Tina's Twin Bommies

[TigerIssey]

Okay, as you may know my father in law was collecting my new tank found in the classified section on this site, seller was Lisajane1968, thank you very much.





The tank is with the mother and father in law now in Wolverhampton and will be making the journey up t' Lancashire on Saturday.

The tank is Seabray 39"x15"x18" with a sump of 13"x16"x18" so are 38g and 13g UK respectively. It comes with cabinet and hood.

Here is the picture Lisa had in her advert, I will take some larger ones when I get the tank.

I have spent alot time in the last month on melevs reef site and recently on Richard Durso's site. I tried to get the father in law to measure the diameter of the pre-drilled holes for the sump so that I could work out what size pipe and fittings I need for the durso and the rest of the pipework. This did not happen however, the father in law was just not getting it so Andrew said we would sort it at the weekend.

The father in law also asked if the sump went inside the main tank

And you were wondering why he got a list of instructions

Anyway to the first couple of my questions, I am sure there will be many more.

What paint do I use to paint the back of the glass on the rear of the tank?
When I paint it do I use a brush, or one of the small rollers?

Would like to get his bit done so that it can at least sit on its stand where it is going whilst I sort the plumbing and the rest out.

 

[JoshH]

Hey Tina

Looks really nice, I think this'll be fantastic if it's anything like your nano!! sump inside the tank

I've seen people using a small roller and hamerite paint, I think I'll use something similar on this nano im soon to set up

Keep us updated, this'll be exciting!!

BTW, what lighting do you plan to use?

 

[TigerIssey]

Cheers Josh

Initially I am just going to get a couple of T5 or T5 compacts to add to what I already have (may change) as for now I am happy with the few softies I have and I really want more LPS. I would also like to make the next large purchase the RO unit, having a larger tank means I will need more water, it would be easier with my own RO. At a later date when I am happy I am doing everything right with the LPS, I will upgrade the lighting to either LED's (expensive outlay, cheap to run) or metal halide (cheap outlay, expensive to run)in order to get SPS aswell. At some point in the near future, I will be compensated for the accident at work, this will buy my lighting (amongst other things).

As you will see from the previous journal (link in sig), I have alot of very aggressive corals already. There are also some more agressive ones that I would like, I would like to be able to group the Euphyllias in order to avoid them stinging the more delicate corals.

I am tempted to add a little base rock to form a two island structure with the extra length I now have, I could use some of the live and some base in each stack. As it is a new tank, I would like to completely change the look, as I said at the start or middle of the old journal, I see the tank evolving, this is the first step I wish to make towards that. I am now not happy with my placement on the corals at all and envisage a completely different look, although I probably will not be happy with it for a while yet.

If you read any other part of the forum, you may also know I did manage to get a male L260 Queen Arabesque plec (pictures in link to South American Tank), hopefully they will breed and give me a little exchange for corals or salt or something at LFS, I will probably be able to sell some on here too. They have recently been put on the Brazilian banned from export list so it will benefit the hobby as a whole if they do breed. This is one reason why I still have the 55g and why I want the 20g long for a fry tank or if needed a breeding tank.

More updates as my thoughts progress.

 

[ben1987]

hi tina.
IME the best way of paintin the back of a tank is ronseal tile paint from B&Q. the one coat stuff if you can find it. Then either a gloss mini roller ( the kind with the smooth foam head, also from B&Q) Or a decent quality loss free brush.

Re lighting...i reckon you would probably need 250W halide sat abit of the surface to get good coverage from one bulb. I did this on my old 36" and that spread through the whole length. Where the old 150W seemed to struggle either side.

 

[TigerIssey]

Cheers ben, that was the roller I was thinking I may need, we should have a few in one of the sheds, Somewhere (Andrew looks after the sheds so they are not tidy at all). Just need to get to a B &Q or send Andrew to Homebase on his way home. Problem if I go to B&Q myself is that I will need a wheelchair, would not be able to walk that far.

Thanks for the tip on the lighting too, I had only been looking at the 150's, the tank is 39" long so I would definately need more.

Do you see any problems with adding base rock instead of more live rock, I intend to stock the fish very slowly but will add to corals in the meantime.

 

[ben1987]

no, no problem. Id use reef bones though. Then cure them for a little while. They are very pourus bits of dry live rock. So will end up far better live rock than any ocean rock you could use. 6 months in and you probably wont tell the difference.

They just need a soak for a bit incase they had dead stuff in them.

 

[TigerIssey]

Only thing is though Ben, I don't want the look you get with the reef bones, I know they are good for bacteria colonisation but its the look of them.

I really do like tanks with them in, just don't want that look in this tank, it is not what I envisage the islands to look like, unless I could get some that would not be seen.

I am aiming for it to look like a couple of bommies seen on the back reef areas, this I am hoping will give me extra area for attaching corals, reef bones would not help me in making the stacks. I was hoping to get a few flatter pieces similar to those on the top of my current arrangement in order to try building these with slight overhangs. This will give me some areas that will have indirect light, perfect for my bubble coral, have also seen a nice Physogyra in my LFS I have my eye on so would need a few similar areas.

I managed to get a few back copies of Ultra Marine magazine when I was last in the LFS, there is a nice article in one that shows this formation as it was originally with no corals and after the corals have grown, it looks stunning if you can pull it off. There are also alternative layouts, this one appeals more to me though.

I was so restricted in the nano with the rock placement that I am really looking for something special this time. It will also at a later date allow for nice placement of montipora etc.

 

[ben1987]

reef bones sint just dead SPS coral skeleton. It can be just dry rock. Any shape. I dont like the old coral bits. But teh plating and normal chunks look ace imo

 

[TigerIssey]

Ahhh, I thought they all had that branch type look to them. Would you have a link to anywhere that sells them, I presume you can stipulate the type of shapes you want.

 

[ben1987]

this guy had some good shapes.

http/www.live-rock.co.uk/reef_bones.htm
http/www.reefstock.co.uk/index.php?main_...edho83hu7m4rg13
http/www.bluzooaquatics.co.uk/ProductDet...;ProductID=1207

the cheapest place used to be a german company, cant find their link though

 

[TigerIssey]

I like the shapes on the second two links, won't be able to use the first one, that is way more than I need. I only really want another 5-8 kilo and am tempted really only to get 5kg. I have some rock with my corals and want to leave space for more that come on rock.

On to the curing, after a good scrub to get rid of anything dead, I would leave in an aerated container with salt water until ammonia and nitrite are zero, is that right. Would I need to dump a prawn in there to kick start it?

 

[ben1987]

id give it a good scrub. Soak it in fresh water with an air stone for a bit. Then srub and change the water every couple of days. Then maybe give i a week in some salt water testing ammonia and PH. White rock can alther the PH.

 

[TigerIssey]

That is simpler than I thought then, Cheers Ben.

 

[ben1987]

depending on postage though, you may be better off searching ebay for some LR.

 

[TigerIssey]

I was thinking to combine the postage with some of the plumbing items I need, I would have to pay postage on that anyway so it may then be worth it. Some of the valves for shutting off and the bulkhead fittings, it may be easier than a trip to B&Q, it is a 3/4 hour drive from me to the nearest B&Q warehouse, don't forget, I live in the sticks, it takes 8 miles till we hit a road that is not a country lane!!

Will also look on ebay, just the shapes I want are quite specific.