first post, present my tank and scrubber

[ALENQUER A.]

Hello everybody, I´m really happy for make my first post here, I read ever your posts, and now is time to me present and present my scrubber.

My name is Daniel, I´m from Argentina (sorry for my bad english ! lol), i´m starting a 125g reef, Display tank 120cm x 60cm x 55cm - 396lts (48" length x 24" wide x 22" height - aprox 100g) and sump is around 25g. I love sps and want to make (someday !) a full sps tank.

The aquarium is 3 weeks old, skimmer is off and I added the first fish (ocellaris) four days ago, the parameters are:
1025 sg, 8.4 ph, 26ºC, nh3/4 0, no2 0, no3 < 5, PO4 0.03.



Scrubber is 7 days old, it has canvas net, its usefull area is about 20cm x 20cm - 400cm2, it´s illuminated with 4 x 26 CFL bulbs (2700k) - photoperiod 10hs - I have not measured the water flow, but is abundant.


Here some photos of the scrubber and the aquarium:

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/1-3.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/2-3.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/3-3.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/4-4.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/5-4.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/6-3.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/7-3.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/8-3.jpg



I will let scrubber until day 14, and then post new photos



regards !!!

[Garf]

Looking like a great start. Welcome.

[SantaMonica]

Welcome.

Can you point the bulbs to the middle of the screen, or lower them?

[ALENQUER A.]

Garf, SantaMonica, thanks for the welcome !!!

"Can you point the bulbs to the middle of the screen, or lower them?"

Yes, I can point the bulbs to the middle or can come down also the reflector some cm without any problem.

I put the spotlight at that distance in order to concentrate the light in a sector of the screen and to follow the new sizing guide, I think I made a very large screen :(

Do you recommend point the reflector to the center and use more screen?

[SantaMonica]

If the screen is sized based on feeding, you will need to use the whole screen, not just the top.

[ALENQUER A.]

ok, I had originally designed the screen size using the old sizing guide, after reading the new sizing guides I thought my screen was too big and decided to use only the top.

I love the idea of: food in -----> scrubber out, I like high-feeding the aquarium, especially corals, I have thought using Pappone or similar to feed the sps.

following your advice, lowered the water level inside the box and lowered the lights. Now the screen has dimensions of 20cm x 30cm usable. here a photo:

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/DSC01424.jpg

water output to the screen was corrected, and now water flows without splashing, and also increase the water flow.

But, what about the photoperiod? the screen is larger now (but I do not have important feeding at the time)

are chinese 660nm leds good for algae growing? or are crap?

[SantaMonica]

Much better.

12 hours until you feed more.

China LEDs depend on testing them first; some are rejects.

[ALENQUER A.]

great, I will give 12 hours of light, next Monday will put new photos.

About 660nm leds, I will look for some phillips or osram, how much 3w LEDs do you recommend on each side of the screen?

[SantaMonica]

Try one led per 3 X 3

[ALENQUER A.]

Fine, my screen is 8" x 12", then I will need around 30w or 33w on each side, thank you very much !

[ALENQUER A.]

here we are...

125g aquarium, 4 weeks old, one ocellaris, 1/4 cube of dry food per day, screen 20cm x 30cm, 4 x 26w CFL, 12hs per day.

so this is the 14 days scrubber:

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/DSC01435.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/DSC01429.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/DSC01428.jpg


are the results: good? bad? normal?

Have I to clean the screen?

[Ace25]

Looks 100% normal for the initial 14 days of growth. I would clean the screen gently, slow running water in the sink and just rub off the slime with your fingers. No need to use a brush or scraper to scrub the screen yet.

[ALENQUER A.]

forgot add: NO3 is 5 ppm and PO4 is 0 ppm.

[ALENQUER A.]

Hi guys

update the status... 125g aquarium, 6 week old, 6 fishes (ocellaris, hepatus, odonus, firefish, six line and l. dimidatus), 1 cube of dry food daily, screen 20cm x 30cm, 4 x 26w CFL, 12hs per day.
No3: 10ppm (two week ago were in 5ppm), PO4: remain the same, between 0 and 0.03ppm

Here some photos:

http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/aaaaaaaaaa.jpg
http://i1259.photobucket.com/albums/ii557/elpablooalsina/aaaaaaa.jpg

grew very little of the green algae, everything was covered by a brown slime, I cleaned the screen and removed all the slime. Should I increase the photoperiod to 14hs?

greetings and happy new year !

[SantaMonica]

Go to 18 hours a day.

[ALENQUER A.]

ok, I will do that.

since we're on the subject of algae growth, I'm looking to accelerate the growth of coralline algae, I was "seeding" coralline algae (brushing / scraping rocks which are completely purple, over the rocks of my aquarium), the PO4 until moment are undetectable, Ca, Mg and kH are high, the light is 150w cree led, I'm not adding anything more.

Have some tip or advice to keep in mind?

[SantaMonica]

Just scrape off what you have and crush or blend it up into little pieces and throw it back in front of a power head.

[ALENQUER A.]

ok, thanks you so much !

[Floyd R Turbo]

Say when posting pics from Photobucket, copy and paste the IMG tag instead of the one you are using. that way the pics will show up instead of having to click the links.

Is this a waterfall scrubber? Where is the slot?

[ALENQUER A.]

i just picked some 660nm and 450nm leds from steveleds, and I need some advice for make the fixture
I think using one led 450nm per 5 leds 660nm, ie, on each side of the screen using 10 LEDs 660nm and 2 led 450nm , total per side: 36w.

is correct the relation 5:1 ?

[Floyd R Turbo]

That's about right. Anything in the 5:1 or 8:1 range will do.

[ALENQUER A.]

ok, great, thanks Floyd !

I will put some photos when finish the lights