fairy's jump into the big leagues

[fairymary58]

Very excited to see this progress with the quality of equipment your talking about and the size of the tank it's gonna end up something amazing


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thanks for following.
i'm hoping it will be pretty spectacular but i have realised there is a lot a don't know about reef tanks compared to just fish only tanks.
i seems to have a lot of research to go on just how exactly to set up so i can get the most from both the tank and the livestock in it.

There seems to be a huge variation on the way people set up their systems and what should be included.
Some say no skimmer and other say skimmer, some use metal stands and others wood so ive got a long way to go and want to make sure i get it right the first time so i dont waste money and end up having to get things twice because i didn't do it right the first time.

previously ive only had fish with live rock and my venture into corals went terribly so i don't want that to happen again. Thankfully Jack at Williamstown aquarium is happy to chat with me and help me with the steep learning curve i'm on. i've also had a fellow reefer reach out and welcome me to their home for a chat and look at their monster tank so i'm super excited to sit down and have a cuppa and learn everything i can from them.

[fairymary58]

So i wanted to give a brief introduction to Cherub 5 and the main constraint i have with this tank.

Cherub 5 as born in August 2014 with a congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Basically the left side of her heart did grow to normal size and can never be "fixed". She has had 3 open heart surgeries and 8 other surgeries/procedures over the first 6 months of her life. She still has at least another 2 open heart surgeries planned as well as 4 plastic surgeries for an injury to her foot that resulted in the loss of 3 toes on her right foot. She is on blood thinners and at present 2 other medications just to keep her heart functioning well enough to keep her alive. At any point she can go into heart failure and require a heart transplant. Small viruses like gastro can put her in hospital for over a week at a time, so can dehydration or a cold.

As you can imagine life in our house is often up, down and sideways all in the same day. A simple fall can end up with us spending multiple hours/days in hospital away from any tank without notice. So i need to make sure that this tanked is planned in a way that i can allow for this and monitor it then give exact instructions to any tank sitter when needed. Hopefully this will avoid the issues i had with the father in law during 2014 when he was helping out.

TO this end i was to use a tank controller system which at this stage looks to be the Neptune Apex
i do have a eco tech reef link but not sure it can do everything i want and need it to.

Again i dont have much experience with controllers and this is the only one ive seen
The bonus is that Cherub 5 loves the fishes thanks to the huge fish tank at Melbournes royal children's and nothing makes her happier than seeing the fishey swimming, the brighter the colours the better.

[fairymary58]

So I'm getting pretty excited about this tank.

Im going to get a RO/DI unit to put in the laundry for my water supply.

But what i have to work on is the plumbing. I originally thought that i would have a centre weir for the tank but now im wondering if i should have 2 wiers so that the overflow is and one end and the return is at the other or just extra long weir with the overflow in the middle and 2 returns one at each end. If anyone has any thoughts let me know.

[wayne2.0]

Sad story.

With a long tank you need to consider surface action, otherwise you can end up with areas that become almost still, with reflect light and look crap.

For me , its extra long weir every time. My big tank was more square then yours.

Mind you the wave makers these days are so much better it might not matter which way you go.

[Brett240]

double post

[Brett240]

tough to hear about the kid Mary, I have one a similar age, couldn't bare what your handling.

as long as the overflow is wide ( the full 2.5 of you width ) its not super critical if its in the middle or the end. base it on how your overflow and return will need to be handled with the room and sump setup below. a 3 foot external overflow would be nice, longer the better as wayne said as long as you maintain strong structural rigidity in the tank itself

[Vilante]

Hopefully your tank brings you much joy.

[fairymary58]

Thanks for the thoughts and comments guys. Wasn't looking for sympathy just trying to ad perspective to what I want and why and the hurdles I need to prepare for to ensure success. Cherub 5 is doing really well, if you didn't know better and didn't see her scars you would have no idea she was sick to be honest.

So that's why I need to plan this tank right and take the next 12 months to fully understand how to get the best outcome for both fisheys and me.

As far as weirs go, is there anyone who I could chat with to understand the structural integrity u of a tank and what it's constraints are. My previous tanks were just standard ones available in the shop not custom or special order. I just picked one I liked and went with that so didn't have to worry if it would be ok.

Im sure there are things like glass thickness that determine how big tanks can be, and I've also noticed there are different bracings as well. I haven't quite gotten my head around each of the different types to fully understand them yet but I'm sure more journal reading will help along with google lol.

Bonus is I've received an email telling me of the first masv meet for the year. I'm hoping I can fit in time to go and then I can learn a lot from everyone there. Can't wait


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[Vilante]

Thanks for the thoughts and comments guys. Wasn't looking for sympathy just trying to ad perspective to what I want and why and the hurdles I need to prepare for to ensure success. Cherub 5 is doing really well, if you didn't know better and didn't see her scars you would have no idea she was sick to be honest.

I have a 4 month old (our first) so any stories of sick children gets me

I have a friend with a heart surgery baby too so just wanted to send good vibes

[fairymary58]

Thanks for the thoughts and comments guys. Wasn't looking for sympathy just trying to ad perspective to what I want and why and the hurdles I need to prepare for to ensure success. Cherub 5 is doing really well, if you didn't know better and didn't see her scars you would have no idea she was sick to be honest.

I have a 4 month old (our first) so any stories of sick children gets me

I have a friend with a heart surgery baby too so just wanted to send good vibes

thanks for the good vibes