A New Community...

[Nitro]

Here are some new updates... took afew days over the CNY to complete the pipes and positioned all equipments in the the rite place.

The inlet pipes to the main tank. Bottom viewing.

The elbows with one of them drilled with holes to allow some current to flow to the back.

The EOS with the pipes connected.

The black sponge that is being lay ard the sump, is to prevent dust from collecting in the gaps between the tank and the cabinet internal wall. Some are being used to prevent salt sprays.

The type of filter wools that I'll be using.

[Nitro]

An overview of the refugium, less the DSB.

basic layout of the equipments with all the excess wiring being chucked into the space between the tank and the cabinet's wall. Sponge is being used to cover against dust collected over this "space".

Top view of the equipments compartment.

[Gouldian]

Wow those are expensive substrates! Anyway, I was guilty of that too

[TayHongSiang]

Sorry for my noob question...do you have to wash these "live" sand or simply put them straight into the tank? bam..

It has always puzzled me whether the bacteria or micro-organisms are still alive after so many days / months in the packaging.

[raydiative]

An overview of the refugium, less the DSB.

basic layout of the equipments with all the excess wiring being chucked into the space between the tank and the cabinet's wall. Sponge is being used to cover against dust collected over this "space".

Top view of the equipments compartment.

Wow.. everything is so well planned for you entire setup! Will be following your thread closely! cant wait to see water in it!

[jackywongto]

Wow.. everything is so well planned for you entire setup! Will be following your thread closely! cant wait to see water in it!

+1. Can see the design is very well thought

[Ketchup]

Sorry for my noob question...do you have to wash these "live" sand or simply put them straight into the tank? bam..

It has always puzzled me whether the bacteria or micro-organisms are still alive after so many days / months in the packaging.

i don't think you should wash them as i am fairly certain they are still alive. Do watch out for some that may be too long not sold... maybe those will have problem..

[jackywongto]

i don't think you should wash them as i am fairly certain they are still alive. Do watch out for some that may be too long not sold... maybe those will have problem..

there is an expiration date on the packaging usually.

[mitlancer]

wow, a very well thought and planned sump.... must learn from u in case of future tank set up!!!

[Ketchup]

there is an expiration date on the packaging usually.

sometimes expiry date may not yet reach but the product may already degraded due to improper storage/handling... so careful inspection will help.. i was told like for NO sand, those black sand may turn brownish..

[Nitro]

Sorry for my noob question...do you have to wash these "live" sand or simply put them straight into the tank? bam..

It has always puzzled me whether the bacteria or micro-organisms are still alive after so many days / months in the packaging.

Hi AhSiang, to my knowledge "Live" sand require minimum rinsing and can even do without. Of cse as what some of the members had highlighted... do take note of expired, spoilt or damaged package. Those "Live" sand which is dry packed has longer shelf-life as compared to those with the water in them. The way and method they are stored does affect the bacteria life-span within the package.

For Aragonite sand, rinsing is def a must before putting into the tank but pls do not wash them too much cuz when we rinse the sand, we're actually washing off some of the aragonite. There is no expiry date for Aragonite sand. They're not "Live" sand.

[Nitro]

Hmmm, I'm really taking my time to set up this tank. Already took me a few days just to do up the pipings, placement of equipments and wiring layout. Just put in the Aragonite sand into the refugium today. Even the 80lbs of sand is not enough, looks like I'll have to get another 2-3 pkt of the 40lbs from SL.

Already filled up the main tank for 2 days to check for leaks and problems, so far so good.

[Nitro]

Sharing my set up experiences...

Mistake #1 - Dun rinse your dry aragonite sand in the refugium if you're lazy and think that it's easy job CUZ I made that mistake and now am taking out all the dirty water in the refugium. Good thing I've stop the pump into the main tank... can't imagine if I've allowed that to happen, I'll def waste alot of water.

[Nitro]

Mistake #2 - Position all Union Ball Valves or any other Valves over the sump tank. I've positioned 2 Union Ball Valves of the outlet from main tank at a location out of the area of the sump tank. Realized that should there be a leak at the valves, water will be on the floor rather than into the sump, underneath.

[Nitro]

At last had filled up the tank with water and the refugium is all ready.

Using the filter wool to cut out the bubbles created from the EOS down pipes.

Showing the diff type of sand I've used for the refugium. Total had used 2 pkt (40lbs) of CaribSea Dry Aragonite Sand, 2 pkt (40lbs) of CaribSea Ocean Direct Caribbean Live Sand, 1pkt (15lbs) of CaribSea Florida Crushed Coral Geo-marine and 2gal of CaribSea Mineral Mud. First pic shows the layer of the diff type of sand and the second pic shows the size of all the sand.

[[V]tEc]

try using the black ones to block out the micro bubbles. the white one will clog after awhile.

[Ketchup]

interested to see how the refrigum mud works out... was tempted to try for my refrigum..

[Nitro]

try using the black ones to block out the micro bubbles. the white one will clog after awhile.

Thanks for the advice. I've changed it to a filter bag for the time being. Tried both the filter wool and the sponge but the bubbles still flow over to the refugium compartment. If the filter bag works well, I'll improve it to a better quality filter bag. Maybe the 100-200 micron filter socks.

[Nitro]

Due to unforeseen circumstances, I'll have to shorten the tank cycling to only 2 days. Will have to almost transfer all sand, rocks and fishes tomorrow to this new tank. Think I'll have a long long day tomorrow!!!

Will update once all are completed.

[Nitro]

At long last here are some updates...

1) Fishes that didn't make it for the upgrade, due to my carelessness or other unexplained reasons :-

1x 3.5" Black Tang (died for no reason)

1x 3.5" beautiful Queen Angel

1x 3.5" hybrid Powder Blue Tang

1x 2" Flame Angel

1x 3.5" beautiful King Angel (died for no reason)

1x 4" Jawfish (jump out of holding tank)

1x 0.5" Mandarin Fish (jump out of holding tank)

A few nos. of small gobies (Trimmas etc)

2) One of my two Sea Cuke nuked the holding tank when it was eaten by the Pseudo-Corynatic Anemone. It actually nuke out it's innards when I try to take it out of the tank.

3) Didn't sleep for 2 days straight, after that nuke cuz got to get the main tank ready (txf all LRs) before transferring all remaining LS over.

Following are some new pics for all to enjoy...

[Nitro]

Here's a FTS. All pics taken from cam hp.

[chercm]

nice tank

[desideria]

LOTS of space for fishes to swim!! nice

Cheers,

Desi

[TayHongSiang]

2.5ft height makes yr tank looks deep....nice tank and fishes....

[Underwater]

Maybe can consider shifting the 2 wavemakers to the 2 sides of the tank so that you have a nice and clean backgrd. More natural too.