ADA Zero Equipment Build - Life got in the way but I'm updating again!

[Tigahboy]

This tank is looking top-notch!  Growing in nicely.  

[Frag Factory]

On 6/7/2019 at 10:23 PM, Tigahboy said:

This tank is looking top-notch!  Growing in nicely.  

Thanks dude!

 

I'm really happy with it, by far my best aquarium of my life so far 😄

 

[YHSublime]

Honestly, once things start growing, you won’t have room for anything else! Time to just enjoy it!

[FlytheWMark]

Love the mushrooms...

[Frag Factory]

So that's where the extra 75ppm of calcium is going each week.....

 

[Frag Factory]

Well what a lovely day...

 

I got a text while at work:

Quote

Your fish tank is quiet, no humming?

I didn't think much of it, until it clicked that this means the filter (the core of my system providing the only flow and feeding the inline heater) is not running...

 

I asked them to check the temperature, it said 25.2 celsius... They must have noticed this literally 20 mins after it stopped thankfully.

 

I rushed home to see whats up, indeed the filter had stopped. I tried another power lead, swapped plugs around on the power bar and then swapped a fuse...

 

It booted up with a horrible rattling noise then stopped again. W.T.F!?

 

I pulled the strainers out of the bulkhead and put in 2 rubber bungs and removed the filter for inspection (I also have valves, the bungs are just added protection).

 

It turns out the propeller area had 2 baby trochus snails in there 👿 👿 👿

 

The propeller area/magnet is pretty beaten up from grinding snail shells, I probably have to replace the filter for peace of mind.

 

I literally have 300+ of these in my tank, I can go 5 days without scraping glass very comfortably. My tank can't grow algae fast enough for these guys.

 

So, this is a concern. The chance of me catching them all is very slim. They are 1mm-3mm at the moment but I guess I'll just have to try my best. They can live in my frag/QT system.

 

I need to think about how I fix this, this could have wiped my tank out if it went unnoticed. I don't know what the best solution is... A snail proof strainer or a better filter with a more robust pre-filter.

 

The Oase biomaster series have caught my eye for a while, they seem to have a lot more sponges and a removable pre-filter which would make maintenance easy... But my concern with them is I'm not sure that would be a good thing. Sponges = Aerobic Bacteria = Nitrates and the baskets don't really work with LR rubble like I'm running now.

 

 

[Frag Factory]

Some updates because F it, it's Sunday and I got bored.

 

I've been looking for a replacement filter, I think I'm going to grab a good old Eheim. The Oase has some terrible reviews and the LFS told me they have a high return rate and they stopped dealing with them... Dodged a bullet there.

 

The same brand I have now has a filter that pumps out 2700/lph which is also tempting... I'm still researching. I cleaned out my filter and made it spotless and added a pre-filter sponge to the close loop intake for the time being which *should* prevent it happening again.

 

As for livestock, I know I said no more corals but I picked up a red and green brain coral. The pair is currently in my QT system with my Duncans, Acans and Yellow hammer coral. My peppermint shrimp is a jerk who likes eating LPS and Zoas. I can't wait for him to finish the last of the Aips and it's eviction time. I also picked up some red people eater palys and RSM palys... They look cute. 

 

 

My clam is also enjoying daily feedings of phyto and goniopower which I dump into my defrosted brine shrimp... It seems to be growing far more than I thought it would. I only really noticed it today when I went to the LFS and saw some of the clams they still had from the batch I bought mine from. They are 3/4" smaller!

 

You can really see how it's packed on growth here, these photos were just 12 days apart. I knew it was sucking up calcium (nearly doubling my tanks demand) but I didn't expect this...

 

 

 

[Frag Factory]

More clam growth!

 

This is where 100ml of Kalk + half a cup of phyto a day goes...

 

 

I need to do an update, I know...

 

My tank turned 1 years old this week 🎂

 

[Frag Factory]

I feel like I'm witnessing a prison break...

 

 

[gen]

Hi, any update on this tank?

I really like the build and the journey so far. Hope everything is fine

[Frag Factory]

On 12/21/2019 at 5:16 PM, gen said:

Hi, any update on this tank?

I really like the build and the journey so far. Hope everything is fine

Thank you for asking!

 

I know I need to update the thread but life kind of got in the way. As things currently stand this is the tank which has had some ups and downs...

 

Quick photos - I'll get some proper ones over Christmas.

 

 

 

 

 

I managed to piss the sinularia off just before the picture with my magnet cleaner, this thing pretty much stretches from the back glass to the front when fully expanded and I have 5+ frags in my other tank right now which are 2-3", growth on this is insane but it's my favourite coral when the blues kick on.

 

Downsides since the last update:

 

My red head goby died - No idea why. I had him for like 8 months, he never grew but always ate like a champion. One day he went off food and I never saw him again. I think the CUC got him rather than he jumped like my clownfish. I never recovered a body.

 

My SPS didn't survive summer - In England we had a rare HOT summer, often hitting 35c (95f). I did my best to keep the tank cool, ice bottles, a fan, running air stones... but the wild swings kind of finished all my SPS off (which were not 100% healthy to start with) so I have simply replaced them with xenia.

 

I had a bad bucker of salt - I bought a bucket of Brightwell Neo Marine when my Red Sea black bucket ran out. I started doing water changes but my tank just looked rough, so did more water changes and it got worse over about a month. My Lobophyllia started to recede along with other LPS... My xenia started to wither and my mushrooms looked sad and started to bleach (you can still see them bleached now). My hammerheads (both of them) and my Trachy died)... I tested my Alk and it was 15dkh!!! I bought this salt to lower my Alk from the RSCP levels (about 11dkh) with the idea to run NSW levels to slow down growth... I tested a fresh batch of water out of mixing and it maxed out my salifert kit. 

 

Some people have suggested I mix the salt in the bucket and try again incase it settled out, I did that when I got the bucket and then did it again... I got the same results. This salt really set my tank back 3+ months and killed some coral, I'm not even sure my mushrooms will pull through at this stage. Never again will I deviate from Red Sea salt or listen to recommended products from YouTubers that get free stuff 👿

 

Aiptasia - They are everywhere... I rehomed my peppermint shrimp, when my LPS looked sad my first thought was to blame the shrimp and they had mostly eaten all the Aips. Well since they have gone they have come back with vengeance.

 

Good Stuff:

 

Growth - Everything is absolutely booming. I have multiple frags of most corals in this tank now in my second tank. I also have more corals to add back to this tank once things settle down after my Alk issues... The stand out contenders for good growth are the green sinularia and silk palys in the bottom left. I've removed a palm sized frag from the palys recently, they had taken over most of the front of the tank and seem to double inside every 2/3 months. My clam has also put on another inch or so since the last update... I might have to rehome it soon (or upgrade....)

 

Simplicity - I've been mad busy this last few months and this tank has been fine! I've added a surface skimmer to help with biofilm. My weekly maintenance is to clean the glass, 20 minute water change and top up my ATO. It takes 30 minutes and I LOVE that... I can just enjoy the tank and get on with life without being concerned if I have to leave for a few days or skip a water change occasionally.

 

Future plans:

 

The tank needs a fish... I was thinking about another frogfish but I ended up buying one for my frag tank (I may start another tank thread for this dude...). 

 

I kind of want some bluestripe pipefish, I think one of these would work in this tank with a pod culture that is separate.

 

Another goby could work.

 

I'm also just tempted to keep it simple and go with a single damsel. 

 

[gen]

Sad to hear about the SPS. I understand the struggle with hot summer, I live in France, last summer the temp would'nt go under 29-30° even at night.

 

Good to see that the corals are thriving now, the tank looks nice.

Would love to see that sinularia fully extended.

[Frag Factory]

10 hours ago, gen said:

Sad to hear about the SPS. I understand the struggle with hot summer, I live in France, last summer the temp would'nt go under 29-30° even at night.

 

Good to see that the corals are thriving now, the tank looks nice.

Would love to see that sinularia fully extended.

Losing the SPS sucked but in truth they were never thriving in my tank, not sure why. It is a bit low on flow because of the way the canister is set up (points at the surface in a very inefficient way) but the tank still has 30x theoretical turn over...

 

Anyway, I thought I would try again with some SPS. I picked up a piece of red plating monti and a blood shrimp today. I had to get out of the house as christmas was making me a bit stir crazy... 

 

 

 

[Frag Factory]

This is by far my favourite coral, it came in to me as a  1" frag and has blossomed into a monster...

 

Some time in late 2018....

 

 

And now....

 

 

It will need to be fragged again soon.....

 

[mitten_reef]

great updates!  The clam looks so good!

[Frag Factory]

On 12/30/2019 at 6:45 PM, mitten_reef said:

great updates!  The clam looks so good!

Thank you dude!

 

----------------------------------

 

So tomorrow I think I will be trying to "extend" my aquascape in the lower right hand corner under the Ricordea.

 

I want to glue up some rock rubble that can be glued in place and act as a shelf so place coral on. I did once have blue mushrooms taking over that corner but as it's an overhang over time the mushrooms let go and I moved them into my other tank to keep them safe. Now there are none left but I figured if I can get this right I can extend my ricordea down into the sand level or glue the blue shrooms back in place.

 

This is the area i am talking about:

 

 

 

The Monti frag is just acclimatising to my light right now, I'm not 100% sure where I'm going to put it but it won't be in Mushroom Corner ™  😂

 

I already have enough rics to use to extend those parts of the tank, I have some lovely greens and blues and more orange frags in my other tank.

[YHSublime]

That monti will suck up your calcium, and take over your whole tank very quickly, be cautious!

[Frag Factory]

1 hour ago, YHSublime said:

That no to will suck up your calcium, and take over your whole tank very quickly, be cautious!

The monti?

 

It's honestly welcome too... My other SPS struggled. To have one growing like a weed would be kind of nice. 😂

 

I can always jump in there with bone cutters and the clam is already sucking minerals like you wouldn't believe. I've got dosing set up on this tank.

[Frag Factory]

Small update just to stay in the habit of it...

 

I did intend do the mushroom shelf but my clam has stuck itself to the bottom of the tank and shall not be moved. I could probably pull it off but it's not worth the potential risk of hurting it so that plans on hold while I wait for him to move. I've been trying to get him to stick to the rock he came on (the monti is currently sitting in this) but it's not having any of it. I suspect I will be forced to upgrade if I want to keep the clam as growth is showing no signs of slowing down and it's only got about 2" left in each direction as things stand... As you can see I can't clean the patch of algae on the front glass because of its current position 😑

 

Did a water change yesterday and tested water, I need to tweak dosing:

Alk - 6.5dKh

Ca - 360ppm

Mg - 1230ppm

 

I've added some Ca and Mg aquaforest salts to my ATO to help boost things slowly over the next week and increased my Alk dosing by 7ml/day...

 

I must keep a closer eye on those things, I have neglected things slightly over Xmas/New Year.

 

I'm also thinking of tweaking my light schedule. I've been playing with my frag tank a little lately. AB+ looks rather nice and my frags look great (some look better than in my main tank).

 

I'm currently using the David Saxby preset (he has the best tank I've ever seen, but he also runs T5's...)

 

I might try and pick up a par meter on ebay and see what's actually going on.

 

 

 

[mitten_reef]

1 hour ago, Frag Factory said:

Small update just to stay in the habit of it...

 

I did intend do the mushroom shelf but my clam has stuck itself to the bottom of the tank and shall not be moved. I could probably pull it off but it's not worth the potential risk of hurting it so that plans on hold while I wait for him to move. I've been trying to get him to stick to the rock he came on (the monti is currently sitting in this) but it's not having any of it. I suspect I will be forced to upgrade if I want to keep the clam as growth is showing no signs of slowing down and it's only got about 2" left in each direction as things stand... As you can see I can't clean the patch of algae on the front glass because of its current position 😑

 

Did a water change yesterday and tested water, I need to tweak dosing:

Alk - 6.5dKh

Ca - 360ppm

Mg - 1230ppm

 

I've added some Ca and Mg aquaforest salts to my ATO to help boost things slowly over the next week and increased my Alk dosing by 7ml/day...

 

I must keep a closer eye on those things, I have neglected things slightly over Xmas/New Year.

 

I'm also thinking of tweaking my light schedule. I've been playing with my frag tank a little lately. AB+ looks rather nice and my frags look great (some look better than in my main tank).

 

I'm currently using the David Saxby preset (he has the best tank I've ever seen, but he also runs T5's...)

 

I might try and pick up a par meter on ebay and see what's actually going on.

 

 

 

somebody has a bit of a love crush on the ric garden here, I see. 😍 So do I!

[Frag Factory]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:15 PM, mitten_reef said:

somebody has a bit of a love crush on the ric garden here, I see. 😍 So do I!

Hell yeah, I have a bunch more in my frag tank that I want to move over too!

 

Donald, my well fed frogfish is keeping them safe!

 

[Frag Factory]

I've not updated in a long time (sorry, life gets in the way...) but my tanks beginning to look rather full...

 

I'm speaking to a tank builder about getting something bigger made, something similar to a IM Lagoon 25 but with an overflow/sump... The quarantine has delayed this though.

 

This is my tank "naked", without a special cleaning and as I see/enjoy it everyday. Most of my pictures in this thread are after water changes and cleaning (not intentionally, it's just when I have time).

 

Front:

 

Front- again

 

Top, just to show how packed this tank is now...

 

 

My favourite angle from the couch, really looks much bigger than it is from here...

 

 

Left hand side:

 

 

Right hand side

 

 

I spent 5 months looking for Grandis, turns out the only place I have for them is in the back corner...

 

 

Everything is growing well, including Aips and bubble algae... That's life, but things are too overgrown to really get in there and treat them properly and I had to rehome my Shrimp after I caught it eating coral.

 

I've got the dosing dialed, things are super stable. I've gone 2-3 weeks without a water change without a problem a couple of times. It was hard to justify doing a water change when things were so settled and keep in mind I used to change 10 liters twice a week on this system when I started... I'm a bit of a water change freak.

 

But I think it's time to upgrade, everything is growing on top of each other and if it continues eventually there will be caulties. I've already had to pull my blue rics away from my superman Rhodactis', the Rics were losing that battle.

 

New tank will be 30" long, 24" wide and 14" tall. I don't know when it will arrive (I've not ordered it yet...) and aquarium shops are only open for essentials so I can't even buy equipment from them right now. I could order it online but I want to help a local shop out, their trade has been essentially destroyed by this virus and I know they are hurting.

[gen]

That's rather a nice view for a "naked" tank. 

 

The clam is a bit on its side, right? Did you put it that way to enjoy the view? 

I m interested bacause I got one and I can't really enjoy how good it looks if I'm not looking at it from above. 

[Frag Factory]

It does that on its own, not sure why. I have the light pointing backwards and leaning from the front to reduce shadows so it might be that.

[Sharbuckle]

Dimensions of the new tank sound badass! This tank looks beautiful as is but definitely needs a trim! Love the ricordea colonies.

 

looking forward to seeing the new tank