My 65G Rimless Reef

[joelbegt]

Hello everyone! I have been planning and constructing this system for a while and finally have got it running and thought i would share some of the details.

Display- MrAqua 65g 47.2 x 17.7 x 17.7
Sump- MrAqua 22g 36 x 12 x 12
Lighting- ATI Sunpower 6x54w
Flow- Only a Closed loop for now
Stand- Stainless Steel with leveling feet


We built a home about a year ago and the aquarium is set up in the unfinished basement. I had to hang a few sheets of moisture resistant drywall followed by some mud and paint.

I decided to use a Reeflo Dart that I had from a previous setup to power a closed loop. There are two Inlets on the back and six outlets on the bottom. While I was drilling for the closed loop I also drilled for an Xaqua InOut overflow

You can get a better idea of how the closed loop is setup from these pictures along with the stainless stand.

A sheet of white acrylic was mounted on the bottom

I was originally planning to use a 7.5 gallon as a gravity fed top off but once it was up and running I realized i was evaporating about a gallon a day isn't quite enough room IMO. I have not decided if I will use the 7.5g or go ahead and get a 20 gallon brute for top off.

That Brings things up to speed. Unfortunately My last computer crashed and I no longer have my Photoshop to correct the white balance so these are a bit blue until I get some new photo software.

My helper is very excited that we picked up a few corals

 

[NY_Caveman]

Looks great! Love your little helper. Welcome to the forum!

 

[JoshH]

Loving the tank! How are you running the closed loop?? And Welcome to R2R!!!!

 

[SPR1968]

Great pictures and tank (and helper!) and welcome to R2R!

The rock work looks very nice and natural as it flows away to the right

 

[joelbegt]

Looks great! Love your little helper. Welcome to the forum!

Great pictures and tank (and helper!) and welcome to R2R!

The rock work looks very nice and natural as it flows away to the right

Thank you! Seeing him get excited and interested about the livestock is pretty awesome to watch. He tries to pressure me into buying too much at once lol

Loving the tank! How are you running the closed loop?? And Welcome to R2R!!!!

Thank you!
I’m using a Reeflo Dart which is roughly 3600gph before calculating any head loss. With it being in a basement the extra heat from the motor right next to the sump is nice. The aquarium runs around 73F without any heaters.

There are two 1.5” bulkheads on the back glass. These tee together to feed the inlet of the pump. The outlet of the pump goes into a pvc manifold I found online that is typically used for spas to split it into several PVC 3/4” outlets. I used 1” ID silicone tubing that is a couple inches long to help reduce vibration then back to PVC. Each output has a ball valve near the bulkhead.

If I need to Access the impeller I can simply close all the ball valves, drain the closed loop, and remove the bolts holding the volute to the motor. I can also remove everything in one piece if I need to.

 

[jdpeters]

So I see you have 6 holes for the return on the bottom? I don't know if I've ever seen that but it's super clever. I could imagine that would make for zero detritus on the bottom then? What's your stock plans? You have any other equipment than a skimmer planned?

 

[dantimdad]

Definitely following... Old school flow. Very cool!

 

[dantimdad]

So I see you have 6 holes for the return on the bottom? I don't know if I've ever seen that but it's super clever. I could imagine that would make for zero detritus on the bottom then? What's your stock plans? You have any other equipment than a skimmer planned?

You can take a very short piece of pvc, cap it and cut horizontal slits in it so it shoots a sheet of water about 1/2" above the bottom in the front two and it will keep it very clean. The back ones you can put 45s or even locline to aim them and keep the rock clean as well.

 

[joelbegt]

So I see you have 6 holes for the return on the bottom? I don't know if I've ever seen that but it's super clever. I could imagine that would make for zero detritus on the bottom then? What's your stock plans? You have any other equipment than a skimmer planned?

That is correct only 6 outputs on the bottom. We only have 3 chromis right now so not a lot of detritus yet so we will see with time.

Currently I’m leaning towards a larger group of chromis to start. For coral I want a mixed reef heavy on SPS. For inverts I want a maybe starfish, a couple cleaner shrimp, and a few Maxima Clams.

It’s hard to see but my current frags are:
Cali Blue tort
PC Rainbow
Jedi mind trick
ORA Birds of Paradise
Sunset Milli
ORA Red Planet
Green torch
Green Slimer
Xl Forest Fire Digi

Equipment wise I need a pump for my skimmer body so I’m skimmerless currently. I’m using a Reef Keeper Lite to control temperature and as a timer for when I start dosing two part. Once I get some bio load I plan to start doing weekly water changes

You can take a very short piece of pvc, cap it and cut horizontal slits in it so it shoots a sheet of water about 1/2" above the bottom in the front two and it will keep it very clean. The back ones you can put 45s or even locline to aim them and keep the rock clean as well.

I was surprised how nice the flow is with it all going from the bottom towards the surface. I did however put a 90 on one of the back outputs to direct flow across the front open area. I may try out your slit idea to see if I can improve things.

 

[Captain Quint]

Beautiful, sleek CLS sir. Thank you for sharing. I haven't built a CLS in quite a while and it is good to see. I always enjoyed the nice chaotic flow without PH's.

 

[Ruben's Reef]

Beautiful setup. Like the clean look of the rock escape so I can imagine full of corals. Following along>>>

 

[joelbegt]

Beautiful, sleek CLS sir. Thank you for sharing. I haven't built a CLS in quite a while and it is good to see. I always enjoyed the nice chaotic flow without PH's.

Thank you! It’s a pretty wide flow without any loc line. If I felt DC pumps were a bit more reliable I would have considered two smaller ones ramping to make things more chaotic but it’s hard to beat an AC external pump chugging away.

Beautiful setup. Like the clean look of the rock escape so I can imagine full of corals. Following along>>>

Thank you! I originally was going to add more rock work but found this looked better and I could be picky on what I used.

 

[joelbegt]

I currently have a small bacterial bloom. All parameters seem stable and where I want them. I’m getting a new skimmer pump ordered and I added some Brightwell Xport BIO to the sump. I will also probably throw a UV on it for a day or two this weekend.

 

[jdpeters]

I currently have a small bacterial bloom. All parameters seem stable and where I want them. I’m getting a new skimmer pump ordered and I added some Brightwell Xport BIO to the sump. I will also probably throw a UV on it for a day or two this weekend.

[/QUOT
Is the uv supposed to help eliminate the algae? I read zero nitrate and phosphate and still have hair algae I don't get it

 

[Captain Quint]

I currently have a small bacterial bloom. All parameters seem stable and where I want them. I’m getting a new skimmer pump ordered and I added some Brightwell Xport BIO to the sump. I will also probably throw a UV on it for a day or two this weekend.

Sleek and beautiful. Love to see the minimal use of LR in tanks. Our once belief of a pound per gallon is not what we once considered the norm and necessary.

If sticking to the more is the best belief I see many having less in the DT and more in the sump or fuge.

Your's allows so much realestate and is truly beautiful my friend.

 

[joelbegt]

-jdpeters

I currently have bacteria issues not algae issues so treatment is a bit different.

Having horrible algae but not measurable nitrates or phosphates is pretty normal. you need to understand that the large amounts of algae suck nitate and phosphate out of the water as fast as it’s added. If you have algae issues believe your eyes and treat as if you have an algae issue. I would suggest a large manual removal and possibly look into carbon source dosing, but understand what you are doing before dosing.

Sleek and beautiful. Love to see the minimal use of LR in tanks. Our once belief of a pound per gallon is not what we once considered the norm and necessary.

If sticking to the more is the best belief I see many having less in the DT and more in the sump or fuge.

Your's allows so much realestate and is truly beautiful my friend.

Thank you!

I have a theory about required liverock.....it’s not.

I don’t want to really press the issue without being somewhat successful with this display first, but this actually has zero liverock in the system. I’ve read countless build threads for years on reef forums and my build was mostly inspired by a couple Brazilian reefers who had success with similar setups.

Time will tell, and I can always add some if I feel I really need to.

 

[joelbegt]

Bio Media is in, skimmer pump is ordered, UV is running, and a little carbon for good measure. I also spent time mounting my ReefKeeper Lite to a board on some drawer slides

 

[joelbegt]

A small update

By Tuesday the tank was around 80% clearer and the last night the bloom was gone. Unfortunately it took two of the smaller frags with it.

I got my gravity fed top off and skimmer going late last night. I also set up an automatic feeder to feed pellets 3x a day. We go on vacation next week to Florida so I might look for some nice ricordea or sps to bring back.

 

[joelbegt]

I came home from vacation and some of the rock work had shifted causing some corals to get blasted with flow and die. Most of the remaining SPS is pale even though I have measured nitrate and phosphate so I might try to increase nitrate to see if it helps. I have started collecting some Florida Ricordea which seem to be doing ok.

 

[joelbegt]

I Tested last night

33ppt
139ppm alkalinity
395ppm calcium
.04 phosphate
.2-.5 nitrate
76.5F

Corals are really pale so I dosed approximately 5ppm of nitrate after checking and I will check nitrate again tonight. I think I need more fish or to start really dumping coral foods in.