Buddy's Cade Reef From Downunder
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OP
OP
buddy.
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Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to get up further north but we are definitely planning another trip!!
I am back home now and I will go through my GoPro to see if I can post up some nice pics and videos for everyone. The outer reef off Port Douglas is so awesome! So glad I tried a scuba diving tour
Scrubber_steve
2500 Club Member
Townsville south of Cairns mate, & if you drive a little further south you come to Airlie beach which has the Whitsunday Islands off shore. Great snorkling around Hook Island.Unfortunately I just didn't have enough time to get up further north but we are definitely planning another trip!!
I am back home now and I will go through my GoPro to see if I can post up some nice pics and videos for everyone. The outer reef off Port Douglas is so awesome! So glad I tried a scuba diving tour
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
So it looks like I will be finally moving my tank this weekend if I am free!
For those that have been following you would remember I had a terrible algae that forced me to remove all of my rock. It has been sitting dry for a long time now but I decided to acid wash it so I can be sure it won't grow back.
Here is what it looked like a minute after adding the acid. I'll update later with pics of the hopefully clean rock!
20 minutes later
For those that have been following you would remember I had a terrible algae that forced me to remove all of my rock. It has been sitting dry for a long time now but I decided to acid wash it so I can be sure it won't grow back.
Here is what it looked like a minute after adding the acid. I'll update later with pics of the hopefully clean rock!
20 minutes later
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Scrubber_steve
2500 Club Member
Deep freezing will kill all reef tank algae
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
Probably would but I don't really like the idea of a bunch of smelly rocks in my freezer haha.
Well after the acid and a bleach for a couple of days the rocks are nice and white. I will probably end up seeding it with a small amount of live rock.
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
and for the update I have been waiting a long time for.... THE TANK HAS FINALLY BEEN MOVED!!! ;Joyful
I picked a nice weekend with a perfect 25c degrees to move the tank. The day started early and I firstly cleaned and packed up all of the equipment until I was left with only the tank with the fish and coral.
Bagged up the coral and put them in a foam box and then the fish went in to an old salt bucket.
They all traveled extremely well on the 4 hour drive to the new home! The temperature in the bucket only got 1 degree warmer over the entire trip.
Finally I threw everything in to a spare 3ft tank that I had already set up at the new house and called it a night.
The result of a long aquarium move day...
I picked a nice weekend with a perfect 25c degrees to move the tank. The day started early and I firstly cleaned and packed up all of the equipment until I was left with only the tank with the fish and coral.
Bagged up the coral and put them in a foam box and then the fish went in to an old salt bucket.
They all traveled extremely well on the 4 hour drive to the new home! The temperature in the bucket only got 1 degree warmer over the entire trip.
Finally I threw everything in to a spare 3ft tank that I had already set up at the new house and called it a night.
The result of a long aquarium move day...
Wrangy
Valuable Member
I'M SO GLAD TO HEAR THE MOVE WENT SMOOTHLYand for the update I have been waiting a long time for.... THE TANK HAS FINALLY BEEN MOVED!!! ;Joyful
I picked a nice weekend with a perfect 25c degrees to move the tank. The day started early and I firstly cleaned and packed up all of the equipment until I was left with only the tank with the fish and coral.
Bagged up the coral and put them in a foam box and then the fish went in to an old salt bucket.
They all traveled extremely well on the 4 hour drive to the new home! The temperature in the bucket only got 1 degree warmer over the entire trip.
Finally I threw everything in to a spare 3ft tank that I had already set up at the new house and called it a night.
The result of a long aquarium move day...
(yes the caps were intentional! Haha)
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
The next step was to get the tank to the stage where I could put it on its new cabinet.
First I removed the corner weir and put the tank on the ground ready for a good scrub with some vinegar. Once that was done I had to scrape off all the silicone that was holding the old weir in.
I am replacing the corner weir with a Modular Marine overflow. This will give me a lot of space back in the tank and they also just look awesome!
Obviously I had to drill the tank for the overflow so that was the next job for the day!
One of my 4 legged helpers.
I set the water level to the same as it was with the old corner overflow. Any higher and the wave makers will splash water over the edge of the tank and cause salt creep.
Three freshly cut holes! Two are for the overflow and the other is the return.
I used the piece of glass from the corner weir to block the holes in the bottom of the tank. I left a small gap between the sides of the tank and the piece on the bottom and siliconed all the way around it.
Now the back of the tank needed to be painted black. I used a product which when dry will be able to peel off if I ever wanted to easily remove it.
It took the entire can to completely black it out.
Before I could put the tank on the cabinet I just needed to put some pads on the bottom of the steel legs. I just used some conveyor belt.
So this is where I am at for now. Still have a heap of work left to do though!! The tank won't get any water for at least a week anyway while the silicone properly cures.
First I removed the corner weir and put the tank on the ground ready for a good scrub with some vinegar. Once that was done I had to scrape off all the silicone that was holding the old weir in.
I am replacing the corner weir with a Modular Marine overflow. This will give me a lot of space back in the tank and they also just look awesome!
Obviously I had to drill the tank for the overflow so that was the next job for the day!
One of my 4 legged helpers.
I set the water level to the same as it was with the old corner overflow. Any higher and the wave makers will splash water over the edge of the tank and cause salt creep.
Three freshly cut holes! Two are for the overflow and the other is the return.
I used the piece of glass from the corner weir to block the holes in the bottom of the tank. I left a small gap between the sides of the tank and the piece on the bottom and siliconed all the way around it.
Now the back of the tank needed to be painted black. I used a product which when dry will be able to peel off if I ever wanted to easily remove it.
It took the entire can to completely black it out.
Before I could put the tank on the cabinet I just needed to put some pads on the bottom of the steel legs. I just used some conveyor belt.
So this is where I am at for now. Still have a heap of work left to do though!! The tank won't get any water for at least a week anyway while the silicone properly cures.
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I really love that stand. Built in dry compartment and all, that'll be nice for sure. I'll admit it does make me nervous looking at a sump supported on a raised shelf above a drawer, but you seem to have all the extra support beam work under control. I look forward to seeing the progress on this one, specifically the plumbing... is that the modular marine 1,200gph overflow with removable weir?
PS I hope you know how lucky you are to dive the GBR or any other reef over there in general ;-)
PS I hope you know how lucky you are to dive the GBR or any other reef over there in general ;-)
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
I do feel lucky about visiting the GBR and even luckier that the weather was great!
There is plenty of steel and wood bracing on the stand and including above the draw area so I am confident that it will handle the weight just fine... touch wood
Yup that certainly is the removable weir! Should make cleaning a breeze.
Anyways I am just getting all my equipment in the sump and deciding on the placement of the sump before plumbing it all in. I am thinking of putting it on the far right which will give me decent space for dosing containers and other bits and pieces on the left.
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
Got all the plumbing sorted. I decided to put the sump on the left so that it would line up with the overflow.
Pipes on the back are secured with clamps so they can't be accidentally bumped.
Left to right is...
Return, emergency, secondary, main syphon.
Pipes on the back are secured with clamps so they can't be accidentally bumped.
Left to right is...
Return, emergency, secondary, main syphon.
OP
OP
buddy.
Active Member
I'll give that a proper update tomorrow.. Spoiler alert... It all went pretty wellLooks unreal man!! Can't wait to see it filled and pumping
Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is a chaeto reactor so of course I decided to try and DIY one with my old TLF phosban reactor.
I read a lot about them here on R2R and it seems that the TLF reactors are quite thin and can't cope with the LEDs wrapped directly on them, so my solution was to get a 4" diameter PVC pipe and wrap the LEDs around on the inside.
The idea is to give a small gap between the reactor and the LEDs so less heat can transfer. I thought it wouldn't hurt to add a fan to aid keeping the reactor wall cool.
I made the reactor the same height as my sump just to make it easier to plumb in the reactor. The LEDs only go down the pipe as far as the reactor sits in it.
I got an end cap to suit the pipe so I could place the fan (stolen from an old laptop cooling pad) inside it and blow air straight up and out of the reactor.
Firstly I glued some stand offs to the fan so it could draw air through the holes that I drilled in the side of the end cap. The other end of the stand offs are glued down to the end cap and the wires fed out the bottom.
Should keep it pretty cool! I will do some temperature readings with and without the fan later once I wire in the fan.
NY_Caveman
likes words, fish and arbitrary statistics
I'll give that a proper update tomorrow.. Spoiler alert... It all went pretty well
Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is a chaeto reactor so of course I decided to try and DIY one with my old TLF phosban reactor.
I read a lot about them here on R2R and it seems that the TLF reactors are quite thin and can't cope with the LEDs wrapped directly on them, so my solution was to get a 4" diameter PVC pipe and wrap the LEDs around on the inside.
The idea is to give a small gap between the reactor and the LEDs so less heat can transfer. I thought it wouldn't hurt to add a fan to aid keeping the reactor wall cool.
I made the reactor the same height as my sump just to make it easier to plumb in the reactor. The LEDs only go down the pipe as far as the reactor sits in it.
I got an end cap to suit the pipe so I could place the fan (stolen from an old laptop cooling pad) inside it and blow air straight up and out of the reactor.
Firstly I glued some stand offs to the fan so it could draw air through the holes that I drilled in the side of the end cap. The other end of the stand offs are glued down to the end cap and the wires fed out the bottom.
Should keep it pretty cool! I will do some temperature readings with and without the fan later once I wire in the fan.
That is a great idea with the PVC, @buddy. and should help with light spill too.
Diamond1
Valuable Member
Very cool.I'll give that a proper update tomorrow.. Spoiler alert... It all went pretty well
Something I have been wanting to try for a long time is a chaeto reactor so of course I decided to try and DIY one with my old TLF phosban reactor.
I read a lot about them here on R2R and it seems that the TLF reactors are quite thin and can't cope with the LEDs wrapped directly on them, so my solution was to get a 4" diameter PVC pipe and wrap the LEDs around on the inside.
The idea is to give a small gap between the reactor and the LEDs so less heat can transfer. I thought it wouldn't hurt to add a fan to aid keeping the reactor wall cool.
I made the reactor the same height as my sump just to make it easier to plumb in the reactor. The LEDs only go down the pipe as far as the reactor sits in it.
I got an end cap to suit the pipe so I could place the fan (stolen from an old laptop cooling pad) inside it and blow air straight up and out of the reactor.
Firstly I glued some stand offs to the fan so it could draw air through the holes that I drilled in the side of the end cap. The other end of the stand offs are glued down to the end cap and the wires fed out the bottom.
Should keep it pretty cool! I will do some temperature readings with and without the fan later once I wire in the fan.
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