DKoKoMan's 150g Reef Tank

[duncangweller]

I have the flipper and I also bought a tunze scraper. The flipper is annoying.

Like Mindy said it doesn't float so heaven forbid you should drop it whilst trying to flip it. It also scratched my glass in quite a few spots. I didn't find it as easy to flip as the videos made out either.

The tunze one seems to work well and doesn't make me too nervous when I'm scraping right down to, and into the sand. Plus it rolls the algae into a nice sausage shape and detaches from the blade for awaiting herbivores.

[DKoKoMan]

Originally Posted by Myka

This is my fav combo too. I'm not a big fan of the Tunze Flipper because they don't float.

Thanks Mindy for this! I had no idea this thing didn't float and I have had experiences in the past with my cheap magnet getting away from me. Is the scraper attachment an add on accessory?

Originally Posted by iamfrontosa

Magfloat medium is one I am using on 150g. The magnet isn't too strong so moving it around the tank is not an issue. I have a friend who bought, i think, XL size. The magnet is so damn strong that no one can move it around his tank lol.

LOL... bigger isn't always better. Wait that didn't come out right. Thanks for this information as I would have been the guy who probably bought the bigger one thinking t was better.

Originally Posted by duncangweller

I have the flipper and I also bought a tunze scraper. The flipper is annoying.

Like Mindy said it doesn't float so heaven forbid you should drop it whilst trying to flip it. It also scratched my glass in quite a few spots. I didn't find it as easy to flip as the videos made out either.

The tunze one seems to work well and doesn't make me too nervous when I'm scraping right down to, and into the sand. Plus it rolls the algae into a nice sausage shape and detaches from the blade for awaiting herbivores.

Thanks! The videos were sucking me in as the flip looked simple enough and I was sold on the scratch resistant design... guess that's not the case

I will take a look at the Tunze one being referenced as well! Thanks for the feedback guys and gals. Saved me some money as I throw these across the room when they don't work as I expected.

[kyl]

I have three of the tunze (two nano, one normal), they're great and no scratches so far.

[DKoKoMan]

They just mount on via magnet? Does the Tunze have only the scraper blade or a scraping pad as well?

[duncangweller]

Just a plastic scraping blade on the tunze but it seems to work. No pad like a mag float or anything.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Myka

This is my fav combo too. I'm not a big fan of the Tunze Flipper because they don't float.

Originally Posted by DKoKoMan

Thanks Mindy for this! I had no idea this thing didn't float

Oops. Tunze scraper is what I was refering to, not the Flipper. I haven't used the Flipper. The Tunze scraper doesn't float.

[DKoKoMan]

Ha ha ok no worries.

[DKoKoMan]

UPDATE:

Saturday March 18, the transfer from the 75g to the 150g began. I planned ahead and left the day open as I anticipated this process would take anywhere from 6-8 hrs. The wood floor was installed up to the point where I needed the 75g out of the way to finish the other half of the room. Now or never... then the process began.




The wall all painted, flooring finished and the wife approved spot for the 150g to sit . I needed to leave room to allow the electricians to put the GFCI outlet and the baseboard would still need to be attached.



Tank moved in to place and leveled. This thing was heavy for two people to lift in to place!





The first of the water being pumped in to the tank



Half way point! Surprisingly this went a lot faster then I had anticipated. Pretty sure my RODI system hates me, luckily I prefilled a bunch of 5g pails on other days.


Ugh... Cloudy water. I wanted to be able to aquascape all at once but unfortunately that didn't go as planned. Transferring the fish went a lot smoother then expected, as it was just across the room. All the LR was placed on the sandbed (scattered across the tank) and I meticulously made sure that every fish was accounted for as you couldn't see anything. I then went on for the next half hour or so collecting all the CUC from the sandbed. Once I was satisfied everything was out of the 75g and in to the 150g, I setup my skimmer and reactors. A long day... but definitely worth it!

[DKoKoMan]

CONTINUED...Sunday March 19.

After I finish working night shift I briefly checked on the tank, no leaks etc. When I woke up the tank was now cleared up and I could see inside. I'm not sure if this was such a good thing... I found my corals were pretty angry from the move, I lost a decent size SPS frag (completely receded to the skeleton) but the rest appeared to be ok. I expected the corals to take a hit as the water parameters would veer off track. My leopard wrasse and carpenter wrasse were out, however the royal gramma is still hiding (only in the tank for about 3 days).

Everyone else seemed a little stressed but were out and about. All the fish appeared to be eating fine, but less then normal. I associated this with being stressed out from the move.



Prior to scaping.


At this point I began to scape the rocks and get a design I was satisfied with. I originally tried to recreate a bigger version of what I previously had in the 75g bow front...Well I quickly found out that it never goes back the same. I was able to mimic some pieces but then just strayed from there.

I noticed that the skimmer had pulled some stuff up, however I will keep my eye on it as it seemed wetter then usual. The compartment it is placed in is set with a baffle at 10" which the Ice Cap K2-160 recommended water level is between 7-10". I may need to make some sort of stand to boost it out of the water to change the water level. I haven't touched it or attempted to dial it in as nothing was really settled in.

I snapped a couple photographs (sorry crappy iPhone photos at the time the lights were on). I will try to take some better ones later on to show the scape better.

After scaping, you can kind of see








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CONTINUED... Monday March 20

I went downstairs as usual to feed the fish. I started looking around the tank trying to locate all the fish... Unfortunately I located my Powder Brown "Mocha" dead on the sand bed near the overflow. I removed him and began testing the water parameters frantically.

• Temperature 79
• Salinity 1.026
• Phosphates 0
• Nitrate 0.2ppm
• Nitrite 0
• Ammonia 0.25 ppm (Usually undetectable)
• Alkalinity 9.52 dKH
• Calcium 440 ppm
• Magnesium 1350 ppm

So my wife was down looking at the tank (she usually goes down at night) and she noticed that the Fox Face was acting strange. I went down and watched for some time (I'm already panicked as I lost the Powder Brown). The Fox Face was definitely showing signs of stress, but he normally swims around and at this time he continued to lay down near the sand . I re-tested the ammonia (0.25 ppm) and elected that I would do as close to a 15% water change as I could (20g change).


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CONTINUED...Tuesday March 21.

I woke up this morning and went downstairs dreading what I would find. I tested the Ammonia (0 ppm) and the Salinity (1.026). I was expecting to find the Fox Face on the sand bed, however he was sleeping (camo coloured) in his angled position. I didn't have a chance to look for the other fish, but I am hoping the Royal Gramma comes out at some point or I am thinking she may not have made it .

I am currently at work, so I am eager to get home this evening and take a look at the tank. I apologize for the delayed build thread, but I think at this point I am finally caught up and can document the progress in real time.

Has anyone had similar experiences? I am just hoping to not lose anymore fish as majority of my fish are mature (prior owners). I am eager to get everything back stable so I can start placing "sticks all over . The tank definitely looks bare for coral now! I do have a lot more real estate on the sand bed maybe I will acquire a clam.

[duncangweller]

I may have misunderstood the order here but it seems like you may have done things a little backwards.

I have had the pleasure of moving house/switching tanks a few times and I learn from every one of them.

Personally, I would have got the rock in first and set it up how I wanted prior to adding any fish. Then I would have added the sand, let the tank clear, checked parameters and only then would I have started adding fish and corals. I can appreciate that some of the corals may have been encrusted to the live rock.

I doubt the corals would have liked the cloudy unsettled water, neither the fish for that matter. Plus the fact that (from what I understand) that you would have had your hands in the tank moving stuff around would have been pretty tough for livestock too.

It probably would have been a good idea to leave the fish out until the tank had settled and I think a couple of losses would have been saved. I have done this overnight, even a few days, in totes/buckets and every fish was fine.

You live and you learn.