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From reef to aquascape

C

chsound

Member
Joined
6 Feb 2022
Messages
34
Location
Yateley
Hi all, new here.

So I took the plunge and went straight to reef from never having a fish tank before. I had a very successful tank with some rare corals and very healthy fish. See picture below.
3fbbd41e7ac08ecc66708451dbeeed3f.jpg


Decided to shut it down after 3 1/2 years and 3 different tanks due to running costs.

Naturally I ran a very high tech system so I’ll be converting the tank into a high tech aquascape setup following inspiration from the josh sim Congo tank.
Very excited to get hands deep into the aquascape!


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GHNelson said:
Welcome to the UKaps! :thumbup:
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Thank you :)
You might be able to answer this question I’ve been buzzing around with.. when starting the new tank, best practice is to fill with RO but I’ve got 375L of it to fill up so it’s not very practical with how long it takes me to fill up a barrel. Would tap water be okay? I’d personally prefer to start with lower nutrient water but as mentioned the practicalities isn’t really viable. Also, people are saying with high tech tanks to do water changes every other day for a week or so when first set up of 50%, could this be done with tap water too without causing problems?


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pat1cp said:
I'd consider a dark start, negates the need for most of the early water changes.
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Welcome @chsound !

I agree re: the dark start. Especially for a tank of your size! I think some people enjoy the aggro of daily water changes in the beginning because it gives a sense that they're doing something...A few weeks and some patience will achieve the same result!
 
How does a dark start work? I’ll be planting heavily whilst the tank is dry?


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Hmm, I do want to plant from the beginning tbh then run a couple weeks before implementing any fish


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Out of interest though when starting planted at the beginning, why are they interrupting the cycle by doing so many water changes so early on?


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chsound said:
Out of interest though when starting planted at the beginning, why are they interrupting the cycle by doing so many water changes so early on?


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Click to expand...
You're diluting the high levels of material that leach from the aqua soil, mostly ammonia. Your plants would struggle if you didn't, hence the dark start method.
 
pat1cp said:
You're diluting the high levels of material that leach from the aqua soil, mostly ammonia. Your plants would struggle if you didn't, hence the dark start method.
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Ah okay. I’m considering the tropica soil over the Ada Amazonia, will the tropics still leach ammonia?


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pat1cp said:
Loads
Click to expand...

Ah okay.

I’m considering building height in the aquarium with some substrate under the aquarium but don’t want to spend the small fortune it costs for the Ada power sand stuff. Any suggestions for base layer substrate?


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chsound said:
Ah okay.

I’m considering building height in the aquarium with some substrate under the aquarium but don’t want to spend the small fortune it costs for the Ada power sand stuff. Any suggestions for base layer substrate?


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I used lava rock under mine . Think you can use pumice stone as well .


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Rich Jackson said:
I used stuff used for gas bbq. As far as I know lava rock is lava rock . Not particularly branded


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BIO VOLCANIC LAVA ROCK 20-40mm AQUARIUM FISH TANK POND BIOLOGIAL FILTER MEDIA | eBay

Lava Rock is suitable for all marine and fresh water aquariums. The porous structure of the lava is a perfect material for deposition of nitrifying bacteria. After growing on the lava rock surface, this bacteria will clean the water from nitrite and ammonia to reduce toxic nitrites, which are...
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