[EHEIM OPAL] Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'

top: ooh so blissful. Totally unaware of the upcoming catastrophe

top: pulling up the carpet from the substrate. Felt like a decent thick carpet.

top: Now it is sitting in a tub ready to be shipped off to Mark :)

Hemianthus Callitrichoides 'Cuba'
So it is time to pull out all the HC and start again from scratch. The carpet was getting too thick and it was just a matter of time till it pulled itself up.
I have taken several photos of how to pull this plant out. It was actually a lot easier than I thought. Replanting was just a matter of sticking a few pieces back into the substrate and topping it off.

Here is some information on HC Cuba:
1. Plant in small patches using tweezers. Cover 80% of the plant so it doesn't float everywhere.
2. It needs high light.
3. It needs good substrate - I prefer ADA Aquasoil.
4. CO2 helps but is not 100% necessary.
5. Fertilisation helps but is not 100% necessary.

TIP: I have been asked many times how to grow this plant. It comes down to good substrate, good light and good CO2. All these three factors are necessary for a healthy growth. When i drop my lights back, the plant doesn't grow. When i drop my CO2 back, it goes yellow. Too much light and you may get algae issues. I use 2x T5HOs in a 3 foot tank. So far PMDD fertilisation is working well.

[MARINE TANK] Ultra Golden Hammer and Yellow Tipped Torch

I got a few more corals today from Matt

Here is an updated list of my collection:
1. Green Duncans
2. Sun Coral (pain in the ass to feed but my favourite at the moment)
3. Zoas (will post up a good picture later on)
4. Purple tipped CAT
5. Ultra Golden Hammer (my second favourite)
6. Toxic Hammer Green
7. Ultra Golden Yellow Tipped Torch
8. Green Rhodactis

I must say I am very impressed with the Golden Hammer. It looks metallic yellow. I will post up more pics once the other corals have settled. Tank is in the process of a Diatomic Bloom. (Brown slime all over glass and substrate).

Biggest issue is water evaporation. I am losing about 1L/day. I have purchased a Tunze Osmolator Universal 3155 (will post up pics later on).

TIP: When a sun coral is first purchased it will likely be in its skeleton. To tease it to come out, place a half cut coke bottle on top of it and turn the lights off (polyps seem sensitive to light). Mix some frozen food in a cup and using a syringe squirt a little into the coke bottle. Wait an hour for the polyps to come out. Once the polyps extend out, gently feed them using a syringe.

[MARINE TANK] First Corals

Duncan to the left and Zoas to the right

Left: Weir plumbing Right: Sump setup

Here are pictures of my plumbing job. I have finished the two drains and have re-routed the return pipe to the back of the tank. This will ensure I never get any flooding problems in the future.

New Corals
I have made a few purchases of the hardier types of softies.
The Duncans were amazing; they opened up the next day. The Zoas have not all opened up yet but 30% of them have. The red ones are still closed and the green ones are partially open.
The Ricordia do not seem to be doing so well. Time will tell if they survive.

Here are my purchases in non specific order.
- Ricordia (Green / Purple)
- ZOOANTHIDs
Darth Maul Zoa - has red dots in centre
Armor of God - red with pink ring
- Duncans (3 polyps)
- ACRO (not expecting this to survive was given to me for free)

Clean up crew
- 2 x hermits
- 1 x peppermint
- several turbos

TIP: I acclimitise my coral using a container within a bucket. Basically I drip water from the sump into the container till it overflows into the bucket. Afterwards I introduce the coral into the tank.

[MARINE TANK] Durso Standpipe

Above: My Durso Standpipe assembled and curing; Right: Display - no life yet


above: Before and after plumbing the Durso Standpipe into the system

The Durso Stand Pipe
I am very pleased after filling my tank. I sit back, relax and close my eyes. Then I hear gurgling as the water drains down the weir... no what?
After an hour I feel a little annoyed so I do a bit of reading on how to solve this problem. The solution is simple enough. Build a Durso Standpipe.
What is a Durso Standpipe?
A Durso standpipe is a DIY contraption that is designed to eliminate gurgling from the weir. It is designed to suck water from below instead so it eliminates the "whirlpool" as water emptied down the piping into the sump.
Here is a link to the website that i used to build my Durso.

Lighting for the Refugium
Now comes the second issue. What kind of lighting do I use in the refugium? After some researching I have come to three conclusions:
1. Lowest wattage that seems okay is 12W (20watts is optimal)
2. 6500K Cool Daylight bulb seems optimal (although some say warm bulbs reduce incidence of algae)
3. Sit it 4 inches above the surface of the water (prevents macro dying and causing rust issues)
4. Either can be left on 24/7 or on a reverse cycle
Since my main aim is to conserve energy, the phillips 12W from bunnings sufficed. I chose the reverse photoperiod to save electricity and to create a stable pH. The only downside was this increases the risk of my macro going "sexual" and releasing spores into my system. I will deal with this problem later on.

Eliminating Catastrophe
Now comes the third issue. My nano only has one drain in the weir. There are 2 holes drilled into the base. One hole is used as the return from the sump. The other is the drain. So when a snail decides to sit in the drain, it will obviously overflow my tank! Although the possibility of this happening is quite low, this makes me paranoid!
So after some brainstorming I have decided to use both holes in the weir as the drain to the sump. This leaves me with no "hole" for the return pipe from the sump. A visit to Bunnings quickly solved that issue. I put some PVC together (see below) for my "return pipe". This will sit behind my tank and connect the return pump back into the display. I will take a picture of this once it has all been constructed.



TIP: There are two popular macro choices. Caulerpa spp. and the Chaetomorpha spp. Caulerpa grows fast and is easy to keep. It however has the undesirable characteristic of going sexual and releasing spores into the system causing crashes. For this reason, 24/7 lighting and regular pruning may be of benefit. It also is invasive and can easily attach to liverock. However since it grows very fast, it is a great phosphate and nitrate sponge. Chaetomorpha is the more popular of the two choices. This macro algae (fondly named Chaeto by aquarists) is also relatively easy to keep and is a floating algae. It has the huge advantage of not going "sexual" but does not look as attractive as Caulerpa and is best kept in the sump out of sight.

[MARINE TANK] Custom made sump

above: before and after filling of water

above: Sump

above: filtration - live rock and marine pure block

above: sump diagram and picture

Sump modification
Hence with Brett's help (credit to Brett from MASS) we have come up with a highly efficient sump that will have a DSB and refugium. The modified sump has a second area for live rock beneath the skimmer (will show some pictures of this later) and is designed to route water from the skimmer compartment in a 90 degree bend to the return pump chamber. There will also be 3x baffles before the water enters the return pump to remove micro bubbles.

Sump took a couple of days to make. I let the silicon cure for 4 days (although i hear 48 hours is adquate).

For sump filtration and denitrification I have heard good things about Marine Pure Ceramic Media Blocks (see the pic above). It is a very porous block that greatly increases surface area for filtration. Since it is thick as well, it is also great at reducing nitrates. I have placed the largest portion on this block beneath the skimmer in the skimmer compartment.

The other portion will be placed in the refugium.

Substrate
For the substrate I used Caribsea Arag-alive Oolite sand in the refugium as the Deep Sand Bed and Caribea Reef Sand as the substrate in the display. I will still be fiddling around with this until I learn more.
I hear a 4-5" DSB is ideal, but there is some argument that 5" is too deep. For myself, I have used a 3" DSB for two reasons. Firstly, I am out of Oolite sand. Secondly, the sand I use is SUPER fine and hence I think 3" will be enough.

Tank Filling
This was the hardest and most tedious job! I used Coral Pro Reef Salt mix to make up the water to 1.020 but will gradually increase the SG to the recommended parameter. Water ended up all cloudy, but i think this is the combination of unbalanced parameters (calcium precipitation) and substrate disturbance. It should clear up in a few days.

TIP: I am just learning Saltwater so although these tips will be obvious to some reefers, these are mistakes that I have made and may come in handy for those following my footsteps in future. Firstly, make sure you rinse the oolite adequately before you dump it into the tank. This stuff clouds the tank like crazy! Secondly, I used tap water to rinse my oolite and I hear Prime is still effective for removing chlorine. Salt water Chloride is apparently not affected by this product. Thirdly, Never go stingy with your live rock. I am 100x happier that I got a better looking piece than my previous piece (even though i paid 3x for it).

[MARINE TANK] 40cm Cube Braceless

So I finally have decided to take some pictures of my new saltwater setup. The sump that came with the aquarium is on the bottom left. However I wanted to have a refugium in my sump with some live rock and macro.

Plumbing
I also went to Bunnings yesterday and bought the following:

Socket BSp 1/2 inch

Vsocket 20mmx3/4inch
Ball valve 20mm
Vsocket 20mm x 3/4inch
PVC dn20mm
25mm tubing

2x Elbows
The end result is return piping to the sump with a ball valve and a 90 degree elbow to prevent gurgling. I will later post up a picture with it fitted into the stand.
They are not joking when they say the marine hobby teaches you some basics about plumbing.

End result is as follows:



I was told this green PVC cement is great for putting it all together.

Skimmer
For the skimmer, I have bought myself a Tunze DOC 9002 Nano skimmer. Will upload some pictures of this later on.

TIP: Teflon tape is great for screw in sections (wrap around the thread 6-8times). On the edges I always also apply some acetic cure glazing Silicon. This secures the pipe against any possible leaks. The Protek green cement is what you need to fit the pipes together and secure them in place. Always apply some silicon around the edges afterwards. It is apparently completely safe once it has cured.

[SHRIMP TANK] Ottoclip Iphone Lens

Here are some pictures taken with the Ottoclip using the macro lens.
Quite impressed with the clarity and closeup. My marine tank has arrived so I will be starting a new section for marine as well in future updates.

[SHRIMP TANK] Mini Pellia

It has been a while since I updated the news of my shrimp setup. I recently acquired a lot of female yellow cherries (Thank you BigD). They are going great guns!
I also now have over 20 snow white shrimp. They all seem to be coming out very nice and solid thanks to their solid parents. Only time will tell.
Above is a picture of Mini Pellia. The shrimp love this plant and seem to swarm to it. It is a rare miniature version of ordinary Pellia or Wassertang. (you know may the normal version as subwassertang.) I absolutely love this plant.

Exciting news for the week
1. My marine cube has arrived. Very excited about this! Will post some pictures up later for you marine fans.

2. I purchased the new iphone OLLOCLIP. Prepare yourself for some incredible macro shots in future posts to come.


Well that is all for this week until I find something more to talk about.

TIP: Ottocinclus and Siamese Algae eaters are great fish to keep in a planted tank. They will consume beard algae and many other forms of algae. Plecos are great for green dust algae and greenspot algae on leaves. Shrimp such as Darwin Algae shrimp and Cherry shrimp are great for thread algae. Watch out! SAE will eat WEEPING MOSS and NANO MOSS. They will however leave peacock moss alone.

[EHEIM OPAL] Before and After Pics

Here is an update of how the tank now looks before and after the addition of red plants.
I have ordered a Sera CO2 reactor to replace my inline upaqua CO2 reactor.
I have heard good reviews of the Sera model so we will see if it makes any difference to CO2 uptake in the aquarium

Forgot the tip sorry guys

TIP: Feed your fish low phosphate diets if you are concerned about algae buildup caused by increases in phosphate. PMDD dosing (Poor man's dupla drops) contains no phosphate but may exacerbate green spot algae.

[EHEIM OPAL] Redify it

above: left - After planting the red stems. right - After planting the crinum -.-;;

Red Plants Galore

Made a purchase for Pogo Helferi (as i mentioned before) and some random red stems as my tank seemed to be lacking the red variety.

My package of plants arrived all at once today. Here is a list of plants purchased.

1. Pogo Helferi (Thanks to Hip aka Tony)
2. Rotala Macranda Variegated (Thanks again to Hip aka Tony)
3. Ludwigia senegalensis (Thanks to Liverpool Creek aka Jeff)
4. Rotala H'ra (Thanks to Liverpool Creek aka Jeff)
5. Ludwigia ovalis (Thanks to Liverpool Creek aka Jeff)

Although the plants at the moment look a bit messy they have arrived in very healthy condition and I am very pleased. A few days and they should straighten out.
I just hope they will not lose their red colour over time. Fingers crossed.
From today onwards, I will be dosing extra Iron.

Crinum Relocation

I have decided to relocate my crinum to the back of the tank. It was not an easy task. Uprooting the plant without disturbing the HC around it was difficult. Planting the crinum was even more difficult! The roots just refused to stay underneath the substrate and I ended up clouding the tank afterwards.

TIP : Got an oil slick? Oil film on top of the tank can be easily removed by placing towelettes on the surface of the water and pulling it off. Another way would be to use air bubbles from a ceramic diffuser.