plantnoobdude
Member
that is one pretty set up. really want to organise my tanks cabinet....
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Journal Salty Fingers
- Thread starter Courtneybst
- Start date
Looks cool! Is it powered by AC?
Awesome! Thanks so much. I quite like the idea of not having to faff around with batteries or charging things.
LondonAquascaper
Member
Happy to share my limited saltwater knowledge with you old boy!
Is anyone just as excited to see how the cabinet turns out as they are for the actual tank? What a topsy turvy world.
Is anyone just as excited to see how the cabinet turns out as they are for the actual tank? What a topsy turvy world.
After what felt like an age, the stand is very nearly complete. A friend of mine said it reminds him of Blastomussa, which I can definitely see!
Long story:
With the main frame painted, my next step was to paint the door and then varnish everything. The painting process was surprisingly very easy. The varnishing process however, was another mare...😂
(A very pleasing finish)
Firstly, I applied varnish to the frame and then thought 'I'll use all of this now and then order some more for the door, no problem'. I went ahead and reordered Gloss Yacht Varnish... I received two huge cans of Matt Grey Primer which arrived in the Hurt Locker style package below.
I got that refunded and decided to go to the DIY shop to get it myself. On the website description, the one I bought said 'Clear high gloss finish - suitable for painted surfaces'. When I got the varnish home and read the back it said 'Has a light amber hue - not suitable for painted surfaces'. You must be joking. I was actually fuming. I had to return that and order the original one again, only to realise they are now selling double the quantity for the same price I paid the first time. Just breathe...
To add to my frustration, I then somehow managed to chip the finished paint to the bare wood, merely minutes before I planned to varnish so I had to paint the front panel again! Needless to say I was at the end of my tether at this point.
Instead of buying a new extension lead, I decided to spray paint the cord of an existing white one with some peelable black paint so it's more inconspicuous. I then hung it on the inside with two screws.
I also decided that the barnacle I bought for the 'live handle' was too big, and there wasn't enough negative space on the design to make it work so I used a Dremel and sliced off a piece. I do not recommend inhaling barnacle dust, it stinks and made my mouth itchy.
Now I await the light stand to come so I can get going! Photo dump below 🙂
Long story:
With the main frame painted, my next step was to paint the door and then varnish everything. The painting process was surprisingly very easy. The varnishing process however, was another mare...😂
(A very pleasing finish)
Firstly, I applied varnish to the frame and then thought 'I'll use all of this now and then order some more for the door, no problem'. I went ahead and reordered Gloss Yacht Varnish... I received two huge cans of Matt Grey Primer which arrived in the Hurt Locker style package below.
I got that refunded and decided to go to the DIY shop to get it myself. On the website description, the one I bought said 'Clear high gloss finish - suitable for painted surfaces'. When I got the varnish home and read the back it said 'Has a light amber hue - not suitable for painted surfaces'. You must be joking. I was actually fuming. I had to return that and order the original one again, only to realise they are now selling double the quantity for the same price I paid the first time. Just breathe...
To add to my frustration, I then somehow managed to chip the finished paint to the bare wood, merely minutes before I planned to varnish so I had to paint the front panel again! Needless to say I was at the end of my tether at this point.
Instead of buying a new extension lead, I decided to spray paint the cord of an existing white one with some peelable black paint so it's more inconspicuous. I then hung it on the inside with two screws.
I also decided that the barnacle I bought for the 'live handle' was too big, and there wasn't enough negative space on the design to make it work so I used a Dremel and sliced off a piece. I do not recommend inhaling barnacle dust, it stinks and made my mouth itchy.
Now I await the light stand to come so I can get going! Photo dump below 🙂
Attachments
Last edited:
Finally the finished stand! Now time to get scaping!
The hardscape is in!
I knew with this project I wanted to try and 'scape' the tank as opposed to just plopping rock in the middle and calling it a day and for this reason I also wanted to use something other than traditional marine rocks. I've seen several people have success with macroalgae tanks using lava rock since it's very porous and has a large surface area, perfect for bacterial colonies to develop. Then I saw that @Aquarium Gardens was getting in some Unzan Stone from ADA and I knew it would be perfect. It's got the texture and properties of lava rock but it's much darker (makes black lava look grey), has more character and the pockets would be great to put some algae or soft corals into - although I'll leave some open otherwise I might as well have just bought regular lava rock! The Unzan also came with an interesting note below:
So last Thursday I made an epic aquascaping voyage with @shangman to Cambridge. The day was filled with so much including visiting Aquarium Gardens and scaping, having a banging lunch with George Farmer and assisting and hanging out with Tai Streitman for the upcoming Aquatic Habitats book, not to mention picking up a terrarium late at night to cream things off. Very grateful for the opportunities of that day and needless to say I was dead when I got back home.
My mind was pretty made up on the layout from being at the shop and so I just replicated it when I got home. Some things are always different once you get it into glass walls but it's close enough.
So before I can get going there's a few things I need to get first;
Once I've got these I can get the tank cycling /maturing and then can start to think about the fun stuff like the algae, corals and other inhabitants!
I knew with this project I wanted to try and 'scape' the tank as opposed to just plopping rock in the middle and calling it a day and for this reason I also wanted to use something other than traditional marine rocks. I've seen several people have success with macroalgae tanks using lava rock since it's very porous and has a large surface area, perfect for bacterial colonies to develop. Then I saw that @Aquarium Gardens was getting in some Unzan Stone from ADA and I knew it would be perfect. It's got the texture and properties of lava rock but it's much darker (makes black lava look grey), has more character and the pockets would be great to put some algae or soft corals into - although I'll leave some open otherwise I might as well have just bought regular lava rock! The Unzan also came with an interesting note below:
So last Thursday I made an epic aquascaping voyage with @shangman to Cambridge. The day was filled with so much including visiting Aquarium Gardens and scaping, having a banging lunch with George Farmer and assisting and hanging out with Tai Streitman for the upcoming Aquatic Habitats book, not to mention picking up a terrarium late at night to cream things off. Very grateful for the opportunities of that day and needless to say I was dead when I got back home.
My mind was pretty made up on the layout from being at the shop and so I just replicated it when I got home. Some things are always different once you get it into glass walls but it's close enough.
So before I can get going there's a few things I need to get first;
- Salt (thinking to use Tropic Marin Pro Reef)
- Jugs for RO (I'll probably get enough to hold a month's water change so I don't have to go to Spotless too often)
- Refractometer (I've been recommended D-D and thinking of picking up a second-hand one on eBay)
- Test Kit (I've been recommended Saliferts to begin with and then can invest in Hanna checkers later down the line)
Once I've got these I can get the tank cycling /maturing and then can start to think about the fun stuff like the algae, corals and other inhabitants!
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Rich Jackson
Member
I have a refractometer that’s sitting in my cupboard doing nothing .. PM me ! 
nice layout by the way
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
nice layout by the way Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Thanks Mort, it's definitely not traditional in any sense of the word!
Day 0 - Filling up!
Luciën
Member
Ooh so cool the cabinets really compliment each other. Really like what you've done.
Small update;
On Wednesday as well as filling up my tank, I also began cycling it with Fritz Zyme 9 since both my sand and rock are inert. You don't get all the little hitchhikers you get from live rock which is a shame but it also massively reduces the chance of pests. I added some of Dr Tim's ammonia to give the bacteria something to gnaw on until some inhabitants go in. It seems to already be consuming almost all of the ammonia I'm adding (2ppm) in 24 hours but I'm skeptical! I'm gonna do some nitrate tests when they arrive on Monday and see what's happening.
I added 5 packets of live copepods to the tank today in efforts to seed them and establish a little colony. I'm not sure how successful it will be in this sterile environment but I've got some phytoplankton coming to help.
Visiting the Aquatic Design Centre to day completely threw me off in terms of stocking. I thought I knew what I wanted for sure but now I'm confused again! There's a few species that I didn't spot las time (or they didn't have) and they are equally as beautiful as the ones I had in mind. Decisions decisions.
On Wednesday as well as filling up my tank, I also began cycling it with Fritz Zyme 9 since both my sand and rock are inert. You don't get all the little hitchhikers you get from live rock which is a shame but it also massively reduces the chance of pests. I added some of Dr Tim's ammonia to give the bacteria something to gnaw on until some inhabitants go in. It seems to already be consuming almost all of the ammonia I'm adding (2ppm) in 24 hours but I'm skeptical! I'm gonna do some nitrate tests when they arrive on Monday and see what's happening.
I added 5 packets of live copepods to the tank today in efforts to seed them and establish a little colony. I'm not sure how successful it will be in this sterile environment but I've got some phytoplankton coming to help.
Visiting the Aquatic Design Centre to day completely threw me off in terms of stocking. I thought I knew what I wanted for sure but now I'm confused again! There's a few species that I didn't spot las time (or they didn't have) and they are equally as beautiful as the ones I had in mind. Decisions decisions.
Thank you!
It's been a LONG time since I've had to cycle an aquarium from scratch, but I think this means we're in business! (Top: Nitrates, Bottom: Ammonia).
I think it's time to seek out some cleanup crew and dare I say it... macroalgae. 👁👄👁
When the tank requires dosing I'll be using Brightwells Chaetogro for the micros (it doesn't contain any copper at all) but for the macros I want to experiment with using my dry salts that I use for my EI mix. I just need to use the IFC calculator or Rotala Butterfly to figure out how to dose to a specific ppm.
I think it's time to seek out some cleanup crew and dare I say it... macroalgae. 👁👄👁
When the tank requires dosing I'll be using Brightwells Chaetogro for the micros (it doesn't contain any copper at all) but for the macros I want to experiment with using my dry salts that I use for my EI mix. I just need to use the IFC calculator or Rotala Butterfly to figure out how to dose to a specific ppm.
The tank is finally starting to look more alive with the addition of some macroalgae and inverts! 🌿🐌🦀
There's a weird stress with this setup (maybe because I'm new to it) surrounding the salinity and the nutrients and I feel like the tank is moments away from imploding at any time! I don't get this feeling with freshwater at all but I guess I've been doing it much much longer. I have an auto top off I need to setup to mitigate the salinity worry at least, but I haven't yet...A classic case of procrastination 🙃 I'm hoping the nutrients won't be an ongoing anxiety...
I'm also waiting for Aquario lily pipes to become available so I can replace the OASE ones and will eventually switch out the powerhead for an AI Nero 3.
In the meantime, here's some photos of some lovely macroalgae!
There's a weird stress with this setup (maybe because I'm new to it) surrounding the salinity and the nutrients and I feel like the tank is moments away from imploding at any time! I don't get this feeling with freshwater at all but I guess I've been doing it much much longer. I have an auto top off I need to setup to mitigate the salinity worry at least, but I haven't yet...A classic case of procrastination 🙃 I'm hoping the nutrients won't be an ongoing anxiety...
I'm also waiting for Aquario lily pipes to become available so I can replace the OASE ones and will eventually switch out the powerhead for an AI Nero 3.
In the meantime, here's some photos of some lovely macroalgae!
mrhoyo
Member
Following this, it's nice to see a saltwater tank that isn't just blue
mort
Member
- Joined
- 15 Nov 2015
- Messages
- 2,400
Loving it already.
To the best of my knowledge I was the first person in the country to keep the algae in your first picture and I'd be surprised if every piece in the uk (and a fair chunk of europe) wasn't decended from it. It will grow so quickly (as will the ulva) that I wouldn't worry in the slightest about your nutrients because they will suck up excess ones quickly and show you signs when you might need to dose. It's all quite simple and given your freshwater skills it will be a doddle for you.
The only algae I can see in your tank that you need to, worry isn't the right word, perhaps be informed about is better, is the caulerpa prolifera. I'd just read up on sexual reproduction but in the knowledge that a lot of what is written is rubbish and scare mongering. I have had times when i came down to pretty brown/green water after it had spawned and I never lost a thing, even sensitive seahorses. You just need to be aware of the warning signs which is essentially white dots forming. If you keep it well trimmed (and it's a good grower so you'll likely do this by default) ditch the older growth and you will have less to worry about it. It was explained to me that basically all caulerpa have a life span and when they reach this age they are inclined to spawn. I don't know if that's completely true but by managing the older growth it certainly did help. Prolifera is one of the least inclined to cause problems and gives you a couple of days warning, taxifolia on the other hand, which is beautiful, can be a pia as can racemosa.
There are two different species of algae like your last picture. I think you probably have ochtodes, which is more common but blue hypnea is around. The great thing about these they both go blue/purple under high lighting, so consider putting some directly under the lights when it gets going. The downside is cowries love them.
To the best of my knowledge I was the first person in the country to keep the algae in your first picture and I'd be surprised if every piece in the uk (and a fair chunk of europe) wasn't decended from it. It will grow so quickly (as will the ulva) that I wouldn't worry in the slightest about your nutrients because they will suck up excess ones quickly and show you signs when you might need to dose. It's all quite simple and given your freshwater skills it will be a doddle for you.
The only algae I can see in your tank that you need to, worry isn't the right word, perhaps be informed about is better, is the caulerpa prolifera. I'd just read up on sexual reproduction but in the knowledge that a lot of what is written is rubbish and scare mongering. I have had times when i came down to pretty brown/green water after it had spawned and I never lost a thing, even sensitive seahorses. You just need to be aware of the warning signs which is essentially white dots forming. If you keep it well trimmed (and it's a good grower so you'll likely do this by default) ditch the older growth and you will have less to worry about it. It was explained to me that basically all caulerpa have a life span and when they reach this age they are inclined to spawn. I don't know if that's completely true but by managing the older growth it certainly did help. Prolifera is one of the least inclined to cause problems and gives you a couple of days warning, taxifolia on the other hand, which is beautiful, can be a pia as can racemosa.
There are two different species of algae like your last picture. I think you probably have ochtodes, which is more common but blue hypnea is around. The great thing about these they both go blue/purple under high lighting, so consider putting some directly under the lights when it gets going. The downside is cowries love them.