Jays 160G Dream Reef and Red Sea 40gal Floating Reef

[jasonvan]

Where to begin? Started in the fish hobby a decade ago starting in fresh water. First reef 5 years ago in a 40gal which I took down in a move. Started again a year ago with a used 230gal display tank that leaked a few months later from the bottom seal. Woke up to me thinking a fish was flopping on the ground which turned out to the wavemaker making a bunch of noise. 1/4 of the water made it on the ground but i was fortunate to have this tank at the main entrance which has tile. The stand soaked a lot of it and even the 3/4 plywood started separating. I had the internals made out of 2x4 which I think saved my entire tank.

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Main display Equipment
130G Display
40G Sump
Synergy Overflow Box
2x Ecotech mp40
2x Orphek Atlantik Icon
Bubble Magnus 5 Elite
Coralife 18W UV with IM Mighty Jet pump
Neptune COR-15 return pump
Neptune Apex EL
Tunze ATO with 10gal tank
2x 300Watt Fluval Heater
Jebao doser (alk and cal)
Amazon LED (Refugium)

Main display Livestock
Purple Tang
Blue Hippo Tang
Powder Brown Tang
Naso Tang
Salifin Tang
Scopas Tang
Tomato Clownfish
6-Line Wrasse
Foxface
Blue Damsel
Blue Velvet Damsel
2x Mandarin
Pajama Cardinal
File Fish
Mono Argentus
Ring Tail Cardinal
5x Firefish
Watchman Goby
Red Tuxedo Urchin
3x Tiger Sea Cucumber
12x Trochus Snails
Strawberry Conch
3x Hermit Crabs
Coral Banded Shrimp
2x Emerald Crabs (in sump)
Cinnamon Clownfish (in sump)

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Red Sea 170 Floating Reef Equipment
CURRENT USA E-FLUX 1050 DC return pump
2x Ecotech MP10
Ecotech XR15 G5
Hygger 500W Titanium Heater
AA Green Killer UV 9W
Eshopps Nano Protein Skimmer
Neptune Apex

Red Sea 170 Floating Livestock
2X Moonlight Clownfish
Domino Clowfish
4x Firefish
Pom Pom Crab
White Pistol Shrimp

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Where my tanks stand today

 

[jasonvan]

Old Tank that leaked. 230gal display. It was a whole foot high and a pain to clean. Still miss my Yellow Tang and Majestic Angel that I lost.

 

[jasonvan]

What the new 130G display looks like. Experimenting with what light looks best. The XR30 G6 pulls some serious par. Way more than the Orphek but the Orphek has a better spread and nicer look and I like looks over Par.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

what it looks like today

Tank looks great!!

 

[jasonvan]

The mounts came in along with the other orphek light. The problem is the clamp isnt wide enough to fit over the rimmed tank. another issue is if it did, it's not clamping enough surface area. Ended up designing a mount to clamp not only to the plastic rim but also the glass to have a more secure fit. 15hours to print 1 side haha.

The pink is the rim of the tank. the brown is the mount that goes over the rim and the dark part in the middle is a clamp. I intend to have 3 bolts holding it together.

 

[jasonvan]

Big progress today. After 2 days of 3d printing and I finally have the lights mounted. Orphek came with screws that didnt go all the way through the bar which the lights rested on. Didn't want to risk it so I went to home depot and got longer bolts. I also bought an aluminum rail which I cut to length and metal bars to thread through the eye. Didn't want to use the hooks. Took 2 guys and about 30 min to mount them. It definitely needs a little more support which ill 3d print in the future but for now, it is looking great again.

 

[jasonvan]

Started seeing aiptasia in some of my lps and moved them to my grow out tank where i can keep a eye on it. Will be getting a soldering iron to take care of them in due time.

 

[jasonvan]

Since the tank leak, I had some corals that survived and are making a great recovery over the last month or 2. The sunburst monti had alot of skeleton showing along with some SPS that was almost dead. Just a hint of red in one of them and fast forward today, i started seeing polyps come back out.

These are some of my favorite corals in the tank. It seems like the first corals to go are always the most expensive designer ones haha.

 

[jasonvan]

Long due for an update.

Recently picked up a used Red Sea 170. With many red sea tanks leaking, I did not want to take any chances with this one and went to home depot to pick up an aluminum bar and window seal. The entire front glass now has contact with the lip instead of just overhanging.


After I scrapped all the dead and dried filter feeders. Smelled really bad too. Tons in the overflow and sump but cleaned up very well.






For the scape, I decided to go with a floating reef and used 2 pieces of acrylic with silicone. Let it cure for 24 hours while using 2 cans of food to prop it up and magnets to squeeze it in place.




Next came the rocks which I used silicone glue down the perimeter. Once dried I used a bottle of reef epoxy that you activate using hot water. Once all the rocks are glued together, I used AF stone fix which is essentially cement to make it extra strong. Surprisingly after it dried, the whole floating reef felt like one solid piece and did not flex.



As the tank stands now.

 

[jasonvan]

Had an emergency, I put in a few fishes that ended up dying next day. I used my main displays tank water and a bunch of live rock from the sump. After testing everything which looked to be ok, i found some a line of cement going all the way down. The stonefix was probably leaching some toxins. I immediately shoved 2 bags of activated carbon and did a 50% water change. The only thing that is surviving right now are my crab, pistol shrimp, and hermit.

I did have some time to finally organize all the cables and take a clean shot of the rockscape. It has now been 1 week since I did the big water change and added carbon. No funny smells and will try putting in a pair of clownfish tomorrow.
Ammonia is 0.25, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is 5. Perfect for fish