Daves 35g Shallow Reef

[DFason]

After thinking of 100 different ideas I'm down to a couple... The one I'm leaning towards most, Jawfish biotope.

One side with a ledge and about 6-8 inches of rock on the left side and then the rest all open 3-5" sandbed for 4-5 jawfish. 3 Yellowhead, 1 bluespot and some other jawfish.

The rock will have a mix of LPS & SPS and then a couple chalices on the sandbed. Simple but I think it will be very fun for viewing.

Whacha guys think?

-Dave

 

[DFason]

Well I picked up my PVC board and its a BEAST. I should be able to get my glass before or right after Christmas so its really under way :)


The tank is still on auto-drive. Just dosing and feeding and things have been doing great. My flasher wrasse jump today when I was at work so that sucks but I will replace it with a cool fish soon.

I'm getting a little bit better with the camera but I really want to try one that feels good in my hands. So I will be shopping around. This gives me tons of practice so I cant complain.

PVC Board!!!

Undata Macro

Purple Tip Nana

ATL Pink Cap Macro ( turned out a little blah )

Tubs Purple Polyp Birdsnest

Blenny

Mummy Eye, EME, BGM

Clown

Hope you like!

-Dave

 

[rroselavy]

PVC Bottom. Cool. Do you have any DIY links to existing examples of PVC bottomed tanks? I've got a big sheet of 1/2" black PVC here at work, and you've got me thinking...

 

[DFason]

I will look on RC for the guy who has tried it already.

Is it type 1 PVC board?

-Dave

 

[rroselavy]

I will look on RC for the guy who has tried it already.

Is it type 1 PVC board?

I just double checked the board(s). I've got two 24"x48"x1/2" boards, but I was wrong: They are made of ABS instead of PVC. Argh... :cry:

-Scott

 

[DFason]

Chalice Paradise

Bonsai

Fun Photo

Artsy Fartsy

FTS

Hope you enjoy!

-Dave

 

[DFason]

The Upgrade
My goal with the upgrade is to have the most efficient tank and have it look like modern art. I want to try and have this look totally different than you average tank. Something that you would see in a IKEA catalog and say, " I have to have that". The stand will be three sections. The middle stand will hold the tank, a majority of the equipment and will measure 30" ( Long )x 22" ( Width )x 36" ( Height ). This stand will be made from 1" square steel powder coated off white with 1/4" wood panels that will be stained birch. The panels will be connected by 1/2" magnet's for easy maintenance. The sump ( 12x20x12 ) and remote DSB/Mangrove/Macro Algae tank ( 13x20x17 ) will also be stored underneath this middle stand. I will also have my RKL, Ozone equipment, skimmer and Tunze Osmolator in this stand. The left stand will be 18"x15/16"x 25" and will hold the ATO resivior and the dosing pumps with CA and ALK 2-part. The right stand will be the same dimensions as the left but hold a small and shallow frag tank ( 18x15x8 ). Lighting will be attached to a floating shelf above holding my nerdy fish books.

Tanks
The main tank will be all DIY. I am going to use the same method that A.G.E uses for there amazing builds. The bottom will be made from grey 1" Type 1 PVC board. This will be rabbet routed around the edges to assure a strong bond. The edges will have the "secret" sealant and I will be using using GE SCS 1200 silicon for the bonding. The glass will be 1/2" low iron flat iron polished. Dimensions are 30"x22"x18". The overflow will use the "Herbie" silent method with 1" drains and the return will be 1/2" over the overflow with lockline powered by a Eheim 1250. Oh and rimless!

The frag tank will be as simple as possible rimless, acrylic, shallow. This will be plumbed in with the main system. Nothing much to say about it.

Equipment
This tank will only use very efficient gear. MP20 and MP10 will circulate the main tank and a Tunze 6025 for the frag tank. I will keep my iTech 100, Tunze Osmolater, RKL, Eheim 1250 and Sunpower fixture. I will be adding a DIY pendant for the frag tank that will use 12 3w CREE LED's with 60 degree optics. The only lighting I will add for the main tank is four Powerbrites. I have picked up two dosers that will be powered by my RKL. The biggest change is the use of Ozone. I want this tank to be to be CRYSTAL clear, almost fake looking.

The ozone will be set up as followed...
Corallife Luft Pump->BRS Air Dryer->Sanders 25mg/hr->DIY Ozone Reactor->MR1 Shorty media reactor. This will be retuned back to the the refugium. The ORP will be monitored by my RKL and will turned on and off accordingly.

Fuge
Like I said above, its all about being different and efficient ;) I want this fuge to be just as active and focused on as the main tank. The sand bed will be 5-6", 4-5 mangroves along the back side and various macro algae's in the tank. I few small pieces of live rock will be thrown in there and my goby shrimp pair will be in here. I plan on finding a pair of Bangaii cardinals and breeding them in this tank. If I am successful I will put a urchin in there for the babies. This will be lit by either two 18" T5's or another DIY LED set up.

Livestock
Its all about being small :) Gobies, Red Spot Cardinals, Dwarf Moray Eel, Bangaii Cardinals, Grade B Clown and small inverts. I want every acro to have an acro crab too.

Well I hope I did not bore you to much. I cant tell you HOW excited I am about this build, while it may take me a little longer than expected it will be just to my standards. If you have any questions or suggestions, shoot away!

Here's a few teasers....
Ozone

MR1 Shorty

PVC

-Dave

 

[DFason]

The little guy in action.

YouTube - MVI_4156.AVI

-Dave

 

[DFason]

b]Feeding time[/b]

-Dave

 

[MarvinsReef]

yummmm!!! :)

 

[benny z]

very creative use of the nextreef mr1 shorty!

 

[DFason]

I finished up the DIY box for my dosers with one extra hole ;) I stopped by Target and found a black storage cube that fits on the side of my stand and holds the calcium,alk and dosers. Perfection!

Here's a couple pictures...

BEER TIME!

Doser Housing & Reactor Tubes

Midnight Stroll

-Dave

 

[DFason]

Well it looks like North Carolina is in for a ton of snow this year. This is the second storm with 7\"+! Needless to say I was out and about and just having a few beers.

The tank has been on auto pilot for the past month. I really need to go in and zap the aptasia and bubble algae but things have been growing so well that I dont really mind. My red planet has been the only thing struggling because of the evil minion ( Blenny ). I snapped a few photos with the old trusty point and shoot and they turned out really well.

The Birdseye Collection

Blue Tip

Nickelodeon Gak

Superman!

24K

SNAKE!

Paradise :D

Hope you enjoy!

-Dave

 

[DFason]

There are nights that I come home after work and just cant believe how cool it is to have a reef tank. To think that you have a "tropical zone" inside your house when it is 27 degree's just blows me away. Tonight I came home from work and just stared at the tank. I look to my left and see that the eel has moved to the left rock! I forgot to feed him a couple days and now he's on the prowl. I thawed a shrimp and put it on the side of the tank that he normally feeds from. This was the COOLEST thing I have seen my tank. I was able to snap some pictures of him moving from the left rock to the right and here's the series. Its SO hard to catch him going across with how quick and ninja like he is!

THE HUNT

Hope you enjoy!

-Dave

 

[Mavjoy]

Nice tank and pics! Cool eel:)

 

[DML08]

Nice tank man.. whats your dosing schedule like now?

 

[DFason]

Thanks guys!

45 mL or CA
42 mL of ALK
3 drops of MB7
1 drop of Lugols 3-4 days
Reef Nutrition food

-Dave

 

[Blackhawk Fan]

Absolutely awesome tank Dave.

 

[SCUBA Diva]

Wow! Beautiful! Love the tank!

 

[DFason]

Thank you! Things are really coming together now and I could not be happier. I have some really neat stuff planned for the future too. Stay tuned! :)

-Dave