John,s Reef Journal {experience Newbie}

[nanoreef11]

Probably go with the hydor koralia 1 because these types of powerheads aren't a direct jet they push water out at a wider range giving a very nice flow on the surface and in the water. I have the nano and its the perfect size for the 14. With your 24 I would definitely go with the koralia 1. It might seem like a little much but after a while you will probably be thankful that you went for that size. Now like I said previously if the stock pump was pushing more water through the tank then go with the koralia nano. Get the new AQUASCAPE UP ALREADY. haha jk but I understand that the overhangs might not have worked in the long run.

 

[john.o]

my new aquascapeing hope you guys like it
ps i have put the poorly coral on top of a glass to eliminate my suspicion that I have a crab in there
{I am sure I seen one in there at the week end but I had drunk a bottle of vodka LOL }
I think it may be picking at the coral when the lights are out do crabs eat corals ?
i am hopeing the crab if there is one in there wont be able to climb up the side of the glass so time will tell I really hope I can save this poor little coral

 

[john.o]

Well I guess this hobby has its ups and downs my colt coral died yesterday
I was gutted to say the least and the worst ting about it is I don’t know why. My water parameters seem to be within range the only thing I can put it down to is the lack of water movement.
So I have fitted a hydor flo defector to the original outlet {a rotating thing} my live rock is now covered in tiny bubbles. There not air bubbles as the deflector duz not create any it only creates water movement I think they must be nitrate bubbles coming out of the live rock what do you think is this possible?
I am also going to fit a HYDOR KORALIA a long side the hydor flo defector to try and create random and chaotic flow which I have been told is good for corals rather than a powerful laminar flow beating on them

 

[littleme1969]

Bubbles on the rock is quite common in the early stages. Its just the rock and its bacteria settling in..lol

Sorry about the coral, but if you read the pinned topics you would stay well away from corals for about 3 months anyhow to give the water chemistry time to settle. Only things I would stick in a new set up are well established shrooms and Xenia. Both come in a variety of colours/shapes/sizes and are supper hardy. Things that are difficult to kill are a must for a newbie..lol and if you can keep them alive and healthy, then move onto something a little more challening like toads/leathers, zoos and brains. Zoos despite all the hype can be difficult to keep. I have found the smaller the colony the more likely to die.
I started out with xenia myself , its cheap !!

 

[john.o]

Little me to my rescue again thanks again for the help little me much appreciated
I here what your saying with the corals it was never my intension to put any corals in the tank for a few more months yet. But after the trouble I had with the v2 nano skimmer and the offer of a free coral from my lfs for the problems I had, well the green eyed monster took over and I could not say no . silly mistake I no but who would not of jumped at the chance of a free coral?
I also have a coral in there don’t know what it is {perhaps some one can identify it pic up above} that is doing really well it has grown in size and spread a little. I don’t intend putting any more in the tank for a while now. I have so much to learn and do first. Add a pump to create random and chaotic flow convert the rear chamber which I think I will go with live rock in there because the tank is up against a wall so wont be able to cut black plastic off or get a light down there.
but saying that i have been looking into l,e,d,s to see if I can light from above or inside, perhaps I could put some inside a clear tube to stop the water getting at them, then place the tube down the center of the filter chamber do you think this would work? As I would really prefer to go the same way as SH and converting my middle chamber into a refugium with cheato ect


13 days on 1 off + on call I really need some time off work to get my tank sorted LOL

 

[john.o]

Well things have really moved along over the last 2 weeks I have added a hydor flo defector to the original outlet {a rotating thing} and a hydor koralia. I now have nice random and chaotic flow across the tank and my nitrate levels have dropped to 0ppm which is good news my ph has not changed any {7.9} and stable. but all is not well.
I went in search of a light for my cheato refugium project yesterday and on my travels went into a L.F.S which is only 2 miles away from where I live. He has just started keeping marine again after one of the other marine stockiest in the area is closing down. Well we got talking about marines ect and he offered to test my tank water before I bought any live stock so I thought well why not, just as well I did my hydrometer is reading 1.023 and when he tested it well or my god its only 1.020 very low . How the hell am I going to get it back up I cant just go put a load of salt mix in the tank can I. what’s going to be the best way for me to get the salt mix back up as quickly as possible?

On the plus side I also found out that maidenhead aquatics are opening a shop in the area as well they have got a 20w led light which they recon will be bright enough for my cheato refugium project there going to bring it up with them on Tuesday. {Looking forward to getting stuck into the refugium}

 

[BigC]

Make up a batch of water when you do your water change (30% maybe) but this time make it over the odds say 1.030 test again in 3 days time and either reduce the salt for another waterchange. keep juggling until you reach what you require. Don't do it all at once, 3 waterchanges over 3 day intervals ought to do it..
Lighting for the fuge I use an 18w Energysaver 6500k Daylight twist bulb. Got these from BLT direct

[URL="http/www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=2...ini+Spiral+Lamp"]http/www.bltdirect.com/product.php?pid=2...ini+Spiral+Lamp[/URL]
Regards
BigC

 

[Anguilla82]

don't try to increase the sg by more than 0.001 every 24 hours as it can put alot of stress on the inhabitants.
as for the dodgy sg reading, did i notice in your tank pic that you had a hydrometer in there? if so i'd bin it and get a refractometer as they are far more accurate than the swing arm hydrometers!
lastly the other coral you have looks like a clove polyp colony (xenia type of thing)

 

[john.o]

OK called round by my friend’s house today and got a refractometer
so i can now start raising my salinity.
i have a 2 liters pop bottle which I have given a really good wash out and drilled a hole in the cap and added a small length off air line and a valve to I normally use it to acclimatize my new fish ect.
i Drained 2 liters off the tank water off into the pop bottle and added a little salt to it to lift the Salinity then over 1 hr I slowly trickled the water back into the filter chamber the tanks salinity has gone up from 1.020 to just over 1.021 so the same again tomorrow
do you think trickling the water back in over 1hr is long enough or should I do it slower?

 

[john.o]

View attachment 51743Update SG now 1.024

Well I have also started a thread and searched high and low looking for a solution to lighting my 2nd chamber
I found a 10w halogen pond light but it may produce a certain amount of heat so i started to look for LED lighting again as it was the only real option left I could not really find any thing that would do the job they were all to big not enough watts come in 2-3 ect or had stainless steel cases and I had my concerns about any effects the salt water would have on the so called stainless steel cases

So after coming across these ……..

<a href="http/www.ultraleds.co.uk/acdc-cool-white...16v-p-1718.html" target="_blank">http/www.ultraleds.co.uk/acdc-cool-white...16v-p-1718.html</a>

I have decided to put my own custom light into the lid
I have bought the following items from maplins …..



The halogen light bulbs in the pic are just so I can test the system wiring ect and will be replaced with G4 6 Led Cool White Led Bulb 8v-16v 20w 6500k when they come in the post.


Any comments much appreciated do you think the led’s will be bright enough ect?

 

[john.o]

pic of light

 

[BigC]

Hey John,
Excellent,If you could tell me how you went about the job from start to finish, equipment wiring etc, etc.
Regards
BigC

 

[john.o]

Big C
No problem,
I am still waiting for the G4 led light to come in the post {7 – 21 days }
running on 10w halogen bulb at the moment { hot hot hot its good }

When the led finally gets here, I will have to strip it all down again and come up with some sort of an idea how to mount the led light in the lid. I have some thing in mind, going to mount the g4 bulb holder in a piece of 40mm kitchen sink waste pipe and solvent weld the pipe inside lid and hopefully this will direct the light straight down at the moment there is a small amount of light creeping into the main tank. Which looks really good when the main lights are out but I don’t want the main display lit 24hrs a day
But any way when I strip it down I will take some photos and tell you guys how i went about the job from start to finish, equipment wiring tools etc, etc

 

[BigC]

Good, Interesting to see the build and the effect.
Regards
BigC

 

[john.o]

Ok the led g4 light bulb has come in the post today
I can’t believe how compact this thing is and the light it puts out.It’s really bright I will try and get a pic up later on when it gets dark





I have the weekend off work so I will strip every thing down take some pics and go over the build for you guys