350 Gallon aquarium redo 4 years later

[Plantbrain]

I replanted and removed all the black flourite and switched to good old cheap dolomite. I reduced the light from about 50-60 micromols at the bottom , to 30.

Easier to see the fish, nice sediment, happier client.

Tank is about 2 weeks old after the redo and complete tear down.
Tank is far from done, but should grow in a bit, I'll make some plant changes. Moss should take over the tree in the slightly off center spot. Sort of a leaf effect on a bonsai. On the left wall, there will be 1-2 EcoTech wavemakers to provide a high current experience for the fish and to clean the tank nicely. This means 3000-6000 Gallon/hr pulsed floweds down to about 800 gph.

Right now there is about 1000gph through the wet/dry filter, and separate loop for a large Ehiem 2250. And a 1500-2000gph wave continuous flow(this will be removed for the Ecotechs).
Added new white moon lights on a reverse light switch, so when the lights go off, the moon lights come on.

Still to do:
1. Add new return pump that's quieter.
2. Replumb to reduce bends/turns, head pressure.
3. Provide access to change a very old UV bulb.
4. Remove chiller loop and unit.
5. Add drip dosing
6. Add another auto feeder(one fell into the aquarium and is toast)
7. Install micro freezer for frozen food access at tank location(where chiller was)
8. Test lower lighting without HQI's running.

The issue for me is that removing the Metal halides also means no ripple sunlight effect, but I get better growth without them and cleaner etc.
The fish loading is high, some other issues occur since the tank is not touched much all week often times due to acess, but these can/are be/being addressed.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[AquaZinYaw]

Hi Tom,

Very nice and clean tank. What is the white thing at the foreground left bottom of the tank?

Cheers!

[ervinelin]

Hi Tom,

It looks great! Do you mind me asking how did you change out the substrate while keeping to fish intact?

I'm assuming you removed them manually to a holding tank? The reason I'm asking is because I'm considering doing the exact same thing, a complete rescape including removing the existing substrate.

[Plantbrain]

Hi Tom,

Very nice and clean tank. What is the white thing at the foreground left bottom of the tank?

Cheers!

A Golden Dojo, about 5 years old.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

Hi Tom,

It looks great! Do you mind me asking how did you change out the substrate while keeping to fish intact?

I'm assuming you removed them manually to a holding tank? The reason I'm asking is because I'm considering doing the exact same thing, a complete rescape including removing the existing substrate.

No, I siphon and remove by hand a 1/2 of the tank each session, do a water change more right before I intend to change the sediment to better match the tap water for the day of the sediment change.

Then as I remove sediment, I do a water change at the same time to clear it and reduce any low O2. This works pretty well, not so well for ADA sediments for several reasons, but flourite, sand, EC etc, any hard sediments it does fine.

Rummy nose look more pale with white sand, that is one thing that did not go as planned. the other fish look fine including cardinals.


Regards,
Tom Barr

[ervinelin]

No, I siphon and remove by hand a 1/2 of the tank each session, do a water change more right before I intend to change the sediment to better match the tap water for the day of the sediment change.

Then as I remove sediment, I do a water change at the same time to clear it and reduce any low O2. This works pretty well, not so well for ADA sediments for several reasons, but flourite, sand, EC etc, any hard sediments it does fine.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Hi again Tom,

Did you have to "dam" the remaining sediment to prevent it from "overflowing" back to where you just removed it? If so how was this done?

Thanks again!
Ervine

[Plantbrain]

Hi again Tom,

Did you have to "dam" the remaining sediment to prevent it from "overflowing" back to where you just removed it? If so how was this done?

Thanks again!
Ervine

Yes, (I think), I just push some over and work from one side to the other carefully fluffing the older sediment to the other side, after about 1/2 way, I start adding the new sediment on the other side.

I use a large soft cup to scoop the old sediment out, being careful not to release all the mulm caught in the older sediment into the water. At the end, there's a small amount of old sediment the cup cannot get, so I just siphon the few remaining bits with a hose.

Regards,
Tom Barr

[AquaZinYaw]

A Golden Dojo, about 5 years old.

Regards,
Tom Barr

Ooops, that is fish. I thought some kind of roots (like ginseng root) haha..

[vinz]

It must have taken you all day or more!

[Plantbrain]

Ooops, that is fish. I thought some kind of roots (like ginseng root) haha..

Older gold Dojos can look like ginger root actually
They get all ugly and warped. Client likes them, they eat snails, so I keep them.

I think the point of the tank is that EI type dosing has no risk or issues for long term fish and plant health. Many have made this claim against EI without testing it correctly to see, many have bad aquarist skills and kill fish without even using any plants or fertilizers. So they have no control reference.
No control, then you have nothing to compare the results against.

If you find an example where the fish do live and grow, are happy over long time frames, and you know the ppm's that are added, then you have a reference to compare dosing too.

That's a big huge difference and illustrates the facts about the dosing in clear terms. It cannot be due to the dosing, it has to be some other cause.

I cannot say the 101 ways that various people kill their fish, but I can say what does not kill them

Regards,
Tom Barr

[Plantbrain]

It must have taken you all day or more!

6 hours with a helper, went faster than I thought. I left the wood in there and just moved the pieces around, and I worked fast, no lunch.

Regards,
Tom Barr