Potomac Reef 2 - 500 gallons of fun!

emvanburen · Dec 29, 2019

Folks, please check out a quick video of the equipment room buildout. Please let me know if this format is ok. The flashier format of my other videos takes way too much time!

ScottB · Dec 29, 2019

Blue Tang Clan said:
If you have the space, consider a larger utility tub. The standard size isn't very big, and it can be invaluable space for cleaning bigger things like skimmers etc.

I went with this 40" tub and it is AMAZING.

Yep. And add this:

emvanburen · Dec 29, 2019

ScottB said:
Yep. And add this:

That's an awesome sprayer! I'll be putting the biggest commercial-type sprayer in that I can. Will keep that in mind. Thanks

lavoisier · Dec 29, 2019

Nice video, thanks for sharing.

ScottB · Dec 29, 2019

emvanburen said:
Given the 30” height, and my enjoyment of sand, I will likely have that look combined with the reef crest, probably stopping my rock work about 50% or so of they way up on average.

Yes to 50%. I previously thought 2/3rds of the way up with rock and I was wrong. Corals like to reach for the light; we should let them.

While the idea has been gestating for ages, I only invested all of 2 minutes drawing this up for you to ponder for your reef stack thinking. This is a top down view. The theme here is visual depth via the channels front to back. The red things are circulation pumps. The triangles are obviously the rock islands. Can be 3, 4,5 stacks is probably infeasible.

In my 5ft display I am overgrown and choked for flow. Some version of this is my remedy. Thought I would throw it out there since you are giving so much thought to this critical feature of your upcoming reef.

emvanburen · Dec 29, 2019

ScottB said:
Yes to 50%. I previously thought 2/3rds of the way up with rock and I was wrong. Corals like to reach for the light; we should let them.

While the idea has been gestating for ages, I only invested all of 2 minutes drawing this up for you to ponder for your reef stack thinking. This is a top down view. The theme here is visual depth via the channels front to back. The red things are circulation pumps. The triangles are obviously the rock islands. Can be 3, 4,5 stacks is probably infeasible.

In my 5ft display I am overgrown and choked for flow. Some version of this is my remedy. Thought I would throw it out there since you are giving so much thought to this critical feature of your upcoming reef.

Thanks. I like the channels. I’ve also found that more sand in the back, sloping down, makes them look longer. Flow may destroy that however! Can wait to get going on this!

SPR1968 · Dec 30, 2019

emvanburen said:
Folks, please check out a quick video of the equipment room buildout. Please let me know if this format is ok. The flashier format of my other videos takes way too much time!

That formats fine and looks good

PanchoG · Dec 30, 2019

Video looks good and we can see you have been busy.

emvanburen · Dec 30, 2019

PanchoG said:
Video looks good and we can see you have been busy.

Here is what I am currently working on:

emvanburen · Jan 1, 2020

Was very productive today. Got my quarantine system up and running with a temporary permit in the exercise room I’ve taken over for this rebuild. Also got the 120 temporary quarters plumbed and running with tap water.

FedEx shows the tank making its way through the south arriving Friday. We will get it Monday and place it Tuesday. Excited!!

Mixing station components arrive Monday also I believe. Sump and slimmer and other toys arrive the following week.
This month is going to be insane!!

maroun.c · Jan 2, 2020

Great build so far and with Marc along I doubt itll be anything short of amazing.
For the scape at 8 ft long I believe a 3 island scape will provide enough room for coral positioning and still great space for them to grow. With tank being a bit narrow front to back compared to length side to side I favor a bit of angles in the islands to.maximize the feeling of depth or the 3 D effect.
My tank is only 7.5 ft so ur tank should.allow for more coral growth space. My highest rock is at 20 inch at its highest point but most of the scape tops at 50 percent of the 32 inch height.

I'll try to find a picture of the scape when it was first made.

maroun.c · Jan 2, 2020

Scape pics are here

Monster Build - Maroun.c 400 G build thread

Wow! Amazing build so far! Looking forward to seeing more updates as your build progresses.

www.reef2reef.com

right island was changed after though

emvanburen · Jan 2, 2020

maroun.c said:
Great build so far and with Marc along I doubt itll be anything short of amazing.
For the scape at 8 ft long I believe a 3 island scape will provide enough room for coral positioning and still great space for them to grow. With tank being a bit narrow front to back compared to length side to side I favor a bit of angles in the islands to.maximize the feeling of depth or the 3 D effect.
My tank is only 7.5 ft so ur tank should.allow for more coral growth space. My highest rock is at 20 inch at its highest point but most of the scape tops at 50 percent of the 32 inch height.

I'll try to find a picture of the scape when it was first made.

Maroun- Good point on the angles. 26 inches is pretty narrow and I will need all tricks available. Thanks !

Today was spent SELLING MY OLD TANK!!! So excited. Found a local reefer on Craigslist who is excited to take the helm of the tank. Looks like he will take a lot of my rock and livestock too and piggyback on my tank movers. Win-win.

Holy Crap apparently the Wet in Wet/Dry Shop Vac means it can suck water. My life is forever altered for the better. Between siphoning the tank out the window and using the vacuum, draining the freshwater from the temp 120 took no effort at all.

I threw in two blocks of marine pure. Hope in the week or so it is with my rock before it leaves I will get enough bacteria to carry the bio filter with just the fish.

Tomorrow is frag day, where I’ll move a few copies of each coral to my frag tank. Sat is tear down day with the playoffs in the background. Sunday is rest and football. Then it begins!