D.Molavi's 40 Gallon mixed reef

[dmolavi]

This tank has been up for some time, migrated from a 20 gallon about 4 years ago. It uses a BeanAnimal overflow. I drew up the overflow box in SketchUp and had a local acrylic fabrication company build it (for $50, not bad ).

Sump is a 15 gallon DIY, 2 chamber sump, nothing fancy. Does what it needs to do

Lights are a 20000K BuildMyLED reef spectrum fixture and a ReefBrite LumiLite Blue Actinic for some extra 'pop'. Let's see, some of the equipement...

• ReefOctopus 110SSS skimmer (love it)
• Redundant heaters controlled by a Ranco ETC
• BRS mini-reactor running ROX 0.8 carbon and Phosguard
• Circ pumps are 2x Jebao, connected to a JB Wave for control. (I have them mounted opposite each other in the rear of the tank. I'm thinking of going to same-side mounting to get a more gyre-like flow. Thoughts? My return is in the back right of the tank, and points diagonally across the tank, so I'm guessing I'd have to put them both on that side)

Umm..what else? Livestock...

• 2 clowns (of course)
• Pink diamond watchman goby w/ a pistol shrimp buddy
• Neon dottyback
• 2 azure damzels
• Misc red tipped hermits
• Pink rock flower anemone
• (brand new) BTA, growing like gangbusters
• Corals...
  • Pink birdsnest
  • Kenya tree
  • Torch
  • Hammer
  • Branching frogspawn
  • Acans
  • Duncans
  • Trachy
  • Monti cap
  • Zoas (of course)

So, that's about it. Wait, no....a BRS 5 stage 150gpd water saver RODI w/ RedSea Coral Pro salt...Tunze Osmolator ATO.

I use a DLI Web Power Switch Pro (https://dlidirect.com/products/new-pro-switch) for power control (remotely accessible), and everything connected to dual APC UPS's.

Next up...reef-pi

 

[pshootr]

Tank looks good. That sounds like a nice setup. Thanks for sharing.

 

[SPR1968]

That’s a great looking tank!

And welcome to R2R as well!

 

[NY_Caveman]

Beautiful tank! I love that DLI Power Station. Very interesting.

 

[dmolavi]

Thank you all for the compliments. I've been wanting to go bigger for a while, but the wife says no, even though I remind her she keeps saying that "bigger is better". I guess that only applies to....cars.

WRT the gyre flow, since I have a sandbed, I can't have too much flow, and with the return in the rear going from right to left, I should put the pumps on the right side of the tank so they can act in concert with the return. Then program a cycle on them. Thoughts?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Thank you all for the compliments. I've been wanting to go bigger for a while, but the wife says no, even though I remind her she keeps saying that "bigger is better". I guess that only applies to....cars.

WRT the gyre flow, since I have a sandbed, I can't have too much flow, and with the return in the rear going from right to left, I should put the pumps on the right side of the tank so they can act in concert with the return. Then program a cycle on them. Thoughts?

If you plan for SPS I would go opposing. If you stock closer to what you currently have that should be fine. Even if you go opposing at a lower flow, I think the randomness would be beneficial for some corals.

 

[dmolavi]

If you plan for SPS I would go opposing. If you stock closer to what you currently have that should be fine. Even if you go opposing at a lower flow, I think the randomness would be beneficial for some corals.

Is the rationale behind the opposing flow to keep things stirred up on the sandbed? Why would opposing flow be particularly beneficial to SPS? Curious minds...

 

[dmolavi]

Some pix from today...

 

[dmolavi]

Today's pic.

 

[dmolavi]

To keep things consolidated from another thread...

I have 2 clowns, 2 azure damzels, a pink diamond watchman and a neon dottyback...plus a nice BTA, rock flower, trachy and a handful of other softies.

I "usually" feed daily, 1 cube of either frozen PE Mysis or Calanus. But, I'm noticing some hair algae. Nitrates are 0.2, phosphates 0.00, probably being taken up by the algae.

Should I:
1. Feed every other day and suppliment with Reef Roids 1/week, or
2. Get a bigger CUC (tank is over 5yrs old, most of the originals are gone ). I'm thinking some red-tipped hermits, and maybe a nudi for the few aptasia that I've got, and some emerald crabs, or
3. Both.

WRT the CUC, any other suggestions?

I also need to get some pods in the tank.

Also, I use SeaChem Reef Advantage Calcium to dose Ca. It does a great job of keeping calcium levels up, but it contains magnesium as well, and I've noticed my level creeping over 1400 now. Any harm there?

 

[dmolavi]

BTA split today. Keeping both unless they cause problems...

 

[dmolavi]

Today's tank pic, post weekly maintenance

 

[dmolavi]

I created a live stream (no audio) for my tank.

 

[dmolavi]

Figured I'd drop in a quick update after getting picked for Reef Tank 365...

The tank is happy and healthy. I'm going to finally start auto-dosing Ca and Alk, but otherwise, things are on a steady course. The one big change will be a move in a couple of months. Lots of 5 gallon buckets and some willing assistants are going to make it "not bad" haha. Thankfully, when I set up the tank, I had the foresight to put down a 1/2 inch piece of plywood between it and the stand that I can use to carry the (nearly) empty tank on (gotta keep a couple inches of water in there for some of my sand-dwelling critters).

 

[Dempsey941]

Mmm yes another 40b to watch.

 

[dmolavi]

I posted this in another thread here, but I'll update in this one as well.

I recently moved to a new home, and had to move the tank. Thankfully, with input and advise from members here, I was able to lay out a plan and have everything ready for tank-moving day. I started at 7AM, draining the water. Corals were put in tupperware, fish in a bucket, rocks and sand in even more buckets. 18 buckets and 8hrs later, the tank was back up and running. No livestock loss Here's a FTS post-move.

Thanks again to everyone here for all the tips and suggestions.