Aquarium Systems L'Aquarium 2.0 570

[UncleFester]

Decided to start a new thread as my old thread will pretty much become redundant, plus, it gives me the opportunity to record my progress from the beginning.

The original plan was to run both systems for approximately 6 weeks, however, due to work being carried at home, I ended up having to make the switch around the 3 week mark, as you will see from the pictures, things appear to have stabilised over the last couple of weeks and long may this continue.

I decided that I wanted a more open reef structure with the new build so decided to go with some Marco Reef Structures, to be honest I have never been a massive fan as I always found them to be regimented in their design and quite bland, that being said, having looked at various members tanks here and on other forums, it became apparent that it's not where the journey starts but where we end up.

As you will see from the pic's the difference in a few weeks is pretty impressive and I'm confident that over the coming weeks and months the system should hopefully fill out.

Apart for a few choice pieces, most of the live rock from my old system is in the sump, know doubt that having the live rock, old tank water and sand has made a significant difference in the cycling process, the ugly brown stage came and went in a week.

No testing yet as the plan is to get this done over the weekend, will post results when completed.

[G.Alexander]

Glad to hear the move was working fine, the result is fantastic. Can you please share some more information about the move and how you have done it exactly, it might help others which are in the same situation.

G.Alexander

[UncleFester]

Glad to hear the move was working fine, the result is fantastic. Can you please share some more information about the move and how you have done it exactly, it might help others which are in the same situation.

G.Alexander

As mentioned previously, I originally set out to run both systems side by side for around 6 weeks, however, this changed due to build work being carried out at home, please see below for a detailed description of the tank move.

Before I begin, let's assume that the following basic procedures have taken place;

All equipment including the tank and sump have had a thorough clean prior to any additions, we can also assume that all new rock structures and sand have been thoroughly cleaned with a final clean and rinse with RO/DI water.

All live stock was acclimated, in general I would say that the average timescales for acclimation was at least 90 minutes and in some instances up to a couple of hours, to date no losses to fish, coral or any clean up crew.

Methods used for cleaning was a combination of Citric Acid and Milton Sterilising solution/tablets.

I started the tank fill on Monday 2nd May, this took 2.5 days to fill with RO/DI Water, around the half way stage I hooked up the heater, thermostat, wave makers and the return pump so by the end of the 2.5 days, we had quality clean warm water at 26.5 degrees, I then introduced the Marco rock structures followed by the sand, decided to go with Aragonite sand on this build as recommended on the forum, this was left for 2 days as this allowed me to check for any potential leaks in the pipework and make any changes to the rock work, by the weekend and being happy that everything at this stage was looking good, I then moved onto starting the cycle.

I would also add that during this period I had done a number of water changes, around 3 at 10% with the old tank water being added to the new system.

Initial 14 Day Cycle as per the link below; pretty much followed this to the letter

https://forum.zeovit.com/forum/gener...nformation-faq

My existing set up consisted of 2 ATI Straton LED Lights which was overkill on the Red Sea Reefer 250 so decided to move one of the lights across to the new system along with some of the existing live rock into the sump area, having a much larger sump area I was also able to set up my spare Zeo Reactor. I incorporated around 25% of the existing zeolites to the new system topping up with new, I also added some loose zeolites that I had in mesh bags across to the new system, which I am sure has aided with the cycling process.

Over the years you end up with spares of pretty much all equipment required to run a reef and this has definitely helped, as I was able to run both systems in parallel for a good few weeks, which I believe has made a massive difference in getting me to where I am today.

Due to the build work being carried out I had to start moving the corals across quicker than I would have liked, that being said and as I write this post, ALL Corals are looking happy in their new surroundings as can be seen from my earlier pictures.

The transfer of the corals and livestock was done over a 7 day period and during this time, more of the live rock from the reefer 250 was added to the sump as was some of the old tank water, currently only two pieces of the existing live rock has made it's way into the display tank as most of the rock is in the sump, I would say that approx 60% of the reefer water ended up in the new system

Prior to the switch over, I had spent countless hours researching on how other reefers had managed the switch, what went well and what if anything they would have done different, pretty much the same message kept coming back, run both systems for as long as possible and plan each step, on reflection I would say that I have pretty much followed this advice with the only caveat being that the build work threw a bit of a spanner in the works. I would also add that having the live rock, old tank water from the water changes and adding some of the live sand from the old system have all played a positive part in where I am today.

This will be my 5th reef set up and hopefully my last and by far this has been the most enjoyable and I put this down to acting on the advice given, previous experience and sticking to the plan, even the ugly brown stage that all reefers go through only lasted around the 5/6 day mark.

Appreciate that not everyone is in a position to run both systems in tandem and I know of fellow reefers that have managed the switch in one day using rather large vats to store the water and live rock, I've even witnessed a small Childs paddling pool being utilised to hold water during the process, all I would say is do your research and plan as much as you possibly can and get support from fellow reefers who are only to willing to help.

I hope this helps anyone who is planning on doing something similar and if you need any additional information then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

I will be updating with system parameters over the next few days.

Thanks for looking.

[G.Alexander]

Thank you so much for taking the time to describe the process. I am sure it will help others which are in the same situation, running a new system side by side with a old system is for sure the most safest way to move a tank so I would recommend it to everyone who has the possibility.

Hope to see regular updates of your system.

G.Alexander

[NZ-Nick]

Evening (here)

Hey, awesome write up.
how big is the new tank

regards
Nickb

[UncleFester]

Evening (here)

Hey, awesome write up.
how big is the new tank

regards
Nickb

Thanks, the nett water volume after displacement will be around the 500 litre mark, more than double that of my old reefer 250.

[UncleFester]

Thank you so much for taking the time to describe the process. I am sure it will help others which are in the same situation, running a new system side by side with a old system is for sure the most safest way to move a tank so I would recommend it to everyone who has the possibility.

Hope to see regular updates of your system.

G.Alexander

Thanks G.Alexander, my plan is to update on a regular basis as it would be good for me to have an avenue to look back at how the system is progressing.

[UncleFester]

First set of numbers on the new system;

Alk 4.0 (Hanna)
Cal 462 (Hanna)
Mag 1200 (Salifert)
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.2 (Salifert)
Pot 380 (Salifert)
Nitrate 5 (Nyos)
Phosphate 0.50 (Nyos)

The dosing unit has now been switched on, so, I expect that over the coming weeks we will get the Cal and Alk back to a balanced measure, I would also add that the corals are still looking good with no major issues to report.

As far as the phosphate levels are concerned, again, I can report that corals are displaying reasonable polyp extension so not to worried at this stage as I know from experience that this will come down over the coming weeks and months, Nitrate is low and out of sync with the Phosphate levels, will keep an eye on this to see if anything untoward happens.

First water change was done last weekend so will be reverting back to my weekly water changes which should help with some of the above issues.

All in all, fairly happy with how things are progressing, will post some fresh pics over the weekend.

[jacky]

Thank you for sharing this detailed process, I love it.

As you said, the base water parameters adjust it slowly

[UncleFester]

A little overdue as my plan was to up-date weekly to include parameters and current progress, all in all system has settled really well as can be seen from the attached pictures.

Couple of new additions to the system a Copper Band and White Tail Kole Tang, both are doing great and have settled well with the other inhabitants, no new corals at this stage but have ordered a Greg C Ultimate Stag which should arrive in the next couple of weeks.

Hope you enjoy the pic's, which may appear overly Blue which is due to the ATI Stratons ramping down In the evening and as always please feel free to add any comments.

Thanks for looking.

Alk 5.9 (Hanna)
Cal 451 (Hanna)
Mag 1290 (Salifert)
Salinity 1.026
PH 8.2 (Salifert)
Pot 380 (Salifert)
Nitrate 5 (Nyos)
Phosphate 0.30 (Nyos)

[G.Alexander]

Thank you for the update and for sharing those beautiful pictures. Corals and fish are looking really healthy, the KH is a little bit low so if it drops furthermore you might experience issues with slow TN with the SPS corals so I would recommend to slowly increase it to ~ 7 over the next 2 or 3 weeks if you are sure your test kit is accurate. Basically the actual KH will not cause issues, it might just become problematic if the KH does decrease additional. If the level is higher you will have more time for corrections.

G.Alexander

[UncleFester]

Few up-dated pictures with current water parameters;

Alkilinity 7.5
Calcium 410
Magnesium 1260
Nitrate 5
PH 8.2
Salinity 1.026

In terms of KZ Products being used on the system these are as follows;

Flatworm stop
Coral Booster
Coral Snow
Coral Snow Plus
Sponge Power
LPS
Coral Vitaliser
B-Balance
K-Balance
Amino Acid
Pohls Extra
Zeozym

[jacky]

Thanks for sharing the beautiful coral, it looks really good

[G.Alexander]

Really like it, than you for the updated pictures 👍

G.Alexander