The comet's 5 footer!!!

[shoelevy]

Juz a word of advice bro, why not replace the pile of newspapers under your skimmer with bricks?? much more stable and also, the newspaper are a calamity waiting to happen if it gets wet...

Also, u might wanna get a 1.5L bottle as a collection bottle as the one u r using abit small, sometimes when you dose certain medication, the skimmer can go crazy, so allow more storage space!

Anyway, agree with you using rowas, seems like everyone forgot the rowas absorbs silicates as well, this will reduce the possibilty of a huge diatoms problem or cyano in the future!

Nice thread.. keep it up!! Cant wait to see more pics!

i've got a fan.......OMG...i've got a fan!

hhahaha

kidding

thanks rav65

will keep u updated....regarding bottle...ok...will try but bricks ah...no wae man....can't find and won't bother to find

but then again...i'll keep yr advice in mind

[RAV-65]

i've got a fan.......OMG...i've got a fan!

hhahaha

kidding

thanks rav65

will keep u updated....regarding bottle...ok...will try but bricks ah...no wae man....can't find and won't bother to find

but then again...i'll keep yr advice in mind

Bro, steal from construction site lor!

[shoelevy]

hm...ok...wen time comes i will try to BUY...not steal!!

now abit troublesome to get the newspaper out then put the bricks again

[Melvyn Tan]

So...any updates....pics

[shoelevy]

i've decided to make a calculation of the weight of my tank so here it is

tank measures: 163cm by 63 by 63cm

after taking awae thickness of glass and thickness of sand below...the dimensions of water comes up to :

161 by 61 by 52.5cm (water is 5.5cm from top of tank and i assume half of my 8cm sand bed is filled with water - so its 63 - 1 - 5.5 - 4)

thus...water volume without considering rocks and assuming oveflow compartment is full is 516L.

individual sump compartment measurements give a total water vol of sump : 128L

when i put the rocks in, i had to remove 3 pails of water totalling 50L

thus weight of water : (516+128-50)x 1.022 (density of slt water) = 608kg

estimate weight of tank to be 100kg - wat u guys think?...too heavy?

thus, total weight: water + sand + rocks + equipment + hood + tank

= 608 + 120 + 70 + est to be 50 + waitin to come + 100

> 948kg

*head explodes*

[RAV-65]

*head explodes*

Wahaha... dat's a good one... I thought your wallet would explode before yopur head!

[shoelevy]

i am really concerned about the weight lor....i had never expected the weight to come up to close to 1000.

i only thought 800+.

aniwae....i spoke to the guy who transported my tank...he said hdb only allows max a 4 footer...but he has transported many 5footers to hdb flats and no one gives a damn about applying for the permit.haha

he said although hdb max permits up to 4 footer...there r many others who put 5footers in their hdb homes so he thinks max a hdb can take is a 5footer.

but he also firmly believes its luck because he has transported a 6x2.5x2.5 to a flat and nothing happened but anaother client of his with a 4x2x2 ended up with cracks on the floor.

so i guess 4footer is approved by hdb and if crack...jus too suay ah....5 footer need permit but no one applies and 6 footer is REALLY heng

[shoelevy]

ok

here's a picture of where my tank is with respect to the building structure

see the 2 buldging portions of concrete...those are beams.

the vertical one extends all the wae up from underground....the horizontal one stretches across the building.

my tank is right beside them...whew...heng heng chose the right spot to put the tank

market prawn is now half rotten...will do chem test again later

[piglet]

haha.. you never plan > to place your tank near a beam.. rite? heng heng .

no choice... you already -setup a 5footer... no choice.. in order to reduce weight.. remove some sand. reduce salt water level.. use less LR.. ? no choice rite.. bro

don't worry too much.. you stay at 2nd level.. It not high lor.. less risk.... relax. There are a few reefers who have 6ftx2.5ftx2.ft .. at their HDB.. somehow > high level unit.. so far .. nothing happen... cross finger.

[shoelevy]

oh my gosh...a snail in my tank alive...didn't die even though my market prawn now almost finsihed rotting

hope the little guy survives to do my tank good

[shoelevy]

haha.. you never plan > to place your tank near a beam.. rite? heng heng .

no choice... you already -setup a 5footer... no choice.. in order to reduce weight.. remove some sand. reduce salt water level.. use less LR.. ? no choice rite.. bro

don't worry too much.. you stay at 2nd level.. It not high lor.. less risk.... relax. There are a few reefers who have 6ftx2.5ftx2.ft .. at their HDB.. somehow > high level unit.. so far .. nothing happen... cross finger.

ehe...yup...as i said..heng heng...planned to put there only because there got space...it wasn't because of the beam

y do u sae high level more dangerous?

[Melvyn Tan]

Actually you need only to calculate the total volume of water + weight of the glass tank itself - cos when sand, rocks etc are put in it displaces the water volume, the density of these media are quite close and thus no need to be so specific.

Lower floor doesn't mean a thing. Your house i believe is a HUDC - and if so the floor level (where the tank is) to the next (bedrooms) is a double volume floor space ie. potential problem of columns subjecting to higher buckling forces hehehheeh (since the column has higher slenderness ratio) gotta cross your fingers XXXXXX

So you better view your tank from afar [use binoculars] cause when you are standing next to the tank (dead load) it'll add to the weight, worse you are a moving object (live load) thus the weight distribution forces are dynamic !!!!

Notice the tank is next to the staircase, so don't jump ! walk nimbly else the irregular additional bending moment forces might just subject the beam to greater tensile stress (which concrete is weak in). Since HUDC are much older buildings, also better check for any cracks near by and do close monitoring if the gaps get any wider. If there are cracks oops...accidential spillage of your salt water might just seep in and cause cathodic or anodic action (ionic decomposition)...so safer gotta stand guard 24/7. phewww......tough...

So you see, there will be endless problems for you to worry about.....take a break have a kit-kat

[shoelevy]

Actually you need only to calculate the total volume of water + weight of the glass tank itself - cos when sand, rocks etc are put in it displaces the water volume, the density of these media are quite close and thus no need to be so specific.

Lower floor doesn't mean a thing. Your house i believe is a HUDC - and if so the floor level (where the tank is) to the next (bedrooms) is a double volume floor space ie. potential problem of columns subjecting to higher buckling forces hehehheeh (since the column has higher slenderness ratio) gotta cross your fingers XXXXXX

So you better view your tank from afar [use binoculars] cause when you are standing next to the tank (dead load) it'll add to the weight, worse you are a moving object (live load) thus the weight distribution forces are dynamic !!!!

Notice the tank is next to the staircase, so don't jump ! walk nimbly else the irregular additional bending moment forces might just subject the beam to greater tensile stress (which concrete is weak in). Since HUDC are much older buildings, also better check for any cracks near by and do close monitoring if the gaps get any wider. If there are cracks oops...accidential spillage of your salt water might just seep in and cause cathodic or anodic action (ionic decomposition)...so safer gotta stand guard 24/7. phewww......tough...

So you see, there will be endless problems for you to worry about.....take a break have a kit-kat

my home only 20yrs old...it isn't that old la plus my home isn't a HUDC...its a 5room massionette....so no additional stress to the pillar i suppose

if according to wat u sae jus calculate vol of water assuming they fill up the spaces taken up by sand and water then i come with [ 161x61x(63-1-6) + 128 ]x1.022=693kg

so total is 693+100(wt of tank)+equipment 50kg = 843kg

wah...a whole 100kg difference from my initial estimate....so which one should i believe?

[Melvyn Tan]

Yeah Massionette (i think so previously they are also know as HUDC) so its old liao 20 yrs ! heheheh 843 compared to your 900 not much of a diff...anyway the weight in comparison to the volume of the rock varies from rock to rock (composition dependant) so the displacement of the water volume will also be affected, thus, it will never be accurate - but the range would be indicative ie. 843 & 900 (marginally different).

[shoelevy]

ok

melvyn..once again...i take it u know wat u r saying because so far u haf been rite about al the things i asked u

*looks like i foud my guru*

[Melvyn Tan]

Just exchanging ideas ....

[Melvyn Tan]

Anytime my friend. I am not any guru....just happened to have read and experience and have someone behind guiding me along

[shoelevy]

issit possible coralline starts to grow at this stage under the influence of the evening sun shining into my tank?

my eyes seems to tell me come coralline is growing but i'm not sure though....need some guru to comment on wat my eyes saw

[Ancelot]

Growing on where? your rocks? or on your sandbed? Have you been dosing calcium followed by lots of kalkwasser? Personally, I do not believe lights can cause your coralline to grow...

[shoelevy]

on my rocks...they've appeared as spots on rocks.

lights don't cause coralline to grow?...then y people put actinic to promote its growth

i never dose cal...the only thing i added was the element booster from the coral life salt

[blueheaven]

According to GARF, coralline thrives in deepwater regions where the light is dim and blue, that's why they say actinic promotes coralline growth.

But IMO, the most important element that you need most is a high Mg amount.

And since coralline is a form of algae, I believe that it also needs a form of lighting to grow. I have been very successful using GARF's methods, boasting red, orange, green, pink and purple coralline all over my tank

[shoelevy]

GARF's method is to maintain high Mg?

dun mind this stupid one asking but y high mg promotes coralline growth?

[Ancelot]

well, believe it or not, my coralline is still growing without lights and dont assume i got moonlight for them. At night it is pitch dark except for the corridoor lights outside my house but thats so negligible..

Although growth is slow, but still growing thats the problem. I believe coralline algae comes in many different forms under amany different conditions. So dont always assume there must be light for coralline algae to grow and the light must be blue (though this is theoretically correct). Calcium and kalkwasser is a must! without those, i dont think coralline can grow..

Anyway veer off le.. now back to the main topic!

[blueheaven]

GARF's method is to maintain high Mg?

dun mind this stupid one asking but y high mg promotes coralline growth?

The reason is because coralline has a very high Mg content in its tissues, that's why low Mg may retard its growth.

[blueheaven]

Ok, here's some pics to show that I do not make untested claims.

This is not to flame Ancelot but its the actual fact of what is happening in my tank.

This is half of my Tunze cap that is exposed to lights