ZzyzxRiver
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Centre Pampideux
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ZzyzxRiver
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BTW, Centre Pampideux is such a perfect name for your tank!
OP
OP
Last edited:
ZzyzxRiver
Well-Known Member
Looks way less boxy! Those risers are cool, you can keep your rocks above the sand!
OP
OP
It’s full. Pumps are on. Posted about a pulsing phenomena…different thread Center Pompideux: Pulse
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OP
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OP
still watching paint dry.
Started with Tim’s fishless method.
After 14 days my ammonium is Zero. Have been dosing with ammonium chloride every 2 to 3 days as per Tim’s rules.
Nitrite, peaked day 11 at 5 but it’s coming down very slowly. Today at day 17 it’s 0.8.
I think my feeding with ammonium chloride has slowed it coming down.
I will be patient until it’s zero.
Started with Tim’s fishless method.
After 14 days my ammonium is Zero. Have been dosing with ammonium chloride every 2 to 3 days as per Tim’s rules.
Nitrite, peaked day 11 at 5 but it’s coming down very slowly. Today at day 17 it’s 0.8.
I think my feeding with ammonium chloride has slowed it coming down.
I will be patient until it’s zero.
OP
OP
My ATO is busy.
I have decided to go with 1/4” polycarbonate cut into two 2x2 pieces. Add all the cutouts and use my 3dprinted hinges withich also serve as cable management. They have small loops to pull a zip tie through.
As feeding ports I will use the catering hinged lids which are made out of polycarbonate.
(1/6 clear hinged lid) you can find them for $3.00 at the webrestaurant store.
Picture when it’s done.
OP
OP
Lid is done,
Cycle is complete.
Next is a water change, rollermatt activation, skimmer activation - needs an air flow control valve, install small reactor for carbon. (I decided to pull the dual BRS GFS-Carbon reactors until I need them.
Then , off to my LFS to start populating the tank.
My granddaughter can't wait... so you all know what we will get :face-with-tears-of-joy:
She has been a great help during the building when i needed somebody to bend into the last corners of the stand.
Cycle is complete.
Next is a water change, rollermatt activation, skimmer activation - needs an air flow control valve, install small reactor for carbon. (I decided to pull the dual BRS GFS-Carbon reactors until I need them.
Then , off to my LFS to start populating the tank.
My granddaughter can't wait... so you all know what we will get :face-with-tears-of-joy:
She has been a great help during the building when i needed somebody to bend into the last corners of the stand.
OP
OP
Fish added.
1 orange striped cardinal
2 bengai cardinals
2 clowns ( paired, very small)
5 green chromis
1 tiger snapping shrimp
1 yellow watchman goby
1 orange striped cardinal
2 bengai cardinals
2 clowns ( paired, very small)
5 green chromis
1 tiger snapping shrimp
1 yellow watchman goby
OP
OP
Fish are very small they disappear in this big tank. :cool:
ZzyzxRiver
Well-Known Member
I bet they’ll appear more once they acclimate! And that means room for more!
OP
OP
ZzyzxRiver
Well-Known Member
Welcome fishies! You ready to see how the tank handles all the extra nutrients?
OP
OP
Yes, I keep track.
Added Copepods and are feeding them with Phytoevery day.
The lights are still off.
I have two wave pumps (Nero style) and a gyro on order which are a bit behind the shipping curve.
There are two Nero3s in the tank , one works full time the other on and off randomly.
They hardly move the water and are on their last legs grinding sometimes. The glass is 1/2" thick, the Neros3's magnets are to weak to hold them in place safely.
Current total flow rate with my two mains pumps is set combined at about 720 GPH. (Measured on outlet). That's a little high for my Rollermat but so far it works.
The skimmer is still off. I turned it on and immediately overflowed with bubbles because I couldn't trim down the airflow enough with the main tube rotating to reduce the inlet flow.
The 1/2" air hose Is missing an air-control valve, which is on order.
I continue to measure Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate with the Red Sea kit i did the cycling with.
So far no change.
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite <= 0.1
Nitrate = 10
PH = 8.2
Will soon switch to Hanna Checkers which I used with my previous tank.
I had to order new reagents because their lifetime is short.
Here are the checkers I have.
I know I'm missing magnesium checker, but also do not have any corals yet.
Here is what I have:
- Marine Salinity Tester (HI98319)
- pHeP+ Pocket pH Tester (HI98108)
Checkers:
- Nitrate LR (HI781)
- Calcium (HI758U)
- Phosphate LR (HI713)
- Alkalinity (HI755)
- Nitrite ULR (HI736)
- Ammonia HI784
Please let me know what i shoudl replace or better use instead.
One thing does trouble me:
One of the green Chromis and a Banggai Cardinal simply disappeared. Gone now for several days.
I checked everywhere, but can't find them. The only possible place left is the main drain into the rollermat. Which is highly unlikely because the weir teeth are not big enough for these fish.
Any ideas?
Added Copepods and are feeding them with Phytoevery day.
The lights are still off.
I have two wave pumps (Nero style) and a gyro on order which are a bit behind the shipping curve.
There are two Nero3s in the tank , one works full time the other on and off randomly.
They hardly move the water and are on their last legs grinding sometimes. The glass is 1/2" thick, the Neros3's magnets are to weak to hold them in place safely.
Current total flow rate with my two mains pumps is set combined at about 720 GPH. (Measured on outlet). That's a little high for my Rollermat but so far it works.
The skimmer is still off. I turned it on and immediately overflowed with bubbles because I couldn't trim down the airflow enough with the main tube rotating to reduce the inlet flow.
The 1/2" air hose Is missing an air-control valve, which is on order.
I continue to measure Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate with the Red Sea kit i did the cycling with.
So far no change.
Ammonia = 0
Nitrite <= 0.1
Nitrate = 10
PH = 8.2
Will soon switch to Hanna Checkers which I used with my previous tank.
I had to order new reagents because their lifetime is short.
Here are the checkers I have.
I know I'm missing magnesium checker, but also do not have any corals yet.
Here is what I have:
- Marine Salinity Tester (HI98319)
- pHeP+ Pocket pH Tester (HI98108)
Checkers:
- Nitrate LR (HI781)
- Calcium (HI758U)
- Phosphate LR (HI713)
- Alkalinity (HI755)
- Nitrite ULR (HI736)
- Ammonia HI784
Please let me know what i shoudl replace or better use instead.
One thing does trouble me:
One of the green Chromis and a Banggai Cardinal simply disappeared. Gone now for several days.
I checked everywhere, but can't find them. The only possible place left is the main drain into the rollermat. Which is highly unlikely because the weir teeth are not big enough for these fish.
Any ideas?
OP
OP
5 months update:
Imported the flukes with the result of 3 fish dying. 4 weeks of Meds and lots of water changes cleaned out the parasite.
Have a look how it looks now:
Centre Pompideux after 5 months
Very active sand eaters and a pistol shrimp keep the sanbed ever changing. I jsut leave it alone for now to see what they come up with
The sump works good. wish i had done e higher inside to make my skimmer cup changes easier.
Pulling in air for the skimmer from outside.
Imported the flukes with the result of 3 fish dying. 4 weeks of Meds and lots of water changes cleaned out the parasite.
Have a look how it looks now:
Centre Pompideux after 5 months
Very active sand eaters and a pistol shrimp keep the sanbed ever changing. I jsut leave it alone for now to see what they come up with
The sump works good. wish i had done e higher inside to make my skimmer cup changes easier.
Pulling in air for the skimmer from outside.
OP
OP
Update March 2025
Was forced to change from tropic marine salt to asf reef evolution because of availability issues.
I’m back to tropic marine.
The asf salt did n9 harm but is harder to use. After having the water mixing water turned cloudy at 3 of my water changes and a thick white deposit forming in my 32 gallon brute I de idea to pla6 it safer and spend more money for tropic.
The fish don’t mind either. Values were cruelly about the same. Cloudiness went away once water adde to the main tank.
I have used tropic now for 5 years and never had once problems mixing
it.
Short videos how the pompideux looked the last two months.
Centre Pompideux Feb 2025
Centre Pompideux March 2025
I also went from feeding ha hakiri mysis shrimp frozen and some hakiri marine s pellets to my own frozen food concoction.
It’s a bit of work but I believe worth it. Not 9k lay dollar savings but also more
Since I feed my food Nitrates have gone more than double (from 20 to 50). And my phosphate went from 0.2 to 1.1 (skyrocket)
Nitrites hover forever around 0.02 , no change.
Guess feeding to much now. Not sure why phosphates out of bound.
Will watch it for a couple of weeks and reduce food supply.
My receipy:
Pink salmon
Sea scallops
Cod
Seafoods mix ( shrimp, mussels, calamari, squid)
Nori
Calanus (dried)
Mysis (dried)
Selector concentrate
Using. No. 8 meat grinder with the small grid. Things come out small enough for the small fish but also has some chunks for the bigger mouths. They seem to love it and eat up 5g each feeding writhing minutes.
Feeding twice a day.
Currently about 13 fish, two large shrimp.
Was forced to change from tropic marine salt to asf reef evolution because of availability issues.
I’m back to tropic marine.
The asf salt did n9 harm but is harder to use. After having the water mixing water turned cloudy at 3 of my water changes and a thick white deposit forming in my 32 gallon brute I de idea to pla6 it safer and spend more money for tropic.
The fish don’t mind either. Values were cruelly about the same. Cloudiness went away once water adde to the main tank.
I have used tropic now for 5 years and never had once problems mixing
it.
Short videos how the pompideux looked the last two months.
Centre Pompideux Feb 2025
Centre Pompideux March 2025
I also went from feeding ha hakiri mysis shrimp frozen and some hakiri marine s pellets to my own frozen food concoction.
It’s a bit of work but I believe worth it. Not 9k lay dollar savings but also more
Since I feed my food Nitrates have gone more than double (from 20 to 50). And my phosphate went from 0.2 to 1.1 (skyrocket)
Nitrites hover forever around 0.02 , no change.
Guess feeding to much now. Not sure why phosphates out of bound.
Will watch it for a couple of weeks and reduce food supply.
My receipy:
Pink salmon
Sea scallops
Cod
Seafoods mix ( shrimp, mussels, calamari, squid)
Nori
Calanus (dried)
Mysis (dried)
Selector concentrate
Using. No. 8 meat grinder with the small grid. Things come out small enough for the small fish but also has some chunks for the bigger mouths. They seem to love it and eat up 5g each feeding writhing minutes.
Feeding twice a day.
Currently about 13 fish, two large shrimp.
OP
OP
Update August 2025
Things are definitly gettign better.
Added about 10 fish, they all doign fine. Algea started showing up and i added a CuC to help that. Didn't notice much difference.
The main" battle" is fighting obnoxious hair algae.
Phophates and Nitrates where high. I had been feeding my own seafood mix with all sorts of additives.
Tank temperature ws at 29 C. Also to high .
Water changes were 30 gallons every 2 weeks.
The DT is 150 ga and the sump about 30 ga. Minus sand, rock i think total water volume is around 160 ga.
Phosphate were around 0.5 ppm
Nitrates in the 40s
I also struggle to keep Alkalinity up, its usually around 6.9 -7.1.
I do not have corals in the tank YET. Waiting to get Nitrates, Alkalinity and Phosphates under control.
Her is what i did so far, its an ongoing project:
Phosphates:
Checked phosphate contents of Fish, Scallops, Clams and Octopus I used. Was surprise how high the phosphate contents ws in comparison to hakiri fish cubes (which i fed exlusivly in my old tank).
Switch, for the time being to hakiri frozen cubes and reduced feeding drastically (half)
Mechanically removed the hair algea.
Turned lights off for two weeks and used acclimation cycle over 10 days to turn them back on
Reduced total light on cycle to 6 hours.
Only running at 150 PAR at 30 cm down. So not yet enough for corals.
Added Reactor with Phosbond, aggressively changing every 5 days. After 2 months i got it down.
After 2 months I measuring Phosphorus at 19 bpm/ 0.058 ppm. (yes, changed form Phosphates to Phosphorous measuring)
Changed PHosBond schedule to extended time. 2 weeks for now will monitor how its behaving.
New values sound great Sounds.
BUT
... 3 days after the lights are back on, hair alega started again and it's back denser than ever and after 2 weeks nearly at the same volume as before.
Nitrates:
Food change and amount of food reduction had no impact on Nitrates.
Just this week i bought a bigger (55ga) mixing brute and am now changing 55 gallons.
Result after first change. Nitrate came down from 41 ppm to 23 pp, Will do another change after one week and then hopefully back to 2 week changes.
Alkalinity:
Used reef Buffer to get dkh up to 7.9. Will push it one more time to get above 8.
Installed doser and will use Seachem All-for-Reef to see where this will go.
Temperature:
I had set the temperature to 28 C. Definitely a bit warm high. Setting lower didn't work because the ambient room temperature is around 26C . So at night with lights off it gets down to 26C during the day it climbs to 26.5
Considering a chiller, but i would like to put that money towards corals first. mmmh, catch 22.
My biggest hope now is the water change volume. 55 ga is about 1/3 of the tank.
I do run a skimmer and a rollermat. seem to work fine pulling dirt out.
Ready to get this under control soon, i want to start adding softies.
I have some blue coraline forming on the rocks .... looking forward for more.
Any aditional advise is welcome.
Things are definitly gettign better.
Added about 10 fish, they all doign fine. Algea started showing up and i added a CuC to help that. Didn't notice much difference.
The main" battle" is fighting obnoxious hair algae.
Phophates and Nitrates where high. I had been feeding my own seafood mix with all sorts of additives.
Tank temperature ws at 29 C. Also to high .
Water changes were 30 gallons every 2 weeks.
The DT is 150 ga and the sump about 30 ga. Minus sand, rock i think total water volume is around 160 ga.
Phosphate were around 0.5 ppm
Nitrates in the 40s
I also struggle to keep Alkalinity up, its usually around 6.9 -7.1.
I do not have corals in the tank YET. Waiting to get Nitrates, Alkalinity and Phosphates under control.
Her is what i did so far, its an ongoing project:
Phosphates:
Checked phosphate contents of Fish, Scallops, Clams and Octopus I used. Was surprise how high the phosphate contents ws in comparison to hakiri fish cubes (which i fed exlusivly in my old tank).
Switch, for the time being to hakiri frozen cubes and reduced feeding drastically (half)
Mechanically removed the hair algea.
Turned lights off for two weeks and used acclimation cycle over 10 days to turn them back on
Reduced total light on cycle to 6 hours.
Only running at 150 PAR at 30 cm down. So not yet enough for corals.
Added Reactor with Phosbond, aggressively changing every 5 days. After 2 months i got it down.
After 2 months I measuring Phosphorus at 19 bpm/ 0.058 ppm. (yes, changed form Phosphates to Phosphorous measuring)
Changed PHosBond schedule to extended time. 2 weeks for now will monitor how its behaving.
New values sound great Sounds.
BUT
... 3 days after the lights are back on, hair alega started again and it's back denser than ever and after 2 weeks nearly at the same volume as before.
Nitrates:
Food change and amount of food reduction had no impact on Nitrates.
Just this week i bought a bigger (55ga) mixing brute and am now changing 55 gallons.
Result after first change. Nitrate came down from 41 ppm to 23 pp, Will do another change after one week and then hopefully back to 2 week changes.
Alkalinity:
Used reef Buffer to get dkh up to 7.9. Will push it one more time to get above 8.
Installed doser and will use Seachem All-for-Reef to see where this will go.
Temperature:
I had set the temperature to 28 C. Definitely a bit warm high. Setting lower didn't work because the ambient room temperature is around 26C . So at night with lights off it gets down to 26C during the day it climbs to 26.5
Considering a chiller, but i would like to put that money towards corals first. mmmh, catch 22.
My biggest hope now is the water change volume. 55 ga is about 1/3 of the tank.
I do run a skimmer and a rollermat. seem to work fine pulling dirt out.
Ready to get this under control soon, i want to start adding softies.
I have some blue coraline forming on the rocks .... looking forward for more.
Any aditional advise is welcome.
