Family Tanks' Twin Aquarium Build

Family Tanks

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Hello all,

I figured sharing my tank build with the group would be a good way to introduce myself to those who I'm sure I will rely on for advice in the coming months.

Backstory, I have been an aquarist and reptile keeper for over 40 years, along with a dive instructor, surfer, etc., etc. To say the least, I love this stuff. So when my 11 year old daughter took an interest in snakes, I knew it was time to get her involved. As such, we've created our own Youtube channel to help inspire other daddy-daughter duos to enjoy this hobby together, while teaching her the science that makes this awesome hobby work. I get to go all-in with my hobby, and my daughter gains a better understanding of science, how to run a organization/marketing/social media, and a new life-long passion for cool glass boxes. It's a win-win. So far we keep two dart frogs in a bioactive vivarium, cats, these aquariums, and a ball python.

The concept of our current build is to do twin aquarium, side by side, one a Amazon biotype (ish) and the other a mixed reef. We started by building a custom stand that's 6' x 18" and sits 40" high (because commercial stands are WAY too short!). This will hold the twin 40 gallon breeder tanks, but can also hold a 125 or 150 in the future.

IMG_3334.JPG


The freshwater part of this build is loosely inspired by the Amazon tributaries (albeit, mostly with the fish), with a mix of wood hardscape and plants (which admittedly, come from all over the world). This is a mid-tech build with pool sand, lost cost LED lighting and for now, root tabs and DIY CO2. The CO2 is "controlled" by having the bottles sit in a bath of water, which is heated 4 hours before lights-on, and is allowed to cool again 4 hours before lights off. The ramping and slowing of the yeast's metabolism does a good job in maintaining a steady CO2 level of about 20 ppm 24 hours a day. I can increase or decrease the CO2 levels by adjusting the concentration of sugar and yeast in the bottles. I run two gallon sized bottles of mix, each being changed once a week, one on Saturdays and one on Wednesdays. Right now, we've got cardinals, glowlights, embers, ottos, bristlenosed plecos, and loads of cherry shrimp. A lot more growing for the sparse plants in there now.

IMG_3470.JPG


The reef is cycling, however it's got a modest sand bed of about 1.5", about 40 pounds of dry rock which was smashed, and reconstructed into something that resembles a reef. We drilled the tank in the back, and I'm running an internal box, herbie overflow. I have a pond-master 1200 pump I inherited, and it's (I'm guessing), putting about 300 gph through the overflow. I control the flow by allowing a portion of the pump output, to be routed right back to the sump which we custom build out of a 20 long, so I have another 200-300 GPH that can be routed to a reactor in the future.
IMG_3469.JPG


The lights are still up for debate, but one of the lessons I want to teach my daughter is how to build things herself, so a somewhat DIY, or at least "low-cost with some ingenuity" solution is the way we'll go. When things get good and dirty, we will populate the refugium and at some point, I will show her how to build an ATO, and other components for future projects/posts/videos. The best part is the rad backlighting we installed.

IMG_3600.JPG


Anyway, we're planning on populating the reef with a clown (dad wants a Clarkii and she wants Nemo), a royal gramma, and perhaps a blenny or goby or two. All TBD. She likes the way softies and LPS moves, and I like the lower cost and ease, so that's the ticket for us.

We'd love your feedback.
 
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Family Tanks

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To that point, can someone direct me to the rules regarding YouTube links? I want to be sure I’m on the up and up. Any stocking suggestions would be great too!
 
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Family Tanks

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Since I can’t leave well enough alone, I rescaped the tank and went with a two islands style. I like that it adds a lot more horizontal space for corals. We started the cycle about 9 days ago with ammonia and Fritz 9, and while it processed the ammonia quickly, it’s been stuck with nitrites at 250 for the past 5 days with no movement at all. We dumped some Dr Tim’s in there to give it a kick. My daughter and I can’t wait to get some fish in there!
CCC857A5-E6DA-4CB2-A809-BC366DF7C890.jpeg
 
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Family Tanks

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Here’s another update. Reef is cycled and the freshwater is doing well and growing in. The reef got a Yellow Watchman Goby, and a couple of tiny frags last weekend (GSP and Duncan) and all seem to be doing really well. We also put on the Current USA IC Pro lights and I’m really impressed so far. Being only a 40 breeder with plenty of coral spots within 8” of the surface, I’d venture to say that I’ll be able to pull off a nice mixed reef with those lights. The thunderstorms are cool but useless, but the spectrum seems adequate, the adjustability is impressive and I LOVE the low profile. No light spill!!!! Cheap too. B7047E73-9631-40D4-A8CF-FFB1E44ECDE4.jpeg CFA10E01-1E3A-4B03-8019-9C56E17A54D0.jpeg 807ABBAC-112C-4A49-923B-CA8B19950155.jpeg 3DFDC9F5-F901-4809-B7AC-476CE6F70F87.jpeg This weekend = more corals!
 
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Family Tanks

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Little update on the tank. We were heavily in the ugly brown phase for a good 4 weeks, but we're coming back out again with the first signs of coraline setting in. It had some briopsys, but that seems to have gone away on it's own without chemical treatment. Started the refugium about 3 weeks ago and nitrate and phosphates are dead 0 now, along with the addition of a emerald crab, it's pretty much 100% gone now. Still no skimmer and until the current setup shows a need, I may or may not add one in the future. I can't see the point in spending the $ on a skimmer while my bioload is low, and the refugium having such an effect.

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Current stock:

Yellow Watchman Goby
Royal Gramma

Coral Banded Shrimp
Blue Leg Hermits
Emerald Crab

A handful of several types of snails (will probably remove the turbos due to clumsy habits)

Cyphestria
Duncan
Ricordia
Cactus Coral
Gorgonian
Plating Monti
GSP island
IMG_4060.JPG
 
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Family Tanks

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Both thanks are maturing nicely. The reef is "mostly" past the ugly phase, and has been seeded with coraline agae via the purple helix product about 6 weeks ago. Nothing yet. The local store had a 50% off all coral sales (killer!) so we went kinda nuts and got loads of frags. For all of the below, we paid $70. The store's coral ID is somewhat spotty, so please reply if know what any of these are. I know most of these, but some are questionable. If you know, please post a reply. It'll help me build my knowledge.
IMG_4436.JPG

#: Purple Mushroom of some sort
IMG_4401.JPG

#2: I have no idea, but it appears to be encrusting and it glows orange under blue light
IMG_4448.JPG

#3: Nice Gonapora frag
IMG_4458.JPG

#4: Absolutely no idea, but the kid liked it so.......
IMG_4460.JPG

#5: Rhodactis Mushroom
IMG_4465.JPG

#6: Candy Cane (maybe?)
IMG_4467.JPG

#7: Lobophyllia
IMG_4472.JPG

#8: Branching Monti perhaps?
IMG_4477.JPG

#9 Chalice
IMG_4482.JPG

#10 little frag of some sort of Gonapora (if anyone know which one, that would be awesome)
IMG_4484.JPG

#11 Another Lobophillia?
IMG_4483.JPG

#12: store called this a Birdsnest. I'm honestly not sure, but it's up top like the parent coral, so we'll see.
IMG_4481.JPG

#13: I'd really like help ID-ing this one. Looks amazing under blue light.
 
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Family Tanks

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Things have certainly been happening. The freshwater is going well, however due to an unintentional overdose of H202, I lost a couple fish (oddly, only the herbivores) and the tank has gone back through a bit of a mini-cycle. The plants have faired well, as have the corys and tetras. Dealing with some cloudy water due to a bacteria bloom, but that will run it's course.

The reef is doing very well. Started dosing kalk in my top-off water, at 50% saturation strength and I've stabilized my calcium at 420ppm and my alk at 8.2. The cactus coral and a couple pieces of cyphastria have been growing well, so the tank is finally at a point where it's consuming some of that calcium.

Also recently added a sailfin goby to graze on the rocks. A little huffing and puffing between it and my watchman goby, but they seem to have gotten over it for the most part.

The only real "problem" I seem to be having is low nutrients. Of all my corals, the only one that seems unhappy is my GSP. It grew at first when I had 20-30ppm of NO3 (post cycle), but not since, and it only opens about 1/2 the time. Granted I'm only using API kits thus far, but ever since I started up the refugium, I have had NO3 and Phosphates at dead zero. Subsequently, I've cut my refugium light time down from 12 hours to 6, so see if that makes a difference, along with the increased bioload of the new fish.

As a follow up on the addition of purple helix about 8 weeks ago, nada, nothing, zip. Not sure what's up with that.

IMG_4397.JPG

IMG_4398.JPG

IMG_4399.JPG

IMG_4420.JPG
 
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Might as well put out a quick update. The freshwater half is doing amazingly well as usual. Since things we're going so well, I decided to completely rescape it........ again. That's the beauty of freshwater; you can always start over with minimal consequences. Scratches that "can't leave well enough alone" itch :cool:

The reef side also continues to do generally well. Both my royal gramma and my yellow watchman goby, have torn (bitten) fins. The most recent addition is the sailfin blenny, but I've seen absolutely no aggression whatsoever, so I tend to think he's not the problem. I caught my emerald crab today picking at one of my duncans, so he's in the fuge now. I'm wondering if he's been trying to catch the fish due to a very clean tank with less to graze on. The gramma's bite mark is on the pectoral fin, so that's pretty an unusual spot for a fish bite. My bets are on the emerald or the coral banded shrimp are taking swipes at the fish. Crab is in "the joint" now, so we'll see if any new bites show up.

By and large however, the tank is doing really well. My GSP is still very reluctant, but all other corals are doing fantastic. I need to figure out a way to raise the nutrients a bit, without inviting back the hair algae. No skimmer, but it's been consistently a very low nutrient system since the fuge came online. I tend to think I have too little NO3 and Phosphates now. Salifert is testing DEAD ZERO on both.

One thing of note, I see no signs of coralline algae growth. Thought I did a while back, but I don't think that's what I was seeing. The white rocks have gotten a green-grey color over time, but absolutely no pink or purple. Seeded the tank with Purple Helix about 10 weeks ago, plus a few frags that have coralline on them, and nada. Not sure what's up with that. My lights are the so-so Current USA IC Pro (double system) and the corals respond well. In fact, I have a plating monti up high, which is bleaching a bit, so I know it's not a lack of par. However, to get my par up to where I have it, I run whites at 80%, so is it possible my lighting is just a tad too white for the coralline growth? To be honest, I'm not sure how it would "know" the difference. The blue is there, just along with other spectrums. Any ideas?
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Hello all,

I figured sharing my tank build with the group would be a good way to introduce myself to those who I'm sure I will rely on for advice in the coming months.

Backstory, I have been an aquarist and reptile keeper for over 40 years, along with a dive instructor, surfer, etc., etc. To say the least, I love this stuff. So when my 11 year old daughter took an interest in snakes, I knew it was time to get her involved. As such, we've created our own Youtube channel to help inspire other daddy-daughter duos to enjoy this hobby together, while teaching her the science that makes this awesome hobby work. I get to go all-in with my hobby, and my daughter gains a better understanding of science, how to run a organization/marketing/social media, and a new life-long passion for cool glass boxes. It's a win-win. So far we keep two dart frogs in a bioactive vivarium, cats, these aquariums, and a ball python.

The concept of our current build is to do twin aquarium, side by side, one a Amazon biotype (ish) and the other a mixed reef. We started by building a custom stand that's 6' x 18" and sits 40" high (because commercial stands are WAY too short!). This will hold the twin 40 gallon breeder tanks, but can also hold a 125 or 150 in the future.

IMG_3334.JPG


The freshwater part of this build is loosely inspired by the Amazon tributaries (albeit, mostly with the fish), with a mix of wood hardscape and plants (which admittedly, come from all over the world). This is a mid-tech build with pool sand, lost cost LED lighting and for now, root tabs and DIY CO2. The CO2 is "controlled" by having the bottles sit in a bath of water, which is heated 4 hours before lights-on, and is allowed to cool again 4 hours before lights off. The ramping and slowing of the yeast's metabolism does a good job in maintaining a steady CO2 level of about 20 ppm 24 hours a day. I can increase or decrease the CO2 levels by adjusting the concentration of sugar and yeast in the bottles. I run two gallon sized bottles of mix, each being changed once a week, one on Saturdays and one on Wednesdays. Right now, we've got cardinals, glowlights, embers, ottos, bristlenosed plecos, and loads of cherry shrimp. A lot more growing for the sparse plants in there now.

IMG_3470.JPG


The reef is cycling, however it's got a modest sand bed of about 1.5", about 40 pounds of dry rock which was smashed, and reconstructed into something that resembles a reef. We drilled the tank in the back, and I'm running an internal box, herbie overflow. I have a pond-master 1200 pump I inherited, and it's (I'm guessing), putting about 300 gph through the overflow. I control the flow by allowing a portion of the pump output, to be routed right back to the sump which we custom build out of a 20 long, so I have another 200-300 GPH that can be routed to a reactor in the future.
IMG_3469.JPG


The lights are still up for debate, but one of the lessons I want to teach my daughter is how to build things herself, so a somewhat DIY, or at least "low-cost with some ingenuity" solution is the way we'll go. When things get good and dirty, we will populate the refugium and at some point, I will show her how to build an ATO, and other components for future projects/posts/videos. The best part is the rad backlighting we installed.

IMG_3600.JPG


Anyway, we're planning on populating the reef with a clown (dad wants a Clarkii and she wants Nemo), a royal gramma, and perhaps a blenny or goby or two. All TBD. She likes the way softies and LPS moves, and I like the lower cost and ease, so that's the ticket for us.

We'd love your feedback.
This is an awesome idea I’ve been tossing around in my head after I saw the IM concept encore. That stand looks absolutely PRO
 
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hey got any pics of the filtration!?
Sure thing. It's just a DIY sump out of a 20L, running some bio media, sometimes floss, a little carbon, and refugium and a heater. No skimmer to date, and still very low nutrients. So low I was having issues with slow growth and an overly sterile tank, but I have since started to feed Reef Roids 4-5 days a week, and while my Nitrate and Phosphates still don't register on the Salifert tests at all, my corals have started to grow quickly and colored up nicely, I'm seeing spots of coraline show up, and things are taking off. Looks like I stumbled on that balance with no skimmer and 10% bi-weekly water changes.

In use....
IMG_4330.JPG


And when it was new and shiny....
IMG_3654.JPG
 
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Might as well do an update with some pics. Tank is doing very, very well. Lots of growth as evidenced by the before and after shots below, taken about 5-6 months apart. A note on the lighting, I'm using three USA Spec IC Pro strips, and it's working great. Not sure how much more I would need on a tank like this to be honest. I've got a some monti and a green acro all growing pretty fast, and showing great color.

Really all I need is a much faster lens and some work on shooting the tank!

Brand new scape
IMG_3732.JPG

Six months later
IMG_4793.JPG

$5 plating monti frag
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Six months later
IMG_9013.JPG

Cactus Coral (about 1")
IMG_4241.JPG

Six months later (about 5")
IMG_9010.JPG

Birdsnest
IMG_4483.JPG

Six months later
IMG_9014.JPG

Chalice (I think?)
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Six months later
IMG_9004.JPG

And the whole setup as it stands now...
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Lighting
IMG_9032.JPG
 

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Loving this!
 

A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 68 37.4%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 61 33.5%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 25 13.7%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 28 15.4%
  • Other.

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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