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From Reef to River bed

Mark*

Seedling
Joined
22 Nov 2010
Messages
18
George,as suggested.......a write up......

Hi all, just wanted to say hello, and share what will almost certainly be one of the biggest tasks i have ever undertook.
Just short of 10 years ago, i moved from freshwater to Marine reef keeping, ive done ok,my tank has been recognised etc etc,but you see,prior to that i had kept freshwater for 20 years. This is where my heart,if i am honest, has always been.
Things have changed an awful lot it appears in the last ten years,i see substrates ive never heard of,more plants than i have seen before and new methods of dosing nutrients previously,albeit to me unheard of. It seems that the lines of knowledge i held have become "diluted".

I have a 1000 litre tank,with a 140 litre sump that i am currently removing an SPS reef from,its going to take time,but hey,times free (unlike most other things in this hobby!!).

Heres the specs,and what i will have to work with when it comes to setting up the planted tank,this is not a "look what ive got" thread,thats not my way,if i am to get the help that i am going to need,i just wanted to make sure you know what i have to play with,in my experience the more you have,the more there is to go wrong...lol :wideyed: ,whats the bet i can crash the FW tank in 6 months? lol (i hope to avoid that if i can!!) :rolleyes:

Main tank,just short of a thousand litres, 140 litre sump
Main sump recirc is supplied by a ITT Hydroair AG8,it moves 10,000 litres an hour between tank and sump,giving me the 10x turnover.Twin 50 mm returns with durso standpipes look after the return flow to the sump.
Schuran Jetstream 1 calcium reactor (to be used to infuse CO2 in the planted tank minus the calcium media !!),this is supplied by a 8 kilo bottle of CO2,5kilo bottle as backup,on a argon/CO2 rated valve and solenoid.
2 x Deltec fluidised reactors (600 series if i remember correctly)
2 x Deltec APF600 skimmers with needle wheel/mesh modifications.
2 x Tunze 6100 powerheads,eack moving 12000 LPH,soft flow,connected to a tunze multi controller, i can pretty much simulate any type of flow with these,they are fully adjustable so i think they may be useful.
The lighting i have to work with is as follows,
Arcadia triple 250 watt halide,with twin 58 watt t8's, plus Aquamedic 4 x T5 80 watt pendant. I am definately keeping the aquamedic unit,not sure about the arcadia, it EATS electricity like you wouldn't believe.
Water top ups (evap) is dealt with automatically via the sump level,on a float switch to a tunze pump.The R.O reservoir is automated,using a float valve directly connected to a 4 Stage R.O unit.I dont have to touch these at all,other than to replace the cartridges.
I know the system inside and out,one of the benefits of designing and building it all yourself i guess.

I will drop a few pics up once i stop crying into my cornflakes, its stressful business this moveover!!

Looking forward to chatting/posting,

Mark
 
lol, ok,i shall feel free to make donations to said cause.

Mark
 
Heres a photo i just dragged off my not so hi tech phone, i am sure you will get the idea. Besides,i am thinking planted FW,rather than reef.....had enough of it to be honest.
Heres a photo under actinic light ....... i will try to dig some out of the tank build,its more appropriate than pics of the reef....

Image140.jpg



Edited this post as i just deleted the second image out of photobucket by accident....rofl :clap:
 
This effectively is what i have to aquascape.......tank minus reef.!!

Newtankphotos046.jpg
 
Hi Mark
That's was a stunning reef :thumbup:
There's vast amounts of help on here for everyone, even for the most experienced freshwater scapers.
We are always learning or trying to make things simpler, easier, save time and money on all fronts to up the benefit and enjoyment of the hobby.
I'm sure it will be a great fresh water scape.
All the best on your forth coming project.
Regards
hoggie
 
Nice write up, Mark. Thanks for sharing and I look forward to following your progress. :thumbup:

The planted tank and aquascaping hobby has moved on considerably in the last ten years, but it shouldn't take too long to get to grips with it. The biggest points of note in my view are -

You don't need uber-lighting, especially if circulation, CO2 and nutrient dosing are good.

Circulation is very important. You already have 10x per hour so you should be fine.

CO2 dosing is important. 30ppm is recommended but as long as it's stable and you don't have intense lighting you can run lower levels. In big tanks an external reactor is probably you best bet.

Substrate have come a long way. Complete soil substrates are popular and effective but relatively expensive in large tanks. Akadama is an effective budget alternative (check out the JamesC's thread in the substrate forum).

The EI dosing method is the most economical and effective method of dosing large aquaria. Check out Clive's excellent article on the main UKAPS page.

There's a few other big tanks on here that will give you some aquascaping ideas. Sanj's masterpiece springs to mind -

viewtopic.php?f=35&t=11386

All the best with the project and welcome back to the proper side of the hobby (I can say that because I've had reef too!)
 
Thanks Hoggie and George, I am hoping at least some of the equipment i have collected over the years can be put to good use. The up keep on the marine system starts to wear thin after the years. You know what i am looking forward to? water changes,lots of them. And why, because i'm not throwing 70 quid a throw down the drain on every 600l water change for salt. Oh,and i dont have to mix the salt, get screamed at for saline dosing the patio plants/carpet etc etc....lol :)
 
Mark the tank is 1.5 metres,by just short of a metre front to back glass,66 cm deep........
Now i am concerned.....just read the tank thread from Sanj, stunning tank,like all on here!!! blimey theres peer review and theres just throwing myself to slaughter....... i dont think i will ever step up to the mark with the tanks on here..lol.. seriously, they are just awesome....
 
I wouldn't worry too much about peer review its all about your personal enjoyment and I'm sure we all have one amazing scape in us somewhere! Can't wait to see how this goes, take your time do lots of reading and take it slowly!! I find rushing causes too much algae to be worth it haha!

Good Luck.
 
George,i am looking at the schuran jetstream 1 to inject the co2, it was able to take sufficient co2 to dissolve 2.5 kgs of crushed coral in 4 weeks.
Minus the coral gravel of course,i was thinking, it can micronise the co2 into the reaction chamber,which is pumped via a peristaltic pump to the sump.
The chamber itself is CO2 lossless,well as much as it could be, basically the chamber recircs the co2 saturated water,bubbles are held at the top of the reactor,then re circed back round again by a small eheim pump.
Its all mounted on a board,externally,with a bubble counter,needle valve/solenoid etc. as below
192overall_reactor.jpg
 
Johno2090 said:
I wouldn't worry too much about peer review its all about your personal enjoyment and I'm sure we all have one amazing scape in us somewhere! Can't wait to see how this goes, take your time do lots of reading and take it slowly!! I find rushing causes too much algae to be worth it haha!

Good Luck.

Thanks Johno. Well win or fail the reef is going,so i'll give it my best shot...
 
Another reef deserter... I had a 6 x 3 x 2 reef tank a few years ago... As you say, the electricity bills were just ridiculous, and I found that topping up kalk, re-filling the calcium reactor, mixing salt for water changes, etc made it more of a chore than a pleasurable hobby...

I always intended to go back to it, but have changed my mind, so I'm in the process of cleaning up my marine gear then selling it to fund my next planted tank :)

I did go completely the other way from my high tech marine, and now have a low tech planted tank...

Best of luck with the project, and keep us updated...

Tim
 
Luketendo said:
Blimey nice reef, get some normal lighting pictures up if you can.

Most of my photos are on my phone mate,i have a few normal ones somewhere,i never really took that many pics.If i dig some out i will drop them on a suitable thread somewhere. To be honest mate,my heart just aint in it anymore.

Mark.
 
Kosh42|EFG said:
Another reef deserter... I had a 6 x 3 x 2 reef tank a few years ago... As you say, the electricity bills were just ridiculous, and I found that topping up kalk, re-filling the calcium reactor, mixing salt for water changes, etc made it more of a chore than a pleasurable hobby...

I always intended to go back to it, but have changed my mind, so I'm in the process of cleaning up my marine gear then selling it to fund my next planted tank :)

I did go completely the other way from my high tech marine, and now have a low tech planted tank...

Best of luck with the project, and keep us updated...

Tim
Thanks Tim, glad you understand where i am coming from. Well,here i am too, marine deserter, to freshwater planning stages!!!
Still got a load of corals to move,oh and theres the circa 140kgs of live rock.......lol...what a pain in the backside.
 
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