my bare bottom

[meatloaf]

Hello,

Would like to share my newly setup tank with you. Hopefully will get some comments and advise to improve on the setup.

I decided to go the way of BB, as I like the clean cut image.

The bottom of the tank is layered with a ply of 5mm starboard (commonly known as cutting board) to cushion any accident "rock slide" .

here's the spec

Tank - 3x2x2 ft, 10 mm thick

Sump - 30 x 17 x 16 inc, 6mm thick

Return Pump - Atman MP-6500

Skimmer - min beckett Skimmer (by chipson) powered by MD40

Lighting - Atman M1000 (2 x 150w MH + 4 x 36w actnic blue)

Fludiser Reactor - Aquaz purephos

Fludiser Reactor - Carbon Premium

2 x seio 820

approx 35kg of LR in tank

approx 12kg tonga in tank

approx 12kg of LR in sump

The entire setup cost me about S$2500 (including test kits, additives). For those who thinking of setting up similar tank size and like to have a breakdown in cost for budgeting purpose, can pm me.

many thanks in advance

Cheers

btw, sorry for the poor pics

[meatloaf]

another view

[madmac]

Hi congrats on you new setup... it still looks very new.

Jus a few comments :

The the water looks milky, I'm not sure how you got it like that. Care to explain.

The flow, I believe should not be pointed down to the rocks, but level so that the water will roll, from the top to the sides-ends then to the bottom and go upwards again, lots of detritus will collect at the bottom. If you can arrange them such that the all point to the same direction, ie clockwise or counter-clockwise... set it for maximum flow.

best to you.

[meatloaf]

another view

[meatloaf]

hi madmac

thanks for the advise,

i think because of the LR. there were some white fluffy stuff growing on the LS and i use toothbrush to brush them off. should i do a water change. BTW the tank is only 5 DAYS OLD.

as for the positioning of the seio, read some in reefcentral that it should be placed at a right angle to each other to simulate wave???? but points taken will repostion the seio.

many thanks again.

[meatloaf]

sump, without live rock yet (10kg currently in another tank)

[Jimng]

Nice tank bro.....do you do cooking of the rocks?

That's what they do and recommend in RC before putting the rocks into BB tanks..... it's a long process though.....

[meatloaf]

hi,

thanks for the comments.

The LR was with the LFS for about a week before i brought back. Did not cook the rock. However, those meant for the sump are being "cooked" now.

Cheers

[meatloaf]

hi guys

if you look carefully at the side view, can you see a monster head with small ears and a huge mouth

cheers

[Dispar_Anthias]

Wow really nice setup.... going sps right???

[Gouldian]

Nice dimension 3 x 2 x 2. Nice rockworks.

Hope to see the stock-up soon.

[meatloaf]

Thank u, Guys

Yess, going SPS. But still alot to learn and hope that the experienced reefers will provide the experties.

Cheers

btw, here another view

[monsterz1975]

Thank u, Guys

Yess, going SPS. But still alot to learn and hope that the experienced reefers will provide the experties.

Cheers

btw, here another view

Nice tank u have bro.

[planetg]

hi meat loaf,

hope u dun mind my 2 cents worth of comments.

i'll be going BB soon and i'll be using white opaque acrylic at the base mainly for a couple of reasons

1. distributed stress on the base of the tank

having pressure points at the glass base may not be a good idea but then again how long do we keep our tanks!!!

2. light reflection from bottom up

this will perhaps create addtional light for sps bottom upwards! bo liao perhaps but worth a try.

hopefully given time, coralline will grow on the acrylic and it won't look as wierd.

cheers,

[Jimng]

hi meat loaf,

hope u dun mind my 2 cents worth of comments.

i'll be going BB soon and i'll be using white opaque acrylic at the base mainly for a couple of reasons

1. distributed stress on the base of the tank

having pressure points at the glass base may not be a good idea but then again how long do we keep our tanks!!!

2. light reflection from bottom up

this will perhaps create addtional light for sps bottom upwards! bo liao perhaps but worth a try.

hopefully given time, coralline will grow on the acrylic and it won't look as wierd.

cheers,

Hi bro, i dont really know abt starboard but i think acrylic surface are very smooth so placing rocks on them and getting them to stay that way is not easy or maybe near to impossible, i believe starboard may have rougher surface.....hope it helps you with your plan....

[brittlestars]

Hi Meatloaf, can post pics of your bare bottom with the starboard thingy? Curious to see them thanks!

[meatloaf]

thanks all for your kind comments.

planetq, Jiming is correct. starboard (or chopping board) has a slight rough surface. Already had quite a bit of problems making the rock stay put, during rockscapping.

Actually, some of my rocks are suspended by acrylic tubing ranging from 10mm to 25mm, with holes drill into them to prevent dead water spot. I was hopping to suspend the entire rock work on short tubes. 1st i think it will look cool and 2nd it easier to remove detrius. However, i only manage to suspend a few base rock only. It really tough trying to stop the short tube form sliding all over the place. Moreover, i did not use any epoxy to hold the rock together.

brittlestar: you can see the starboard in the side view of my tank. Or you can go to any shop selling household items and ask for plastic chopping board.

thanks again all for your comments.

Cheers

[newmarine]

thanks all for your kind comments.

planetq, Jiming is correct. starboard (or chopping board) has a slight rough surface. Already had quite a bit of problems making the rock stay put, during rockscapping.

Actually, some of my rocks are suspended by acrylic tubing ranging from 10mm to 25mm, with holes drill into them to prevent dead water spot. I was hopping to suspend the entire rock work on short tubes. 1st i think it will look cool and 2nd it easier to remove detrius. However, i only manage to suspend a few base rock only. It really tough trying to stop the short tube form sliding all over the place. Moreover, i did not use any epoxy to hold the rock together.

brittlestar: you can see the starboard in the side view of my tank. Or you can go to any shop selling household items and ask for plastic chopping board.

thanks again all for your comments.

Cheers

Sorry was browsing thru the thread and have question on starboard. Is it safe for BB? Will it not decay in long run?

[Soul]

The white stuff growing on your rocks that look like cobwebs is fungus, common thing to happen when going thru liverocks cycling stage the first couple of weeks. You'll need to do a 20-30% water change soon, get a nitrate tester kit (Salifert brand) you're gonna need it a lot since u going sps. You should see a spike in nitrate soon during cycling stage so dont go adding any corals or fishes yet(well maybe a few chromies wont do any harm since they hardy).

The nitrate spike stage is when u change your water, not all hor just 30%. If u got money to burn get a nitrate reactor to control nitrate levels. Slowly adjust your water paremeters back aft. that.(If u dont know what parameters are suitable for sps then i suggest u read up more b4 u venture into sps) Once nitrate stage passes thats when u have the algae boom stage, dont be alarmed that your liferocks will be covered with green algae. If your parameters are stable enuf just get an algae blenny(or some call it the lawnmower blenny) and maybe some common tangs to graze the algae.

My advice is not to introduce any sps til algae boom stage passes which should be about 2mths or sooner depending. To shorten the algae boom stage u can use an FR running Rowaphos or any phosphate absorbing media.

K i better shutup liao dont want to seem too kpo, all the best and have fun.

[TayHongSiang]

errr...you using 2x 150W MH w/o chiller? Can ah??

Btw, nice set-up!

[iskay]

errr...you using 2x 150W MH w/o chiller? Can ah??

Btw, nice set-up!

setup of four years ago....