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580l with sump - newbie reef conversion
- Thread starter andyseatrout
- Start date
andyseatrout
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- 5 Dec 2010
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Growth has started in earnest with some of the plants already.
I will try to take some more pictures and get them posted up later. Unfortunately I can't seem to resize the images on imageshack unless I upload them again, so I will ensure that all those I upload in future will be resized.
I will try to take some more pictures and get them posted up later. Unfortunately I can't seem to resize the images on imageshack unless I upload them again, so I will ensure that all those I upload in future will be resized.
andyseatrout
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Day 4 photos:
Desperately need to get some shrimp in there to help with the algae that's starting to develop ......
Desperately need to get some shrimp in there to help with the algae that's starting to develop ......
andyseatrout
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Carried out a 300l (measured) water change on Thursday evening which took 5 hours in total, even though I had already prepared around 150l of water beforehand. The flow through the sediment filter and carbon block is what is slowing things down, so I will have to find a solution to this.
Today's parameters are:
KH: 13.1
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: >1<2ppm
Nitrate: 50ppm
Still no livestock to work on the algae yet .......
Today's parameters are:
KH: 13.1
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: >1<2ppm
Nitrate: 50ppm
Still no livestock to work on the algae yet .......
Mark Evans
Expert
I think, when this tank really takes off in terms of growth, and you can keep on top of trimming etc, It'll be absolutely stunning.
Even as it is, it looks gorgeous
Even as it is, it looks gorgeous
andyseatrout
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Thanks for the kind comments Mark, I haven't seen any recent photos of yours .....
Foxfish - I decided to run the water through a fine sediment filter and a carbon block in an effort to rid the water of chlorine. I did this to try to keep alive the bacteria that I put into the tank with the mulm from another filter, in an effort to speed up cycling. I am also now a little worried about the fact that Southern Water have just won a court case to allow them to put flouride into the water and I wanted to avoid issues from this.
I think that part of my short term solution to overcome this issue will be to increase the hose and fitting sizes on the 10" filter housings which should allow a much quicker flow of water; I certainly won't be able to continue running 5 hour water changes!
Longer term, I think that I am going to somehow have to store and preheat 300l of water - any ideas gratefully received!
Foxfish - I decided to run the water through a fine sediment filter and a carbon block in an effort to rid the water of chlorine. I did this to try to keep alive the bacteria that I put into the tank with the mulm from another filter, in an effort to speed up cycling. I am also now a little worried about the fact that Southern Water have just won a court case to allow them to put flouride into the water and I wanted to avoid issues from this.
I think that part of my short term solution to overcome this issue will be to increase the hose and fitting sizes on the 10" filter housings which should allow a much quicker flow of water; I certainly won't be able to continue running 5 hour water changes!
Longer term, I think that I am going to somehow have to store and preheat 300l of water - any ideas gratefully received!
OK mate but most of us dont bother, just straight from the tap via a hot cold shower mixer if necessary.
I understand your concerns but you can see some very successful tanks on this site using this method (the majority).
Of course I dont know what your tap water contains, perhaps you have unusually high levels of Chlorine?
Some folk actually say they only ever see their plant pearling directly after a tap water, water change, I certainly see huge amounts of pearling after my water changes.
I understand your concerns but you can see some very successful tanks on this site using this method (the majority).
Of course I dont know what your tap water contains, perhaps you have unusually high levels of Chlorine?
Some folk actually say they only ever see their plant pearling directly after a tap water, water change, I certainly see huge amounts of pearling after my water changes.
Always Broke
Member
I used to use carbon blocks on my water change, now its straight from the mains, all 350 ltrs of it every Sunday morning.
Much simpler and cheaper with no ill effect that I have noticed
5 hours I could not be bothered with that.
At 7am my pump in the tank pumps out 350ltrs in 9 mins as set by a timer. By 7.15 its all filled up again via my auto top up system ,at the same time its filling up it gets fed by the dosing pumps into the sump awaiting the main circ pump to restart once the tank and sump are filled to the correct levels.. Around 9 ish I might think about getting out of bed or not as the case may be
5 hours , you must be mad.
you tank looks stunning , cant wait to see it in a year. Its going to take some looking after.
Simon
Much simpler and cheaper with no ill effect that I have noticed
5 hours I could not be bothered with that.
At 7am my pump in the tank pumps out 350ltrs in 9 mins as set by a timer. By 7.15 its all filled up again via my auto top up system ,at the same time its filling up it gets fed by the dosing pumps into the sump awaiting the main circ pump to restart once the tank and sump are filled to the correct levels.. Around 9 ish I might think about getting out of bed or not as the case may be
5 hours , you must be mad.
you tank looks stunning , cant wait to see it in a year. Its going to take some looking after.
Simon
andyseatrout
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Thanks again for the positive comments - I will sort out this nightmare water change issue.
Became impatient with cycling yesterday and added a double dose (as instructed) of NTLABS Live filter bacteria as I am keen to get some algae eating livestock in there. Tested Nitrites today and it is now down to between 0.25 and 0.5ppm, so I am hoping to be able to add some amano shrimp and maybe some ottos tomorrow evening.
Had my first trimming session today and was very surprised about how much growth the rotala has put on. The rotala green had flopped over other growth, so I cut all this off to reveal new growth below - I hope I have done the right thing? Also removed quite a few leaves from the Aponogeton and Echinodorus as these had hair algae on them and new leaves are forming.
Growth is certainly in earnest and the Nesea crassicaulis is nearly reaching the surface - I take it that this will need lopping off before it does so?
As you can tell, I have no experience whatsoever with pruning aquatic plants, so I am happy for any advice!
Became impatient with cycling yesterday and added a double dose (as instructed) of NTLABS Live filter bacteria as I am keen to get some algae eating livestock in there. Tested Nitrites today and it is now down to between 0.25 and 0.5ppm, so I am hoping to be able to add some amano shrimp and maybe some ottos tomorrow evening.
Had my first trimming session today and was very surprised about how much growth the rotala has put on. The rotala green had flopped over other growth, so I cut all this off to reveal new growth below - I hope I have done the right thing? Also removed quite a few leaves from the Aponogeton and Echinodorus as these had hair algae on them and new leaves are forming.
Growth is certainly in earnest and the Nesea crassicaulis is nearly reaching the surface - I take it that this will need lopping off before it does so?
As you can tell, I have no experience whatsoever with pruning aquatic plants, so I am happy for any advice!
Most stem plants are very fast growing, you can lop them a few times before they loose there vigor & shape.
when this happens you need to either cut right down to the base or uproot the plant but replant the loped off heads.
To be honest you will probably soon get fed up with stems as they are really high maintenance however they do a great job in the early stages of your tank development.
So stick with them for the time being & re plant the top pieces if you can find room.
PS shrimps are a nightmare for diving over the overflow & into the sump!
when this happens you need to either cut right down to the base or uproot the plant but replant the loped off heads.
To be honest you will probably soon get fed up with stems as they are really high maintenance however they do a great job in the early stages of your tank development.
So stick with them for the time being & re plant the top pieces if you can find room.
PS shrimps are a nightmare for diving over the overflow & into the sump!
Always Broke
Member
foxfish said:
Its like a magnet to them. I get one or two out every time I clean the prefilter sponges off. Still they help eat all the junk in the sump
Si
Garuf
Member
Hmm, makes me think it must be that they're optimistic colonists, evolutionary speaking, they come from brooks a weir isn't too dissimilar so they think I'll just jump down here and hope there's more food/less predation in the hope of colonising somewhere else.
Still, must be annoying witnessing the pink mist.
Still, must be annoying witnessing the pink mist.
samkiller42
Member
Tank is looking great Andy. Certainly loving the natural look of the tank.
Hopefully sorting mine out soon, woo.
Will be subscribing to this thread for sure
Sam
Hopefully sorting mine out soon, woo.
Will be subscribing to this thread for sure
Sam
andyseatrout
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- 62
Thanks for the advice re. the stems and fancy seeing you here Sam!
Have now introduced 3 x SAE's, 5 x ottos and 5 x amano shrimp.
The shrimp already seem to be doing a great job, but I will certainly be keeping a watchful eye in the sump!
Might well introduce some shoaling fish tomorrow .....
Have now introduced 3 x SAE's, 5 x ottos and 5 x amano shrimp.
The shrimp already seem to be doing a great job, but I will certainly be keeping a watchful eye in the sump!
Might well introduce some shoaling fish tomorrow .....
samkiller42
Member
Haha, yes, thought i would join up.
Sam
Sam
andyseatrout
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Tank has now been planted for 18 days.
Cycle is now complete and I have suffered from various types of algae, but I am hoping that things are now in hand with the help of the ottos, SAE's and amanos which all seem to have done a stirling job. Yes, I do already have shrimp escapees in the weirs and the sump, as predicted!
As yet, I have not yet braved another water change and I know that I am now overdue, so will tackle this over the next couple of days.
Lighting has been 4 x 80W t5's for 6 hours from the start and growth has been great with many plants, but not that great with others, especially the Staurogyne, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Eleocharis parvula and the Christmas moss. This has all suddenly picked up within the last week and I think this might be due to the fact that I have started to dose easycarbo. The Shinnersia rivularis "Weiss-Grun" has also started to look a little yellow and this has now greened up as well and I think this is also due to the easycarbo. This leads me to think that my CO2 distribution is still not yet up to scratch, so I have tweaked that up another knotch also. (Hair algae - is this due to poor CO2 distribution, as I still have a few threads here and there?). I have also noticed that the Nesaea crassicaulis and Ludwigia glandulosa appear rather elongated, so I am again assuming that this is due to lack of CO2 as is he fact that I seem unable to get the glosso to grow neatly against or within the substrate. It sends out runners and these have roots, but just sit on top of the substrate, rather than get a grip within it, or am I just being impatient here?
I am keen to address the CO2 issue (if I have one?), but I don't think ramming even more mist in there alone is going to do the trick, so I would ideally like to make a DIY CO2 reactor that would fully dissolve the gas before it gets into the tank. I have plenty of room in the sump to do this and I would like to use a 10" water filter housing and pump to do so; I would be very interested to hear from others that have made a success of this, or another type of DIY reactor for a large volume of water.
Dosing ferts has remained the same since day 1 and I am now thinking that I might need to increase this and would again appreciate any advice on this.
For now, here are (quite a few!) pictures to show progress so far ......
Cycle is now complete and I have suffered from various types of algae, but I am hoping that things are now in hand with the help of the ottos, SAE's and amanos which all seem to have done a stirling job. Yes, I do already have shrimp escapees in the weirs and the sump, as predicted!
As yet, I have not yet braved another water change and I know that I am now overdue, so will tackle this over the next couple of days.
Lighting has been 4 x 80W t5's for 6 hours from the start and growth has been great with many plants, but not that great with others, especially the Staurogyne, Hydrocotyle verticillata, Eleocharis parvula and the Christmas moss. This has all suddenly picked up within the last week and I think this might be due to the fact that I have started to dose easycarbo. The Shinnersia rivularis "Weiss-Grun" has also started to look a little yellow and this has now greened up as well and I think this is also due to the easycarbo. This leads me to think that my CO2 distribution is still not yet up to scratch, so I have tweaked that up another knotch also. (Hair algae - is this due to poor CO2 distribution, as I still have a few threads here and there?). I have also noticed that the Nesaea crassicaulis and Ludwigia glandulosa appear rather elongated, so I am again assuming that this is due to lack of CO2 as is he fact that I seem unable to get the glosso to grow neatly against or within the substrate. It sends out runners and these have roots, but just sit on top of the substrate, rather than get a grip within it, or am I just being impatient here?
I am keen to address the CO2 issue (if I have one?), but I don't think ramming even more mist in there alone is going to do the trick, so I would ideally like to make a DIY CO2 reactor that would fully dissolve the gas before it gets into the tank. I have plenty of room in the sump to do this and I would like to use a 10" water filter housing and pump to do so; I would be very interested to hear from others that have made a success of this, or another type of DIY reactor for a large volume of water.
Dosing ferts has remained the same since day 1 and I am now thinking that I might need to increase this and would again appreciate any advice on this.
For now, here are (quite a few!) pictures to show progress so far ......
Looks great Andy, the overall effect at this stage is very nice.
You will most likely discover the plants that grow best in the conditions you are offering & might struggle with a few that don't! I think this is just normal & part of the learning process...
I have built loads of reactors - great fun but none have offered the same results as the "fog" I can get some pics up of the most successful ones I built if you like.
You will most likely discover the plants that grow best in the conditions you are offering & might struggle with a few that don't! I think this is just normal & part of the learning process...
I have built loads of reactors - great fun but none have offered the same results as the "fog" I can get some pics up of the most successful ones I built if you like.
andyseatrout
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It would be great to see some pictures of the reactors you have built - it would be great if I could add a reactor to my misting and see what that would do!
