Went back “Hai Cheong Plastic” to get another valve and pipes to get it fixed. I gotten the control valve to control the flow of the drainage because if the flow is strong it will tigger the flow every few minutes and you will get a lot of wasted clean fleece. 

I heard it’s a good habit to remove the new package of salt and mixed/stirring around before placing back to the tub. 

- Mixing all the nutrients together. 

Because after long storage the nutrients will all be at the bottom. I’ll just make it a habit to mix because why not? No harm at all. Haha. Please becareful of long fingernails because if you poke a hole and salt flow out from the plastic while removing then don’t blame me. Hahaha. 

 

Went Taobao to buy this unique looking eggcrate. Very nice texture too. They provided stands for you to increase so we don’t have to use the old method by cutting another eggcrate and cable tie it on the side. I used this to increase my skimmer height. 

 

Thank you for your time! Stay tune for next update on tank cycling. 

[Harlequinmania]

Good choice of skimmer !

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[SubzeroLT]

Looks like its progressing well.

For the Clarisea fast fleece usage issue you are facing, raise the clarisea up higher out of the water as recommended in the manual. Mine lasts about 1.5 to 2 months per roll.

[ReDDeviLs]

Welcome back bro!! Power tank in the making!

[tofubox]

Wah!! hardcore build! Good choice of equipment! I love the nyos skimmer, skims like a beast. Guess the LED dark side hasnt pulled u in yet =/ 

 

[Darren Sim]

On 6/25/2019 at 8:29 PM, he said:

Good choice of skimmer !

Sent from Singapore Reef Club mobile app
 

Yup! Really good skimmer! 

On 6/25/2019 at 11:51 PM, SubzeroLT said:

Looks like its progressing well.

For the Clarisea fast fleece usage issue you are facing, raise the clarisea up higher out of the water as recommended in the manual. Mine lasts about 1.5 to 2 months per roll.

Hopefully mine can last around 1.5-2 months too. Currently it’s turning fast due to diatoms algae. 

 

On 6/26/2019 at 12:52 AM, ReDDeviLs said:

Welcome back bro!! Power tank in the making!

Thank you thank you! Have to learn from you all. 

 

11 hours ago, tofubox said:

Wah!! hardcore build! Good choice of equipment! I love the nyos skimmer, skims like a beast. Guess the LED dark side hasnt pulled u in yet =/ 

 

Hahaha. Thank you bro. Loyal ATI fan! Haha. Even though LED tanks look really nice too. I did put two led strip attached to my ATI. 

[Darren Sim]

As mentioned, the skimmer really lived up to its name. No horse run. Haha. Just two days of skim and it’s dark black gao juice. 

My ATS start running well. Managed to reduce my no3 to <5ppm. Thanks to some bros that taught me to seed some algae in the ATS otherwise it will take 3-4weeks to start running. 

[MarCal]

May I know where did you place your ATS? Don't seem to be able to locate from the pics above.

[Darren Sim]

On 6/28/2019 at 8:53 PM, MarCal said:

May I know where did you place your ATS? Don't seem to be able to locate from the pics above.

 

I’ve placed my ATS at my return pumps compartment due to space constraint. 

[Darren Sim]

I have organised to have three T-Off for my reactors from my L1 return pump. 

1) To my UV reactor. In any emergency such as compressor breakdown I can use this as a back up for my chiller. 

2) To my calcium reactor input.

3) To my reactor that’s currently running on AF phosphate minus to reduce my po4 level. 

 

Went over to ikea this weekend to get a light for my cabinet. Really affordable. $9.90 for a small 1ft light. 

[Harlequinmania]

What are you using your air pump for ?

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[Darren Sim]

What are you using your air pump for ?

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I’m using air bubbles for my Santa Monica to reduce no3


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[Darren Sim]

Earlier this week went to buy this TP smart plug from Carousell seller. I bought 3 to replace last my timers. This smart plug will enable you to control your devices thru your phone app unlike the traditional timers. I used three of these timers to control my LED, ATI lights.

My ATI module is a 8 bulbs ATI light set which come with two plugs to control 2 bulbs and 6 bulbs. I divided two plugs into two different timers to give it a sunrise effect.

 

LED lights will run from 7.30am - 11.30am

2 bulbs ATI will run from 9am - 9pm

6 bulbs ATI  will run from 10am - 8pm

 

 

Very nice packaging and it comes with 3 years warranty.  

It’s also quite easy to set up. All the instructions are very straightforward. 

This smart plug allows you to On & Off easily, set schedules on what time you want it to On & Off and it allows you to set timers too. 

 

 

Went to grab 8 new ATI tubes from AquaMarin’s  June promotion. Saved me almost $80. Very good deal! 

I bought 3 blue plus, 2 coral plus, 1 purple plus, 1 aqua blue special and 1 true actinic. 

My lights combination is:

Blue Plus

Aqua Blue Special

Coral Plus

True Actinic 

Blue Plus

Purple Plus

Coral Plus

Blue Plus 

[Danieltwx]

Cool! How much are the wifi timers?

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[Darren Sim]

Cool! How much are the wifi timers?

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You can search On Carousell. Some is selling for $20-$30 (Brand new)


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[Darren Sim]

Alot have changed these 4months. This is the latest FTS.

1) Changed my right scape
2) Changed my led to orphek led bar
3) Fine tune my Calcium reactor to give a constant KH of 8DKH
4) Add Nero 5 to provide more flow
5) Bought a torq to fit my carbon (AF) and Po4 (AF)








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[Clement Chen]

Wow looks dam good

[MarCal]

Wow....Fast n furious...awesome tank in such a short time frame. 

[tofubox]

Bro I need some of those gems


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