From 330 tank burst to new build

[platax88]

First the bad...
My 330 gallon reef had a bottom seam give out and destroy the flooring of my home.

Here is what it once looked like:


This tank housed a collection of show fish, some which I've had for over 7 years. I was able to save the fish, and knowing that I was going to quit the hobby after this ordeal, I shipped most to a friend who I knew would provide a wonderful home for them. My bad luck continued as FedEx lost the package.

Now for the good!
My harsh decision to quit the hobby after 20 years was quickly overturned as I was gifted a beautiful AcquaSole 100 Aquarium a very caring person who did not want to see me loose my fins. I am BEYOND grateful for his generosity.

I am actually quite excited to start a smaller tank and try new equipment, methods and livestock after so many years of owning large tanks!

Stay tuned for more!

 

[Big G]

So cool. Happy New Year! Do the "build thread" thing so we can watch it progress.

 

[platax88]

Ive had plenty of time to think about this build as the insurance company dealt with the claim and knowing that it would take some time to get the new flooring installed.

I've sold off some equipment, kept some from the old tank and decided on the following:

Flow: 2 Gyres 150 with advanced controller
Skimmer: Reef Octopus eSsence S-130
Return: Maxspect Duo Turbine
Lighting: Maxspect Recurve 200 watt
Sump: IceCap 30 (temporary until the Klir Sump is released)
Controller: Apex classic and Maxspect Connect
Dosing: Jebao 4 head (SUPER temporary until I can afford a Kamoer 4x)

 

[platax88]

So after 2 months I couldn't stand waiting any longer! Being such a small system and easy to transfer, I decided to setup and continue configuring the tank in the garage.

For this tank I will be aiming for a mixed reef with lots of biodiversity and move away from the sterile barebottom systems I have ran for the past 8 years. So I decided to add Tropic Eden Reef Flakes sand and after the tank was filled with saltwater seed it with over 10,000 pods form Algae Barn. Lan at Algae Barn agreed that having a few weeks before moving the tank to it's final place in the home would be a good idea to allow pods to multiply without predators.

Next was aquascaping with rock from my old system that had been cooking in a darkened bin for over 2 months ....

 

[platax88]

Since this will be a mixed reef I decided to do the aquascaping a bit differently than the pegged columns of my previous systems. I wanted to build a structure that would still allow plenty of open areas for flow but also allow for lots of areas appropriate for lps, zoas, softies and sps. I wanted a single solid structure that could be easily taken out of the system so i decided to try the E-Marco-400 aquascaping cement from Marco Rocks, and I am so happy that I did. Here are some shots of how I approached my aquascape:

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean the rock was and that lots of coralline algae has still survived over 2 months in total darkness!

Here is what it looks like in the tank. Note that water level will be higher

 

[kevyg]

Looks great, happy to hear you have such a generous friend who got you that amazing gift. I'm also glad to hear your passion didn't fizzle. Keep up the good work!

 

[Tankme USA]

loving that aquascape

 

[Daniel Waters]

Since this will be a mixed reef I decided to do the aquascaping a bit differently than the pegged columns of my previous systems. I wanted to build a structure that would still allow plenty of open areas for flow but also allow for lots of areas appropriate for lps, zoas, softies and sps. I wanted a single solid structure that could be easily taken out of the system so i decided to try the E-Marco-400 aquascaping cement from Marco Rocks, and I am so happy that I did. Here are some shots of how I approached my aquascape:

I was pleasantly surprised to see how clean the rock was and that lots of coralline algae has still survived over 2 months in total darkness!

Here is what it looks like in the tank. Note that water level will be higher

Awesome looking scape!

 

[platax88]

Coralline seeding

So i decided to scrape a bunch of coralline from some of the rocks that I did not choose for the aquascape to hopefully get a kick-start on getting it to spread. I ground the shavings super finely in a blender and added them to the tank. Currently my alk/ca/mg parameters are high to promote its grows and I am lighting it with an old actinic light. I read somewhere that lighting with blue light 24/7 for 2 weeks would put coralline growth into overdrive. However i am a little concerned with this as I am seeing small patches of bright green fuzzy algae which I think may have been caused by overfeeding phyto to the pods, and dont want the light to contribute to it.

Here are pics of the coralline smoothie



Next up - electrical and wire management