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Australian Fino's new Red Sea Max


fino321

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Hi all :D , so i'm starting up a Red Sea Max tank, 130 version, so i guess i'll give you all an introduction.

 

I'm Nick, i live in Australia, i just finished high school and am awaiting university (ino you americans call this college i think) and am going to study a bachelor of commerce/business degree majoring in accounting, as i will be doing a cadetship/internship with an accounting firm.

 

I've been keeping freshwater tanks for 6 years now, mainly communal tropical (aka boring #### compared to nano-reefs!). So, around two years i bought a second hand red sea max tank (only used for 3 months, as i also got the receipt) and it works perfectly, no microbubbles or other #### etc. So pretty much i've waited 2 years to set this up, as my parents said i had to finish and concentrate on school etc.

 

I've been following nano-reef for over a year, but ashamedly this is my first post :P . i've found it a huge inspiration, especially StevieT's thread (yes ino, somewhat the obligatory kiss Stevies ass quote.. hehe no offence mate) and thank you all for your valuable information.

 

So pretty much ive just ordered all my gadgets and they should be arriving in the next week or two:

 

Down to the cool stuff: Intended Mods/equipment:

 

- Tunze 9002 skimmer w StevieTs skimmer cup & media basket

 

- Running floss, purigen, chemipure

 

- Vortech MP40 powerhead (ino its a bit large, but i got it super cheap and i keep it on a low setting)

 

- Hailea 300A chiller & Aqua one Maxi 103 pump to accompany

 

- Caribsea Florida crushed coral & special grade reef sand for use with a Jaubert Plenum Cavity setup

 

- API test kits

 

- chemicals are mostly seachem as i find these very economical, and synthetic salt is also the seachem reef mix

 

 

 

Yeah, so thats about it, im sure you'd be pretty bored looking at photos of my plain empty tank atm, so ive included a photo of my freshwater setup (ino the pictures small but eh, others will be bigger in future i promise).

 

P.s. i'll be taking the setup of this tank pretty slowly so maybs be updating this thread like once a week or something, depending on my laziness.

 

P.p.s. not many ideas on livestock yet, since live rock will still be like a week + cycling time, thinking 2 clowns at least (think these are like obligatory for a noob reefer), some gobie, cleaner shrimp, small hermits, maybs a wrasse or something i dno. oh and the largest yellow tang i can find :P

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skimlessinseattle

:welcome: to nano-reef!

 

If you can keep a planted tank that looks that nice, you should have no problems with a reef tank. I kept a 55g planted aquarium before I started a reef tank, and honestly feel the planted tank was harder to keep.

 

Are you going to be keeping this tank at school?

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Thanks man, nah ill be keeping this tank at home in my room. American education levels have different names to Australia's so its a bit confusing but basically i'm finished school having just sat my equivalent of i think your SAT's and im doing the next and final stage of my education.

 

Some more pics, including some boring tank shots of rsm.

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BUMP! i also had a quick question, i recall reading somewhere about problems about keeping numerous shrimps in a tank.

 

I was pretty interested in getting a skunk cleaner and a pistol shrimp w goby pair, would these be fine together? aka. no fighting etc.

 

Also, for those who have pistols how deep do they dig their burrows because i wouldn't want it digging down near my jaubert plenum and letting some bad anoxic stuff out.

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So my chiller, chemicals, refractometer etc arrived, linked it all up and everythings running pretty good. Bit dissapointed at how loud the chiller is when i operate it (mainly the fan noise) but it only goes on for like 5 minutes every now and again and its really not that bad. Set my temp to 25.5C or 78F. Also my salt arrived but i havent put that in yet as i'm still waiting on my tunze 9002 to arrive and i dont want the hastle of salt going everywhere when i install that. Other than that, photos:

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a few more: chiller and undergravel filter plates for creation of the jaubert plenum for NNR. (think americans jsut call this live sand system..?)

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Jaubert plenums work as long as the plenum covers the entire bottom, don't want sand falling down the edges as eventually you'll end up with a hydrogen sulfide problem, they are really not necessary in a nano IMO and kind of a hassle to setup correctly, plenty of LR and a couple inches of sand should be more than sufficient. Just my honest opinion, liking your setup so far, and good score on the MP40. You could set your chiller to 26° and save yourself a bit of power and wear & tear on the unit if you like, stability is key more than actual temp more often than not. 26° is quite welcome to reef creatures.

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Ahk, i like the idea of setting the chiller up to 26C so ive done that, and i might do some extra research on the problems jaubert plenums can cause. If it helps my way of setting it up was going to be:

 

layer 1: undergravel plates

 

layer 2: rough coral rubble (up to 0.5mm)

 

layer 3: flyscreen netting to stop inverts burrowing into anoxic layer

 

layer 4: fine coral sand 1-2mm

 

and finally 18kg/40lbs live rock

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Typically, a true Jaubert plenum is about 3/4" to one inch of water-space, then the plates, then a layer of screen which is at least an inch or two bigger than the tank floor, so you can silicone its edges to the walls, completely sealing the water-space from the substrate, then a layer of loose (coarse) substrate, then more netting, again edges siliconed to the walls, then a much thicker layer of 1-2mm grain-size sand. To be truly effective, the 2 substrate layers combined need to be 4-6" deep.

 

They are more effective over a larger area too. Usually the bioload in a nano compared to the LR quantity lets the few anoxic and anaerobic bacteria deep in the LR take care of at least some of the de-nitrification, plus there are your water-changes that also help. But, maybe it will work for you, it certainly is possible, and may work well in fact.

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This might be a fairly noob question, but to all those who just use sand substrate, how often if at all and how much do u gravel vac? or do CUC jsut keep it looking fresh from detritus and algae?

 

(asking because constantly digging into the gravel with my planned jaubert plenum may be too risky...)

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  • 3 weeks later...
This might be a fairly noob question, but to all those who just use sand substrate, how often if at all and how much do u gravel vac? or do CUC jsut keep it looking fresh from detritus and algae?

 

(asking because constantly digging into the gravel with my planned jaubert plenum may be too risky...)

With all the goodies like worms, brittle stars, snails, pods, and maybe crabs you don't touch the sand period. In a reef you leave the sand alone and let your cuc take care of it.

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With all the goodies like worms, brittle stars, snails, pods, and maybe crabs you don't touch the sand period. In a reef you leave the sand alone and let your cuc take care of it.

+1, and even more so with a DSB or Jaubert plenum type sandbed.

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+1, and even more so with a DSB or Jaubert plenum type sandbed.

 

Just to update quickly: didn't end up doing deep sand bed/jaubert plenum. Too much hastle, just have about an inch of sand.

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Yep looks great...sand should be fine with the cleanup crew....If you worried you can also buy a diamond goby and he will shift the sand and keep it nice looking. Also is it hot there is Australia i run stock lights and dont use a Chiller....temp always seems fine as well. I live in Dallas, Tx....just trying to save you some electric money :)

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Yep looks great...sand should be fine with the cleanup crew....If you worried you can also buy a diamond goby and he will shift the sand and keep it nice looking. Also is it hot there is Australia i run stock lights and dont use a Chiller....temp always seems fine as well. I live in Dallas, Tx....just trying to save you some electric money :)

 

Hi, yeah it gets pretty hot here in Australia, especially in the summer months it averages 30-35'C and the fact that the internal pumps + lighting + skimmer also create heat meant my tank was constantly at 29C when i just had water in it. So i decided i didn't want to risk livestock dying + (my chiller is suitable larger tanks in the future.. maybe :) )

 

:welcome: i personally dont think there is a better looking tank on the market you will love this hobby and very nice start by the way

 

Thanks heaps! I checked your tank out, love your scape! Its pretty cool having someone who's a couple months ahead in the setup to follow too.

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  • 2 years later...

It's been a while since I last posted.. even though i still lurk nano-reef daily.

 

Some updated tank pics. Over the last two years i've pretty much scrapped everything in the RSM, bar the stock pumps which i still run. Any questions feel free to ask.

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Hi Jessy,

 

From Sydney, Australia.

 

Tank Specs:

- Maxspect Lighting

- Vortech Mp40

- Hailea chiller

- Lifereef overflow

- Ecosystem Marine Sump/refugium 3012 (just added this as I got a good deal on it)

- Tunze 9002

- StevieT Media Rack (I run carbon and purigen in there)

 

 

Fish:

- 2 Occy Clowns

- 1 Pink Spotted Watchman Goby

 

Corals:

- red acan

- various SPS

- fluro green monti

- bi-colour hammers

- leather

- Favia

- GSP

- Eagle Eye Zoas

- Green Firework Zoas

- Blue/Purple Challice w red eyes

 

Inverts:

- Cleaner shrimp

- Feather duster

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The tank looks great Fino, 2 years since last update? what's up with that? lol jokes

 

do you have a pic of the Green Firework Zoas? im not familiar with trade names

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