New Tank Set Up

[Deanobeano]

i'm always in the chat room here and properly this is the 1st time i have looked in the forums and i feel inspired to tell my story and show off my tank and many cock ups lol


i have 2 marine tanks one in my bed room (yes i wear ear plugs to go to sleep) 25 gallon tank 30 inch x 12inch x 16inch. At the minute the tank is housing 22kg of live rock ( i know 2 much but some of it is going into the big tank very soon), live sand, 3 cleaner shrimp, 8 red legged hermit crabs, a scooter beannie, 2 clown fish, corals, ro water is used.

euipment on this tank is

wave maker with two powerheads (maxijet)
red sea primz skimmer
rena uv sterizler
fuval 3
casade 500
interpet t5 bule moon and damn forget the proper name day one on timers

lights are on 8 hours 4 each light
uv sterzlier is on 6 hours per day

had to modify the fuval 3 to act as the pump for the uv sterziler puls it filters the water a bit more 2.

ok i will add pics but now for the pain in my backside and me mums.

my new setup 6x2x2 tank well its 6x18x2 but the 2 is easyer to type than 18 lol

where to start

thats rite i'm a full time degree student studying sports, why say this well i get a student load lol and guess what i have blown it on thats rite the tank of my dreams, not to mention all me wage every month for the past 3 months.


ok so i have a 6x18x2 tank with hood and stand.

1st mistake not getting it drilled (silly billy) thought i wud be clever and use an overflow box, nowt worng with that i hear u say well the bloody overflow box wudn't fit over the bracing bars! so begin my journey of finding someone to drill the tank! and what a journey my friends let me tell u that. actually the tank is gettiing drilled 2mora of neil of mostly marines in shotton massive shout to neil!


2nd mistake having 2 much money and not thinking about the project! i bought a aquamedic reef 500 for the sump great i hear u say welll guess what ? the reef 500 is to tall to go under the tank! so begins another joureny to find a stand. well neil form mostly marine whos drilling me tank said get some brezze block what a gud idea so did that order 27 of them only needed 15 lol what a wally i am. ( gonna biuld a bbq with the rest in back garden)

3rd mistake ordering live rock thinking me tank wud be ready soonish so that why there is 22kg in the lil tank doh!

4th mistake buying every gadget possible! here the equipment list

d&d soultions mega t5 self dimming lights with the new seagull reflotors 5 foot so it don't cover the entrie tank doh! might get 2 x 3foot of them soon.

aqua medic reef 500 filter system

d&d soultions nirate remover

Auqamedic ocean runner 3500x 2 and a 6500

3 foot fish tank as sump

iks compter aqua star is it i forget sat her in bed typing this up lol 8 socket one
various module to order any one any suggestions as to the best one let me know!

red sea salt massive bags x 10 (better to buy n bulk)

2 x 300w heaters

Vecton UV Unit

aquamedic Calcium Reactor Closed System

varoius water addivtes ready for when i get going

200 per day ro unit by ro man

will order £300 worth of live when ready and about 4 bags of Caribsea Aragalive 20lb

varoius books not cheap

24 x 12 x 12 tank for the resoiur of ro water so i can top up with AquaMedic - SP3000 Niveaumat - Auto Top Up.

Refractometer

Plankton Reactor


think thats it so here comes some pic of the lil tank in me room and the pics i have of me big tank i will add pics when further ahead with project.


thanks


dean

[Deanobeano]

some more pics

[Elliott89]

looks like an interesting project

keep us posted :thumbsup:

Elliott

[Deanobeano]

wish i knew how to put all the pic on in one go lol one of me cleaner shrimp in me lil tank really like this pic

[Deanobeano]

my very 1st coral whoo hoooo

[Deanobeano]

my lil tank at nite!!!!!

[Deanobeano]

cheers Elliott

yeah be plenty of pics coming soon maybe some of the tank getting drilled 2mora tho i think i might stop in the other room cos i'm going to be scared as!!!

[dirk053]

Hi Dean

that is going to be a bumper, remember to keep the pics coming

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Deanobeano]

ok i have now got my tank drilled many many many thanks to neil form mostly marine who drilled my tank and set up the piping brillant i can't thank him enough!

tottlly recommend him to anyone looking for anything marine.

took neils advice and not having all the gadgets on me tank now cos as he told me more to go wrong and best to keep it simple and natural.


so out goes the

iks compter aqua star

Vecton UV Unit

aquamedic Calcium Reactor Closed System

24 x 12 x 12 tank for the resoiur of ro water so i can top up with AquaMedic - SP3000 Niveaumat - Auto Top Up.


will order deffo get me live rock and sand off neil now as its gives me an excuse to give me mum to take me to his shop that i have heard so much about off various people.

[Deanobeano]

some new pics

[Deanobeano]

the sump

[Deanobeano]

side view of the tank

[Deanobeano]

the back

[jamie reefer]

Hi Scarface

Looking very nice there mate,looks like Neil has done a excellent job on that pipework mate.
If I sell my tank and the buyer doesnt want the dsb when I break it down you are quite welcome to the live sand as its crawling with life,and I think the life sand that you buy for £20 per bag is a waste of money imo.
Looking forward to seeing this project completed sounds really good :thumbsup:

cheers Jamie

[Deanobeano]

ty matey and sorry you are having to breaking up your tank.


i wud love your sand matey if that is possible cos then i cud buy all me live rock cos i was gonna have to wait till next month cos i need a ocean runner 6500 so that i can get the water in.

be very very grateful and just let me know matey :thanx:

[Deanobeano]

some more pics of me lil tank

[Deanobeano]

yet another pic

[stevew@reefdreams]

Hi Dean,

Keep it up, your going to have a great tank there.

Much respect for taking the advice on the forum and chatroom. It would have been so easy to ignore it and rush ahead to get fish in there. Your new tank will be so much better and future proof for getting it drilled.

Speak soon

Steve

[bs0u20a2]

Yeah second the above comment, got the potential to be an awsome setup in time that. And respect for the patience youve shown so far.

Nick :thumbsup:

[Deanobeano]

cheers lads

yeah took the advice cos it was gud advice and wanna make a gud job of it well neil who drilled it made a gud job of it but u know what i mean. not going to rush this at all taking me time so that everything is just rite like a nice old mature wine lol


i'm glad i took the advice cos found neil to drill it and set it up but gald it was him cos now i know i can trust him with other marine issuses and buying gear and fish and corals etc cos never ever going back to me lfs. so its just getting me mum to drive me up to the shop not that far away like but enough for the old gal to moan lol. i'll get there one way or another.


i'll keep you all updated with pics thr out the set up


catch u all soon no doubt

[Deanobeano]

just thought i wud add some new pic of my lil tank, the rock kinda fell so i have rearanaged the rock and the coral to give a more open space and have created a hide out for the fish and shrimps, since moving things about notice the cirution of the water is much better 2.

tell me what think

cheers

deano beano

[Deanobeano]

another pic

[Deanobeano]

another pic again

[Deanobeano]

oh yeah forgetting to ask what do u all think about the postioning of my corals

cheers

deano beano

[Deanobeano]

heres a pic of my purple fire fish

[Deanobeano]

here my the currnet stautus of my big tank

[Deanobeano]

thought i wud add a new pic of my lil tank since i have added a few things to it now, heres a full round up

livestock

2 x purple fire fish
2 x clown fish
2 x velvet dasmels
1 x royal grammar

1 x orange starfish
1 x black spiny urchin
1 x sebane anemone

2 x cleaner shrimp
1 x boxer shrimp
1 x feather worm
corals

pussey coral
purple bush
green poly
star poly
pine
pulsing xenia
leather
devils fat thumb
striped mushrooms
yellow and pink somthing forget the names
and an twig like coral who i have no idea what it is lol

moved the rock around still the last pic i posted a pic on here and its a lil better 2 i think.

the tank is in my room and thinking of upgrading it to a bigger tank so i can do more with it so i plan to move the new tank into the warborbe obvisoly the door wud be off and the tank seeable. just means i can have a bigger tank maybe 36inch x 24 x 30 if i have measured correct. and i can put a new posh wardbore where the tank is now meaning i can get more room for me clothes so its a winning idea.


deano

[Deanobeano]

totally forget to put the progess on of me big tank !


chaged the sump so its no longer a reef 500 by aquamedic set up, using the micarlce mud refuguim set up, the closed loops are leaking and i'm trying always to stop them leaking to no sucess but going to add ball vaules on them so that i can turn them off and at least get the tank filled and then runnig with the lr and ls.

pics to follow soon

deanobeano

[MaidstoneMarine]

Deano,

Like the aquascaping - plenty of room in and around the rockwork. IS that an anemone in the centre of the last picture?

Cheers

Chris

[coling]

Dean

Just noticed this thread, cool tank(s) you have there.

If you are on a tight budget (isn't everyone) why not start collecting live rock from people selling up. You are going to need a good bit and it could work out little over half price.

[Deanobeano]

not a bad idea matey actually thought of this b4 but only thing is i have noticed on here people selling up r a lil reluant to post and everyone seems to be down south or manchester way lol only know of 3 people in north east with marine tanks lol sure their is more tho.

other thing is i can't drive so picking up items is again a problem and the other major problem is the big tank has no water in it yet due to the closed loops system leaking cos the hose with not attrach to the pump proprley.

but off to the plumbing centre now actually so been go going to get the piping i need to attach the hose to so if i get the right one hopefully start to put water in it 2nite :thumbsup:


deano

[Deanobeano]

hi there been a while since i have posted on this thread and looking back its been one hell of a project :lol: last post i did as you can all see i was selling up! but in the end didn't.

so bet your all waiting on an update then...................................


well here you go after 5 months of seetting up and many problems my tank is now UP AND RUNNING!!!!!!!!!! whoooooooo hoooooooooooo!

need to say a massive thank yet agian to neil at mostly marines for getting to this stage cheers matey !


so heres some pics

any question feel free and i'll try answer them best i can.

spec

main tank

70lbs of live sand
42kgs of live rock with loads of hitch hitchers on form neil at mostly marines (thank you very much matey) adding another 15kgs soon

2 closed loop systems each closed loop run by a ocean runner 3500

sump

minreal mud mixed with live sand with cheato and mangrove pod and 5 kgs of live rock from my other tank to help things along

some rowa in a bag upgrading to a reactor very soon

ocean runner 6500 for the return and ocean runner 2500 for feed to skimmer which is a delta apf 600.



deano

[Deanobeano]

sump

[Deanobeano]

my skimmer

[Deanobeano]

piping

[Deanobeano]

angle veiw

[bluem00n0]

Hey Deano

Just in time for our visit at the weekend!!!!!

Well done - I'm so glad it's coming together.

Looking forward to seeing it in the flesh, so to speak.

This is going to look awesome - how's the mangrove doing?

Found a guy that makes hang on fuges and he is going to make me one when I put a different sump and reactor in and work out how and where exactly it will go.

See you Satdi

:thumbsup:

Scott

[JAGR]

glad to see it up and running dean hope everything goes well Gordon

[Deanobeano]

added a bit more live rock form my other tank so theres about 55kg in the main tank now, just a leak on the closed loop on the left to sort out but closed that off with the ball vavles so easy to fix!

got loads of snails and 30 hermit crabs and 3 Mithrax crabs and 2 cleaner shrimp and 2 sand shifting snails ready for the clean up crew in my new tank (housed in my little tank).

my clowns and royal grammar are off to manchester 2mora to a new home and my bule vevlet dasmels are off to the lfs so just left with the coral now which will be tranfered over to the big tank when all sorted.

so after everything is tranfered over to the big tank going to be now left with a marine tank in my room with mature water, live sand and about 12kgs of live rock. wonder what i can put in there now :ph34r: ! have to wait and see.

still no idea what to put in my big tank fish wise! well i do but not 100% sure on it yet.


deano

[bluem00n0]

Hey Dean

The tank is mint matey!

Thanx for the pair of clowns they settled in no problems. (Hope Jorja doesn't hate me too much!)

Scott





:bow:

[bluem00n0]

Hey Deano - how about some pics now that the water is settled etc

Also - we are petitioning you to get a Sohal Tang - ideal for your needs, purpose built so to speak...

Scott

PS skimmer is working properly now phew!

:)

[bigbok]

well dean you stuck in there when lesser men would have chucked in the towel well done it looks good and when finished you will only wish it was bigger haha looks great and well done we will make a reefer out of you yet .neil :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Deanobeano]

up date after 4 weeks and beening very ill as been in the hosptail and convining me mum to keep at least 2 of me tanks and all water readings be a ok i have tranfered everything over and added some green chromis to my tank aswell as plenty of varoius macro agale to my sump (many thanks peter allen). just need to add my ocena runner 3500 on my left hand closed loop due to breaking it opps ! adding a bigger cleam up crew aswell and then changing to a meatl halde light cos not sure my D&D self dimming t5 lights are working 100% got about 60kgs of lr in my main tank 2.

heres a pic


dean

[bigbok]

looking good dean when you going to get some paint on the back hahaah see you soon ,neil :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[JAGR]

getting there dean keep it up Gordon

[bluem00n0]

Will look better when that Sohal tang goes in matey

:thumbsup:

Scott

(still haven't got my camera back from Olympus)

[Deanobeano]

gud poiint point neil but i just can't make me mind up on what color to do the back got the roller that extends out so i can reach all the way back. get it done on monday i think get me sister to help cos she likes a bit painting, cheers gordon really pleased with how its looking, lving the live rock i got form neil at mostly marines loads of hitch hikers shrimp, a crab, some coral and the shapes are nice to.


as for the Sohal tang scott not sure thats going in got me wish list which i'll send u later and see what you think.

deano

[JAGR]

Originally posted by scarface1979@Sep 18 2005, 20:43
gud poiint point neil but i just can't make me mind up on what color to do the back got the roller that extends out so i can reach all the way back. get it done on monday i think get me sister to help cos she likes a bit painting, cheers gordon really pleased with how its looking, lving the live rock i got form neil at mostly marines loads of hitch hikers shrimp, a crab, some coral and the shapes are nice to.


as for the Sohal tang scott not sure thats going in got me wish list which i'll send u later and see what you think.

deano
keep it quiet dean hell charge you only joking, get the tank painted yourself your family run after you enough gordon

[john27]

Hi,
Why dont you buy a bit of hardboard or ply and paint it, then stand it behind the tank, you can try a few different colours until you find the colour you like the best. Then paint the glass.

John.

[Deanobeano]

got some paint for my tank so be done very soon just got to do a little uni work so when i have a spare 10 mins i'll paint the back of the tank :thumbsup:

got some new addtions to the tank sand shifting starfish and a red starfish which name i can't even begin to spell (no pics of him yet as hes hiding) been told hes something of a raretiy aswell.

got some more caupleua for the main tank this time kinda looks like a lettuce! but i like it . mmmmm owt else oh bought some salt and 2 more water barrels :lol:

sump is doing very well and the caupleua in there is going nuts !!

had a lil bit of a flood which i thought was caused by a short power cut by actually was caused by a snail!!! stupid thing had got stuck in the return of the skimmer to the sump and the water overflowed causing the flood. put a bit of egg crate on the pipe to prevent this happing again.

some pics now to have a look at ( just hope they work cos i took them 3.1 million pixels and i can't resize them all down to less then 150k)

can't rezie the pics pass 285k sorry have to wait till i can work something out unless somone knows what to do ?

dean

[bluem00n0]

Snails causing floods - they are crazy Deano!

If you want pics resizing send em to me I'll do it - OK?

Check out Muzzy for some chaeto matey

Scott

[Mikey]

Deano Beano!!

Looking good matey, keep us the good work!

;)

[Deanobeano]

cheers mikey :thumbsup: aye scott bloody snails!!!

send you some pics to resize for me matey.

deano

[bluem00n0]

I've resized em and sent em back to you Dean

I just used paint Shop Pro - wish I had Adobe Photoshop but it's too dear!

Tanks looking good

Scott

[bluem00n0]

OK Deano sent you some pics that I took on Saturday.

Here's a sneak peak at one for now of a lovely bush.

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20bush%20frags.jpg

This is my fave pic :)

Scott

(tank is looking good but you need rid of the algae and aiptasia (imo)

[bluem00n0]

Wanted to add these pics I took on 01/10/05 as they make feel glad that I took them

:)

Bush

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20purple%20bush%20frags.jpg

Mushys

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20mushy%20rock%20close.jpg

Shrimp framed thru Urchin

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/shrimp%20thru%20urchin%20011005.jpg

Looking good Dean

:thumbsup:

Scott

[Deanobeano]

got a ton of new pics to post thanks to me uncle (his birthday today 2 so happy birthday scott) but bloody uploader aint working so i've manged to cock it surpise surpise!

trying to working it out rather than post loads of posts.


deano

[bluem00n0]

Here's a pic Deano

This is the tank wth Dean underexposed - better than overexposed!!

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20tank%20with%20deano%20looking%20on.jpg

Not sure what the prob is with the uploader works OK for me

Scott

PS just been out for a chinese meal and had banana fritter for dessert - well weird highly recommended!

Oh all right here is another pic

This is the left

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20tank%20left%20side.jpg

Here is the middle

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20tank%20middle.jpg

Here is the right

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/011005%20tank%20right%20side.jpg

Let me know what else you want posting matey

Ta for the card btw

Scott

[Deanobeano]

finally got the tank painted! actually not sure of what color it is cos i mixed 7 different sample cans together last night at 11.50pm cos i was bored and painted it and the sump and oine of me other tanks. but looking ok i think.

took the hood off the tank cos it was a lil impractcial and the right hand closed lop that i thought was sealed to me pump wasn't and leaked so plummed that off again and resealing it so it won't leak.

got a cleaner warsse now aswell, added a few more snails so got about 40 trubos snails, looking to get about 30 nassuris snails and another 50 trubos snails.

looking to get a phospate reactor and some metal haldie lights, also going to box the tank and sump in with beech wood something like craigg did with his new tank

[coling]

Looking good Deano.

I would remove that Caulerpa coz it will be a pain in the ass in time. I took mine out 2 years ago and it's still growing where I don't want it.

[Deanobeano]

can't use the uploader so just posting pics like this

is it just me or is that light a little bright? the delta mega twin self dimming lights always seem to be on day light and only ever dim to simulate the clouds and never ever seem to go into the bule artnic mode only time time i have seen the lights on the bule artnic mode is when the tank was cycling ( actaully a pic of this if you scroll back on this thread) anyone had the same experince with these lights ?


deano

[Deanobeano]

another pic i think it is looking tons better now with the back painted

Looking good Deano.

I would remove that Caulerpa coz it will be a pain in the ass in time. I took mine out 2 years ago and it's still growing where I don't want it.

cheers coling yeah the only reason the caulerpa is in the mina tank is cos that was in my seahorse tank and its attateched to some live rock and i think it kinda brightens the tank up with the green color, but i know what u mean with it speading have noticed a lil bit on another rock so i'll keep an eye on it.


deano

[Elliott89]

Looks great Deano

Has the potential to be a stunning tank B)

Elliott

[bluem00n0]

Hey nice one matey!

Looks about 100% better imo

Had a mare with my tank yesterday due to an awkward pussy coral and just now with my tunze - not even going into that

You use that Deltec stuff don't you? Is it better than the milliput? - which is rubbish imo

Looking good dean

Scott

[Deanobeano]

some more pics showing my tank off a lil better now i have the back painted added a few more coral and a livestock thanks to everyone for me birthday pressies.

pics of the pistol shrimp and Fancy Red Serpent starfish waiting due to battery in the camrea running out and the damn things hiding lol

deano

[Deanobeano]

left hand side

[Deanobeano]

middle

[Deanobeano]

right hand side

[Deanobeano]

mushroom corals proper nice colors

[Deanobeano]

latest fish addition

[bluem00n0]

Looking good Dean

Will take some more pics when I am up at the weekend if that's OK?

Cheers

Scott

[Mikey]

Taking shape Deano

:thumbsup:

[Deanobeano]

aye no worries scot rathet u take the th pics to be honest ( better than me :thumbsup: )


[QUOTE]Taking shape Deano [QUOTE]

cheers mikey keep trying to get hold of u matey have to pm u.


yeah deffo wanting to go down the sps coral now so looking to get the metal haldie lights sooner rather than later.

deano

[bluem00n0]

Another visit to the forzen wasteland of Durham to see my Mum and some more pics from Deano's tank

Here we go :-

Choc tip orange starfish - very nice

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/choc%20tip%20star%201.jpg

Cleaner shrimp earning it's crust...

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/cleaning%20blenny.jpg


Bit of activity by the big Pussy coral with the big damsel and the cleaner wrasse

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/pussy%20and%20fish.jpg

Gorgonian in the frame of the live rock archway

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/gorgonian%202.jpg

finger leather

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/finger%20leather.jpg

Gold Bush

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/gold%20bush%20301005.jpg

From the sofa, the whole thing.

http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploads/whole%20tank%20301005.jpg


Hope your new fish etc are good, take pics of them next time and your new coral

Cheers

Scott

[Deanobeano]

cheers for that scott! new fish have settled in nicely got a few pics of them i'm gonna post soon.

have to say now when i have be sat on the sofa watching the tank i just feel its really looking nice and i'm well pleased,(even catch me mother sitting down watching the tank!, tho i still have a lot planned for it yet.

so just a massive thank you to everyone for getting me this far.

deano