The Reef

[subhuman]

Hi all,

I stumbled across the Nano Reef section of TFF late last year and haven't stopped reading since.
I orginally was fascinated by the Orca ready to go packages, but as time has passed I realised I wouldn't be happy with their size and limitations.

So, when another TFF advertised their Juwel Lido 120 for sale in February, I couldn't resist!

From day one the intention was to DIY some additions to the tank to make it reef friendly. But you can get carried away. It's taken me 3 months to get my setup to a point where I'm happy for it to get wet!

Here's my 'live' setup:

Juwel Lido 120
Custom hood with 8 40mm (4 each side next to lights) and 2 60mm (centre rear) Papst fans. Split hood with centre brace - lights and arcadia reflectors mounted to these
2x Interpet Twin 55w T5 PC starters (giving a total of 4 T5 PC tubes)
4 waterproof coldcathodes (2 blue, 2 UV - the UV were a waste of time!) - cabling fully insulated/waterproofed (due to the scary voltages they use)
Ambient temperature sensor under lighting
2x Maxijet 1200
1x Maxijet 600
1x Hydor Koralia Nano
Jager 100w heater
Digital thermometer

44lb Fiji Live Rock
20lb Fiji Pink Aragalive sand

These bits are currently in place in/around the tank, but while I'm cycling they're not wet:

DIY PVC 'u-tube' overflow
35 litre sump (big food safe polypropeleyne bin!)
15 litre refugium (food safe clear polypropeleyne storage box with lid!)
Eheim compact 3000+ return pump (Tee'd to refugium)
11w low voltage 6700k PC fuge light

And under construction is a dual float switch circuit (low voltage relay based with drop out switch) - just needs to be mounted to hood and sump!
Other bits include Sera Aqua Marine master test kit, refractometer, 50GPD 3 stage RO unit, big bucket of Instant Ocean a slim water butt and some buckets

In the next post I'll add some pics from various stages of the build and give an insight into the joys of mail order live rock (and a certain yellow courier company...)

The tank has been cycling now since Saturday 17/05 and as of this morning looks like this:

Cheers,
sub.

 

[SkiFletch]

Wow, someone's been reading a lot . Great start you've got there. Anyway we could get pics of the "business end"?

 

[subhuman]

Thanks Ski!
By the business end, I'll assume you mean the reef/rock itself!

I purchased my rock for the bargain price of £120 shipped. I ordered well in advance and took the day off work and waited for delivery. And waited. And waited some more. Checked the online tracking... parcel flagged as damaged. I couldn't believe it - my plans had fallen at the first hurdle! Not to mention my live rock was sat in a depot dying.

Anyway, I eventually drove 20 miles to collect the rock from the courier myself, who explained it had been held because it was a bit 'wet'. Too damn right!!

The box didn't look to healthy..

But inside, things were OK - the newspaper was still nice and damp.

Pleased with the rock, it was time to pop it in the tank. There was a huge knobbly chunk of rock, completely covered in deep purple coralline algae - this is the centerpiece of the tank at the moment.

By Monday the sand had completly cleared and it was time to have a quick scout around the tank.

First spotted - feather duster

Think this is a red foraminiferan

A white foraminiferan ? (centre of pic)

No ID for this, but is opens and closes if the flow hits it!

Can't get a great pic of this, but it's orange, about an inch tall and look like an upside down fir tree

Not sure what the red drop shaped 'leaf' growths are

Macro algae growth?

And this - early aiptasia growth ?

I've seen a bristleworm but I think its dead, sure that I can see one end lying on the sand in the back. I have some long tweezers on order so that will be picked out shortly.
A couple of interesting looking 'mush' patches with a white base at various places on the rock, so keeping an eye on these.

No other signs of life though yet.
Will begin testing for ammonia in a few days. Temp is between 80F and 81F. SG is at 1.025. Lighting period is 8am-8pm at the moment with blue cathodes on until 11pm.

I'll post as things advance

 

[subhuman]

The red drop shaped growths are apparently 'Botryocladia skottsbergii' (also known as red bubble algae)

There is some debate as to wheter removal is strictly necessary... does anyone have any thoughts?

 

[ox5477]

Well if it's as invasive as green bubble algae, I would assume you would want to remove it...

I love those shipping guys..... the best part of the picture is too.... the big ripped "Handle with Care" sign... hahaha

The pic you refer as being a smal aipstasia actually sorta looks like a regular feather duster to me, but I can see the inner "mouth" area does look a little meatier than a feather duster so I guess it could be.

I have a bunch of little "tree" looking things in my tank that have sprouted from my LR over the last couple months, but I haven't had anything bad go wrong. I guess if when you add fish and coral, if you see fish being injured or dissappearing or corals being stung, then maybe these growth are not such a good neighbor to have

Looks good Good Job on the research and the DIY as well


Just maybe a suggestion too... It may not look as pleaseing but having the rock work in a mountain shape in the middle of the tank will make tank upkeep much easier. If you don't care about cleaning the glass, thats fine, but you will still get bits of food and waste down behind the rock and could lead to problems later on, so best to arrange the rock so that you get a hand or atleast the opening of a vac into every part of the tank for cleaning

 

[subhuman]

Thanks ox. I'm still digging on the red stuff, apparently it isn't that common of an occurence so I may wait and see what happens when I eventually put a carefully selected cleanup crew in there.

I know what you mean about the cleaning, but I can't see the 'clump of rock' look working in the tank. I'm not completely happy with the current layout though - I'm toying with the idea of moving the two MJ1200's behind/under the rock work with some gaps for cleaning. At the moment the rock is creating a barrier for the sand and the rear of the tank is pretty much bare.

I may need to just get my hands in the tank and see what works!

 

[@ombomb]

how about a pic of the sump / fuge setup?

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, red bubble algae is completely uncommon. I'd still remove it if it were my tank... If it's even half as much of a nuisance as green bubble algae, you'll hate it within a month.

Btw, that last pic you posted is another feather duster, not aiptasia.

 

[kj23502]

Thanks for sharing your info and pics!!

It looks great!! Have you planned what you'll put in it?

 

[subhuman]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I appreciate it. I'll pop some pics up of the DIY sump for you all to laugh at later. But if even a small amount of extra water volume keeps everything in check I'm not fussed what it looks like

As for livestock... no hard and fast plans - at this point I'm taking things slow. Apart from the cleanup crew initial thoughts are a pair of Ocellaris clownfish, a six line wrasse, perhaps a goby of somesort.

In other news the RO unit is no longer allowed in the house after a little bathroom flooding incident last night. It also looks like I may be moving to a new place next month! Not too far though so as long as I can resist adding livestock I see no issues with the move. A large marine LFS will be much closer too!

 

[littleme1969]

Looking good
Though i would re think the six line in a tank that size as they can get a bit bossy in confined spases and have been known to be quite agreesive to certain fish.

 

[ox5477]

Sorry about the RO mishap. I had that happen when I was still living at home and my mother was none too happy, but all it took was 10 minutes and good porous mop to get all the water up... so no permanent damage. Hasn't happened in my townhouse yet, but I waiting for the day I hear tricking water coming from the bathroom and seeing the floor covered in a good layer of water.... it will happen again, just a matter of when... haha

 

[SkiFletch]

Sounds like you guys need garden hose timers

 

[@ombomb]

Looking good
Though i would re think the six line in a tank that size as they can get a bit bossy in confined spases and have been known to be quite agreesive to certain fish.

agree 100%, there are loads of wrasses out there, go for one that won't be such a headache

 

[subhuman]

Well, I'm back from a long weekend away, my brother stopped over at the house - so gave him a few pointers and asked him to keep the tank clean with the magfloat where possible... perhaps I shouldn't have been so trusting!

There's plenty of algae growth and it generally looks a mess! Spotted a very tiny starfish (or similar) moving on the sand earlier - my first real hitchiker! It disappeared when I turned the main lights on.
The red bubble algae hasn't spread but has certainly grown larger. I need to figure out someway of removal soon I think.

I'll post some pics tommorow after I sleep the drive home off. Going to do some tests before I call it a night tho and will keep a record here.