450L Of Salty Water To Tang Tank

[Morri]

I thought I would share my journey with you all from Marine to Tanganyikan I am switching from Marine purely because of time I still havea marine nano but am converting my main DT.

I am still torn between Cyps and Tropheous I will decided in a week or so once I am 100%.

My tank is 39"L x 30"W x 24"D with a 28" X 15" X 15" DSB/MM sump this brings a minor challange which I will detail as I progress

Anyway here is my tank when marine

After many hours and lots of selling off it looked like this

After a few more hours scrubbing the sump out we ended up with thids and ready to start the conversion

First off I went shopping for the bits needed to run the filter, I soon realised that buying in small amounts was gunna get very expensive!!!

I was kindly pointed to the pond section where things where more cost effective for this size of project.

first off in my smallest section I added some simple spnoge a couple of layers.

On top of the sponge I added 20L of a siporax equivilant product sintered glass

Next up was a trickle tower in my biggest section with 250 bio balls

After this was installed I still had space in this section so padded out with japenese Mat

All that is left is to fill the baffles with some fine cotton mating I will do this in the morn

The tank is full but not the sump yet as I had to make a small repair on the sump !!

The issue with the DSB sump is the middle section where the DSB would be water just flows over the top so not great for this design

So to over come this I moved my return pump to this section and will install a second smaller pump with a spray bar to move water into the siporax section this should stop any heavy particals blocking up the siporax

left to install is a simple auto top off and a temp control heaters and a koralia in the DT

I have 25Kgs of sand to wash tommorrow oh joy

 

[Morri]

A quick update after a bit of shopping tank is now full added plants for a source of bacteria as my filters are new

A little cloudy still atm hoping it will clear over the next few days

I decided to light with the a couple of Arcadia Eco Aqua tropical led tubes nice to have shimmer

 

[elisew]

Looks nice

Are you adding ammonia to cycle the tank?

 

[Morri]

I have done a little reading and it seems the safest way to cycle so most probably yes

 

[elisew]

I have done a little reading and it seems the safest way to cycle so most probably yes

 

[Morri]

Most of the jobs have now been completed Tank is very clear now

Added ammonia so ammonia is at 4.0ppm

 

[kiriyama]

Looking good, nice sized tank there, lots of options
Keep the progress pics. coming as and when

 

[Morri]

Thanks will do I do expect it to be mostly test of ammonia vials atm

I would like a nice colony of Tropheus Ikola or Bemba but the wife wants Cyps

So I will get Cyps torn between sand sifters and ventralis

I think the first in will be synodontis lucipinnis no idea on numbers I was thinking between 3 and 6

Then shell dwellers or punks not sure whh yet

 

[kiriyama]

Thanks will do I do expect it to be mostly test of ammonia vials atm

I would like a nice colony of Tropheus Ikola or Bemba but the wife wants Cyps

So I will get Cyps torn between sand sifters and ventralis

I think the first in will be synodontis lucipinnis no idea on numbers I was thinking between 3 and 6

Then shell dwellers or punks not sure whh yet

To much to choose from, I am in the process of sourcing a bigger tank for the Tropheus, I was going to move them on as there has been a lot of changes with my work and at home but i can't let them go, they are very watchable and very addictive, always active. I have sand sifters in the other tank and as soon as I have some "spare cash" I am thinking about upping the numbers, they always swim together, swim al around the rocks, I have seen them swimming above the Cyps on a few occassions
Some of the Xenos are really nice

 

[Morri]

Ammonia still at 4 guessing I need patience

 

[simonas]

I;m excitedfor you Morri I love new journals!!!

Good luck

 

[elisew]

Ammonia still at 4 guessing I need patience

You're going to need lots of patience

 

[Morri]

Meh marines cycle much quicker I will finish of my Eco tank switch over if this is going to take a while

 

[Morri]

Sump now fully finished

no idea how people keep them tidt always too many cables

Ammonia does seem to be dropping looks like 2 ppm hard to tell though

 

[Morri]

Ammonia has dropped to 1 so added some more ammonia and tested nitrites which are off the scale will test both daily now

Then I can start looking for stock