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View Full Version : My 30 degree single sided algae scrubbered tank



worley
05-21-2009, 06:38 AM
Thought I'd share some photos taken recently of the tank. Bear in mind the tank is only around 3 months old at the time of the photos, and the scrubber had only been up for about 2-3 weeks, with half the screen from my old tank/scrubber. This is a one sided screen that is nearly a horizontal design (about 30 degree slope), using the overflow from the tank to feed the scrubber (so no extra pumps needed for the scrubber).
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3333/3504303979_0ba7929493_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3504303979/
The two pipes on the left are what was feeding the tank in the loft/attic that contained the old recirculating scrubber, it's not actually being used any more or in this photo.
The tank isn't finished by a long way, probably going to add another 50% or more liverock and a bunch more corals, also got an juveanile Orange Shoulder Tang since this photo. There is quite a lot of food going into the tank (3-4 blocks of frozen brine, mysis, marine mix and krill, sometimes flakes, sinking pellets + 2 bits of seaweed/algae for the tangs+cowfish every day), at least double what was going in before on the old vertical scrubber (there is also 30% more screen surface now, and 50% more light, and 100% more flow)

There's a small amount of algae on the back and a little on the glass on the left, but I only have to clean once every 2 weeks, and the sides and back are never cleaned (only by a handful of turbo snails).

Sun Coral:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3576/3504817150_766ba5b171_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3504817150/

Torch Coral:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3314/3504795488_22a6cc42d0.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3504795488/
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3355/3503991897_6462bdae7b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3503991897/

Zoanthids:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3356/3504800750_a4a9b29e9e.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3504800750/

"Mookeh" the Longhorn Cowfish
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3554/3503985413_7c4812d074_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3503985413/

"Charlie" the Salfin Tang
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3306/3503983847_cefb58c518_b.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tomworley/3503983847/

Broder
05-21-2009, 11:58 PM
:shock: :shock: Wow.... Awesome tank. Love the clean look with lots of swimming room. Great photos as well. Have you achieved this with the use of a skimmer? Is there a DSB, not that it would be doing anything yet? What else are you suplementing? Are there any photos of your scrubber?

worley
05-22-2009, 05:34 AM
:shock: :shock: Wow.... Awesome tank.
:D Thanks, I'm still not happy with it though.


Love the clean look with lots of swimming room.
Yeah, we built upwards to make caves/hiding places and give enough swimming room, ironically most of the fish stick to the left hand side where the big cave is, where most of the fish sleep, apart from the cowfish that sits on top of that piece of liverock right in the corner at the front on the left, very cute :D

Great photos as well.
Again, thanks! I've found the formula to getting good shots now:
Decent camera: Nikon D700
High ISO: 1600 to 3200 ISO (on the above camera there's very little grain even at this high ISO - this also means you can use a faster shutter speed
Decent lens: Sigma 150mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 (great for closeups and pretty "fast" lens)
Holding the lens still, it's impossible to take photos of the fish as they move on a tripod, so hand hold it, but put the lens so one part of it is touching the glass so it steadies you, or use something to have it stand off from the glass a bit and steady it.
Hold the camera/lens at 90 degrees to the glass to get the least distorition. If you get it perpendicular to the glass it gets rid of most of the distortions.


Have you achieved this with the use of a skimmer?
Not since the old tank, so no, not ever on this 6x2x2 tank

Is there a DSB, not that it would be doing anything yet?
Nope, just 1-2" of sand in the tank, no DSB.

What else are you suplementing?
Only just started recently:
Seachem trace elements once weekly
Seachem Iodide every other day
Seachem buffer and builder as needed
Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium (really great product, increases calcium, but also replenishes Magnesium and Strontium in the ratios they are used up in relation to calcium)
http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/ReefAdvCalcium.html


Are there any photos of your scrubber?
here: http://www.algaescrubber.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=117&start=80 but they're a bit old, I'll post latest ones shortly

Broder
05-22-2009, 08:31 AM
Sounds great. Personally I'd start a DSB now, as it will take time (6 months) to kick in and provide that extra buffer against nutrient fluctuations. I had a mishap whereby I forgot to restart my scrubbers pump some time ago. This caused me not to have any nutrient export for several weeks, other than the well established DSB ( and the liverock of course). I did not switch the skimmer on as I wanted to monitor the kind of reaction that there would be. Nothing! Parameters remained stable. I attribute that to the established DSB.