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5ft hole in the wall

If I ca get tapatalk to work that is.


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Currently running as this ..

With history pics of how it was built to follow.


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So long story short

I guess i will give you the preamble as is expected.

I kept trops, then cichlids, then marines in the 80's when UG filters, tufa rock, Berlin skimmers were popular.... I then got hitched and that put pay to all that.

Kids come along, and we go through a two foot cold water tank, then convert to trops... Then we visit a LFS and see Marines,,, the new uber easy to keep Reef tanks... LR & power skimmers & Circulation!!..

So we buy an AM Perc 120 after lots of research, study, preparation, consideration and pleading :thumbsup: with the better half.

Anyhue two years later and we have done all we can do with with a Perc 120,.....

You should note....Its amazing the number of pipes, wires & tubes you can get through a 5cm circular hole as found down the back of the third most stupid compartment of a Perc 120.. I had, the standard three pumps, plus skimmer, MH lights, actinic lights, led lights, tunze streams x2, auto top up, in & out, calcium reactor? check!, phos reactor? check!, carbon reactor? check, heaters? three of em! cooler fans, check! more and more, its like the tardis that hole, and its a good job i'm six foot four and have arms that drag on the floor.......

Anyway, two years later and errmm well, we suggest to the wifee, "you know well, what a good idea it would be to brick up the garage, put a floor in, knock a door through and make a wonderful gym cum utility room......" and then tag on the end in a quieter voice........."oh, and we could knock a five foot hole in the wall, and build a great big 2.4m stand for all the gubbins to go in"....

Silence was the firm reply......

but then as if by magic...


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So we had this
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Which became this

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And this

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To finally this

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Which looked like this

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And

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With a range of corals, like

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Then I lost my job and the leccy bill was too much with twin 250w metal halides and umpteen pumps.

So.....


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I really wanted a six footer, but when i drew a six foot line on the wall...OMG it looked huuuuge!!!: and so it was agreed by the powers that be, that five foot was the optimum size.

It is 58 1/4" by 24" by 24" - why the funny measurements, you may ask.. Well as a typical Yorkshireman, i have short arms and deep pockets, so money is a consideration in everything. ;)

The LFS i approached at the start said, look we have a tank that was made specially for a specific place, but the buyer ducked out. So, as a hole in the wall can be anysize, yours truly stepped up.



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The suspense is too much to bare? :lol: Enjoying the story, and I am waiting in anticipation for the next installment. Excellent job.
Lovely corals by the way. :thumbup:
 
So, i run a four foot tank as the sump, which was set up like this for marines.

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This has changed into the following;

Apologies for the poor pics,

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The overflow runs into the sump, through 3 large sponge mechanical filters. Then the water runs up through ceramic tubes, then down through siporax. The last two chambers hold the heaters and co2 reactor.

I use a 7kg co2 cylinder which I can swap for a full one locally when it is empty, which is every 8 - 12 weeks.

I use an auto top-up system to replace any evaporated water, which is the tunze osmolator. This means I can fill a 5 gallon container and forget it for a few weeks.

These shots are a few weeks after it was set up

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Hope you like.



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Hmm. The substrate is akadama.
I use 4 t5 tubes for 7 hours a day on timers.
Co2 comes on 2 hours before lights on and off 1 hour before lights off.

I use a ph controller to manage the co2 which is a holdover from the marines. The ph is usually about 7.4 in the morning and I run it at 6.6 during the day. I know this is not the most efficient so I use a drop checker and leave it without fiddling to provide stability.

In terms of flow, the sump return is 3500 lph and a tunze 2000lph internal.

I dose with the pps pro methodology and it seems to work ok, I dose 50ml of micro and macro each day, with 20 gallon water change a week.

In terms of flora and fauna I use local suppliers of which I am blessed to be near two very good and diverse supplies.
My favourite fish are my six denisonii barbs which are 5" now, and my Angola barbs.

My planting style is basic as I don't have the time or patience to micro manage the tank. So it's more jungle themed.

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Hi Blue

All i can say is perfect looks like a living picture framed on the wall always changing the scene never them same from min to min could sit and watch this for hours and hours and just get engrossed in the depth of detail real nice one of the nicest built in planted tanks I've ever seen.
 
Many thanks for your comments. I will have to get my slr out and do some proper full tank shots.

I am still struggling to find an effective co2 reactor. I currently use a 2lt coke bottle with bio balls in the sump. It drops the ph from 7.4 to 6.6 and keeps it there. But I would like something a bit better designed.




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Been a while since my last update.

Some pics and a video.

Cheers

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