New Stingray build 3.4 X 1m X 85

Hi everyone

Been some time since the last picture update

Friday is finally 5 weeks the tank has been standing ... no silicone smell anymore... so will probably start filling up in stages from tomorrow

Sand is ll washed and in the tan and my media is all washed .. i have no nails left but its done
Lava rock is a pain to wash!!
I washed the last 4 bags today and have left them in buckets with water, will add those to the sump tomorrow
My lounge looks like a bomb has hit it but we will get there!

Overflow is basically done but the pump still needs to go into place as well as the piping for my water changes
They done but we need to drill the holes through the wall and that is weekend job

The heaters and wave makers still need to go into place too



Some of my media already in



Heaters and wave makers still to go into place




My lights



Made these from egg crate to place under the media where the water runs under to avoid clogging and give better flow through the sump





My lights are up but the control boxes still need to be coneccted







Some more media which is in another sump to seed, this will be taken across when i start moving fish to the tank

 

Thanks @Whoknows

Hahha no.. no corals..

I couldnt find the freshwater ones the size i wanted and got these at a good price, as this tank will never be able to be planted, the light spectrum on these is actually perfect for what it is to be used for
@Cesar has the marine Zetlights on both his big tanks and somehow doesnt battle with algae at all even with no plecos in his tanks so I went the same route

 

Yaah.. at long last!!!

Yes.. the three ladies doing well so far thanks... will post some pictures
They only due from the end December onwards though
Pretty Face.. probably end December as she should carry about 90 days but Polkadot and Blackie probably more into mid January as the Black Diamonds usually carry 120 days.

Will only move them across one by one as they have their babies which is ok as I wouldnt move everyone across at the same time
Will move some of the other fish and Spooky once its up and running then the tank can carry on maturing before the big girls start moving across at one to two week intervals to give the media chance to adjust

Started filling to a third today, so will let sit until tomorrow and fill halfway tomorrow
Keeping fingers crossed now.. the nerve wrecking test!!

 

I find the Zetlights such as ZT6600 spectrum also not creating algae growth on my tanks, I think it one of the most under rated LED's on the market compared to Radions and Maxspect, I have serious algae with Radions and Maxspect on my marine and Maxspect seem to give hassles after 2 to 3 years as I have repaired 3 in the last week already, Zetlights are basic to repair and replacement controllers are cheap and LED's can be replaced with ease. The only problem I find with Zetlights are the fans need constant cleaning or one will burn out the leads from overheating.


I am busy with a 2,5 x 0,6 x 0,6 which I have designed yet again a new light based on the Zetlight ZT6500C but with a difference, each panel will consist of 3 x 6 x 10W LED white clusters and then and additional 66 x 3w LED's which the Zetlight colour spectrum and layout and each panel is 900mm long all running off one tc420 controller and all led drivers are meanwell. Estimated wattage per panel is 384W fully controllable per spectrum. I am still deciding on whether to do this tank marine or fresh water as I already have 14 tanks around the house and maybe this will be the last.

 

Thanks @A new day

I dont know what is is about the Marine Zetlights but yes, much less algae issues

We actually share the rays as we in this together
Other fish with the rays, we each have our own choices in the tanks in our own houses but the rays are pretty much a team thing
However i only have girls in my tanks, @Cesar has a tank with girls and the tank with the males as, once adults, the males harass the females too much and if they pregnant it stresses them out a lot
We just put the respective male/female together when needed for breeding and once he starts being too much of a pain and the job is done he goes back to the male tank

Here is a little clip of the 3 pregnant fairies
Polkadot and Pretty Face looking quite big already but Blackie not as big yet

Star Face is only a youngster

 

Thanks @Reedfish

You so right.. cant wait to see the big girls in there

 

Time for an update....

Havent been able to update as things have progrssed due to the load shedding as both Wifi and cellphone networks have been down most of the time in our area

But better late than never..

So i filled up slowly over 2 days













Testing the spray bar from my sump



Sunday morning was the last lap filling and test sump etc..

By the afternoon it was running fully... sump.. wave makers, heaters and lights.

It ran until Wednesday to ensure all good and also allowing the heaters to finish heating the water to the right temperature

 

With the rays the internals can be a bit of a luss, and besides, with a sump like that why waste precious space inside the tank haha

 

Thanks @Whoknows ,

They are awesome but I think ( time will tell) that they have too little red spectrum at least compared to the ZT6600 so we will see whats going to happen with the algae

You right.... i havent done internal filters on this one.... I wanted the extra space and the sump is huge however... I must be honest.... im not sure if it was a good move or if Im going to regret it....
Those internal filters work overtime...
I am hoping that the big spray bar and wave makers are going to do it but i have butterflies in my stomach
However if i really need to it can still be added on, a bit of a pain but im sure it can be done so we will see

 

@Logz ,

Yes.. that sump carries enough media to filter an army but I actually dont know if im not going to regret not doing at least 1 internal filter

I dont know why you say internal filters can be a bit of a luss with rays?

 

Update...

Its a week tomorrow it was filled and touch wood, all good so far
I have just thrown the wood in so long as it wasnt sinking anymore and Started Stability on Wednesday.

Added one big Geo and a Flagtail to the tank on Wednesday and so far they happy

Will add my other 5 Geos tomorrow and then wait couple days

 

Wood starting to sink a bit more but still want to take a drive to C& M Landscaping for a big piece