Carl’s 80 gallon reef

[Chac317]

About time for a build thread I suppose, although the tank has been up and running for 3+ years. I had plans to upgrade tank sizes but life happens so instead I’m considering this a rebirth of my current tank. It was started as an sps tank but I’m transitioning to mainly zoas. I am also in the process of a new aquascape so I’m trying to get the excitement of a new tank out of my current one. I also currently run an 8 bulb t5 fixture with two reefbrite strips but am in process of gathering 4 AI Prime HDs to put with the t5s. I plan on taking the inner 4 reflectors and bulbs out and attaching the 4 primes to the fixture, and keeping 4 t5 bulbs for maybe 5-6 hours a day.

Tank: deep blue 80 gallon (48” x 24” x 16”)
Lighting: 8 bulb t5 with 2 48” reefbrites
Flow: 2 Vortech MP40s
Skimmer: Skimz sp187

 

[Chac317]

A few pics of my zoas

 

[Chac317]

Top down with only the 2 blue plus bulbs

 

[FactoryKTMmotocross46]

Nice tank! Why are you wanting to change the lighting?

 

[Chac317]

And a cool reflection shot from a few months back before I started getting rid of most sps for zoas.

 

[JustinSmi86]

Good looking tank.

 

[Chac317]

Nice tank! Why are you wanting to change the lighting?

With going to more zoas instead of sps I’m getting tired of swapping out bulbs honestly. I can’t beat the spread of the t5 so that’s why I’m keeping 4 and not going entirely LED. And I’d much rather only be on the hook for 4 bulbs every 8-10 months than 8. The color pop is mostly only there with the reefbrites on (I don’t leave them on all day) so I’m hoping the LEDs add that daytime pop for viewing. If all else fails I’ll put the reflectors back in

 

[Chac317]

And the reason for wanting to switch to less demanding types of corals imo

 

[motortrendz]

Nice, we just had a baby also, well shell be 1, the end of sept. But honestly the tank has been a blessing bc she loves it. We can put her infront of the tank and shell watch the fish forever.

 

[Chac317]

The finishing touches are getting put on this piece from Aquarocks. I cannot wait to fill all of these plates up with zoanthids. This will become the main centerpiece of my aquascape and I’ll be getting rid of a lot of the existing rock to make room.

 

[Chac317]

Reefbrite shot of some of my prized zoas before bedtime tonight

 

[Chac317]

Those posted blurrier than expected..?

 

[Chac317]

Finally got new rock work in the tank tonight. Not a final spot in the tank but good enough for now.

 

[Chac317]

Finally got my hands on a weeping willow. Gave it its own frag mound to take over.

 

[Chac317]

And I needed to get that egg crate out of the tank so I got this magnetic piece that was quickly filled up..now for another

 

[Chac317]

Finally got around to retrofitting 4 AI primes into my t5. Very pleased with the turn out. Now running 2 reefbrite blues, 4 t5s and the 4 primes. I need to find a new gel filter as the orange one I used for t5 now makes the tank pics look a bit more pinkish than it looks in real life.

 

[NanoDJS]

Super sweet , I am running the same tank , ours is up for around 4 years . Excellent job on the retro , cant wait to see the corals you grow now ! They were already stellar Nice build re-boot .

 

[Chac317]

Some shots of some newer pieces after the t5 went off for the day. Daylight mode of the Primes and reefbrites. Please don’t melt lol

 

[Chac317]

Shot of some VDM, Bow tie Blasters, CB rainbow infusion and AOI growing in, among others

 

[Chac317]

Fish cam screenshot from this morning