# new marine tank



## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

Hey, my names Jamie aka deansie26 and ive not any previous experience of fish at all but im good with the research and have always wanted a marine tank.
Thought id start a wee journal too.

My tank arrived last week but my rock only arrived today, bought it from live-rock.co.uk and I have to say they where great-Nigel was speedy to reply throughout and the rock its self has so many colours on it, Im very happy with it.
I asked for rocks suitable to a 28G nano.

























I was worried I wouldn't have enough after seeing other folks nanos- but I think there might be sufficient now its arrived.
Ive got to say I didn't enjoy the aqua-scaping as much as I thought I would, more frustrating! ha ha.

Please let me know if you think the rock set up isnt great, I appriciate opinions and Its just set up so can be changed.


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## lambda (Jul 11, 2010)

Its looks good, you may will need to add another power head for more flow around the rocks, as nano power heads are usually pretty feeble! If you look on ebay for "wave maker", there are loads from china! I always use these and they are great!

Also, make sure the rock-work is secure, you may want to consider using a milliput epoxy to keep the rock together if they are a bit wobbly!

HTH
Jamie


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tank*



lambda said:


> Its looks good, you may will need to add another power head for more flow around the rocks, as nano power heads are usually pretty feeble! If you look on ebay for "wave maker", there are loads from china! I always use these and they are great!
> 
> Also, make sure the rock-work is secure, you may want to consider using a milliput epoxy to keep the rock together if they are a bit wobbly!
> 
> ...


Cheers for the comments and ill defo need power head added its just ive ran out of cash lol-not a cheap hobbie, I thought it looked great but there didnt seem many good places for corals, I wanted to build a shape that will look great once grown in so changed it so it slopes from the bottom to the top.
Temps got to 28 degrees yesterday so need to get a fan or similiar before anything can go in, such a flaw with the tank IMO-if it can over heat in scotland it will overheat anywhere.

Was at it all yesterday and just got something im quite happy with this morning, DEFO not moving it again! ha.
I think there's far more detritus in the water now from me messing with the rock :google:.

































Im embaressed to post this but I put my RO tub on the kitchen unit to fill it and forgot about it , do the dishes and get the tub in the sink! ha


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tests*

Thought Id post my water chemistry tests, Im not doing calcium, alkalinity etc until I get to the stage of keeping corals. (Alkalinity is one side of the PH test I know but im assuming there's a specific one for keeping corals, dkh)

07/09/10------------------------- 10/09/10

PH 8.2-------------------------- PH 8.1
Ammonia 0.5-------------------- Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.25---------------------- Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 5------------------------ Nitrate 20
Sg 1.026------------------------ Sg 1.026

Looks like things are going as they should from what I can see


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tests*

07/09/10-------------- 10/09/10-----------12/09/10

PH 8.2------------------PH 8.1-------------PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.5------------Ammonia 0.25------Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25--------------Nitrite 1.0---------Nitrite 0.75
Nitrate 5----------------Nitrate 20----------Nitrate 20
Sg 1.026----------------Sg 1.026-----------Sg 1.025

---------------------11/09/10-------------12/09/10

------------------Phoshate 0.17---------Phoshate 0.08


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## lambda (Jul 11, 2010)

All the levels are coming down nicely, not long now before you can put some CUC in!


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*yip*



lambda said:


> All the levels are coming down nicely, not long now before you can put some CUC in!


Yeh I cant wait :lol2:


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

hi what sort of filtration do you have ie skimmer, sump tank ? 

try and put your live rock so it has lots of surface area so the rocks hardly touching each other and gets more circulation around it as live rock does filter water as part of the eco system you are building up , with such a small tank any fluctuations in the water quality will have a more damaging effect , even heat and especially the sun from a window 
do you have your light on a timer 12 hour cycle


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*hey*



weetabix ears said:


> hi what sort of filtration do you have ie skimmer, sump tank ?
> 
> try and put your live rock so it has lots of surface area so the rocks hardly touching each other and gets more circulation around it as live rock does filter water as part of the eco system you are building up , with such a small tank any fluctuations in the water quality will have a more damaging effect , even heat and especially the sun from a window
> do you have your light on a timer 12 hour cycle


Hey, ive got skimmer that came with the nano-doesn't get good reviews but its been skimming brown stuff so ill keep it for now. In the back there is also a media drawer that has a sponge, then charcoal then in the 3rd ive Rowaphos. Ill probably change the charcoal in the 2nd comartment for chemipure or something similiar.
Yeh the rock is touching each other but that how it is in such a tank, some go with an island type display and some fancy more a wall type. It is touching but still loads of space for flow when I get a new power head directed to it. Ive a fan coming tommorow as the tank over heats badly so when I get that hooked up to coincide with halidie ill get it on a timer.

What is your tank like mate? love to see a pic: victory:


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

hi if the skimmer is collecting the brown waste thats good as its working 
i will defo upload some pics tomorrow as the lights have gone off and i havent any recent ones so post some tomorrow evening , i still have a skimmer on mine well hanging on the refugium at the back my tank which is 36x24x24 and has just over 40kg of live rock 2 wavemakers and a external canister with live rock in that pumps into the refugiums sand fluidiser then the skimmer draws of that and the back into tank , theres a few kg of live rock and sand in refugium also some calupera algae and one nasty devil crab i had to take my tank apart to get and smash the live rock apart that he burrowed into to get him out and put in refugium , havent seen him since as hes nocturnal 
update with pics tomorrow atb daz


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*fan*

My 4 head fan arrived today and seems a nice little bit of kit and good value for money.
















Its got adjustable clamps to attach it to the read panel but Im going to try just lying it on the back, resting on the side and the skimmer.








Im doing this as I want to continue to beable to use the skimmer and I plan of making a small back panel extension that can enable me to raise the fan above the skimmer.

Day time temps have been hitting 29 degs so ill have this running tomorrow all day with the halidie so ill reposrt back on how it has effected the temp.


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

that does look a tidy bit of kit should keep your temp down mate


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

heres them picks i said i would put up got home earlier today and remembered which is unusual for me :lol2:







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taken with me phone so not the best 
the goby in the one pic is the most recent along with a gold and blue damsel


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tests*

Wow that is a really sweet set up mate, really crisp. What lights you got in there? T5's
Id love to see better pictures close up mate.

Well used the fan today with the halidie and temps didn't go over 27 so all good , fan 
I propped up the fan so it was positioned horizontal over rear chamber and I still managed to have the skimmer running

Latest test results

07/09/10----------- 10/09/10-----------12/09/10-------14/09/10

PH 8.2---------------PH 8.1-------------PH 8.0----------PH 8.3
Ammonia 0.5---------Ammonia 0.25------Ammonia 0------Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25----------Nitrite 1.0---------Nitrite 0.75-------Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5-------------Nitrate 20----------Nitrate 20------Nitrate 20
Sg 1.026-------------Sg 1.026-----------Sg 1.025-------Sg 1.025
------------------------------------------------------Phosphate 0.03 
-------------------11/09/10-------------12/09/10 
--------------Phoshate 0.17---------Phoshate 0.08 

Time for 20% water change and start with some CUC additions?


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

cheers believe it or not i have only had this tank set up for 7 months but i cheated and bought my live sand and all the rock off diferrent people when they advertised they were shutting down their tanks as you get alot of corals growing on the rock already and other life form , so you get it cheaper and more for your money than well all the shops , i also have had clumps of pulsating xenia given me which has multiplied , same with the mushies ,and a sea urchin , regarding the lights i bought them too off a forum and changed the bulbs when i got it, it has 4 in total 2 white and 2 blue actinics , when you change your water do you use reverse osmosis water , if you dont you will get serious algae blooms need any help i with be happy to help will pm you a few sites i use that are good if your after corals or such


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*sites*

Yeh thats a good way to do it, just your luck thou if the folk breaking down the tank live near you eh lol. Thanx for the links, I use ultimate and the us one nanoreef.com as found them the best.
Ive the same user name on all of the forums forums too 
PS. I fitted an RO unit before I got the tank, no point shooting yourself in the foot before you even start


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update*

Carried out a 15% water change a few days ago and added the following to the tank:

3 Bumble bee snails
2 Astrea snails
1 Cerith snail
2 Turbo snails
2 small hermits (1 blue & 1 red leg)
1 Emerald crab

The turbo's went under the sand and have been MIA, also MIA is the red leg hermit- though im sure finenjust havent seen them.
I like the Astrea's, very slow but really clean the rock. 
Ivea nice fuzz of algea on alot of the rock so they should be happy for a while, dont think ill add anything else as I dont mind a bit of fozz on some rock and this also tells me there's enough for them to eat.

The fan is working a treat, had to put the heater on last night before going to bed, im getting micro bubbles coming from one of my return pumps since doing the water change , need to sort that.


Done another water change yesterday and water values are as follows:

PH 7.8 (need to keep an eye on this)
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 5
Sg 1.025
Phosphate 0 (Rowaphos is working great and would recommend)

Going to add 2 small clowns today and nothing else for a month or so and see how we go.
Ive also got a bright red substance growing on rock-initially I thought it was Cyanobacteria but I now think its red coraline algae 
























You can see where they have been


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update*

Yeh thing are going good, clowns are quite shy-staying at the rear corner of the tank and I haven't seen them eat yet.

*Tests today*
Ph 7.8
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Sg 1.024
Phoshate 0 

Happy with results-hair algae has died back some. The Rowaphos has worked a treat with phoshate and ive been cleaning the sponge regular (amazing what it collects!) 
Ive also been running the skimmer and I think it does a decent job-it was skimming a lot of brown stuff initially but it has been getting a lot less now.

Ive ordered this to help with keeping nitrate in check JBL Filter Media, Ill still be staying on top of weekly changes etc but I feel it can only be of benifit. So as filtration Ill have my weekly water changes, skimmer and in the basket 
top-sponge/ middle-Rowaphos and ill have Bionitratex in the bottom. 
Ive noticed alot of pod over the last few days, especially at the rear corner








The hermit seems to retreat to the same spot on the top rock every night lol









Next im hoping to get a coral but will need to get some calcium and alkalinity tests first,
live stock wise i dont want much just a gobby and shrimp and possibly one more fish.


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*meter*

My TDS meter arrived today, reading from tap water was 028 ppm
and my R/O unit was 001 ppm.
How does this sound for tap water and the unit?

The clown still dont seem to like the flake instead are eating pods from the wall


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

looking good deansie, you forgot about us over at TNR??


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## fantapants (Jan 4, 2008)

Thats looking pretty damn awesome! my 2x1x1 tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks now. I was lucky that i got it set up with saltwater and then had enough left to collect my live rock and transport it in the water, so i had minumal die-off. It took just ten days to cycle till my levels were perfect for 3 days running. We added 2 hermit crabs, 6 cerith snails and a conch snail then waited 3 weeks before we added a single clown fish. I am leaving it as it is now as i am moving my turtles into a bigger tub and going to start again from scratch in the 3x18x18 tank they were in.

This hobby is certainly addictive!


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

Wicked tank. Can't wait to get mine up and running. Are you planning on adding coral?
And how does live rock arrive? Is it kept damp via transit (surely the organisms living on it would die if not?)


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*hey*



owlbassboy said:


> looking good deansie, you forgot about us over at TNR??


Alright mate, thanx-getting there.
Sorry mate, I decided to go with ultimatereef as its more established. Ive mates thats have there site and its not an easy thing to get going well, sorry bud-wish you all the best with it: victory:


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



fantapants said:


> Thats looking pretty damn awesome! my 2x1x1 tank has been up and running for about 6 weeks now. I was lucky that i got it set up with saltwater and then had enough left to collect my live rock and transport it in the water, so i had minumal die-off. It took just ten days to cycle till my levels were perfect for 3 days running. We added 2 hermit crabs, 6 cerith snails and a conch snail then waited 3 weeks before we added a single clown fish. I am leaving it as it is now as i am moving my turtles into a bigger tub and going to start again from scratch in the 3x18x18 tank they were in.
> 
> This hobby is certainly addictive!


Hey, thanx for the comments-yeh its addictive alright but bloody expensive! Im glad your tank is doing good, do you have pictures?


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*hey*



ipreferaflan said:


> Wicked tank. Can't wait to get mine up and running. Are you planning on adding coral?
> And how does live rock arrive? Is it kept damp via transit (surely the organisms living on it would die if not?)


Hey, thanx mate. Yeh hope to add my fist coral or 2 this weekend. You can see how the rock arrived at the start of this thread-is just boxed. There was a small bit of die of but my tank had cycled in a week so not bad plus you want a little die of as its good for the tank.

Latest tests are all zero so going good. Bought a Ca test kit and it came in at 500ppm.
Also bought a Tunze 6025 to give me better flow fo corals, pricey 
Added a few more snails also,

Will add some pics this weekend, hope to have the Tunze up and running and have at least one coral, Duncans


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update*

Thanx Bazza 

Well many things happening, some good, some not so good 

As I want corals etc I decided to get a Tunze 6025, TBH I find that in conjunction with the 2 return stock pumps its on the borderline of being to strong in my opinion. I think maybe because I have the island center piece of live rock the currents are pretty strong and sand was being disturbed so I removed the return pump flow nozzles so the return is less strong and pointed the Tunze to the surface, ive found the surface turbulence as reduced evapouration. You can see what i mean in pic









I then discovered a few small aiptasia  so I went out to try and get a peppermint shrimp, I did get one along with a yellow watchman gobby and 2 astrea snails. Well soon see if its a true pepper and sorts the aips out or ill need to think about injecting.
Ive found the watchman a fish full of character, taken to the front corner of the tanbk and will defend it as my algae toothbrush found out today ha ha.

















Today I picked up my first coral frags from a local hobbiest, went with a 3 headed duncans coral and a 4 headed candy cane and would have bought more if I had more
money ha, thanx again Robert!
Both have opened up well with maybe the duncans a bit better,
























I attached the candy first but did the ducans better as you could barley see the putty.

Issues ive had apart from the aipastia is hair algae! its not out of control but it is annoying, my parms are all 0 so dont think its the nitrates or phosphate but as my phoshate test kit isn't the best (reading zero btw) im renewing my rowaphos after 4 weeks for the forseeable future. How often do use change yours?

The other issue was a killer snail, I bought it as a Nassarius and thought its darker shell was just a varient but it got a hold of one of my new astrea snails and sucked and ate it straight out of its shell! I cant see any info on it, can anyone help?

Well thats where I am, feeling thats me with the fish side of things-want to add a pistal shrimp stick to the coral side of things.


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## weetabix ears (Aug 27, 2010)

your tanks getting there mate as you know its all about waiting with marine tanks , im in need of some more blue knee hermits as they fight to the death so i only have a couple of bruisers left :lol2: atb daz


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update pics*

hey all-im on my 3rd laptop now. My parent old one which was barley used, really sad how dependant we are on them now eh 
Well look forward to seeing tank threads now that I can open pictures.
Here's a few pics of hoe mines ben going, yellow peel angel went back as was to rough and was bullying my yellow watchman bad.
Mounting my new deltec skimmer tomorrow to replace the stock, cant wait, Deldec MCE 300, bit overkill maybe lol.

Ive ben daily dosing vodka at .1ml, has worked really well and ill defo kep doing it, very small amount to dose but it keeps my trates at absolute zero which they basically where but its a far brighter yellow when tested now.


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## xvickyx (Jul 21, 2009)

WOW it looks brilliant!

Man I want my marine tank back now  miss it so much!


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



xvickyx said:


> WOW it looks brilliant!
> 
> Man I want my marine tank back now  miss it so much!


Thanx Vicky, TBH the camera doesn't do the colours justice, will need to work on my picture taking skills lol


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## smith86king (Oct 12, 2008)

Brillant looking tank looks like a lot of effort has gone in to it!
how did you find the JBL filter media?
What does the vodka do agin sorry missed that bit,


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*cheers*



smith86king said:


> Brillant looking tank looks like a lot of effort has gone in to it!
> how did you find the JBL filter media?
> What does the vodka do agin sorry missed that bit,


Cheers bud, still some way of where I want to be with it but its coming along.
I never had a nitrate problem anyway so the JBL was just added nitrate protection.
Vodka is an organic carbon source and when dosed correctly it can reduce nutrients in your system-namely nitrates and phoshates.
It does it by increasing the amount of bacteria in the system, this then takes up the N03 and P04. The result is more skimmate production so a good skimmer is a must for someone trying it.

My bioload is very small so ive stopped right now, : victory:


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*new fish*

Got this chap yesterday, Mr starry blenny-what a fish this is has the character of my yellow watchman just slightly more amplified. Really great to watch


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*skimmer*

Added new skimmer Deltec MCE300, bit overkill maybe but ill always have it for upgrades 








Excuse the sock, is my de-gassing bag for micro bubbles ha ha

Will have 2 new corals up tomorrow.


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*new coral*

Got some new corals and supplys

Alveopora- This is one beautiful coral, my biggest and think fav 

















Trachyphyllia- amazing under actinics, cant wait to upgrade them which is my next to do

















Frog spawn- got a few head which I glued to my existing little frag 









All my balling lite stuff arrived today to will get that mixed up tomorrow.


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tank update*

Wee update on the tank, have a TMC fluidiser that I hope to have up and running this weeked as well as a long strip of blue LED's that should hopefully get it nice and blue  But Ill add more pics as I do that.

Ive bought acrylic rods so a major rescape could be on the cards next week onder:

Ive obtained a small frag tank that I think is going to be great, only 17 litres, hope to have it going over weekend and will post pics.

New corals, decent size frog spawn (which the clowns now live in ) 2 little SPS frags which I believe are pocillopora, a big torch which is awesome and pics dont do it justice, xenia, not sure what the purple bubble one is called but it looks like ricordea coral, maybe someone can tell me.

Fish wise I got a matted file fish which is awesome! a tiny coral goby which bullies the file fish  and a blood shrimp. Ive moved on the starry blennie as it was just getting to big-will defo get another once I upgrade tanks in a few years


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## owlbassboy (Jun 26, 2008)

looking amazing dude!!!


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



owlbassboy said:


> looking amazing dude!!!


Thanx matey:notworthy:


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*leds*

Fixed my LED strip to the hood tonight, considering the lights and adapter combined cost £13 I think its made quite a difference 
Sorry for shakey pics:annoyed:

Ive put a before and after pic to show the difference


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## scarlettdecourcier (Mar 27, 2010)

This looks awesome! A marine tank is one of those things I'd love to have eventually, at the moment don't have the energy/money/etc. to invest in one but I'm sure I will later on! Congrats on the setup, looking great


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



scarlettdecourcier said:


> This looks awesome! A marine tank is one of those things I'd love to have eventually, at the moment don't have the energy/money/etc. to invest in one but I'm sure I will later on! Congrats on the setup, looking great


Thanx, can be pricey but well worth it 
Wee update, had to move on my matted file fish and I kept seeing it taking chunks from my torch coral-was gutted as it was a great fish that I got from a reefer that closed his tank down. Took it to my local LFS and swapped it for a pom pom crab which has taken up residence in the tiny wee cave where the firefish and watchman goby live ha ha-thought 3's a crowd
















Picked up a Banggai cardinal from a local reefer that was bullying her fish and am really pleased with it,


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## hippyhaplos (Jan 12, 2010)

Looks really good:no1::no1:

What shop you using for your stock btw?


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*stock*



hippyhaplos said:


> Looks really good:no1::no1:
> 
> What shop you using for your stock btw?



thanx: victory:

fish and inverts mostly coral reef, cardinal from private seller.
All my coral are from reefers, never bought one from a shop


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*new scape*

Well wrecked my tank yesterday and done a new scape-not enjoyable lol, well I dont find it so anyway. Had the rock out for about 2.5 hours so expecting a good bit of die off/ mini cycly so went out and bought more salt to day so I can do frequent water changes all week.

One casualty so far and that was a small torch coral head, also lost all my pulsing xenia  as it was attached to the rock-wish Id not cut it off 

Happy with the scape thou, pics dont really show the shape-will try and get better pics once everything settles. There now alot more open water at the front and I think ill still get good flow around the tank.


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

That is looking awesome! I am so jealous  I miss my marine tank!


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## Lucifus (Aug 30, 2007)

Would love to run a marine tank, got a fish tank ready just not the funds to put out on an upgrade kit (ba***rds make you buy the kit just so you can get the wier for the protein skimmer) + live rock at the moment. Plus i cant really get to the filter at the back properly due to its location.

Yours looks fantastic and its making me insainly jealous. :lol2:


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*

thanx for the kind comments-yeh your not right there not cheap lol, I honestly cant imagine a more expensive hobby, just keeps taking taking taking lol


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update*

-------------------------


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*update*

Hey folks 
Added a few new corals and thought id post a few pics 
A gorgeous trumpet coral








And a sweet Ricordea mushroom 









Is my birthday on wednesday and am 30  lol but I did get this from my sister, sweet bit of kit 
















I picked up this chaeto today from a friend and hoping my light arrives tomorrow and this will be going in the back somewhere lol










And 2 tank shots, think this is the best it has looked, the torch will need to get halfed and sold as its pretty huge, 4 heads with only 3 out in this pic!!


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## Arcadiajohn (Jan 30, 2011)

Very nice indeed, well done,

J


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*ta*

cheers, really love it 
love my dart frogs also, is tight as whats best lol, think a marine tank is best for a feature in the living room for sure


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## AshMashMash (Oct 28, 2007)

That really is looking fantastic! :no1:


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



AshMashMash said:


> That really is looking fantastic! :no1:


Thanx, it was seeing a tank on here that started me off, really love the hobby-even though ive not been in it long


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*wee update, pic heavy*

Hey all, tanks been going pretty well and have add a few new corals. My cardinal died unfortunately-just wasn't eating.


































































pics dont do it justice, the colours are so much brighter

only problem is bryosis, fecking hate that sh##! lol


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## chondro13 (Aug 18, 2008)

What a truly stunning tank! Id love to have the dosh and time to devote to something like this :notworthy: hats off to you hun!


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*thanx*



chondro13 said:


> What a truly stunning tank! Id love to have the dosh and time to devote to something like this :notworthy: hats off to you hun!


Thanx Hellen, Its my only hobby now as all the darts are gone, I need to borrow a photographer to take good pics like see on tank of the month lol, they must have shit hot camera's and lighting etc :whip:


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

Seeing the first pic of the setup with the last picture shows a really great success, stunning reef!

was a bit of bad luck, the pulsing xenia :sad:

can a take pictures for wallpaper purposes? lol


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*xenia*



abadi said:


> Seeing the first pic of the setup with the last picture shows a really great success, stunning reef!
> 
> was a bit of bad luck, the pulsing xenia :sad:
> 
> can a take pictures for wallpaper purposes? lol


Yeh of course lol, no need to ask-ive an old one as my wallpaper :blush: And cheers for the complements, it was on here I seen my first tank that got me going

I got a small bit of xenia from another reefer a while back but to be honest im contemplating removing all of it. It grows to fast and can be difficult to trim


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## Pearson Design (Jan 21, 2010)

deansie26 said:


> Yeh of course lol, no need to ask-ive an old one as my wallpaper :blush: And cheers for the complements, it was on here I seen my first tank that got me going
> 
> I got a small bit of xenia from another reefer a while back but to be honest im contemplating removing all of it. It grows to fast and can be difficult to trim



xenia is like a weed, easy to just grab chunks and literally rip it out lol, wont cause any problems.

as a long time marine keeper, i have to say ive never been a fan or an advocat of nanos, they are just too small to be stable imo.
your tank looks great, and you have some nice zoas!

what filtration do you have? and what lighting?


EDIT - sorry, just rad it all properly lol

just a quick question, if you have all this kit and setup, why not upgrade to a better zised tank? its easier to maintain water quality and also provides more room for coral growth and more fish. just a thought.
i have a 5x2x2 reef setup and i love it! its my pride and joy


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## abadi (Jul 25, 2010)

Pearson Design said:


> xenia is like a weed, easy to just grab chunks and literally rip it out lol, wont cause any problems.
> 
> as a long time marine keeper, i have to say ive never been a fan or an advocat of nanos, they are just too small to be stable imo.
> your tank looks great, and you have some nice zoas!
> ...


i agree, if u have had a great success in this tank i suggest you can make it to a bigger tank, would be much better although unless u dont have the space.
best thing about me is - 150 gallon marine tank + no work lol, i just choose the fish and corals.

i have never had any overgrowth of xenias, only have one colony that is sitting there nice pulsing and growing very slowly, we never get any real fast growing corals apart from zoas, xenias, and sinularia sp (if that counts)

nice tank Pearson D, do you have a LED? your water has no blueish colour in there, wouldn't be bothering to stick a plain blue wallpaper in there, would be much better looking and more natural : victory:


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Gorgeous nano  Love the alveopora - one of my faves too although am a goniopora gal myself lol

this is my little bit of saltyness....



















Have also rescaped rock to allow for more cave structure and water movement


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*nano*



Pearson Design said:


> xenia is like a weed, easy to just grab chunks and literally rip it out lol, wont cause any problems.
> as a long time marine keeper, i have to say ive never been a fan or an advocat of nanos, they are just too small to be stable imo.
> your tank looks great, and you have some nice zoas!
> what filtration do you have? and what lighting?
> ...


Hey, nano's have there place for sure-folk dont always want or have the room for a big tank sometimes. Ill defo get a "huge" lol tank with my next upgrade for sure but after spending the cash on this brand new id be throwing money away just to upgrade right now, will enjoy this for a year or 2 then upgrade.
Im running carbon, rowaphos, filter floss. Also have my mce 300 and dose a little vodka daily.
If you can maintain a nano a big tank should be easier,only difference is your water changes wont replenish supps like mag, cal etc.

Im doing the balling light on this tank but to be honest I dont think it necessary on a tank this size if your doing decent water changes.

Valuable knowledge learned thou eh.

ps. sweet tank btw


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tank*



brittone05 said:


> Gorgeous nano  Love the alveopora - one of my faves too although am a goniopora gal myself lol
> 
> this is my little bit of saltyness....
> Have also rescaped rock to allow for more cave structure and water movement



Thanx brit 

funny enough the alveopora is my fave coral lol, I want a goniopora but these corals arent easy to find eh, i was lucky to get mine.

Love your tank, the shape is really nice!


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Thanks hunny 

I am lucky to have a real good coral shop near me and a couple of people i know through various sites who ca usually get them 

I got a gorgeous goni in my tank from my local shop - she has alveopora too but am saving for a seahorse tank  xxx


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*money*



brittone05 said:


> Thanks hunny
> 
> I am lucky to have a real good coral shop near me and a couple of people i know through various sites who ca usually get them
> 
> I got a gorgeous goni in my tank from my local shop - she has alveopora too but am saving for a seahorse tank  xxx


We just need to win the lotto eh lol x


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Nahhh just convince the hubby to give me the bank card back haha ( shhh I know the details off the top of my head anyways haha )

Just been putting my cash into the bull nose - it is qite a mission to deal with as it is so tall.

Just bought a gorgeous tank for the horseys getting it set up over the coming week or 2 so pics will follow xx


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## twofast4u (Jan 17, 2011)

*my tank*

when i was cleaning tank found a crack so had to shut it down bad thing was when sold everything took water out wasent a crack was silicone on bottom where tank was made gutted was my 1st tank

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts001.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts013.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts012.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts014.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts0372.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts047.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts0532.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts069.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts136.jpg

http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/f6f0c31c.jpg

had alot more live rock and coral before i sold it and fish was hard work but was worth it sorry posted it wrong post


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*tank*



twofast4u said:


> when i was cleaning tank found a crack so had to shut it down bad thing was when sold everything took water out wasent a crack was silicone on bottom where tank was made gutted was my 1st tank
> 
> http://i643.photobucket.com/albums/uu160/TW0FAST4U/allsorts001.jpg
> 
> ...


thats a real shame mate, bet you where totally gutted.

btw in photobucket copy and paste the code thats in brackets, you pics will appear when you paste that code rather than just putting links up


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## twofast4u (Jan 17, 2011)

i was thanks ill do that next time gald i didnt thought not my post wouldnt want to hijack someone elses post good thing that come out of it is now into geckos but was real shame i started with tropical then sold everything changed it all to marine then 9months down the line seen the crack which wasent was a real shame took a while to get over but these things happen


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*pics*

Got a few new corals, dipped them in RO before putting in the tank, the small star polyps got decimated  just to small and fragile to take the dip. Id pretty much given up then a few days ago I noticed a few had made it so well happy, might move the piece of rock eventually so they dont start going over everything lol.


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## brittone05 (Sep 29, 2006)

Nice - the xenia should come back great they live thorugh nuclear bombs them things hahaha

I am considering adding a whopper load of xenai to my main display tank to try to create a carpet xx


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## deansie26 (Apr 28, 2009)

*star polyps*



brittone05 said:


> Nice - the xenia should come back great they live thorugh nuclear bombs them things hahaha
> 
> I am considering adding a whopper load of xenai to my main display tank to try to create a carpet xx


Its not xenia that died in the ro dip, ive quite a bit of that now and if im honest its slightly annoying in that it grown so fast, always trimming it. The wee star polyps are nice but they will probably grow rapid once they start lol: victory:


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## scottishsany (Nov 5, 2009)

*tank*

great looking tank and thanks for keeping us updated with pics.I have a tropical set up but would love a marine tank so hopefully one day.I see you go into coralreef good shop staff friendly and helpfull good luck with tank and keep the pics coming sandy


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