my new tank!

[HellBliss]

Hey guys! been trolling around sgreefclub and reading lots of online websites on reefing for quite some time and since now its the holidays, i've decided to bite the bullet and start a tank in my room.

this is my first saltwater tank so all the old birds and kind souls pls guide me along. any advice will be taken seriously. thanks in advanced!

It will be a mixed reef tank, probably some lps and soft corals fers then sps a few months later.

Visited a few lfs to take a look at their display tanks and i have to say i was blown away by aquamarin's display. bet most of the people here already know who steve is and yes, what a great guy. he is very helpful and answered every questions and concerns that i had. i ended up ordering a 3 feet tank with cabinet and sump from them. it will be arriving late next week according to steve.

Hope that it will be a good and lasting start!

Specs coming soon....

[FreeWillie]

hellBliss, Jia U......! Cheers.....!

Be patience with your tank build up, it maybe slow but it'll be steady.

[onizukaa]

From aquamarin, 100% assure it will be setup according to your preferences~

Good luck and all the best!

[HellBliss]

haha thx onizuka and freewillie for the support. yeap will take it slow and easy. planning to stock up REAL slow after cycling the tank. probably one fish per two weeks?

This is where my tank will be

this is the tank that made me bite the bullet

[Soul]

The tank u linked is dominated by sps corals, pls make sure u do a proper research on upkeeping sps b4 u end up disappointed. My advice is work on ur equipment first worry about stocking corals/fish later. A tip ... sps keeping requires frequent water changes (weekly) unless u r going for very highend automated equipment. Have fun and good luck~

[Solo77]

think AM would have already gave him all the advices in setting up a tank like their display tank.......if not, must really consult bros here.

[HellBliss]

yeap i will start with soft corals and lps first since this is my first try at reefing and then gradually move on to sps after i;ve gained enough experience and information.

Pending tank specs as follows:

36"x24"x26" Black Silicon tank with eos and 2 side crystal glass

32"x15"x20" sump tank running carbon and bio ball

Wooden cabinet with bifold doors and openable hood

Nature Ocean live sand and hawaii puka shell(any problems with puka shells?)

Skimz SK1 KONE (used) bought from jervis through aquamarin

EDEN 159eu 5000l/hr pump(steve says its a newly imported brand that only aquamarin has now and proven to be quiet and reliable. quite value for money too)

Skimz FR with SORB4 and ehiem feed pump

1 x LumenBright reflector with 250W 12k Reeflux bulb and elbiru EB(any reefers have experience with Elbiru EB and some comments on it? or should i change to coralvue?)

2 x 39W ATI Blue+ high output T5 bulb with aluminium stand, waterproof t5 end cap etc..

Blue LED lights

Customized by steve

Hydor Koralia 5

Hailea 300A with Eden 3000l/hr pump

Using Marine Environment salt

Future upgrades:

one more k5 or vortech pumps

aquatronica set or some other controllers

calcium reactor

Inputs on any potential problems i will encounter with this setup is highly appreciated

[yongshun]

36"x24"x26" Black Silicon tank with eos and 2 side crystal glass

32"x15"x20" sump tank running carbon and bio ball

Wooden cabinet with bifold doors and openable hood

EDEN 159eu 5000l/hr pump(steve says its a newly imported brand that only aquamarin has now and proven to be quiet and reliable. quite value for money too)

Hydor Koralia 5

Inputs on any potential problems i will encounter with this setup is highly appreciated

hi bro, u may wanna consider ur choice of k5, it is too strong for a 3 ft and will cause a turbulent inside..my 2 cents

[Display.Name]

For Flow

May i suggest a Vortech MP40 for your tank? I think it has a lot of fun settings for you and your corals and also will provide sufficient water movement when placed correctly.

You can still grab a good deal if you call victor from Iwarna since there is promotion during aquarama.

For lighting

actually ATI is the best in T5 industry. If you go for a 6 or 8 tubes retrofit, SPS placed at top 1 third of tank can do pretty well too. It is really not necessary to go for the high powered 250watt MH .

6x39= 252watt

Basically, SPS keeping is alot more than just high light. It is about water parameters and flow too. BTW, i noticed you did not mention a chiller in your specs list.I hope you are getting one too. And at the corner you are placing your tank, you have to make sure your chiller has really good air flow to channel the heat out of your room. Otherwise it is going to be a suana if you don't have ur air con on. If you forget all other advices, do remember i ever mentioned this to you ok? Trust me, your MH and chiller will heat your room so hot you will regret you ever ignore this advice.

[HellBliss]

hi bro, u may wanna consider ur choice of k5, it is too strong for a 3 ft and will cause a turbulent inside..my 2 cents

hey bro, yea im really thinking of switching my wave maker to a vortech mp40 since it provides wide and random flow and able to tune down the flow

actually ATI is the best in T5 industry. If you go for a 6 or 8 tubes retrofit, SPS placed at top 1 third of tank can do pretty well too. It is really not necessary to go for the high powered 250watt MH .

6x39= 252watt

Basically, SPS keeping is alot more than just high light. It is about water parameters and flow too. BTW, i noticed you did not mention a chiller in your specs list.I hope you are getting one too. And at the corner you are placing your tank, you have to make sure your chiller has really good air flow to channel the heat out of your room. Otherwise it is going to be a suana if you don't have ur air con on. If you forget all other advices, do remember i ever mentioned this to you ok? Trust me, your MH and chiller will heat your room so hot you will regret you ever ignore this advice.

actually ive thought of using 8 T5 tubes before but i really like the shimmering effect of MH and the colours of a 12kbulb with blue+ tubes.

and yes im using a chiller its hailea 300A at 1/4hp, i think u missed it

about air flow, actually at the corner of my room where the chiller will be there is a dent into the wall. so i'm hoping there will be enough room for the hot air to go into the dent and comes out from the top of it.

yeap i've read up abit on sps keeping and i know that stable water parameters and high water flow is important for the survival of sps. not to forget a regular maintenance and water changes too. a calcium reactor and auto top off might be added in the future to keep the water stable but for now i will stick to mainly lps and softies until i have gathered enough experience and confidence and knowledge to venture into sps keeping.

Thanks for all the comments! keep it coming~

[HellBliss]

oh and anyone care to pm me victor's number?

[Soul]

Besides what the other bros have said about the 250watt MH heres my take on using it, a few species of LPS are gonna bleach (means from being colourful they turn pale). I know becos i am using the same 250watt 12k reeflux bulb setup. I lost a few expensive LPSes and they were placed at sandbed lvl yet also bleach. If for the time being u are keeping LPS and still want to use the MH i suggest using 20k bulb which u will love as it carries a more bluish spectrum which will bring out the colours for LPS.

Also to add, since u wont be keeping sps yet anytime soon then take this opportunity to see if u can maintain nitrate(zero-5ppm) /KH (8-10). These 2 parameters are the most crucial in sps keeping, for LPS not so crucial but like i've said take this opportunity to practise maintaining these 2, if u can do it then sps wont be a problem. For magnesium/calcium lvls i beliv since u r gonna use a CR they wont pose much problems to u.

[HellBliss]

Besides what the other bros have said about the 250watt MH heres my take on using it, a few species of LPS are gonna bleach (means from being colourful they turn pale). I know becos i am using the same 250watt 12k reeflux bulb setup. I lost a few expensive LPSes and they were placed at sandbed lvl yet also bleach. If for the time being u are keeping LPS and still want to use the MH i suggest using 20k bulb which u will love as it carries a more bluish spectrum which will bring out the colours for LPS.

ah... your tank is 2.5 feet and yet lighting is still too strong? hmm..havent considered the bleaching of certain LPS under this lighting.. thanks for pointing it out. looks like i have to do more research on different lighting requirements of lps.

as for KH any recommended tips or supplements for maintaining it?

[ReDDeviLs]

For Flow

May i suggest a Vortech MP40 for your tank? I think it has a lot of fun settings for you and your corals and also will provide sufficient water movement when placed correctly.

You can still grab a good deal if you call victor from Iwarna since there is promotion during aquarama.

For lighting

actually ATI is the best in T5 industry. If you go for a 6 or 8 tubes retrofit, SPS placed at top 1 third of tank can do pretty well too. It is really not necessary to go for the high powered 250watt MH .

6x39= 252watt

Basically, SPS keeping is alot more than just high light. It is about water parameters and flow too. BTW, i noticed you did not mention a chiller in your specs list.I hope you are getting one too. And at the corner you are placing your tank, you have to make sure your chiller has really good air flow to channel the heat out of your room. Otherwise it is going to be a suana if you don't have ur air con on. If you forget all other advices, do remember i ever mentioned this to you ok? Trust me, your MH and chiller will heat your room so hot you will regret you ever ignore this advice.

bro ATI is not the best in T5 industry. unless u have hard claims on it.

being more popular in SG doesnt mean its the best.

[Soul]

If u r using a CR with a single chamber likely ur KH is gonna drop, buy a second chamber if u can afford it the final output should be more high in KH and more stable. For me i just use the KH tester kit mthly and dose 'super' KH buffer(Kent Marine brand) til the desired lvl. When u keeping LPS corals the calcium/magnesium/KH lvls shouldnt drop much as they dont consume much as compared to sps. But like i said earlier try practising to maintain them at the sps required lvls then when u confident they stable u can start sps.

[HellBliss]

If u r using a CR with a single chamber likely ur KH is gonna drop, buy a second chamber if u can afford it the final output should be more high in KH and more stable. For me i just use the KH tester kit mthly and dose 'super' KH buffer(Kent Marine brand) til the desired lvl. When u keeping LPS corals the calcium/magnesium/KH lvls shouldnt drop much as they dont consume much as compared to sps. But like i said earlier try practising to maintain them at the sps required lvls then when u confident they stable u can start sps.

ok.. will remember ur advice

as for flow is anybody using vortech mp 40 can tell me if its noisy? cause im putting the tank in my room.

[Soul]

The vortex pumps are very quiet lah dont worry, thats why so ex.

[onizukaa]

should went to Aquarama, mp40 only 590 i think..

[ReDDeviLs]

im running a single chamber CR and my KH did not drop.

its how u tune ur CR.

[HellBliss]

The vortex pumps are very quiet lah dont worry, thats why so ex.

is it? cause i heard people saying theres an audible buzz when running at full speed. i guess noise is a very subjective thing

should went to Aquarama, mp40 only 590 i think..

ya i saw it at the reef depot booth.. but im really not sure whether to get it or not..

im running a single chamber CR and my KH did not drop.

its how u tune ur CR.

looks like i have to ask reddevils bro for tips in the future when i add a CR..

[ReDDeviLs]

willing to share tips with u if u need help,not an expert and still learning along like u

anyway, vortec agent is iwarna at pasir ris.

[HellBliss]

willing to share tips with u if u need help,not an expert and still learning along like u

anyway, vortec agent is iwarna at pasir ris.

thx reddevils, its people like u that newbies like me needs to avoid killing precious marine organisms.

[HellBliss]

new updates.. went down to aquamarin today and bought some miscellaneous stuffs including a piranha float. my glass is 12mm and piranha is rated for 6-10mm but steve tells me that it will be just nice. anybody with experience in magnet cleaners kindly advise. pictures coming up...

oh and the tank maker will be delivering the tank, cabinet and sump this sat!

[HellBliss]

Hi guys. went down to aquamarin and bought the following on tuesday...

considering buying the grotech abc and m and changing the piranha to a hammerhead

as for plans for the vortech pump, i think i will postpone it as i am broke and will think about more flow when i get some sps corals..

[HellBliss]

oh ya the phosphate nitrate and nitrite kits that i bought expires on 2011 april while the rest expires around 2014.. is it normal for those kits to have a short life span or they have been in stock for too long?