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The Leviathan Project [120g reef]


NewZealandReefie

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NewZealandReefie

*CURRENT PHOTO 25th February*

 

IMG_3494.jpg

 

Display (in cm, since I'm from NZ):

110L, 70H and 60D.

 

Stand was custom built for the tank and is wood finish with rust treated steel re-enforcement. Filled up it equals approximatively 450L or 120 gallons.

 

Equipment:

Aqua One HaliGlo metal halide fixture (2x 250w 14k metal halides and 2x 8w super bright blue LED's)

Return pump EHEIM 1260

HAILEA 500HC Chiller

Reef Octopus 110 skimmer

Jager 300w heater

Weipro temperature controller

2x MP40w ES

 

Sump:

CBF measuring, can't remember, do know it's volume is 100L

Sump lights are 2x 30cm 40/60 blue and white LED's

 

Livestock:

Misbarred black ocellaris - Jaffa

Orange ocellaris - Fanta

Tomini tang - Asgard

Lyretail anthias (male) - Maui

6x Bartlett's anthias - 'The Muppets'

Dragon goby - Spock

Orchid dottyback - Sly

Blue streak cleaner wrasse - Stencil

 

Corals:

Ummmm well, that's a long list I'll do some now and finish it later when I can be bothered...

Green lobo

Orange fungia

Green torch

Small purple torch

Purple and green hammer

Pink and green frogspawn

Redish/pinkish mushrooms

Pink stylophora

Green pocillopora

Purple with green polyp acro

Purple acro

Blue acro

Tri-colour acro

Green bottle brush

Various zoas

Various palys

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NewZealandReefie

Here's a couple of photos of our new money munching project.

 

ShreeFiddy.jpg

 

 

ThreeFiddy.jpg

 

At the moment Ciedre is researching sump design etc as our current tank (being an RSM) does not have one so we're new to how these things work!

 

If anyone can share their hints and tips that'd be great. Rest assured we are also searching books, internet and nano reef ourselves, we're sure not going to be going into this without knowing how to NOT flood our house!

 

Will post picture of the stupid sump that came with the tank tomorrow so ya'll have a better idea what's wrong with it and can maybe give us some ideas of how to fix it.

 

Thanks for looking,

NZR

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Nice score on the tank and welcome to "The Mythical Beast Aquarium Club".

 

I cam't really help with the sump yet as you haven't mentioned the dimensions of it or what goes inside it. But please check out my Behemoth thread (click the signature) if it helps you out at all. There I have some pictures and text on my 140 gallon build with sump.

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NewZealandReefie

I have to admit to the inspiration for the tank name coming from a 'Magic: The Gathering' playing card... it's called Stormtide Leviathan. Lol...

 

Our sump is 70cm wide, 40cm deep and 40cm tall, just a smidge over 100L.

 

We currently have a Reef Octopus 110NW (came included in tank price so it'll do for now). No return pump yet but we're planning on going external. Bulkheads in main tank are 2.4cm (1 inch). We have to get the baffles cut down a little and moved, they're too tall and too far apart leaving no space for the skimmer. Whoever built it had NO clue...

 

Anyhoo, camera is on charging so I'll post some pics later.

 

Have looked at your tank before, it's beautiful!

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NewZealandReefie

Here's a couple of photos of the sump.

 

We know it's all wrong, for starters where the hell is the skimmer supposed to go? That's why were asking for your personal opinions on how we should go about improving it!

 

 

sump.jpg

 

sump2.jpg

 

Thank for looking, NZR.

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How about removing the right side baffle and put skimmer there. Then maybe moving the 2nd from left baffle closer to left side leaving just 2cm for bubble trap. And putting return pump to the left chamber. This way you'd have 3 chambers coming from right to left skimmer-refugium-return. Naturally your technical requirements may call for some additional baffle moving etc. That sump seems a bit high for many in-sump skimmers, so maybe building a small stand from leftover baffle glass is needed. Then again - how tall skimmer can you still fit in your cabinet while still remaining enough room for maintenance. But hey - too easy gets boring pretty fast. :lol:

 

EDIT: I'm more of a Tanqueray man meself. B)

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NewZealandReefie

Thanks for the ideas!

 

I'm going to start pulling out the two baffles I'm 100% sure I have to move, then take a few days to shuffle them around and think before I stick them back in.

 

Looking at the skimmer and dimensions of the cabinet I should be able to prop the skimmer up to the perfect running height and still get the collection cup off no problem.

 

Our lights for the tank arrived last Monday, exciting day!

 

The fixture is made up of 2x 250w 14k metal halide bulbs and 2x 8w super bright blue led's.

 

Here's some photos.

 

From above

CIMG3414.jpg

 

Below

CIMG3410.jpg

 

The tank itself

CIMG3413.jpg

 

One of the LED's

CIMG3416.jpg

 

Halide Bulb (not that most people haven't seen one before

CIMG3418.jpg

 

And the remote ballast, has a timer for each halide

CIMG3411.jpg

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Peace,

NZR

 

Aquanist - I'm more of a vodka girl but my colleagues thought the 'Sapphire' Bottle went well with my 'sapphire' hair!

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  • 1 month later...
NewZealandReefie

I bought a chiller (HAILEA 500HC) and return pump (EHEIM 1260).

 

I need thoughts on how this should be plumbed and what order.

 

Also space has become an issue now as the chiller is much bigger than expected lol, it will have to sit on the opposite side of the return pump outside of the cabinet.

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phi delt reefer
I bought a chiller (HAILEA 500HC) and return pump (EHEIM 1260).

 

I need thoughts on how this should be plumbed and what order.

 

Also space has become an issue now as the chiller is much bigger than expected lol, it will have to sit on the opposite side of the return pump outside of the cabinet.

 

 

Chillers shouldnt be stored in your cabinet for it will negatively affect its performance. Chillers need "free air" to disapate the heat so it should be kept out the hot humid environment that will probably exist within the sump area. You may want to consider possibly plumbing the chiller outside into a decorative planter box (or shed) but elevated off the ground. Area will need to be dry but I am assuming New Zealand has alot more warm sunny days than snowy frigid wet days like we have in Canada.

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  • 2 weeks later...
NewZealandReefie

Update! Yay!

 

We've had a productive weekend so far.

 

Yesterday:

I painted the back of the tank and we began the 'no more f***ing around' phase of plumbing planning and purchase. Ciedre removed all the baffles from the sump and we both did our bit removing all the excess silicon from the glass.

 

Today:

We moved the tank to a more permanent position and began filling it. At the rate our RO unit goes we'll probably be around 2 weeks in filling the tank. When it's up and running we'll consider spending money on a more productive RO unit. Later in the afternoon we measured out baffle placement in the sump and starting sticking the baffles back in.

 

We have a Tunze multi controller on the way and have priced up another Tunze powerhead that we'll order once the tank is cycling.

 

To finish, here's some photos taken this afternoon.

 

The tank itself

Tank.jpg

 

Most of the equipment we have so far...

Equipment.jpg

 

The RSM being dwarfed by the Leviathan

DwarfingtheRSM.jpg

 

Tanks and equipment taking up their whole end of the lounge. Some of you may notice from previous photos that the leviathan is now in front of our fireplace... but that's ok, we didn't use it anyway heh.

TanksnEquipment.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
NewZealandReefie

So we're about due for an update...

 

Here's the Leviathan few days after we finished filling the display, O.I.D is looking tiny in the background. This photo was taken around a month ago now.

 

TwoTanks.jpg

 

This on the other hand was ten minutes ago.

 

Leviathancycle.jpg

 

We're finally pretty sure we've finished the plumbing. All has been thoroughly leak tested and it's looking absolutely perfect, all up it's run for about 5 days with no issues. We went out this morning (well, yesterday morning, it's nearly 1am as a write this) to pick up the final piece we had to have ordered in, the HANSEN 25mm ball valve. Here it is installed on the overflow pipe.

 

HansenBallValve.jpg

 

Just for kicks here's the sump. We settled on putting 3 of the baffles back in, one to divide the first and second chamber and two to create a basic bubble trap before the return. Before any one asks... the skimmer is temporarily sitting on a chopped up ResSeaSalt 7kg bucket... Sometime we'll make a nice little acrylic shelf for it.

 

Sump-1.jpg

 

We picked up this chalice a couple of weeks ago, being stored in the RSM till the Leviathan is ready. We have hopes that it will colour up a bit under the metal halides.

 

chalice.jpg

 

Let us know what you think.

 

Cheers for looking,

NZR

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NewZealandReefie

Shamelessly bumping my own thread! Woo!

 

Opinions on set up so far?

 

Suggestions?

 

Cheers,

NZR

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NewZealandReefie

Now with sand!

 

sandbox.jpg

 

Pretty sand...

 

sandsack.jpg

 

Oops!

 

ooops.jpg

 

Only took us the weekend to clear up all the dust from the sand, tank is now clean and clear.

 

Clear, with LED's only.

 

CIMG4162.jpg

 

We've dumped a mushroom and a spare bit of pavona in the tank to see how they go. Pavona has lasted nearly a week now and is looked better than it was, it's coloured up a bit. Mushroom looked pissed most of yesterday but I did spend half the afternoon stirring up the last of the sand dust with a turkey baster and scraping all the algae buildup off the glass so that might possibly sort of have contrubuted to it's pissed off state :P

 

Thanks for looking,

NZR

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Arkayology

Nice looking tank. I used to play MTG years ago and was wondering if the name was related to the card. lol

 

Are you planning on doing mostly SPS in this tank or mixed?

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NewZealandReefie

Thanks :happy:

 

It's all happened a lot quicker than we were planning but for a rush job things are looking good. We're still waiting on our two Tunze pumps to attach to the controller, so for now it's a bit low on flow.

 

The tank will be stocked with a mix of corals, we've just moved everything over from our RSM130 and that had a fair few softies and LPS. At a glance I think we have 9 types of SPS so far.

 

Ciedre and I both play MTG but the Stormtide Leviathans are all mine...

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Arkayology
Thanks :happy:

 

It's all happened a lot quicker than we were planning but for a rush job things are looking good. We're still waiting on our two Tunze pumps to attach to the controller, so for now it's a bit low on flow.

 

The tank will be stocked with a mix of corals, we've just moved everything over from our RSM130 and that had a fair few softies and LPS. At a glance I think we have 9 types of SPS so far.

 

Ciedre and I both play MTG but the Stormtide Leviathans are all mine...

Nice plans. It will be a treat to see how your tank develops.

 

Ya, I played about 3 or 4 years ago when kamigawa was still in. I still have my highlander still sitting around, but must of my other cards, save my tooth and nail deck, were sold when I graduated from undergrad.

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NewZealandReefie

Fish are all still alive so far.

 

Turned away for a second tonight, looked back and the anemone was half stuck in the powerhead, lucky it's a piece of crap Koralia so the impeller was jammed by the nems tentacles or we'd have had nem soup on our hands.

 

Everything is generally looking good, we're getting great polyp extension under the halides and the colours of the corals look lovely.

 

However since my camera is a piece of old junk it can't handle the halides. So ya... no more even average photos till I get DSLR. All photos of my old tank and of this one so far were taken with a 5 year old canon 6m pixel thing eww.

 

Cheers for looking,

 

NZR

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NewZealandReefie

Fish are all still alive.

 

We picked up some formalin last night so when we manage to catch the clowns we'll give them a dip in it. We'll probably have to borrow a friends fish trap in order to catch them, especially cake, he's pretty slippery.

 

Jaffa, Cake, LSD and Fraggle (the two clowns and the two dragonettes) were all 'sleeping' together in the front corner of the tank when I got up this morning. Strange but cute.

 

We've decided to sell our anemone. It's just way too much of a pain and the clowns host a candy cane so it's not like they'll be sad. It's pretty but oh well...

 

Cheers,

NZR

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NewZealandReefie

The fish are doing well.

 

Both of the clown fish have cleared up a lot in the past couple of days. Yesterday their slime coats had lost the blotchy, milky look. Today the cysts are nearly all gone and their colour is back to normal. They're both swimming a lot better.

 

So far, singing the praises of Polyp Lab - Medic (we're using it at 2 1/2 times normal dosage...).

 

We also think our chilli leather looks like it's considering opening up it's polyps for (as far as we know) the first time in about 3 months? We fragged a bit off it to give to a friend and it's hated us ever since. I'll be really happy if it decides to open up, it's an awesome coral and was looking fantastic before we chopped it up...

 

Here's some photos Ciedre took last night. Still using the crap camera.

 

One light on (dusk)

 

FTS210511.jpg

 

Just some GSP

 

GSP.jpg

 

Anung Un Rama AKA Hellboy

 

AnungUnRama.jpg

 

Jaffa and the blue candycane

 

SickJaffa.jpg

 

Thanks for looking,

NZR

 

Hope they get better. Why sell the nem?

 

Thanks, so do we...

 

The nem is wandering far too much, it goes on murderous rampages stinging all our other corals. It's just not worth keeping it, the clowns won't even host the damn thing. They only love the sand in the front left hand corner of the tank. Admittedly they'll host anything you put in their corner but we can't exactly make the nem stay there...

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NewZealandReefie

Sick clowns Jaffa and Cake aren't so sick now!

 

They have no more cysts, their slime coats are clear again, they've stopped flashing, breathing is back to normal and their appetites have returned.

 

It's been a very stressful week fighting to keep them alive (including breaking down the RSM to catch them and putting everything in the Leviathan before we were really ready) but I'm now hopeful they will fully recover :happy:

 

Until proved otherwise I shall sing the praises of Polyp Lab - Medic. Clowns started to recover by the evening of the first day of treatment and now at day 8 they're looking just about perfect.

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NewZealandReefie

Jaffa is sick again. She looks just as bad, if not worse, than she did on Tuesday last week.

 

All outta ideas and medications to try.

 

Looking at how bad she was when I left for work a couple of hours ago, unless something miraculous happens, I think she'll be dead when I get home...

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