Jono's 220 Gallon Upgrade

[JonoH]

MP40's mounted while filling with water, the flow seems ok at the moment, but i need to play around with them to work out what setting is best. They are mounted about 10" below the water, and offset to each other.

As the tank filled up, the aquascaping started also -

Trying to work on the rule of thirds, and had the tank masked up, also giving it depth by having some rockwork forward and some at the rear, will probably move it round a bit more though as i have rocks from the current tank to move over also.

Yesterday i mounted a light bar so i could hang the LED's. Used a self levelling laser to mark the centre of the tank on the ceiling, then fitted some timber in the ceiling for the brackets.

Shot with the Blues on, have the lights dialed down at the moment, and only have 3 mounted so far, the other 2 are still on my other tank.

And with the Whites turned up -

Would love some opinions on the rockwork, trying to make plenty of Islands for different sorts of corals. The main rock from the existing tank will be covered in GSP on the LHS.

The heaters are only sitting in the tank temporarily until the Sump is running, still need to get about 200L of water into it, then it should be full!

 

[DarkReefer]

MP40's mounted while filling with water, the flow seems ok at the moment, but i need to play around with them to work out what setting is best. They are mounted about 10" below the water, and offset to each other.

As the tank filled up, the aquascaping started also -

Trying to work on the rule of thirds, and had the tank masked up, also giving it depth by having some rockwork forward and some at the rear, will probably move it round a bit more though as i have rocks from the current tank to move over also.

Yesterday i mounted a light bar so i could hang the LED's. Used a self levelling laser to mark the centre of the tank on the ceiling, then fitted some timber in the ceiling for the brackets.

Shot with the Blues on, have the lights dialed down at the moment, and only have 3 mounted so far, the other 2 are still on my other tank.

And with the Whites turned up -

Would love some opinions on the rockwork, trying to make plenty of Islands for different sorts of corals. The main rock from the existing tank will be covered in GSP on the LHS.

The heaters are only sitting in the tank temporarily until the Sump is running, still need to get about 200L of water into it, then it should be full!

I think the rockwork looks good, a heap of caves and holes for fish to swim through and if you have more rockwork coming to add it'll help fill in the left side some more.

The right side would suit putting a pretty large soft coral or LPS colony on it or something it could work really well as a nice big footing for it too.

 

[JonoH]

I think the rockwork looks good, a heap of caves and holes for fish to swim through and if you have more rockwork coming to add it'll help fill in the left side some more.

The right side would suit putting a pretty large soft coral or LPS colony on it or something it could work really well as a nice big footing for it too.

I have a huge Green Sinularia I could mount on there, i'm planning on breaking it up off the rock its on at the moment, as there is a Bobbit worm in that rock that i have to get out!

On the RHS of the image of my existing tank.

 

[Janci]

Nice to see the tank with water.
The rocks look good. Not easy to comment as it will depend a lot on how you want to see it filled with corals later.
I would move the whole rock assemble more to the left to have it more centered.
Not big fan of the left side plateau on top of the rocks. I assume more corals will be added here and these will only create more shadow for the lower portion.
Maybe bring it a little lower?

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I have a huge Green Sinularia I could mount on there, i'm planning on breaking it up off the rock its on at the moment, as there is a Bobbit worm in that rock that i have to get out!

On the RHS of the image of my existing tank.

Tank is looking great!

 

[JonoH]

Tank transfer has been complete! Got the Bobbit worm out of the rock (although had to break up the rock it was in) - actually broke it in half getting it out, and this is how long half of it was!

It was suitable disposed of!

Here is everything moved across, i'm happy with how its all come out, all the coral moved across fine, and so far i have not lost anything!

Just waiting on the longer bar to mount the 2 other lights, and i need to adjust the height down of these also then check my PAR in the tank.
The Flow actually seems pretty good with just the 2 MP40's, havent noticed any Nori settling on the sand when the fish tear it apart, and the Reefmat 1200 is working amazing, so glad i went for that instead of sticking with socks! Its going through about 70cm a day which should mean the roll lasts over a month.
Set up the ATO this morning, and i need to tidy up all the cables, and now get started on the cabinet doors and surround.

 

[JonoH]

So far all Parameters are sitting pretty good, Alk was a little low, so dosed some of that today, and Phosphate is elevated, but less than the old tank was sitting at, so just keeping an eye on it at this stage.

All the corals are still doing great.
Anenome is still moving around, but its on the rock that i put it on still, so hopefully it settles there somewhere!
Zombie snails have been laying eggs like crazy.

Reefmat has dropped to around 40cm a day at the moment also.

 

[JonoH]

Couple of shots of the LPS opened right up.

 

[DarkReefer]

Tank looks amazing mate, it's all coming together and looks beautiful with all the fish and corals in there now!

 

[dangit]

Wow that tank looks amazing! Following along can’t wait too see where this goes!

 

[Janci]

The tank looks great.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Couple of shots of the LPS opened right up.

Your coral is looking great!

 

[JonoH]

Had an opportunity to pick up a large yellow tang from a fellow reefer here and jumped at it as its one of my dream fish (just really un-affordable in AUS).

It has settled right in, and seems to be best friends with my Unicorn Tang.

It is very pale though, so wondering if i should be concerned, noticed its not taking much Nori, so may have been missing this in its diet. (see image above, colour compared to my Orange Shoulder Tang)

 

[Janci]

Had an opportunity to pick up a large yellow tang from a fellow reefer here and jumped at it as its one of my dream fish (just really un-affordable in AUS).

It has settled right in, and seems to be best friends with my Unicorn Tang.

It is very pale though, so wondering if i should be concerned, noticed its not taking much Nori, so may have been missing this in its diet. (see image above, colour compared to my Orange Shoulder Tang)

I hope it does well in the tank.
Was it full yellow with the previous owner?

 

[JonoH]

I hope it does well in the tank.
Was it full yellow with the previous owner?

No, it was actually whiter, it seems to be colouring up the longer its in my tank.

Pic below is from in the old tank.

 

[DarkReefer]

Didn't see you got a yellow tang, that's awesome! It's one of my favourites also and I'm intending on adding one to my tank when I can find and afford one LOL

 

[JonoH]

Didn't see you got a yellow tang, that's awesome! It's one of my favourites also and I'm intending on adding one to my tank when I can find and afford one LOL

Was a suprise that i jumped at, got it for less than half they normally ask for here as the old owner was happy it was going into a large system (most of the others had small tanks that wanted it).

 

[DarkReefer]

Was a suprise that i jumped at, got it for less than half they normally ask for here as the old owner was happy it was going into a large system (most of the others had small tanks that wanted it).

I don't blame you. Hopefully once it settles in and starts eating properly it'll get some nice colouration back into it !

 

[JonoH]

Few more odd jobs over the weekend done.

First thing was i had a UPS put in to keep the tank running in case of any power outages - i have to go interstate in the next week as i sadly lost my mum, we have a house sitter, but wanted to make sure there were no hiccups with dips in power shutting anything down. At the moment i have everything including the lights plugged into this, its a beast and can run the entire tank through a power outage for about 1.5hrs, but thats including the UV and the heaters and lights, i will take these off it eventually which will give it even more capacity (should be able to ride out a 4+ hour outage).
Thankfully my Brother in Law fits these for his job, so it cost me nothing!!
(My wiring is a mess at the moment, but its on the list for when i get back!)
Its sitting on the floor next to the tank at the moment, but will be going into the Garage which is on the wall behind.

Also had some time free to make/fit the mesh covers, so i dont need to stress about any fish jumping while i'm away.

So far the tank is still looking great, some diatoms in sand at the moment, but i expected that as it balances everything.
Want to get my Fuge set up, but waiting as i dont want to bottom out my nutrients and cause Dino's!

 

[DarkReefer]

Sorry to hear about your loss mate. All the best to you and your family.

Looks like you did a good job with the nets, they look nice and tight.
I need to readjust my net on my existing tank as it's gotten a bit loose over time and is sagging a little. I also need to modify my cade ones on the new tank so that they'll fit around my RMS mounts.

Lucky you got the UPS gear for free, that's usually something that can be pretty pricey to get going! Hope everything runs smoothly for you and without incident whilst you're away.