The Upgrade Has Landed!

[weezawoo]

Lovely tank! And what a bargain!!! such a saving on that!!!

When I filled my tank (550l) I used a spare pump to pump water my RO unit made, no way could I lift it up, I started off with a jug

Is it all filled up now or you still got some to go?

 

[Stampos]

I had two wheeled trolley to move it between the shop and the car, nightmare then just a question of lugging it around once home.

Pretty much there now in terms of water, accounting for displacement of adding salt and LR etc. Just letting it warm up before adding salt tomorrow and starting the return pump

 

[Stampos]

Planned on adding salt tonight, but I spent nearly 2hrs trying the get the standpipes balanced! Silent now though

Spotted a small drip from one of the connections under the tank so siliconed it up and will leave it 24hrs to cure.

Simon

 

[Stampos]

Added 30kg of live rock yesterday, pics to follow later

 

[seffieuk]

Added 30kg of live rock yesterday, pics to follow later

 

[Stampos]

Here we go

My first weekend off for ages, so lots of time for shopping! Went to a LFS who is not so local, as they have some great pieces or LR in two massive vats. When I arrived I asked for 20kg, so the assistant gets the scales and then tells me they aren't working properly. After much buggering about he comes over and says "they aren't quite right so you may get a bargain."

Picked out my favourite pieces and it weighed in at 22kg, happy with that I paid and left. Got home, jumped on the scales and weighed myself, then weighed myself whilst holding the box. 30kg! Awesome!

Bunged them in within 30 minutes of purchase so hoping for a minimal cycle, quite happy with the "look" of a reef wall. When I do the final scape with the extra 15kg in my nano I will make two islands with a swim through in the middle

(taken under 6500k lights)

Nice bit of life spotted so far as well!

Turbo snail and I think an Asterina star?

Feather dusters

Purple mushrooms

A solitary polyp

You may have noticed the white powdery dust that's settled on the base and some of the equipment. I think it is calcium carbonate and have been manually removing it from the glass, the water has particles in still and has already clogged a 100micron sock. So chucked a 200micron sock stuffed with floss in:

Well happy!

Simon

 

[MissG55]

Looks fantastic, cant wait to see it full of life.

 

[woody88]

Looking good mate! Some nice pieces of rock there and liking the scape!

How much was the LR per kg if you don't mind me asking!

 

[Stampos]

Thanks guys

Woody the LR was £10.95 per kilo but it is full of life! Spotted loads of feather dusters (some quite large) and also baby cerith snails etc.

I had a quick re-scape tonight, which I liked for an hour then changed my mind about so re-did it. The main base pieces are in so I added 4 bags of coral sand (16kg) which makes it look good! I've got six days off after Thursday so all being well I'll be ready to shut down the nano and transfer the stock

Simon

 

[Stampos]

Been testing the water and today had these results:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 5

Cycle complete!

As I finished work early, I thought I'd start moving stock from the nano - ended up completing the whole move all went well, and pretty happy with the scape. I've intentionally left some bits I'm not happy with out of place (in my mind at least) so as not to stress the livestock.

Any comments good or bad on the scape welcomed, I wanted a reef wall/valley type look to give plenty of swimming space and places for corals.

And a FTS

Simon

 

[weezawoo]

Love it

 

[Stampos]

Cheers Weeza, so do my clowns - never seen them use so much of the tank

Toby the Goby has found a burrow at the front of the tank too - once all is settled I'll get him a little pistol shrimp buddy

 

[Stampos]

A couple of days since the move and I'm pleased to report that so far, so good!

All parameters remain stable, and the occupants are doing well. Added two more Halloween hermits (going to get an army of these) to boost the CUC. I've got 6 days off now so finally have some time to get the tank set up complete. Need to fit the PH monitor, put the cheato in the sump and move the powerheads around. Then just a case of wiping the glass and other bits.

So happy with how my stock has responded to the move, all seem so much happier than before. Fed the tank some rotifiers and mysis last night to ensure there was enough food present and got a feeding response from everything

Here's a couple of pics:

Also mega mega happy that Toby the Goby has a burrow at the front of the tank I put a loose piece of LR when scaping near it and he uses it as a perch, so I guess it has to stay now

Simon

 

[seffieuk]

Oh Toby, is just gorgeous and what a great photo

Seffie x

 

[Stampos]

Thanks Seffie, I was pretty chuffed when I took it

Done a few bits today, I fitted a power bar to the rear of the tank so I could finally reposition my powerheads and set my sump up. I also added cheato to my sump, and got two bags of copepods from my LFS to seed it.

The powerheads create a nice surface movement now:

I used the credit I had with the LFS to buy a new LPS coral..................a metallic green hammer

He has opened up further than in this pic, but I moved him slightly and he seems to be sulking again. Will keep an eye on him!

Finally a FTS, need to clean the glass and powerheads tomorrow!

Simon