AJ_Tsin Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) Alright so its time to do some updating around here. I will post a couple updates over the next week or so one in about an hour... In the meantime I have some replies to make... stay tuned for the rest....... Thought i'd repeat it since you're here now.. what kind of rock do you have? Is it just some stuff you got locally or does it have a name? It really is such nice rock.. the rigidity and shapes are perfect for shallow tanks. I am not sure what kind of rock it is Fiji i think but really I have gotten it all over I am just careful to pick good pieces. do you remember what kind of sand you got? great tanksone of my faves! hey i have a questions for you how do you have such clear water with such fine sand!?!? im trying to get my water clearer! thanks again for the inspirational tank Carib Sea Sugar Sized Crushed Aragonite. AJ, it's been a while since I've browsed your thread (back when you lost your clowns if I remember correctly) but it looks great. I assume you've continued VSV, now would you start VSV as soon as the tank got started or would you wait? I'm thinking of starting soon. Sorry for the late reply. If you havent started yet I would start right away. 2 Weeks with MB7 only then begin vodka on the 3rd week. Beautiful tank! The best on Nano-Reef IMO Thanks that's quite a compliment. Alright man, I watched your second video again and decided to tweak my MP10 settings. I autotuned it to make a nice wave that makes me a little nervous lol. My water level is usually 1/2" below the edge but with these settings I've got it ~1/4" inch away I love this thing! Sweet! These things rock! Edited December 30, 2010 by AJ_Tsin Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) So it's been a while since I updated anything around here. I have been working on an office tank and my business has been very busy so my presence in this thread has dwindled. After an ich battle that lasted the better part of 3 months (It should be noted that I will never buy livestock from Big Als again as every fish I have purchased from their horrible systems over the past 6 months has had a disease) I have finally gotten the aquarium back stocked and relatively stable. I lost a few corals due to having to keep the system fallow for two waves of ich. Things are certainly less colorful than they have been in the past but things are recovering nicely. On top of this the bigger news is that I bought the house I have been renting for the past year and a half which means I can look at a more permanent aquarium setup and the sump room can be built upon without hesitation. So not only am I a new first time home owner but considering I have moved my setups every year or two for the past 7 years, it will be nice to have an aquarium that finally has a chance to really mature. ANYWAYS I will do my best to update everything over the next few days while the holidays last. With that all being said I will begin with some recent changes in the fish room first. So... Over the Holidays I successfully added a 20 gallon tank to the fish room which is now plumbed into the system. This addition was to not only add stability and water volume to the overall system but is also to free up space for a new ZeoVit reactor that was purchased online courtesy of an amazing boxing day sale. There was nowhere near enough space in my original sump for both the 1.5L Vertex Reactor and a Vertex IN-100. To begin, I drilled a 20 gallon 24x12x12 tank which is meant act as the first reservoir which will receive flow from the overflow, house the protein skimmer and one of two heaters. This was my first time drilling a tank and the process was flawless. This is much less difficult than people make it out to be... if anyone has any questions feel free to ask. After drilling two 1 1/2 inch holes I added two bulkheads. (notice I drilled the tank so it can also be used or sold as a display someday if needed.) Once the bulkheads were in place I placed the tank on the reinforced shelving slightly above the existing sump and filled it to just below the bulkheads. Overnight I mixed up some salt water in the tank. In the meantime two elbows were connected to the bulkheads with 3/4 inch tubing leading to the original sump. The tubes cross to create a gradual slope and both lead to the sump. One can be regulated with a ball valve to slow down flow into the fuge section and the other is unregulated which flows through filter floss and a bag of carbon. Currently the Skimmer is housed in the first reservoir with a powerhead and acts as the first line of filtration, whatever the skimmer does not collect then either passes through the filter floss and through a bag of ROX carbon. (Because I am beginning the Zeovit system I will no longer run carbon in a Reactor) or it flows through the fuge about 75% of the flow passes through the main sump and 25% passes through the fuge. I plan on leaving the DSB in the side chamber of the sump but as soon as the Zeovit system arrives in the mail I will remove the Cheato from the refugium as it will no longer be needed. I will likely install a two bulb T5 fixture above what used to be the fuge and instead use that isolated section of the sump as a frag and grow-out rack. The large now empty portion of the sump will soon house a Zeovit reactor which will act as the last filter before the return line which is a perfect place for the reactor as it both cleans the water and feeds the corals. The guts of this tank are coming together to be a pretty sophisticated little system and its only going to get better. More updates to come on the new livestock, FTS, and last, a detailed explanation of the ZeoVit system and the results. - A. Edited December 30, 2010 by AJ_Tsin Quote Link to comment
Rehype Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Congrats on the house AJ. You did a great job on that second sump. Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 (edited) Congrats on the house AJ. You did a great job on that second sump. Thanks Hype. It is pretty exciting owning a house. It's also exciting what else I can do with this aquarium. Edited December 30, 2010 by AJ_Tsin Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 According to UPS the 25 lb ZeoVit Shipment left Richmond BC today at 1:30 am. It is on its way... Quote Link to comment
d9hp Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Congrats on the house AJ. That's really exciting and I'm glad to hear you're a busy man at work. I know a lot of people in similar industries are having trouble these days so it's always nice to hear someone working their ass off and not having it served right back to them. Definitely one of my favorite tanks and I especially love your videos. The DOF used in some of the shots of your fish is just tremendous. Obvious talent! Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 Congrats on the house AJ. That's really exciting and I'm glad to hear you're a busy man at work. I know a lot of people in similar industries are having trouble these days so it's always nice to hear someone working their ass off and not having it served right back to them. Definitely one of my favorite tanks and I especially love your videos. The DOF used in some of the shots of your fish is just tremendous. Obvious talent! Thanks for the kind words. I am pretty fortunate to have a great team working for me and some awesome clients (which are rare in the media industry). As for the reef videos thank you again for the compliments they really do mean alot. Quote Link to comment
DiegoValencia Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Hi Aj_Tsin... I'm Diego Valencia from Mexico, i've been seeing your beautiful tank, and i'm following some advices that you posted here, i'm dosing 4 drops of MicroBacter7 daily, also i'm dosing 0.45 ml of VSV. I started dosing .2ml for three days, then 0.4 ml for 4 days, then 0.9 ml until my phosphates and nitrates were undetectable, after that, i cut the dose to the half, and i keep the dose of 0.45 ml of VSV daily. I have a Skimmer Reef Octopus Extreme 250, my tank is a 50 gallons. it's ok? do i have to change my dose? Today i have my Phosphates and Nitrates in zero. I don't have algae problems. It's a good time to get some corals? Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 Hi Aj_Tsin... I'm Diego Valencia from Mexico, i've been seeing your beautiful tank, and i'm following some advices that you posted here, i'm dosing 4 drops of MicroBacter7 daily, also i'm dosing 0.45 ml of VSV. Diego, thanks for the compliments. Your dosage regiment sounds good. I started dosing .2ml for three days, then 0.4 ml for 4 days, then 0.9 ml until my phosphates and nitrates were undetectable, after that, i cut the dose to the half, and i keep the dose of 0.45 ml of VSV daily. Nice sounds like you eased into carbon dosing perfectly. I would have done 0.4 for a week or so before moving to 0.9 though just to be safe. If everything is ok for now you should be good. You may want to lean towards a couple more drops of mb7 and if you add new fish definitely add it more liberally for a couple weeks while things are out of balance. I have a Skimmer Reef Octopus Extreme 250, my tank is a 50 gallons. it's ok? do i have to change my dose? Today i have my Phosphates and Nitrates in zero. I don't have algae problems. It's a good time to get some corals? Is hard to say as every tank is different but if Alk and Cal are in check you should be good to go. Do you have any fish? I would take it slow and make sure things stay stable before adding too many expensive corals. But definitely add a couple and see how they do before going nuts Montipora are good starters as they are hard to kill but they also need to be fed extra in ULNS and make sure your potassium isn't depleted. Because your water is soo clean and clear make sure to acclimate your corals extra carefully and make sure they dont burn and remember many corals experience burnt tips if Alkalinity is too high in an ULNS. Good luck. Quote Link to comment
burtbollinger Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 your 47 is gorgeous....great job. Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted December 31, 2010 Author Share Posted December 31, 2010 your 47 is gorgeous....great job. Burt, thanks for looking. So I picked up a Sony Cybershot today on sale... It shoots great photos and HD video... ...underwater. Heres a sneak peek of a shoot this afternoon. Stay tuned underwater macro photos coming soon! Quote Link to comment
Sahin Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Burt, thanks for looking. So I picked up a Sony Cybershot today on sale... It shoots great photos and HD video... ...underwater. Heres a sneak peek of a shoot this afternoon. Stay tuned underwater macro photos coming soon! Look forward to the underwater macro shots. What is the Cybershot model you just bought? Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 So here they are... all photos taken with a Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5 fully submerged in the salt water. Enjoy. Part 1: Quote Link to comment
Rehype Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Beautiful shots AJ..Can we get a FTS? Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Look forward to the underwater macro shots. What is the Cybershot model you just bought? It's a Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5 I bought it at Best Buy in Canada for a Boxing Day Sale. What an awesome purchase. Considering I own a Canon 5D Mark II, my company has some serious Digital Cinema Cameras (2x RED ONE) in house and I take all my spontaneous shots with an iPhone 4, I would have never pictured myself buying a simple consumer grade point and shoot but as soon as I saw the underwater mode I was sold. Amazing. It also auto white balances to around 15-18k in underwater mode which is why these photos look quite colorful. Sweeeeet. Wait until I shoot a video with this thing. I am already thinking of ways to rig a floating harness that can suspend the camera in the water column! More shots soon... Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Beautiful shots AJ..Can we get a FTS? Thanks Hype, Working on it. While I was busy with my hands in the tank I forgot to take some pictures from outside looking in. Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 A few more shots did I mention how awesome this thing is? - A. Quote Link to comment
Zo0k365 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Great shots! I have a Pentax Optio W60 that does the same thing and I use it the same way you do! Isn't it nice to take pics from inside?! Quote Link to comment
animalmaster6 Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 Once the 125 is set up I need to get myself an underwater camera. That's awesome. The corals look awesome Aj. Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 Once the 125 is set up I need to get myself an underwater camera. That's awesome. The corals look awesome Aj. Ha, You will need a fishing rod to get the camera close enough in a 125. I am quite pleased with the performance of this little camera so far. Thanks for the compliments everyone. FTS coming soon. Quote Link to comment
Crazy Rick's Posted January 2, 2011 Share Posted January 2, 2011 beautiful setup! those little point and shoots get better every year don't they? impressive. Quote Link to comment
AJ_Tsin Posted January 2, 2011 Author Share Posted January 2, 2011 beautiful setup! those little point and shoots get better every year don't they? impressive. They certainly do. Thanks for the compliments. Cheers. Quote Link to comment
deepseanige Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 (edited) Fantastic tank AJ! In fact so much so you inspired me to go 30"x30", except I went a couple of inches higer to 14". Keep up the good work and keep the vids coming! Edited January 6, 2011 by deepseanige Quote Link to comment
goose240 Posted January 6, 2011 Share Posted January 6, 2011 how high up is ur light from the surface of the water? Quote Link to comment
Zer0 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Dude... all those pictures you just took are from a stock Sony Cybershot DSC-TX5????????????????? Quote Link to comment
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