Marty's Reef

[Marty.h]

That fauna marin LPS is is legit. My colors love it.

The response I got surprised me they just opened up and gobbled them down it may not be the cheapest food but it does what it says on the tin

 

[paul87]

The response I got surprised me they just opened up and gobbled them down it may not be the cheapest food but it does what it says on the tin

Agreed. You pay for the quality with them.

 

[Marty.h]

There will be some big changes coming in the new year a new tank and a complete change of setup I'll start a Marty's Reef MK2 when the time comes but I've taken this as far as I want to and looking forward to the change next year. I'll take what I have learnt from this one and hopefully the next one will be even better

 

[paul87]

There will be some big changes coming in the new year a new tank and a complete change of setup I'll start a Marty's Reef MK2 when the time comes but I've taken this as far as I want to and looking forward to the change next year. I'll take what I have learnt from this one and hopefully the next one will be even better

Uhh oh! A more epic tank than this in the future? Looking foward to it man, your current tank is a great achievement.

 

[Marty.h]

Thanks the other half now wants white furniture and my current tank is black so would be rude not to order a white Reefer 525xl and on my list as well as

4 x Radion xr15 G4 pro Inc mounts
Reef link
Vectra M1 Return Pump
Apex controller
Apex DOS for 24/7 auto waterchange Apex Wav x2
Ecotech battety back up

There is other items to be added as well but I'm still researching the other items as this time I want to get it right from the beginning.

It's a bit smaller then my current tank but I can live with that

My tank backs onto and external wall so will be putting a shed up the other side of the wall so I can plumb through wall for Auto waterchange and will move my RO system into it. I'm hoping the constant waterchange will benefit the tank and keep the main elements and trace elements in check without the need to dose also help keep nutrients down I don't mind stepping up the amount of water changed to keep up with demand upto a point.

The change will be in the first 1/4 of next year due to the cost of equipment I'll get it put together in stages in my other alcove in living room and once system is complete and ready I will drain existing tank and move new tank into position.


I'm also going to dry start the new tank with all new rock that I will cycle in bins this is to eliminate any hitchhikers. All corals will be dipped and cleaned before going into new tank.

The other half also wants to decorate and a new floor laid in living room as we have found over the years wood flooring and tanks don't mix well so will be going for a tiled floor.

I also plan on setting it out like this I want all wires and cables hidden and to keep it looking clean if it takes me a bit longer to get it like that then I'm not worried as the stock all fine in current tank so not like I'm stuck for a tank or rushed to get it running.

They have given me inspiration to create something special this time



I'm looking forward to it

 

[Marty.h]

Well I was at the LFS today and see a moorish idle I know they a risk in a reef tank but it's one fish I've always wanted so bought it

I made sure it was feeding well at the LFS and is nice and chunky and was like a Dyson when feeding


I added him to the tank and allowed it to settle for a while and added food and it's clearly settled as this video shows and eating like a Dyson

https://youtu.be/LG4-7-19MEo

You may also notice a Purple Tang in the video as well that's also a new edition

 

[BLUEaquarium06]

Your tank is a huge inspiration for me, really love it. I will definitely be following your new one. Sounds awesome

 

[Sniperhank]

Braver man that I am with that thing. Hopefully continued feeding will save your corals.

Edit: When did you get the purple? I'm loving mine.

 

[Marty.h]

Thanks for the kind comments.

We all take risks with stock but I have had to remove my Sailfin Tang it decided it wanted to eat acans !! So even so called reef safe can turn on corals and see them as food.

I picked the purple up the same time as the moorish. The yellow tang did not like the moorish but they seem to of settled there difference and my Kole Tang started to attack the purple but they have also now settled there differences.

It's strange as both of those fish are normally so docile hopefully they will all get on now and pecking order has been sorted.

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, tangs don't like anything that looks like them or that they feel is impacting their territory. So all of that makes sense to me.
Right now my tank only has the purple and maroon clown that the petco was so happy to get rid of as it was a huge bully due to its overwhelming size. That calmed down real quick once he met the purple.
Just keep an eye on the moorish, fins are kinda beat up.

 

[paul87]

Nice additions! Good luck with the moorish idol.

 

[Marty.h]

It has decided to now also eat Pellet after quite a few small but often feedings in the tank

https://youtu.be/lb3mqQTFkOo

 

[Marty.h]

When I had a move round to stop the yellow tangs aggression which has worked I noticed a lot of brown gunk in my sandbed and it stunk. I put this down to some of my nitrate issues I've been suffering with so yesterday took drastic action and a risky one of removing sandbed and replacing it.

Because it was very fine sand I could not vac it and was also deep so I replace it with coarse at least then it can be cleaned easy with a vac.

Here is the stages it went through on change

And this morning it's like this

I have checked nitrates and they are definitely not as high and my skimmer has been working overtime set on wet skim.

By removing all the sand I did I had to add another 50L of water to compensate the displacement of the sand and completed a waterchange at the same time I'm planning another waterchange later today of 200L if not tomorrow depending how fast I can run the RO off.

It was a big risk taking the sand bed out but I have more then enough rock and media to take up the biological process and now having the sand not come up the glass gives it a really crisp look and no more gunk harbouring in the sand bed.

 

[Sniperhank]

It's an interesting approach. I found such a pocket in my tank and removed it, but not so much of the sand bed in response.

 

[Marty.h]

Things have settled well so be rude not to take some pictures..

 

[paul87]

Risky move indeed! Glad things appear to have worked in your favor though. Nice photos.

 

[Marty.h]

Thanks i siphoned the sand out so that and the water was taken strait out of system with no clouding and had over 200L of new water ready to replace what was lost during removing the sandbed so that's probably why I had no issues as it was not all churned up in the tank.

 

[Marty.h]

I have noticed in the short time my acans have been on the rocks they have dropped colour so suspect it's to high lighting for them.

I have now moved them to the sandbed and dropped the white channel % a bit to see if that helps bring the colours back

 

[Winter-huntsman]

It should in theory help. I had my acan close to the top but it was very dull. When I moved it more to the middle it gained a lot of color I did not now it had.


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[Marty.h]

A few new editions today

2 wall hammers and a rainbow acan

Acans are also loving being on the sand bed and are puffing up a lot more

I have a load of bare space on the rocks now so maybe more SPS needed to fill those gaps.