Highland reef

lol i removed most of the carbon that came with the HOB , though i do have one of the filters that came with carbon in it , umm some where lol.
i could have put that in the trash by mistake the other day lol.
 
switched the lights on a little while ago while i added the next lot of chemical to the tank from the red sea kit.
And the water is a lot clearer YAY.

How ever mother nature is still against me making RO water lol.
As temps are set to fall again in Scotland , right now it is only 2.1c outside and dropping as the snow moves in.
I am wandering if i could get away with buying long enough tube to fit from the outside tap and run it into the heated green house where i can sit the actual RO unit so the filters wont be damaged. would i be able to do that ?.
as i cant wait for warm enough weather to come in to allow me to make more RO .

as the store i bought it from stated operating temp 5c minimum , where as my greenhouse is heated to 60 + F
 
sorry for any updates etc ,

Firstly the tank was the last thing on my mind for the past 2 or so weeks. my dads health took a crash and he ended up being put on a morphine pump and given 2 extremely strong morphine injections , and he passed away 20th March. it was then crazy trying to arrange all the legal trash and paper work after paper work after paper work . and then it was his cremation last Wednesday.

But i have come back to the tank to get things going again and slowly getting life back on track along with mom.

so i did the usual tests to see where the tank was on the cycle and these are the latest results.

Temp 25 C
dKH 10
SG 35 ppt
PH 8
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 10
Ammonia 0.2

So i am thinking in continuing the red sea Reef mature from where i left it.

had a look at the sand bed / ceramic and did not notice anything a live until i looked closer and i noticed that the front glass is alive with pod life , and 1 corner is thick thick with pods and the sand is swarming lol. and from the sand bed to just over half way up the tank in 1 corner is thick with pods as well
 
Man I am so sorry for your loss...I dont know how I will handle it when the time comes for me to deal with that.

Good to see the tank is coming along, take your time your tank is going to be gorgeous.
 
well done the tests today to check on the cycle and its all gooooood.

cycle has finished , hope to add the clean up crew next week failing that the week after.
and clean up crew wise i will be getting

4 red legged hermits
2 money cowries
2 Astrea
cleaner shrimp
black brittle star

and in the UK that will cost me £56.59 which in a straight conversion to American dollars is $86 lol.
 
Do you have any algae build up in your tank? or even a diatom bloom? If not I'd hold off on the CUC otherwise they are going to starve from lack of food (Unless you're planning on throwing in shrimp pellets or something to that effect for them). Glad to hear your cycle is over :)
 
see thats where things are done diff ...

in the UK we add the cuc as soon as a cycle has finished and everything is fine as they do not go long without food , as you then start adding coral , fish etc.

But i do have algae of various kind growing on the rock thanks to the red sea reef mature.
the ceramic has diatoma growing on it , and the LR i added has diatoma , red algae , green algae.

and because of the fish choice i wont be adding any just yet , i will be buying corals next so when i add the fish they should feel more secure and have more places to hide and shelter in.
 
i didn't mean anything by what i said , just things are diff in the UK after the cycles stage.
it is seen as ok to add a CUC to a tank straight after a cycle and never mention feeding them.
a diatoma break out is not always that straight forward lol , i can remember reading on a forum i used to use , the guys tank cycled in a month never had a bit of algae or diatoma until half a year later lol.
thats what he gets for boasting on the forum he has never had an outbrake of algae in his tank lol.
 
Lol, no worries :). Just giving my advice lol. In the end it's your tank, so it's your call on what goes in and when. Everything should be fine lol :)
 
Great looking tank....starting one is so much fun....I had no idea it was so cold in Scotland....Scotland is my ancestral home but unfortunately I have never visited....

Are you in the Highlands?
 
lol i need to type this in the hope the fish tank cant see it and cant read it.....

SO FAR lol .......... this tank has been the quickest and easiest to set up ( bloody jinxed it now ) ..

My first ever marine tank was a pain to cycle for some reason , then i had absolutely no issues with that tank even though i admit to over stocking by a lot and putting in fish to big for tank . only time i had an issue with that tank was i rescued a midnight black dwarf angel from a local fish store , brought it back to full health fin perfect and got it feeding from my hand .. she decided to play whack a mole with a christmas tree worms , she pulled one out never eating it , then a day or so later pulled an other lol.
2nd tank i had was alright but could never get it looking good and had to close it down , the 3rd tank was to be my dream tank ( not in terms of size ) but it was a dwarf lion. i ended up wasting over £2000 ( $3000 + ) on trying to fix a problem with the tank and being accused on UK forums for just wanting attention and i was supposedly printing off the info and making a booklet that i was selling claiming it was all my experience etc , which was complete trash i was doing no such thing and would never even consider doing something like that.

and now my current tank , thats a dream to set up lol.
 
CUC first will be fine, they dont really have a bio load so its not like you have to wait a extended time before you get a fish. Any new pictures of the tank?
 
not much point taking a recent pic Ted , well at least i dont think there is purely because it looks exactly the same as last pic .
Apart from water is clear , i have the HOB filter on the side of tank .
i have a 5 L container for the ATO , and i have an algae garden on the highest rock .
that does make me think i might have to move the MP10 towards the front bit of glass other wise i think the flow will be to much for a coral in the way lol.
as the algae on the rock is constantly bombarded in 1 direction.
 
Getting the flow right is always a fun time...I seem to change mine around every few months.:D
 
its just the way i have my rock work set up .
It is all milliput together to create the island shape i wanted ( i am a fussy bugger lol )

So my MP10 is on the left hand side of the tank 4 inches from the waters surface , in line with the lowest point of rock work , but middle of the island is in constant flow even when the MP10 is at its lowest the algae is still stuck to one side due to flow lol.

though right enough a coral is harder , stronger than algae so i might wait and see what the coral thinks lol.
i am tempted to be naughty and order a frogspawn frag along with CUC lol.
 
CUC ordered , i had to call the store and ask if he could make me a custom CUC pack and mention the forum i am a member off.

So i just await the bill being sent via email later today , and then he will pack it all up Monday for it to be delivered Tuesday.
 
lol ,,, i have been told to take as many pictures of the Brittle star while its in the bag as once in the tank i will never ever see it again lol.

just sitting waiting for delivery today , though we have a big storm so there could be a delay in it arriving as its to cross a bridge, we have wind gusts over 78 MPH so if they close the bridge it will have to take a diversion
 

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