Red Sea S-650 - Dave's marine adventure

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Another week goes by and it has been warm here in the UK. The lounge where the tank is a bit like a sauna with the chiller kicking in regularly keeping the tank stable but me hotter than normal. I just need a couple of @Paul B 's supermodels to bring me cold beers....

I did some Xenia removal and what was supposed to be small scale pruning of a couple of SPS that were growing together and fighting each other. I managed to break off more than I intended including a massive chunk of my red Montipora digitata so I have done a little rearranging. One of the green Acros on the left side of the tank has been moved to the right as it was obscuring a couple of other corals and now provides a nice contrast with the reds and blues on the right.



My bristletooth tang seems to have decided to house train itself and it only seems to poop in one place now. The problem is it regularly takes a dump on my green Montipora capricornis which is not doing the coral any good. The whiter blotches on the left side of the Monti are the damaged areas...



Finally here is a better picture of my poor puttying skills on the lovely Acro I have had for a while. I have managed so far not to knock it off....



Happy reefing,

Dave
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Hi @signalman ,

Sorry to disappoint you but what you can see if a reflection of the nylon mesh cover I have over the tank to prevent my fish from jumping out. I was lazy when I took the top down shots and didn't move it completely out of the way hence the reflection in the water surface.

Best wishes,

Dave
Hi Dave

Never thought about a mesh cover as so far not had any jumpers but...

How have you attached it and does it look ok ?
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Hi Dave

Never thought about a mesh cover as so far not had any jumpers but...

How have you attached it and does it look ok ?


Hi Shaun,

I'll take a picture. It was a kit I got from my LFS. It is an aluminium frame with a nylon mesh cover. You cut it and make it to size and I have it sitting on the aquarium rim. See here: http://www.h2oaquatics.co.uk/useful...ul-items/diy-aquarium-tank-cover-120cm-x-60cm. It was a perfect fit when I made it up with the T5 lighting but the LED frame is a bit wider so it is now a very snug fit. I got it because gobies and wrasses have a reputation for jumping...

Dave
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Hi Shaun,

I'll take a picture. It was a kit I got from my LFS. It is an aluminium frame with a nylon mesh cover. You cut it and make it to size and I have it sitting on the aquarium rim. See here: http://www.h2oaquatics.co.uk/useful...ul-items/diy-aquarium-tank-cover-120cm-x-60cm. It was a perfect fit when I made it up with the T5 lighting but the LED frame is a bit wider so it is now a very snug fit. I got it because gobies and wrasses have a reputation for jumping...

Dave
Thanks. Wouldn't mind a picture of it. I found the diy one but having looked at the top of the tank I'm not sure it would fit with the led's in place but would be interested to see how you have set yours up
 

chingsterUK

New Member
Thanks. Wouldn't mind a picture of it. I found the diy one but having looked at the top of the tank I'm not sure it would fit with the led's in place but would be interested to see how you have set yours up
Hi Dave, I'm also interested to see how you have fixed it. I have the same DIY kit but haven't done anything with it as yet. Cheers.
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Hi @SPR and @chingsterUK ,

Here are some photos of the cover I have. This photo shows the cover in place. The front is supported by the internal brace of glass along the front of the tank.



The tricky bit was supporting it as the back. On the right side the cover rests nicely on the main return outlet from the sump without interfering with it. The tricky bit was the left side at the back. At first I siliconed on two small plastic pieces as rests. Silicone work well on glass but over time the plastic bits worked lose. So I glued on a bigger plastic 'L' bracket. See this photo.



You can still see the two blobs of silicone. The L bracket is still not fixed well as it is plastic so I need more silicone over the top I think.

The only problem I have is I cut the cover to size when I had the T5s and the LED uprights stick out a little more into the aquarium so catch on the frame making it tricky to move.
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
It has been a week of maintenance and getting jobs done I've been procrastinating over. Did a bigger than usual water change this week and got the dosing pump going again as carbonate levels had dropped too low and some of the corals were not looking to happy. I also cleaned the pump and bio-pellet reactor and did the same to the skimmer. Not all the corals have been suffering the Bali slimer I moved seems happy in its new spot.



As does my purple Stylo



It has been interesting that in the hot weather here in the UK the evaporation from the tank has dropped right off. In the last few weeks I have been adding around 22 litres to the ATO compared to a more usual 30 to 35l.

The fish are all fine. The bristletooth is still taking a dump on one section of my green Monti. cap. and has killed a big patch of the coral. Still it does have a pout like Keira Knightley....



The three main algae eaters have all settled down together. There is still some tail waving from the two tangs with the yellow tang being the boss and the bristletooth still gives the odd chase to the Potter's angel but nothing dangerous.



Happy reefing,

Dave
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the photos Dave of the cover and also fish. Very nice.

It has been very hot over here and until last week my tank was around 28-29C but thankfully it's dropped down to around 26-27 now. Don't have chiller and trying to avoid one! Windows and doors been open when I can.
 

SPR

Well-Known Member
Hi Dave
I have started to get a small amount of sand debris in the sump/pump areas. Do you get this and how do you get it out. I have been looking at gravel cleaners to sort of Hoover it but not sure if they will actually work
Just wondered what you do about it if anything?
 

chingsterUK

New Member
Hi @SPR and @chingsterUK ,

Here are some photos of the cover I have. This photo shows the cover in place. The front is supported by the internal brace of glass along the front of the tank.



The tricky bit was supporting it as the back. On the right side the cover rests nicely on the main return outlet from the sump without interfering with it. The tricky bit was the left side at the back. At first I siliconed on two small plastic pieces as rests. Silicone work well on glass but over time the plastic bits worked lose. So I glued on a bigger plastic 'L' bracket. See this photo.



You can still see the two blobs of silicone. The L bracket is still not fixed well as it is plastic so I need more silicone over the top I think.

The only problem I have is I cut the cover to size when I had the T5s and the LED uprights stick out a little more into the aquarium so catch on the frame making it tricky to move.

Thanks Dave, supporting the back of the frame is the bit I hadn't worked out. I'll look to do the same, a good solution! I haven't fitted the LEDs as yet so I'll cut the cover when they are on. Unfortunately we had a tank crash about a month ago whilst on holiday as the power tripped to the house, it was off for about 16hours. Sadly not much survived, its devastating but we are starting again. Loving the photos of your tank. Cheers. Mike.
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Hi Dave
I have started to get a small amount of sand debris in the sump/pump areas. Do you get this and how do you get it out. I have been looking at gravel cleaners to sort of Hoover it but not sure if they will actually work
Just wondered what you do about it if anything?

Hi Shaun,

The chiller keeps my temperature nice and stable but does warm the house up. I run an algae refugium in the left side of my sump so I actually put some coral sand and small bits of rock in there for the Caulerpa to attach to. I have got a bit of sand in the return pump section, which when I get around to servicing I was planning to just try netting it out.

Dave
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Thanks Dave, supporting the back of the frame is the bit I hadn't worked out. I'll look to do the same, a good solution! I haven't fitted the LEDs as yet so I'll cut the cover when they are on. Unfortunately we had a tank crash about a month ago whilst on holiday as the power tripped to the house, it was off for about 16hours. Sadly not much survived, its devastating but we are starting again. Loving the photos of your tank. Cheers. Mike.

Hi Mike,

Sorry to hear about the crash. A power cut gives me sleepless nights. I've had a couple of short (4 hour) outages here since I set up the tank. I do wonder about getting a small petrol generator or borrowing the one we have at work (but that needs fixing at the moment). Best of luck with the new start.

Dave
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
It has been a week of maintenance and getting jobs done I've been procrastinating over. Did a bigger than usual water change this week and got the dosing pump going again as carbonate levels had dropped too low and some of the corals were not looking to happy. I also cleaned the pump and bio-pellet reactor and did the same to the skimmer. Not all the corals have been suffering the Bali slimer I moved seems happy in its new spot.



As does my purple Stylo



It has been interesting that in the hot weather here in the UK the evaporation from the tank has dropped right off. In the last few weeks I have been adding around 22 litres to the ATO compared to a more usual 30 to 35l.

The fish are all fine. The bristletooth is still taking a dump on one section of my green Monti. cap. and has killed a big patch of the coral. Still it does have a pout like Keira Knightley....



The three main algae eaters have all settled down together. There is still some tail waving from the two tangs with the yellow tang being the boss and the bristletooth still gives the odd chase to the Potter's angel but nothing dangerous.



Happy reefing,

Dave

Awesome pics!
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member

Hey Dave - that yellow tang of yours has some head and lateral line erosion (HLLE) going on.

https://reefbuilders.com/2016/03/10/would-you-pay-a-hundred-dollars-for-this-yellow-tang/

I had an angle that developed it. And I worked hard to get that fish a super nutritional diet to help it fight the disease, alas after a couple of years the angle finally succumbed to HLLE. But, I think my effort in changing its diet helped it stay alive for much longer then if I didn't do anything. There are stories of healing HLLE as long as the disease isn't too far along.
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
First off, make sure that if you are using carbon that you are buying high quality and second make sure you rinse your carbon of all dust. Surgeon fish seem super susceptible to carbon dust which has no been linked to HLLE through research studies.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blog/activated-carbon-affirmed-as-causative-agent-for-hlle-disease
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/blo...ted-in-inducing-head-and-lateral-line-erosion
http://www.coralmagazine-us.com/content/activated-carbon-hlle-smoking-gun-found
The published paper is here:
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08997659.2011.608608
 

DaveR11

Well-Known Member
Hi @Oxylebius thanks for the heads up on this and as ever great links. I had always wondered why the fish looked different but had put it down to surviving Ich. Here is a picture of the fish soon after it was introduced into the tank and before the Ich outbreak.



Here is the same fish after the Ich outbreak and back in the DT. It was treated with copper in the QT. I ran carbon in a canister filter to remove the copper after the treatment was finished whilst I was leaving the DT fallow. There was no protein skimming in the QT.


In the DT I've always run carbon, either the Red Sea carbon supplied with the tank or more recent Rowa carbon (in pellet form). I've always rinsed it well in RO water before putting it in the tank. It sits in sump but after the protein skimmer so any free particles would get into the main tank if not rinsed out. The bristletooth shows no signs of trouble and this was bought as a replacement for the one I lost to Ich so I wonder if it was the carbon in the QT and no skimmer that did the damage to the yellow tang?

You have got me thinking what is the benefit of the carbon given that I have a good skimmer....?
 

Oxylebius

Well-Known Member
Hi @Oxylebius thanks for the heads up on this and as ever great links. I had always wondered why the fish looked different but had put it down to surviving Ich. Here is a picture of the fish soon after it was introduced into the tank and before the Ich outbreak.



Here is the same fish after the Ich outbreak and back in the DT. It was treated with copper in the QT. I ran carbon in a canister filter to remove the copper after the treatment was finished whilst I was leaving the DT fallow. There was no protein skimming in the QT.


In the DT I've always run carbon, either the Red Sea carbon supplied with the tank or more recent Rowa carbon (in pellet form). I've always rinsed it well in RO water before putting it in the tank. It sits in sump but after the protein skimmer so any free particles would get into the main tank if not rinsed out. The bristletooth shows no signs of trouble and this was bought as a replacement for the one I lost to Ich so I wonder if it was the carbon in the QT and no skimmer that did the damage to the yellow tang?

You have got me thinking what is the benefit of the carbon given that I have a good skimmer....?

Well, it sounds likely that it was the QT situation, but hard to determine for sure.

Carbon provides lots of great benefits to a tank. Here is a post that will help to provide you some answers:
Carbon?
 
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