Chronicles of A 6 footer

[nim75sg]

Aug 4, Wed - Preparation

Siphoned about 33% of the tank water before adding the salt and mix it up with a powerhead to ensure getting a specific gravity around 1.025 to 1.026.

Prior to adding LiveRocks, the water was circulated for 24 hours and total weight of sand used was 240lbs or approx 108kg

[nim75sg]

Aug 5, Thur - Filtration

As the decision date to add liverock was on Aug 5th, all the equipment was running for 48 hours prior to intro of liverock.

Aquascaping was a tedious task as it needs to create as natural a layout as possible, areas of open spaces for fish to swim, a cave for them to hide and sleep in, location to place my corals, etc.

Here is pic of the 2 pcs of OR6500 return pumps having its own dedicated piping to turn the total water capacity through the filter at about 15.29 times per hour since there is only about 850 litres of water in the whole system inclusive of the sump.

[jesperlam]

More More!!!!

[nim75sg]

This pic shows the partly hidden Denitrator on the left with White Deniballs as feed for the bacteria and the Kalkwasser Reactor at the back.

In the front of both the Denitrator & Kalkwasser Reactor is the FR.

[nim75sg]

A closer look at the FR with Aqua Phos and circulation if powered by a Eheim Compact 600.

[nim75sg]

The 2 Dosing Pumps for the Denitrator and Kalk Reactor:

[nim75sg]

And the respective drip counter for the Kalk Reactor and Denitrator ..

[flubberina13]

Wah...equipment of superior quality...

[giantbicycle]

wow, the eqquiements used

[jesperlam]

Can't wait to see the end product! Equipment guru!

[nim75sg]

Water lost due to evaporation is top up by the TUBBY with the Kalk Reactor dosing pump inlet to the reservoir tank and with a tubing from the Reactor output to the sump via the drip counter.

[nim75sg]

Forget to mention that I get rid of unwanted stress and improve the aquatic environment in the house by having the water in my tank "grounded".

This is done by installing a Titanium Grouding Probe in the sump to prevent any electrical shock due to any electrical leakage from the equipment in used.

The Kia See n Kia Soo Syndrome ...

[nim75sg]

Since sea water has a pH of 8.1 to 8.4, the American PinPoint pH monitor helps me to monitor the situation.

[nim75sg]

Since there are more than 4 marine tanks, the American PinPoint Wireless Thermometer is the ideal instrument which has the capability of supporting four wireless sensors for 4 different tanks.

Pressing a switch at the control unit will displays the repective readings for the 4 different locations.

[nim75sg]

The UV-C Sterlizer 2000 11W is used as it can support tank volume capacity up to 2000 litres of water and is water velocity passing through it is from a 1200 L/H pump.

Purpose of the UV Sterilizer is to reduce the risk of disease and is currently swtiched off until LS is introduced.

[nim75sg]

Here is the in-sump Protein Skimmer which will help to remove proteins from the water before they break down into toxic forms.

[nim75sg]

Thank you everyone for the compliements ...

Prior to purchasing the Chiller, water evaporation was about 3.5 litres a day due to the heat generated from the Ocean Runner 2x6500 and 1x2500 for three days consecutive until I installed the chiller on Aug 10. Evaporation rate then reduced to very minimal after the installation of the 1/3HP Chiller.

Since the temperature of a typical marine environment is between 26 and 28 deg C and I set the chiller to kick-on the temperature at 26 deg C plus/minus 1 deg C.

IMO, the animals in our care will stand temperature as low as 22 deg C but no higher than 20 deg C but it is important that we keep the temperature fluctuation over 24 hours as low as possible.

This is a very expensive piece of kit but believe is money well worth as huge benefits are gained in water stability due to the constant stable water temperature.

[nim75sg]

Aug 11 - Wed

The skimmer was powered up on Aug 9 and after 3 days, the volcano is about to erupt as shown below:

[nim75sg]

A closer look at the "lava" after it erupted ...

[nim75sg]

Anyone interested to have a cuppa of Kopi-O from an Aspirating Skimmer?

[nim75sg]

Don't think it is Kopi-O as it looks more a warm "black lager" ....

[nim75sg]

For lighting, been a user of T5 technology since the early days of intro as they are thinner in diameter and being a very efficient fluorescent tube.

They have the advantage of being able to be located on top of your tank (using retrofit kit) and not in a pendant hanging from the ceiling. They do generate a degree of heat but it is much less than those of metal halide which I had a bad experience before and that is the reason why I am refraining from using them.

Here is the photo of the 4 x T5 80W tubes (3 White & 1 Blue) using Deltec and Aqualight T5 tubes and sitting on the tank Euro-Bracing

[nim75sg]

Overall view of the 5ft retrofit kits ....

[nim75sg]

A view of the tank from the left side:

[nim75sg]

As seen from the right side of the tank: