My 180L arrived!

snorkeler · 08/12/2009, 06:26 PM

After months of wait, caused by a delayed apartment refurbishment which delayed my move to it, my new (and first) fish tank arrived.

Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/flpaoli/20090812Day1#

Display tank:
- Volume of water: 180L (46gal)
- Size (of the glass): 60cm (24in) cube
- Visible from all sides, there is a central column where water overflows into and electrical cables reach the hood. The return is through two vertical pipes, along the outside of opposing sides of the central column.
- Lighting is 8 x 20W Coralife 50/50, good for a beginner, set in two photoperiods. 3 lights go on from 11:00-23:00, the 5 others go on from 12:00-22:00.
- Not sure how much weight in live rock, but you'll see by the pictures there seems to be enough.
- 10cm (3in) sand bed

Sump:
- Skimmer and return area are 40cm x 36cm, with 29cm of water depth, therefore another 41.7L (11gal) of water.
- Auto-topoff of freshwater of 16cm x 40cm x 30cm = 19.2L (5gal)
- Skimmer is an escuma 800, dimensioned for 350L, so should be fine for me
- Return is with two (in parallel) 1800L/h (475gph) pumps. Their outputs in the display tank were set so a circular current is formed, clockwise if seen form the top.

Right now there are still a lot of micro and macro bubbles in the tank, which is interesting at this point to see that the clockwise current is happening and reaching to the sand.

The cleaning crew has been delivered with the tank, they are moving around and getting to know the place. The water and rocks came from a tank in my LFS, so the LFS expects the tank to be stable for adding stuff in the very near future.

snorkeler

Sisterlimonpot · 08/12/2009, 06:30 PM

That doesn't look like sand...

snorkeler · 08/12/2009, 06:33 PM

You are right, wrong English translation. It is called "aragonita" here, not sure what the exact English translation is.... someone looking at the pictures might be able to help me.

Sisterlimonpot · 08/12/2009, 06:35 PM

It's commonly called crushed coral here.

snorkeler · 08/12/2009, 06:46 PM

Thanks Sisterlimonpot! Just added some sump pictures to the Picasa web album.

small alien · 08/12/2009, 09:15 PM

Neat tank. Good luck.

snorkeler · 08/13/2009, 07:50 PM

Thanks small alien. I hope to see the fish circling around it in the future, that's why I chose this layout.

This is day 2 and I still see a lot of micro-bubbles. Noticed that they are being produced by the skimmer and the bubble trap isn't taking care of them. Wondering if this is normal for a new skimmer that isn't producing any skimmate yet.... if I recall correctly my LFS guru told me that the skimmer would change it's behavior, including micro-bubbles, in the near future. But I can't remember precisely right now....

snorkeler

snorkeler · 08/15/2009, 07:26 AM

Day 4, and I start to see a yellowish tint to the top of the foam produced by the skimmer :-)aha, something is actually happening in that water body.

I tested the water yesterday and got the data below (assuming I tested or interpreted correctly, as this was my first test):
pH: 8.0
Amonia: 0 (or max 0.0125 ppm)
Alk: 2.0 meq/L

08/12/2009, 06:26 PM	#1
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	My 180L arrived! After months of wait, caused by a delayed apartment refurbishment which delayed my move to it, my new (and first) fish tank arrived. Pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/flpaoli/20090812Day1# Display tank: - Volume of water: 180L (46gal) - Size (of the glass): 60cm (24in) cube - Visible from all sides, there is a central column where water overflows into and electrical cables reach the hood. The return is through two vertical pipes, along the outside of opposing sides of the central column. - Lighting is 8 x 20W Coralife 50/50, good for a beginner, set in two photoperiods. 3 lights go on from 11:00-23:00, the 5 others go on from 12:00-22:00. - Not sure how much weight in live rock, but you'll see by the pictures there seems to be enough. - 10cm (3in) sand bed Sump: - Skimmer and return area are 40cm x 36cm, with 29cm of water depth, therefore another 41.7L (11gal) of water. - Auto-topoff of freshwater of 16cm x 40cm x 30cm = 19.2L (5gal) - Skimmer is an escuma 800, dimensioned for 350L, so should be fine for me - Return is with two (in parallel) 1800L/h (475gph) pumps. Their outputs in the display tank were set so a circular current is formed, clockwise if seen form the top. Right now there are still a lot of micro and macro bubbles in the tank, which is interesting at this point to see that the clockwise current is happening and reaching to the sand. The cleaning crew has been delivered with the tank, they are moving around and getting to know the place. The water and rocks came from a tank in my LFS, so the LFS expects the tank to be stable for adding stuff in the very near future. snorkeler

08/12/2009, 06:30 PM	#2
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	That doesn't look like sand... __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

08/12/2009, 06:35 PM	#4
Sisterlimonpot R.C. Fraternity President Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Litchfeild Park AZ Posts: 11,490 Blog Entries: 2	It's commonly called crushed coral here. __________________ Jimmy MASVC President Dishes are done man! Current Tank Info: 300 in progress

08/12/2009, 09:15 PM	#6
small alien The fungus is among us. Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Earth Posts: 3,884	Neat tank. Good luck. __________________ This moment is all we have. Current Tank Info: 75 mixed reef. F OSFF, Clingfish, M/F Leopards, M Mandy, Darwin Clown, Bullet Goby, Green Clown Goby, M/F Matted Files, Bluestripe Pipe, Tailspot Blenny, Canary Wrasse, Royal Gramma, Papua Toby Puffer, Snooty Maori Wrasse.

08/12/2009, 06:33 PM	#3
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	You are right, wrong English translation. It is called "aragonita" here, not sure what the exact English translation is.... someone looking at the pictures might be able to help me.

08/12/2009, 06:46 PM	#5
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Thanks Sisterlimonpot! Just added some sump pictures to the Picasa web album.

08/13/2009, 07:50 PM	#7
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Thanks small alien. I hope to see the fish circling around it in the future, that's why I chose this layout. This is day 2 and I still see a lot of micro-bubbles. Noticed that they are being produced by the skimmer and the bubble trap isn't taking care of them. Wondering if this is normal for a new skimmer that isn't producing any skimmate yet.... if I recall correctly my LFS guru told me that the skimmer would change it's behavior, including micro-bubbles, in the near future. But I can't remember precisely right now.... snorkeler

08/15/2009, 07:26 AM	#8
snorkeler Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 250	Day 4, and I start to see a yellowish tint to the top of the foam produced by the skimmer :-)aha, something is actually happening in that water body. I tested the water yesterday and got the data below (assuming I tested or interpreted correctly, as this was my first test): pH: 8.0 Amonia: 0 (or max 0.0125 ppm) Alk: 2.0 meq/L