Paul's Godiva 90x46x62

[sandyzoo]

Background

I have been looking at reef tanks since I started scuba diving a few years ago. Prior to that I have had no interest in them!

I have also never kept tropicals, and only occasionally babysat my sisters goldfish in the past!

One day I noticed a 90L marine tank on eBay in my local area. It was a good price... so I started thinking.....

I read as much as I could about the art of marine keeping. I've been on this and other forums and asked lots of questions. The concensus seemed to be "buy bigger". Oddly it seems that bigger is easier to keep. However... if it was going to turn into a green algae box then I was going to have to balance the size against the financial investment, and think carefully about its location in the house!
I decided against the 90L tank. A forum member here that I was talking to offered me a deal on his 130L tank. I was very tempted. It looked good. However, as luck would have it, once again a local option came up. An Aquareef 275.

Mrs Zoo and I went to take a look at it, with (me at least having) a serious intention of buying it!
Funny... it was clearly too big for our space. Tanks look very different in someone's living room compared to a large shop.

Although that was a disappointment, it did give us a lot of info on the dimensions we were looking for, also what equipment we would need etc etc.

Then......

I found one on eBay that really appealed. I bought it, and then had the long 2 and a half week wait until I could go and pick it up.

This is what I bought:

Godiva Tank 90x46x62
4 chamber sump
Running a Herbie overflow. (????) Also has an emergency overflow.
Ehiem 2000ltr hr return pump, with a double return outlet
deltec mc500 skimmer
Fuji live rock rubble
Aquabeem led bar for the sump
three pump dosing pump
Vortech MP10 eco smart wave maker
40kg of grade A Fuji live rock
full spectrum IT2080 reef led light with a controller
two Jebao RW-8 8000ltrhr wave maker power heads with controllers
TMC RO reverse osmosis unit
Lots of Salifert Test kits
Spare heaters and power heads
Some water containers etc

Comes with two clown fish, a pajama wrasse (six line) a cleaner shrimp, blood shrimp, loads of red, blue legged hermit crabs, loads of little starfish, emerald crab, few mushroom corals.

The person is giving up the hobby, and so is basically giving me all he has.
He hasn't been able to look after it all very well in recent times, and has sold off some livestock and now the rock has some algae growing.

 

[CEECH]

Very nice start look forward to following your progress

 

[sandyzoo]

Saturday 26th September

When the day arrived, it was a long one!

With Mrs Zoo and my son came with me. We set off at 7:45am to collect the hire van and set off to Kidderminster. I was hoping to be back and done to watch the footballs at 5:45pm.

We stopped for a McDonalds on the way, but arrived at Kidderminster at about 11:45. We were greeted by the seller who turned out to be an extremely friendly and knowledgeable guy.

So into his living room to get our first look at the tank. First impression.. "It's not white... it's grey!". Luckily this wasn't a major issue. I am notoriously colour blind and really should get people to confirm my colour assumptions!

We liked it though (Yay!!) and the disassembly started. I had arrived with some water containers, which we duly filled with rock and water. We had to throw about 2 or 3 salt buckets worth away... but managed to contain most of the water.

Then fish and cuc were caught and put into bags, and boxes.

Then the tank... well we couldn't undo the bulkhead pipes, so this mean that we had to LIFT rather than slide the tank. After much thought and many attmepts, we realised we had no option but to take out some sand. So a salt bucket's worth of sand was removed. We could then get the tank on board. Followed by the cabinet, with the sump still in it.

All loaded we headed back. All of this naturally took WAY longer than I thought. We didn't stop at all on the way back... and arrived a 7:30pm.
First thing I did was start the RO unit producing some water.

We got the cabinet into place. Before we could bring the tank in, we had to attach the iQuatics light bracket to the back of the cabinet. I had (luckily!) bought this in advance (Thanks to Shawn for next day delivery!). Next, we brough the tank in. We then carefully placed the sand back in the tank. We started filling it with water, using the return pump to fill it. When it was half full or so we added some of the live rock, and continued this until we'd finished all the water.

Then heaters and powerheads were put on.

The Display tank was pretty much full, and just enough in the sump to keep things damp.

I floated the fish on top for an hour or so, before releasing them. Also added the cuc, which was about 3 hermits and 4 snails.

After connecting the pipes up and wired up the lights, it was 4am! After a couple of glasses of wine, we finally went to bed. What a day!

 

[sandyzoo]

Sunday 27th September

The following morning, despite the late night, I had to get up and drop the hire van off by 8:30.

I spent Sunday connecting up the sump, making up salt water (my first ever batches!) and starting the sump and lights. It all went really well.
The fish looked happy..not sure why I think that! The wrasse, wh had been extremely sick looking during transport was swimming in and out of all the crevices. I was pleased.

The cleaner shrimp isout all the time, but the blood shrimp seems really shy.

There was some algae in the tank.

I did some water tests...Ph reads 8.1, and Nitrated read 0. However I don't have instructions for Nitrite test, and no test for ammonia. I'll need to get them!

Spent much of today looking at the tank!

 

[sandyzoo]

Monday 28th September


All still well. The customer light cycle on the LEDs seems a little short.. but maybe that's correct.

Also, we think there *might* be a little more algae than the day before.

Did a stock check, and realsied we haven't seen the emerald crab at all. Prehaps it wasn't there. Also no sign of the one mushroom coral that had been there. Quite possibly on the bottom of a live rock somewhere!

It all looks a bit bare.. but the water is lovely and clear.

And everything is eating... the clowns are greedy!!

We'd really like to address the algae though, and also get something that will help clean the sand. (Chalk goby? Watchman?)

And how much should I be feeding them?

Also... how much water does this setup hold? Must get the calculator out!! Hard to imagine the displacement due to LR etc.

 

[CEECH]

See link for test kits instructions
http://www.thesaltybox.com/forum/all-salifert-test-kit-instructions/

 

[CEECH]

Depends on how much live rock you have in the tank but it could easily displace 30 to 50 % of the water . You also need to add the sump in your water.
I feed my fish 2 times a day. first thing in the morning and then later that evening with frozen. I also leave a feeder stickin some days which sticks to the glass that they can munch on if they manage to get the greedy snails out of the way lol.
Your algae should settle down. Have you measured your P04 AND NO3 levels ?
Goby are a nice addition to any tank
Snails will also help clean algae away but you need to be careful as you have hermits they may see there shells as new fashion wear.

 

[leopardshark]

Yeah emerald crabs are illussive you rarely see them ..fire shrimps tend to find a shady spot and meander and hang out ...

I'm thrilled to bits couldn't be more happier for you [emoji3]

Love the six line remember my sixline Marley ...

 

[sandyzoo]

No news on this really. The algae hasn't got any worse, and everyone seems to be alive!
I am adjusting my feeding routine to twice per day.. but I am wary of overfeeding. Particularly as there isn't much livestock in there.

I have ordered an Ammonia test kit, and thanks to [MENTION=22835]CEECH[/MENTION] now have instructions for my nitrite test. I will do another water test when it arrives.

Looking at adding a Goby now.

Where do people buy their fish? Is it generally okay to get them from shops?

 

[tyger]

Yes ... but its always better to use a QT and pre treat if poss. I have had two wipe out's and wouldn't take the risk again.

 

[sandyzoo]

I've just read a few threads on Quarantine tanks. I'm guessing it's a case of better to be safe....

 

[sandyzoo]

All still looking stable. We are all getting used to a routine. The tank is such a welcome addition to our kitchen.
The average time spent in there has increased, And the telly is starting to feel left out!

I'm hoping my ammonia test kit arrives today so I can test the water.

 

[CEECH]

As tyger said if you have space it is a good thing to have quarentine tank if not you need to make sure the store have had them for a while and they are in good shape but you just never know as it only takes 1 sick fish in there system to pass on something. Glad to hear the instructions helped

 

[dannydization]

Wehhheeey here it is happy days mate now your journey on the salty side begins

 

[sandyzoo]

We were away this weekend, and I left my son to feed the tank once a day.
When I got back I noticed that the glass was noticeably dirtier, as was the sand in certain places. I had left the powerheads on "Night" mode. Is this mode even worth using at night?

After a little go with the magnet, and the powerheads on, it all looked better. I did finally find the emerald crab that was supposed to be int he tank - sadly very dead. A victim of the move I suspect. Even though I'd never met him, it was still a little bit sad. I removed him straight away.

The Ammonia test arrived over the weekend so I am planning to test for NH4, NO3 and NO2 tonight.

I am planning a (major? 30%) water change this weekend. Could someone please point me to some guidance on doing this? It will be my first water change.

 

[leopardshark]

Basically calculate the amount of salt you'll need in weight to the amount of water you are making ... Put water in bucket , drum ,Jerry can ect .. Put power head wave maker in so the water in the drum is being agitated or has current slowly pour salt into the water leave to cure for the recommended amount of time ...

When all that is done

Blast your corals/ rocks with a turkey baster so all detritus/particulate matter get brought into the water Column syphon out into a bucket Jerry can ..

Meanwhile ...

The cured water your going to put in ..bring up to temp with heater leave in window with the sun in it ect .. Check salinity .. If all good...

Replace the water you've removed[emoji52]

That's basically it

Goodluck

 

[sandyzoo]

Thank you for that!
Would you both remove and replace the water from / to the display tank only? Or it it best to remove from display tank and return through sump system?

 

[leopardshark]

I think return through sump

Remove from display tank [emoji52]

 

[sandyzoo]

I did water tests last night:

Ammonia <0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Phosphorous 0
pH 8

Is that pH okay?

I am going to do a water change at the weekend too.

When is it likely to be okay for me to think about adding corals?

 

[leopardshark]

Yeah everything is fine ammonia you may need to keep an eye on .. Is that the lowest reading on the kit?