A reef, wrasse and a few angels tank in Uttoxeter

Mortie31

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Hello All
I've been on the site for awhile, posting, asking questions of you and chatting but I have never set up a tank thread, this is not a new build, I've had this tank for over 5 years. It's gone through several changes, some good, some bad, I've tried most systems from full Berlin to Matrix via Zeo and I am currently using a Clarisea Roller Filter, 2 algae reactors and a BK Double cone 200 skimmer. I use a GHL Profilux 4 for control and lighting is taken care of with 3 Orphek Atlantic 2.1b's. The tank is 66" long, 30" front to back and 24" tall, with a fairly large sump giving a 900L system.
I'm sorry for all the fans of minimalistic aquascapes I love lots of rock, hiding holes and a full tank look. I have tried hard to try to create depth of vision by placing corals and rocks at the front of the tank, and not just building a wall, and I have been rearranging the display recently and trying different coral placements, and cannot get it quite right.
Here are a few pics for starters, I'm not a photographer by any means and am using an iPhone, I will get the DSLR out if the pictures aren't upto scratch, any suggestions comments etc very welcome. I hope you enjoy my tank.

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Mortie31

Mortie31

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nice tank.
I think your sps are kind of brown though.

Thanks for the warm welcome...
One of the issues I have had was high PO4 0.3 for over 2 years, due to a faulty test kit, in the years this tank has been running I've never had any algae in the display so I believed the test kit, it consistently read 0.08. That problem is now sorted, it took over a year to steadily reduce the level due to so much having being absorbed into the rock down to the 0.03 it now is. Starting to see better colour now...
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Mortie31

Mortie31

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A couple of pictures of my sump, showing the Clarisea 15 Roller filter, which is a great bit of kit, it has a 27 micro fleece, which keeps the water crystal clear and lasts for about 6 weeks, these are a lot smaller than the theiling so I could retrofit it into my sump and it can handle higher water flow also shown are my 2 ALR1 algae reactors, again I'm delighted with these, way cheaper than the ARID models and seem to work very well, I empty and clean one every week, therefore keeping algae growth relatively steady.
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Mortie31

Mortie31

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Sorry been ages since I updated, I’ve been having a battle with high nitrates that I’m just about winning now, Unfortunately i lost a couple of colonies in the process.. my SPS are starting to colour up a little better now thankfully.
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Art2249

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Sorry been ages since I updated, I’ve been having a battle with high nitrates that I’m just about winning now, Unfortunately i lost a couple of colonies in the process.. my SPS are starting to colour up a little better now thankfully.
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Beautiful tank. i f you ever come to Texas please stop by and help me get to that point . :)
 

Art2249

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Sorry been ages since I updated, I’ve been having a battle with high nitrates that I’m just about winning now, Unfortunately i lost a couple of colonies in the process.. my SPS are starting to colour up a little better now thankfully.
D1EDDF84-D1D7-4873-BCF8-DEBA29F0D69E.jpeg
8423DB32-A425-43FE-95DA-2EC24B461CDB.jpeg
1557A46D-AF41-462F-A9FE-C0F8D888A51E.jpeg
Plus I like that you have a trigger. I thought i couldn't have one.
 
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Mortie31

Mortie31

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I just couldn’t get the ALR algae reactors to work and control nutrients so I’ve turned one into a nitrate reductor, took the idea from aquamedic nitratductor and combined it with a Donovan nitrate buster, to give a recycling sand and rubble reactor. I try an keep the ORP at -100 to -200mv by
Dosing NOPO and keeping through through water to 1 drop every 2secs or so, I’m still playing with this and trying to get it to work correctly, if I lower the ORP to much I get hydrogen sulphide so still trying to find the sweet spot.

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Mortie31

Mortie31

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Beautiful tank. i f you ever come to Texas please stop by and help me get to that point . :)
Thank you, I’ve had lots of problems along the way and still a long way to go...
I’ve always loved Sargassum triggers, so finally got one a month ago..
 

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Thank you, I’ve had lots of problems along the way and still a long way to go...
I’ve always loved Sargassum triggers, so finally got one a month ago..
So how's that working out? Any problems with the coral?
 

ca1ore

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Looks nice. Regal, majestic and sargassum are three of my favorite fish. I'm enamored of large angels particularly. I see that brain is receding from the base. I used to have similar issues until I got them up and out of the sand; usually just by putting a rock underneath so there's some clearance.
 
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Mortie31

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Looks nice. Regal, majestic and sargassum are three of my favorite fish. I'm enamored of large angels particularly. I see that brain is receding from the base. I used to have similar issues until I got them up and out of the sand; usually just by putting a rock underneath so there's some clearance.
Thanks, I’ve been gutted about the brain I’ve had it over 6 years and the recession started about 6 months ago, thankfully it has stopped and I think Its actually started to grow back down over its skeleton. I will raise it off the sand if it does cover back up, thanks for the tip.
 
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Mortie31

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Well today was really crappy, I managed to crack my sump!!! I was messing around trying to get my roller filter out, and stupidly got frustrated when it wouldn’t come off the overflow pump... and voila a crack from top to bottom... thankfully it was in my first chamber, so I emptied what was left in the chamber after my floor got soaked, and then replumbed the overflow pipework into the centre chamber, moved the heaters and turned one of my return pumps off. All seems to be running ok..
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I cut a piece of glass and siliconed it over the crack, to act as a temporary repair as it will take a month or so to get a new custom sump made, Ive since added a second piece of glass to the outside of the tank. I’ll give it a few days and leak test it... hopefully it will work ok until I can get a new sump, you can see my bodged temporary overflow pipework.. there are times im glad I’m a bit of a hoarder as I had all the bits on hand including a pane of glass that was originally a condensation cover...
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