A 6feet tank desperate for help!

[A320]

Hi All,

I've got a 6ftx2ftx3ft tank for about 2 years now. Haven't done much upgrading or given much care till now. Not very knowledgeble in all the terminology and stuff but hoping to get some advice.....in fact anything you guys think will help.

Don't wanna spend an arm and a leg but hope to get a setup thats both nice to look at and low maintenance.

Haven't got alot to work with, where i am (not in Singapore). So please bare with me. Hope to order some stuff soon from singapore shops. If you guys could recommend me the products thats in the singapore shops, that will be much appreciated....

A brief description of my tank;

- Had the tank setup by a group of part-timers in the field. Not experts by any means. Which means i got a very basic setup (thought it was out of this world when i first laid eyes on it)

- Didn't do any water testing and the fish and corals were all by trial and error. Had many casualties in the fish department until recently, when my fish stock stabilised. Corals......none left but never had a lot to begin with. Only FOWLR tank at the moment.

-Fluorescent lights blew up a few weeks ago. left with 2x240W MH. Both were DIY ones. If you all had seen the Fluorescent fixture, you would all have laughed till you dropped. never changed bulbs for both fixtures till now.....so lights aren't at the best at the moment(weren't that good to begin with)

-Sump is at best basic. Nothing i can say there as i think its pathetic, now that ive seen what you guys have.

-no top up system

-sumps overflows when there is no current

the list goes on, and on, and on........hai.

I hope to transform my tank into something decent. Not a prize winning one, but at least something i can say.....Wow.....again. It'll be a dream if it turns out anything like Jervismun's tank(btw a special thanks to him for his advice so far). It made me see the potential of my tank.....not the hardest part is trying to achieve it......

Please help me if you can......

I'll post a few fotos........please don't laugh too loud....hehehe

A320

[flying carpet]

[flying carpet]

Lose them coral chips and replace it with liverocks. By the way what skimmer are you using?

[A320]

COuld you tell me how to shrink the fotos? got a few more to post but afraid its way too big....

Its a Atman...but not sure wat model....the powerhead is PH2500 though

[A320]

wats the significance of replacing the coral chips with live rocks? Do i place it in the same chamber?

[flying carpet]

Here my friend read this. It is called the berlin system.

http://www.lifereef.com/berlin.html

[flying carpet]

How to resize your picture.

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?...l=how+to+resize

Alternatively you can use any image editor software and resize it to 640x480.

[A320]

thanks flying carpet. Looks very impressive......not sure if thats for me though......any chance i could just modify the old sump?

Pls help with the fotos problem?

[A320]

Thanks...got it, flying carpet.

Besides live rocks in that chamber......shud i be putting anything else in it?

here's a foto of the overall tank

[flying carpet]

You will need loads of carbon and phosphate remover. Actually by now your tank should be mature already. What skimmer are you running? You may need to go shopping for some stuff and be serious if you wanna make others go gaga. Don't give up there is still hope. Don't depend too much on the filter wool just use it as the first piece and you must change it regulary to avoid nitrate build up.

[A320]

the return pipe to the tank together with 2 powerheads and a seio pump which i had from the corals days...

pathetic isn't it?

[flying carpet]

Don't worry my friend from the way I see it your tank have potential. By the way you are most welcome. If you need further help just post, I'm sure other will be glad to give you a helping hand.

Cheers and happy reefing.

[A320]

yeah...thinking of getting a Fluidised reactor with rowaphos.....problem is there is just so many brands around.....i can't even narrow down to a few....Is rowaphos the way to go?

Yeah the fliter cloth really isn't doing much.......will clean it all up once i get the equipment.

What sort of carbon is there? i see there are quite a few types? mamamia......confusing man!

the skimmer is atman......no sure about the model but heres the foto

[flying carpet]

For me I use seachem carbon combo with rowaphos. It depends on individual. I stop using fr cause I have experience that it get jam overtime. If you want a fr I will be glad to give you mine f.o.c which is made by skimz.

[hammy]

yeah...thinking of getting a Fluidised reactor with rowaphos.....problem is there is just so many brands around.....i can't even narrow down to a few....Is rowaphos the way to go?

Yeah the fliter cloth really isn't doing much.......will clean it all up once i get the equipment.

What sort of carbon is there? i see there are quite a few types? mamamia......confusing man!

the skimmer is atman......no sure about the model but heres the foto

rowacarbon will be great !

i believe ur tank got potential too .

u mention that when ever there is a power failure , ur sump wil overflow...

i think that is one of the main prob u have to tackle too !

[A320]

For me I use seachem carbon combo with rowaphos. It depends on individual. I stop using fr cause I have experience that it get jam overtime. If you want a fr I will be glad to give you mine f.o.c which is made by skimz.

oh ok......i always thought that FR are the way to go. Maybe not that. How and where do you use the Rowaphos? In one of the Sump chambers? Same with the Carbon?

I was actually thinking of getting a skimz FR, recommended by Aquamarin..... Thanks for the offer, mate....but its ok. It'll be really troublesome cos i'mnot from Singapore. Appreciate it.

Btw, when you say the FR jams....i thought it was built to avoid just that? have you got any idea if the other FR's jam as well? As you can see my sump isn't that big and the areas to place the rowaphos effectively is rather limited.....

[A320]

btw guys, do you think rowaphos will get rid of these....?

[A320]

rowacarbon will be great !

i believe ur tank got potential too .

u mention that when ever there is a power failure , ur sump wil overflow...

i think that is one of the main prob u have to tackle too !

Thanks Hammy.....

There is a product Rowacarbon? I always thought there were separate.....Pls forgive the ignorance.....haven't seen much marine stuff here.

Yeah, the overflowing sump is very problematic.....but i think if i leave the return pipe high enuh, it'll prevent a return to the sump .......once the water level drops below the small outlet from the pipe....

[A320]

Any other suggestions? anyone?

[TntR2]

maybe u can drill a small hole in the return pipe just under the water level in the main tank so that during power failures, air would get sucked into the return pipe when water level drops till below the hole level, stopping the backflow.

otherwise, u can also add a check valve (see attached pic) to to teh return pipe...

[A320]

I'm trying to decide on lightings as well.

Should i go for a MH+ FL of just FL? Any Brands? Been recommended Solite and DElightings? Needs to have brackets to sit on the tank bracing..... Tank is 3ft deep.....no corals at the moment but maybe hope to get a few in the future.....will the choice of lights affect?

I only have 2 MH at the moment. Haven't changed the bulbs since i started 2 years ago, been told its sitting too high from the water.

Shud i get some new fixtures? or just change the bulbs and get some FL fixtures to complement?

[A320]

the old DIY MH stand

[ReDDeviLs]

bro for lighting u got to decide what u wana keep in future..like corals.. what kinda corals softies,lps or SPS.. than we can recommand.

[A320]

maybe u can drill a small hole in the return pipe just under the water level in the main tank so that during power failures, air would get sucked into the return pipe when water level drops till below the hole level, stopping the backflow.

otherwise, u can also add a check valve (see attached pic) to to teh return pipe...

thanks TntR2......

Got the hole drilled originally.....however it was drilled too low into the water level. That meant excess water flowing into the sump. Had to raise it high enuh for that not to happen....

But that check valve is a fantastic idea.......i might try get one......

Can you just attach that anywhere on the return line?

[A320]

bro for lighting u got to decide what u wana keep in future..like corals.. what kinda corals softies,lps or SPS.. than we can recommand.

Thanks ReDDeviLs

Errr.......its a good question. Actually i'm not even sure i know whats LPS and SPS? I've had leathers corals, bubbles, hammers and ferns before....but thats about it. They didn't do too well at all. I'm not even sure, man. Maybe the lighting which offers me the most alternatives?

Maybe i just have to select what corals i have based on the lighting i do get? I really dunno dude? any guidelines?