View Full Version : Beginners Conversion Progress
Hi all.
I thought as I am converting my African Malawi Tank to Marine, it would be a good idea to show my progress so other beginners could learn from my experiences and the pros could give tips.
The Tank is a Rio 400 (400 litres) and currently runs the supplied Juwel Jumbo filtration for biological and an Eheim 2217 Canister Filter for Mechanical Filtration.
Its stock is approximately 29 large Malawi Mbuna Cichlids.
As I have never treated this tank with medications,I believe a strip down and thourough clean should be all that is needed.
OK it is time to take the scary step into the saltwater world!!
Here is the Tank before Malawis are removed and tank is stripped down..........
Next stage......
Malawis taken to LFS and credit note received equivilent to 2Kgs of LR.
OK tank is now stripped down and rocks have been removed.
Crushed coral has been removed and thoroghly cleaned.
Now I read many mixed reports and cannot decide yet whether to re-use this substrate or not.
The book I am reading says it is fine to use (The new Marine Aquarium - Mike Paletta).
Many users on here use it.
Many users also state not to use it.
I believe it is quite a small grain so should be OK. It will help buffer the PH in the new system, and is the exact amount needed and would help keep the spiralling costs down.
Opinions really needed here! Who is using it successfully???
Back to the tank.......
I have removed the Juwel Jumber Filter box (quite an easy task) and cleaned the tank out several times with the aid of a hose pipe.
I have also painted the back. Found a nice color at Homebase called Mediteranian Blue.
Will be moving the tank to its new location once paint has dried and get ready to setup the new RO unit for filling her.
i use the very fine crushed coral in my tank .
only an inch odd deep.
got plenty of life in it .
i use aragamx in the sump dsb as this also helps the buffering .
Keep the updates coming this should be interesting .
problems ect .
good luck
steve
Time for an update...........
Tank is now moved to its perminant location so I ama now able to decorate the rest of the room around it :lol: :lol:
I have also managed to modify the Juwel stand (was very easy) to accomaodate a small 90ltr sump. I just need to work out what size baffles to put in it now!!
Now starting the low slow painfull process of filling with RO, Estimating two days for this (50Gpd 4 stage unit with DI)
Treated myself to a Refractometer today to help with the initial salt mix :)
Here is the modification pics.................
And another with new cover.............
Well almost there.....................I now have life in the tank!!!
I cannot believe I spent £400 on rocks today :o
But the result looks good!
I am getting really excited now as my first additions will be possible soon!
Clean up crew first..............Any recommendations on what my cleanup crew should consist of??
Dan.
And within a couple of hours of adding the LR the first hitchiker is seen.
Bless him, no food there, that glass is spotless :lol: :lol:
Live rock is not cheap and when you get it you often think why am i paying this for rocks? but a couple of months down the line you will see a few corals(poylps mostly) and a few other things come out of it that will suprise you! ;)
clean up crew to start with i would add some turbo snails and some red legged hermit crabs,you can build it up but maybe just add 6 of each to start with
HTH
Mark
Hi,
Good photos - keep them coming! Everyone likes to see new tanks being set up.
I'd go with the above recommendation too - half a dozen turbo snails and red-legged hermit crabs will give you something to look at while your live rock gets cooking!
Cheers,
Ian :thumbsup:
outa interest i assume your going to use an overflow box of some description to transfer water to the sump, or is it just gonna be RO storage?
anyway nice to see it progressing.
Thanks guys.
So I will will start with 6 Turbo Snails and 6 Red Legged Hermit Crabs.
When I Red tropical crabs in the past, they were always trying to escape. Will hermits do the same?
@Trev - yes I will be adding an overflow siphon box and return pump at a later stage once the main tank is up and running. I have seen some nice diy plans on the web and will probably make my own acrylic box to fit.
As the LR seems pretty well cured, how soon could I add a couple of Clowns to help the Bio load get started??
Do I have to watch for a cycle or is it likely that the LR is ready to go?
The LFS was using it in their sumps for their bio load.
Thanks for all your help.
Dan. :cheers:
hey,
glad too see pics of your cabinet mod. got a vision 450 that i'm about to hack to pieces.
i dont know if i'd be adding clowns to the tank so early in the cycling phase (if you've had one with the live rock).
have you tested the tank yet for ammonia, nitrite yet?
leon
looks good,what lighting r u using??the hermits will stay put don`t worry about them escaping...how many kilos for 400 sheets??get all the rock in there before you add fish ;)
Thanks Vanadium, I got a great deal of 40Kg for £400. And as I said earlier, it was in the main sumps of the LFS so was fully cured. They are also 2 mins round the corner so is it likely that there will be no cycle as there is no die off??
I will be getting new test kits today as I have only just discovered my current ones are freshwater only.
Also found a couple of what I am guessing are feather dusters in there.
I am really pleased with how it is comming along now :dance:
i have around 60kilos in mine so it looks like you will be spending alot more dosh...i see you only have one stream....i have 2 on mine connected to a 7094 controller you will need more flow. ;)
Also, lighting is the standard Juwel T8 Fitting with 1x40W 18,000K Power Glo and 1x36W Actinic Blue.
They are starting to look very impressive as the water clears.
I plan to add reflectors to this fitting for now and when I start getting some maney back in the bank, will add an i-bar with two T5's.
Dan.
Yes also plan to add another Stream (currently a 6060 at the moment) will add one to the other end of the tank and use timers on 1hr intervals.
Also plan to add LR at maybe a Kilo or two ata time each month. I am presuming that 40Kg is enough to deal with the bio load of 3 fish for the next 4-6 months.
Where has all my money gone????
Cheers,
Dan.
go the full hog and get arcadia series 3 halides on it.....you know you want to :D
40kg is enough for the fish.....but adding the rock later you will see the difference in colour....i would get it all in there now.
good work in progress this!
i have to say the tank looked really good with the tropicals in it before.
if you get to the same standard with marine this tank will be a peach :thumbsup:
Ok time for an update me thinks.................
Tank up and running with:
2x true percs (looking like they have paired already)
20 x Turbo snails
15 x Hermits
Percs have been in for two weeks and getting on real well together. They have decided that the corner under the Stream is their new home.
Hair Algae is starting to take root on the back Glass and the Turbos hav munched through most of this.
Corraline is starting to form on some of the LR.
I have finished putting the sump together and is now up and running perfectly.
I have also built my own overflow siphon using two tubes (as backup).
Life that has evolved from the LR includes:
1 x white starfish
1 x Black starfish
2 x strange looking slugs
many fan worms
Pics attached below....
Overflow pic 1...........
Overflow pic 2..............
overflow looks cool, what was it in its previous life?
comming on well.
Thanks Trev. Outside part of the overflow was made from a £3 Harris brush cleaning pot. Saw it in Homebase and thought it would be ideal as an overflow due to it having 2 compartments inside. Has been working fantasticly for 3 days now and is silent!!
The inside part was made from the original Juwel Filter box. Just hacked it up and rebuilt as a smaller overflow box.
Dan.
Morning Tiffy
Any new life in the tank yet?
or any update
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Originally posted by Tiffy@Mar 2 2005, 11:48
Thanks Trev. Outside part of the overflow was made from a £3 Harris brush cleaning pot. Saw it in Homebase and thought it would be ideal as an overflow due to it having 2 compartments inside. Has been working fantasticly for 3 days now and is silent!!
The inside part was made from the original Juwel Filter box. Just hacked it up and rebuilt as a smaller overflow box.
Dan.
Again I get an idea for an overflow - just after I bought one! Man what a real bad day I am having...
Hi Hamagogo.
Yes plenty of new life in there!
Here is an update (and pics to follow this weekend).
Slowly added to cleanup crew and Live Rock. I now have 60K of Live Rock. Cleanup crew is now 20 Turbo snails, 30 Red Leg Hermits, 1 sand sifting Starfish and 1 common cleaner shrimp.
Fish are now, 2 true percs, 1 Yellow Tang, 5 blue chromis, 1 butterfly gobie.
Water parameters have amazingly stayed at zero apart from phosphate which was quite high. No water changes have been made just RO top ups.
I am now running Rowaphos to bring this down (was 3 is now <1) and hopefully the brown diatoms all over the sand will recede.
I have stopped using the sump whilst the PO4 is high and am working on a new solution to increase the flow through it.
Everything is clean and healthy and I am very pleased.
Updated pics to follow.............
Why have you stopped using sump due to po4? You skimmer can only help surely??? :thumbsup:
hows that overflow doing? i love it :thumbsup:
is it good enough for you to keep it permanentley?
would it work for both sides of the tank?
thanks
more tank piccys please :D
hehe brings back happy memories of my old DIY overflow on my old 4 foot tank b4 i got it drilled (just b4 i upped to a 6x2x2 doh! hehe)
Originally posted by Mark J@May 7 2005, 16:52
hehe brings back happy memories of my old DIY overflow on my old 4 foot tank b4 i got it drilled (just b4 i upped to a 6x2x2 doh! hehe)
ooh ooh what was it like? any piccys?
Marineboy,
Overflow worked flawlessly, never stopped once since setup, and ran silently. Only thing was, I wasnt getting enough flow through the sump for the skimmer to be effective. and when I increased the ouput on the pump, the overflow couldnt empty fast enough.
I am currently building an acrylic overflow box that will sit behind the tank and allow more flow as I will be able to fit a larger downpipe to this.
@shinken- the sump wasnt circulating the 120 gal fast enough therefore the Rowaphos in the skimmer (on the sump) didnt seem to be working effectively enough.
P04 is now comming down gradually and Diatoms seem to be losing the battle now!
Dan.
:thumbsup:
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