BBogdan
New Member
Hi all,
I've been flirting with the idea of a new project for a while, so I've been looking for second-hand tanks for sale from time to time, thinking that I couldn't make a custom one on my own.
But in the enad I came to the conclusion that a custom tank is better for my needs. Thus, with the help of a friend I started with small steps the following project. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:
1. Tank 120x55x55 cm, ~96 gallons (363 liters), 12 mm ultralight glass, glued with transparent silicone (rimless)
Right side Herbie overflow, which I wanted to be as invasive as possible, without affecting the proper functioning of the system.
2. Sump 75x40x40 cm, ~32 gallons (120 liters), 8mm glass, with inside glass panels of 6 mm.
So in total tank + sump, the system has about 105 gallons of water (400 liters).
3. Separate ATO tank 50x8x52 cm, ~5.5 galons (20.80 litri) 6 mm glass
4. Cabinet 120x55x105 cm made of 40x40 sigma aluminum industrial profile with 8 height-adjustable legs. Covered with alpine white chipboard.
Equipment
Recirculation pump: Sicce SDC 6.0 Wifi pump (~ 5500l / h / ~ 40W)
Skimmer: Nyos Quantum 160 Skimmer
Lights: 3 x AI Hydra 32HD
Wave pumps: 2 x AI Nero 3
Mechanical filtration: Clarisea SK-3000 Automatic G3
Biological Filtration: Single reactor filled with about 8 liters of Seachem Matrix
Chemical Filtration (used only when needed): Single reactor with some Red Sea Carbon and Aquavitro Purfiltrum
Chiller: TECO 1000 + Teconnect Wifi Module
ATO system: Tunze-3155
Dosing pump: Red Sea ReefDose 4 + RS Accessory kit - red / yellow (4x3m)
Dosing container: Dupla Marin Double Dosing Box C4
On 30.01.2022 I filled the tank with water and started adding some live rock.I gave up my smaller tank from which I took approx. 15 kg of live rock, sand, corals and other living things, to which were added another 15 kg of live rock. I glued the rocks with Seachem Reef Glue + Aqua Forest Afix Glue.
In the following days I added 2 more bags of Aqua Forest Bio Sand 7.5 kg, I chose this sand because it was handy to me, I liked how it looks and because I was able to populate with bacteria included in the bags. All this time I added extra bacteria, using Aquavitro Seed and Prodibio Bio Digest.
I hope you like what came out. These days it looks like this:
I didn't have much trouble cycling the system due to the live rock and the biological filter media Seachem Matrix from the other aquarium, which were already very well colonized with bacteria. Just a little cyanobacteria on the sand and some diatoms on the rocks that has gone away over time.
At the moment I have only two fish (1x royal gramma, 1x cardinal) and some snails, so low-bioload. I had to stop the mechanical filtration and the skimmer, because the nitrates(NO3) level were undetectable (using Hanna NO3 HR checker) and some of the corals had started to lose color.
I started feeding fish more often. I also target feed corals with Reef Roids (it will probably grow phosphates as well) and AF Power Elixir. After 3 weeks of doing this, there are some signs of improvement, coral colors are slowly starting to recover and NO3 is now detectable (1ppm).
I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro salt so for now I have a little bit high alkalinity 10 dKH, but in time after the coral mass grows I will try to keep it between 8-9 dKH.
I did start dosing Tropic Marin All For Reef, 10 ml/day.
If you think I skipped some stages or missed something, please pull my sleeve. I accept any suggestion or constructive criticism, but also words of encouragement as well. :D
I also plan to add a few more fish and corals in the near future. Do you have any suggestions?
I've been flirting with the idea of a new project for a while, so I've been looking for second-hand tanks for sale from time to time, thinking that I couldn't make a custom one on my own.
But in the enad I came to the conclusion that a custom tank is better for my needs. Thus, with the help of a friend I started with small steps the following project. :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:
1. Tank 120x55x55 cm, ~96 gallons (363 liters), 12 mm ultralight glass, glued with transparent silicone (rimless)
Right side Herbie overflow, which I wanted to be as invasive as possible, without affecting the proper functioning of the system.
2. Sump 75x40x40 cm, ~32 gallons (120 liters), 8mm glass, with inside glass panels of 6 mm.
So in total tank + sump, the system has about 105 gallons of water (400 liters).
3. Separate ATO tank 50x8x52 cm, ~5.5 galons (20.80 litri) 6 mm glass
4. Cabinet 120x55x105 cm made of 40x40 sigma aluminum industrial profile with 8 height-adjustable legs. Covered with alpine white chipboard.
Equipment
Recirculation pump: Sicce SDC 6.0 Wifi pump (~ 5500l / h / ~ 40W)
Skimmer: Nyos Quantum 160 Skimmer
Lights: 3 x AI Hydra 32HD
Wave pumps: 2 x AI Nero 3
Mechanical filtration: Clarisea SK-3000 Automatic G3
Biological Filtration: Single reactor filled with about 8 liters of Seachem Matrix
Chemical Filtration (used only when needed): Single reactor with some Red Sea Carbon and Aquavitro Purfiltrum
Chiller: TECO 1000 + Teconnect Wifi Module
ATO system: Tunze-3155
Dosing pump: Red Sea ReefDose 4 + RS Accessory kit - red / yellow (4x3m)
Dosing container: Dupla Marin Double Dosing Box C4
On 30.01.2022 I filled the tank with water and started adding some live rock.I gave up my smaller tank from which I took approx. 15 kg of live rock, sand, corals and other living things, to which were added another 15 kg of live rock. I glued the rocks with Seachem Reef Glue + Aqua Forest Afix Glue.
In the following days I added 2 more bags of Aqua Forest Bio Sand 7.5 kg, I chose this sand because it was handy to me, I liked how it looks and because I was able to populate with bacteria included in the bags. All this time I added extra bacteria, using Aquavitro Seed and Prodibio Bio Digest.
I hope you like what came out. These days it looks like this:
I didn't have much trouble cycling the system due to the live rock and the biological filter media Seachem Matrix from the other aquarium, which were already very well colonized with bacteria. Just a little cyanobacteria on the sand and some diatoms on the rocks that has gone away over time.
At the moment I have only two fish (1x royal gramma, 1x cardinal) and some snails, so low-bioload. I had to stop the mechanical filtration and the skimmer, because the nitrates(NO3) level were undetectable (using Hanna NO3 HR checker) and some of the corals had started to lose color.
I started feeding fish more often. I also target feed corals with Reef Roids (it will probably grow phosphates as well) and AF Power Elixir. After 3 weeks of doing this, there are some signs of improvement, coral colors are slowly starting to recover and NO3 is now detectable (1ppm).
I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro salt so for now I have a little bit high alkalinity 10 dKH, but in time after the coral mass grows I will try to keep it between 8-9 dKH.
I did start dosing Tropic Marin All For Reef, 10 ml/day.
If you think I skipped some stages or missed something, please pull my sleeve. I accept any suggestion or constructive criticism, but also words of encouragement as well. :D
I also plan to add a few more fish and corals in the near future. Do you have any suggestions?
