Ver.3.0 - 'Islands' 100Gal SPS Dominant Build

Owram2 · Feb 29, 2020

Water leak test. So far so good.
The water level fill up just below the outlet. Not sure if its actually a good idea or not. Wanted to use the eductor but cant seems to use it now because it not sitting above the water line..

Well, change of plan then.

Owram2 · Feb 29, 2020

Back to scaping.

After unsuccessful attempt to locate something I prefer online. Did read some aquascaping articles to get a general idea of what makes a nice scape.
Mess around a bit and came up with this simple arrangement ......and i think i like it..

Top view

Side View

Now. The tank is now filled with tapwater (leak test) and i felt its very wasteful to dump the water away. I have my brand new dual pump RO machine sitting right there.
Hummm... the devil inside me told me to just dump in the salt and save the precious water. Its at most a little bit of PO4 and Nitrate. Perhaps a little of Iron and some heavy metal as well. No biggie right?

So I did.

Owram2 · Feb 29, 2020

So the scape goes in!

I call this "Islands Scape'.

This scape make me realised that my back is no longer the same as before.

justingraham · Feb 29, 2020

Looking good with the enductors use some pvc and 90 degree elbows to put it under water or 45s u can also use loc line but that destroys flow

Owram2 · Feb 29, 2020

justingraham said:
Looking good with the enductors use some pvc and 90 degree elbows to put it under water or 45s u can also use loc line but that destroys flow

Yes, was looking forward to use a 'proper' eductors and see the effect.. its was a bummer.. did end up using locline type with a random flow tip. Much smaller than the eductors i have got, so it end up looking slightly neater with just a 'normal' performance. Looks like i still need extra wavemakers at some point.

Owram2 · Feb 29, 2020

I bought this during a sale and kept it. By the time i took it out, warranty is already over. This model has also been discontinued by the manufacturer.. Oh well I'm ok with it as long as it works the way it should be.
But within 1 hour of switching it on for the first time, the foam is coming out nicely.
Felt fortunate to have Skimz as a local brand. Not only expensive stuffs works!

Owram2 · Mar 18, 2020

Been lazy to update.
So the setup continues while the system is cycling.

Lighting system came in.
I have used T5 only and LED only for previous tanks. I feel that each type have their own strength and weakness.

SO, I decided that a Hybrid system will be the best of both worlds.

Took quite some time to assemble all the parts.

Ultra Slim profile. Liked the look.

Owram2 · Mar 18, 2020

Started to transfer some corals from the nano into the sump (My frag tank).
Zoa went in first for a couple of days followed by Ricordeas.

Idea is to monitor how well everything is going. If these remain happy, then the loading can begin!

justingraham · Mar 18, 2020

I just saw Brs has the skims skimmer pumps on close out of i had your slimmer I would get at least one as a backup

Owram2 · Mar 21, 2020

No casualty, so the transfer is happening slowly.

Some of the spare SPS frag went in as well.

Owram2 · Mar 21, 2020

So like all new tank owners, I can't really contain the excitement and went LFS window shopping. The LFS had a recent shipment. There must be some things to see.
I can just take a quick peek at what they have and go back home.

Not a good idea? I know right..

. Ended up taking 3 colony and 1 mini colony home.

Here we go, first batch in the display.

As you can see (or cant see), the colors are faded and doesn't fluoresce at all even under blue lights.

Can you spot it now?

Owram2 · Mar 21, 2020

Side view.
Lighting need to be on daily from now on.

Owram2 · Mar 22, 2020

Did some basic tests. No water change has been done yet so expecting NO3 and PO4 to be high. Transferred some of the media from the nano to aid in the system.

Result:
NO3 ~10
PO4 at 0.5ppm
kH at 6.8

All the SPS is doing fine still.
So time to load more to help reduce the nutrient! (Warning; My own theory! Please do not follow!)

Owram2 · Mar 22, 2020

So I went LFS hopping again. There some leftover shipment (my preferred type) and then the boss is nice enough to give me a good price to 'celebrate' my new setup. Im sure he is smiling too after i left with 6 colonies.

Realised that some of them are actually quite big when Im starting to put them in the empty tank.

That's fine right? Not going to complain having more corals in a new tank. Fragged some part of it and placed it in a different location.

Diatoms build up very rapidly with just a few days of higher intensity light. See the white patch of sand that i disturbed. Everywhere else is covered. FM ultraphos had been deployed after last testing to try to assist in PO4 removal.

Beside the SPS, has also been shopping for some LPS frags. I am blessed with a wife who doesn't really ask about my corals..

Owram2 · Mar 28, 2020

So the the algae started to show on every single piece of rock.

Continue to transfer some of the SPS over from the nano. Lights remain on, so far all the SPS is doing good and start to color up noticeably despite the algae growing all around them.

Owram2 · Mar 28, 2020

Looks bad with the algae. But SPS are waving their polyps.

No doubt the algae will get more and it did. See how long some of them become. It is turning into a planted tank!

Owram2 · Mar 28, 2020

Tearing down the nano. This is one of the few SPS that grew from a frag over the years. Some tip broke off while i tried to pry it off the rockscape.

Owram2 · Mar 28, 2020

Decided that i need to know how much nutrient i have in the system.

Oops... slipped off my butter fingers...

PS: Do not waste time to take picture if you happen to break one of this on the marble floor. Its acidic and it will stain the floor!!

A guy got to do what a guy gotta do.

Not too bad considering the fact that I'm using old rocks. Im going to pretend i don't know why there is a stain on the floor. Maybe one of my children spill something?;Dummy

Owram2 · Mar 28, 2020

So the mater plan for the algae control is to get some CUC and for Tangs to graze. New Tangs might not feed in a new environment so PLENTY of algae would be of no harm.

While choosing my CUCs, chanced upon the Emperor Shrimps in store too.

drawman · Mar 28, 2020

Owram2 said:
So the mater plan for the algae control is to get some CUC and for Tangs to graze. New Tangs might not feed in a new environment so PLENTY of algae would be of no harm.

While choosing my CUCs, chanced upon the Emperor Shrimps in store too.

Woah that's awesome! Will they need a host? I'll be curious if you'll have to feed them directly.