Calling Sahin!

[Kosh42]

Hi Sahin! Sorry to bother you but I saw you were online.

 

Quick question, how did you wash the B&Q play sand. I'm having no luck getting P52 so I'm going to copy you (again!) with the sand option.

 

Cheers,

 

Tim

[Sahin]

Hehehe, I was just about to go out, when I refreshed and saw your post.

 

Now first thing, when you get the sand: CHECK IT properly.

I bought one bag (25Kg) (£3.50) and it was fine. I bought a 2nd bag another time (it was a new supply, for my garden, and there was black bits in it...dont know what they were.

 

So check it properly. I would advise to be on the safe side, go to Maidenhead aquatics and buy some plain sand. You pay more, but it will be clean of crap that can pollute the tank.

 

If you still go ahead with the stuff from B&Q, this is what I did to clean mine:

 

I put all the sand into the tank and filled it with water. I mixed and mixed.

LOTS of foamy stuff came out. I siphoned out all the water and put water back in. Repeated the process many many times a day for over a week. Even when it became clean and no more foam would come out, I still cleaned it more.

 

BTW the sand I bought was play sand for gardens. Safe for kids to play in etc. Wouldnt have bought it otherwise. Yet still the 2nd batch had the black bits in it. Suppose I was lucky.

 

Hope this helps. Good luck.

[Sahin]

Oh yeah, the sand I got, is VERY fine.

So I used 55lbs for my tank.

 

It was enough to cover a depth of 3 inches.

 

Under my current lighting, it gives a pink tinge which looks very nice. Not quite sure how it will look under the T5's.

 

PS, did your T5's arrive yet?

Apparantly Watford Aquatics soldout all thier T5 tubes and ballasts, so I have to wait...they said it will arrive this Thursday so I should get it by next Monday. Cant wait. Feel like a kid waiting for Chritmas presents. :woot:

[Kosh42]

I only ordered my T5's on Thurdsy night. However, if they're waiting for stock, I may ring Danny and ask him to change my order. Instead of emptying and using an old tank, I've talked the missus into a new tank of the same size.

 

However, I'm currently trying to upgrade the size of the new tank to 36 x 18 x 12. I figure the 18 inches tall will give me room to play with a five inch deep sand bed Hence, I'll need the longer tubes...

 

Tim

[Sahin]

I sure like my 36inch tank. Shallow enough for allow for slightly lower lighting levels, yet lot of floor space to layout my corals. I orderd the 33inch T5 tubes.

Perfect fit for my tank.

 

Did you order the DIY kit from Watdford Aquatics? I ordered a 2x39w 6.5K and Narva 20K blue tube. Should get some good coral growth with these two tubes.

The 6.5K spectrum is well suited for shallow reef inhabitants such as high light clams and SPS while the 20K tube is suited for deep water LPS corals and helpful in supplementing the photosynthetic algae with its actinic part of the spectrum. I have read good stuff about the Narva blue tube.

I will also keep one of the NO flouros to give me decent light for a few sps and clams.

 

What setup are you going to get for a 36inch tank?

 

Cant wait to get my hands on the T5's.

 

Any idea how you will make the tube ends water safe? They arent waterproof. Gotta be really careful there.

 

Let me know what you're upto concerning the T5's. We can help each other out regarding a safe hood design. I plan to get all the materials from B&Q.

[Kosh42]

I was getting the 22" bulbs for the original tank at 30". Not sure if I'm going to go for the 36" or not, as it may be a bit big in the room... Need to decide fast before Danny sends out my order...

 

Also, I'm getting 2 x 6.5k Starlights and having a 24" NO Actinic. Works out cheaper for replacement bulbs and should provide a more white light. I'm going to end up with about 70W of light in a 20G tank.

 

I'll probably be using black furniture board for the lid with Arcadia reflectors inside to house the bulbs. The top will be one fixed section for half of the tank and one removable section for tank access. Then two sides and a front. The back will be open to aid cooling and things like the skimmer and cables. The refugium will also feed in here when I set it up.

 

I'm toying with the idea of having the bulbs on on a fitting that is rigged up on runners so that that they can be at the front shining onto the reef most of the time but slide back to allow access... Not sure if my DIY will go that far...

 

And what do you mean they're not waterproof? I though they were splash proof like the normal Arcadia type end caps....

 

Tim

[mxpro32]

i think a really good way to clean sand is to pour it into a 5 gallon bucket and hose it down really good and then pour the dirty water out and repeat over and over. this accomplishes the same thing sahin did but you can do it faster and the water stream really stirs up the sand. hth

[Kosh42]

Cheers guys. Did you use tap or RO to wash the sand?

 

Tim

[Sahin]

I am not sure of how "splash proof" the caps are. See they werent designed woth aquarium use in mind unlike the arcadia ones...hence I'd be very cautious using them.

 

I used plain tap water to clean the sand.

The last washing was with RO water.

 

Hope that helps.