Hello everyone,
I am a long time lurker, and now finally trying to step into the light! This is my first big post, so if the formatting is awful I apologize and will get better, I promise.
My wife and I recently acquired an amazing tank for an ‘amazing’ deal. Seriously - I’m lucky, we are both into reefing - actually she was first, and now I am in deep too…
We are in the process of converting our two existing reef systems into a single larger display system. I’m hoping to touch on lots of stuff in this build thread, because we’ve done tons of research, made tons of mistakes in the past, and want to make sure that this ongoing process is our best effort yet (and hopefully the last one for awhile!). We would love constructive feedback.
First: Where we are coming from
I’ll touch on our two smaller reef tanks, as it is where the seeds of our new endeavor were planted. Also, it means I can post pictures of our favorite corals and fish right out of the gate...
TANK 1:
The ‘Futurama’ tank - everything is named for something in the series. We like the TV show, and have come to believe fish tanks are partially episodic - the characters/roles are there, every episode even if the voices change, and regardless of what happened last week. This tank has been running successfully for about a year in this particular iteration.
40 Gallon Breeder - custom drilled, with overflow from Glassholes. 1” drain, ¾” return.
Livestock:
Also, here's some coral:
TANK 2:
‘Bob’s Burger’ tank - Yeah, it’s like that. This was a pretty sweet setup from a now extinct company, we picked it up used because it was a reasonable footprint, could function as a frag tank or display - and it’s just plain cool. This functioned as our ‘secondary’ system for about 7 months, and it was an experience that really helped us work through plumbing a reef tank, dealing with evaporation(!), maintaining flow, temp., etc. We were fairly experimental with the livestock, and have had several types of fish to greater and lesser success - most being returned to the LFS.
30+ Gallon Waterfall frag display - dual 1” overflows, 1” return.
There aren’t a lot of picture of this setup since it’s already been broken down and the livestock has already been stuffed, somehow, into the 40 Breeder, with the exception of Bob and Linda & their BTA couch, who are being cared for by our tank buddies while we get this next thing up and running.
This tank setup will soon be for sale in the selling forum... just sayin'.
Next Post: Where we are going: The new setup.
I am a long time lurker, and now finally trying to step into the light! This is my first big post, so if the formatting is awful I apologize and will get better, I promise.
My wife and I recently acquired an amazing tank for an ‘amazing’ deal. Seriously - I’m lucky, we are both into reefing - actually she was first, and now I am in deep too…
We are in the process of converting our two existing reef systems into a single larger display system. I’m hoping to touch on lots of stuff in this build thread, because we’ve done tons of research, made tons of mistakes in the past, and want to make sure that this ongoing process is our best effort yet (and hopefully the last one for awhile!). We would love constructive feedback.
First: Where we are coming from
I’ll touch on our two smaller reef tanks, as it is where the seeds of our new endeavor were planted. Also, it means I can post pictures of our favorite corals and fish right out of the gate...
TANK 1:
The ‘Futurama’ tank - everything is named for something in the series. We like the TV show, and have come to believe fish tanks are partially episodic - the characters/roles are there, every episode even if the voices change, and regardless of what happened last week. This tank has been running successfully for about a year in this particular iteration.
40 Gallon Breeder - custom drilled, with overflow from Glassholes. 1” drain, ¾” return.
- 2x Kessil A360W tuna Blue w/ spectral controller
- Ecotech MP10WQD (we originally had an MP40 running at 30ish percent, but the flow was far too great, and not varied enough - we switched to the MP10 and run it around 80 percent on Reef crest, which has been yielding good results.
- 20 gallon tall custom glass/plexi sump
- Reef Octopus 110INT skimmer
- Eheim Jaeger 150w heater
- Jebao DCT4000 return pump
- Custom chaeto reactor w/ TLF phosban 110 & grow LED strip (youtube special) powered by Jebao return through simple valve manifold
- Marine pure ceramic brick
- Chemipur blue
- Custom stainless stand, made by a talented and resourceful friend of ours.
Livestock:
- Lela - Phantom clownfish, we’ve had her from nano sized. She’s pretty tough (for a mutant).
- Frye - Our big dope, who we acquired early in our reefing addiction in a tank setup purchase. He was our big buddy until recently, when an unquarantined Blue-Spot Jawfish (Bender) brought on the Great Ickpocalypse. Mistake. We will never go without quarantine again. RIP Frye.
- The Professor - Adorned Wrasse, along with Lela, a survivor. He works hard and is the greatest.
- Zoidberg - Blue Coral banded shrimp. Really pretty when hungry, because that’s the only time he’s out.
- Yivo? - 3x Bubble-tip anemones, I dunno, but we really like anemones, and so does Lela.
- Cleanup crew including Scruffy the emerald crab, a fighting conch, and the usual suspects. Relatively low turn over. In fact, our Trokus snails have bred several times
Also, here's some coral:
TANK 2:
‘Bob’s Burger’ tank - Yeah, it’s like that. This was a pretty sweet setup from a now extinct company, we picked it up used because it was a reasonable footprint, could function as a frag tank or display - and it’s just plain cool. This functioned as our ‘secondary’ system for about 7 months, and it was an experience that really helped us work through plumbing a reef tank, dealing with evaporation(!), maintaining flow, temp., etc. We were fairly experimental with the livestock, and have had several types of fish to greater and lesser success - most being returned to the LFS.
30+ Gallon Waterfall frag display - dual 1” overflows, 1” return.
- Kessil A360W Tuna Blue w/ Spectral Controller
- Ecotech MP10W (running at 30ish% - The shallow depth is a challenge in this tank)
- 20ish gallon glass Sump, specifically made for the tank/stand with plenty of overflow capacity
- Reef Octopus 110SS Skimmer
- Eheim Jeager 150Watt Heater
- Jebao DCT4000 Return Pump
- Custom chaeto reactor w/ TLF phosban110 & grow LED strip (youtube special) powered by Jebao return through simple valve manifold.
- Marine pure ceramic brick
- Bob & Linda - paired phantom clownfish. Pleasant, good neighbors, no severe domestic disputes.
- Teddy, 6-line wrasse. Eats everything he’s supposed to, relatively new addition but welcome, as we had a pretty hefty spaghetti worm population that couldn’t quit petting all our coral frags.
- Nameless neon green BTA - it’s the couch.
- Cleanup Crew, blue leg hermits and assorted snails. Only losses were due to crab on snail housing aggression.
There aren’t a lot of picture of this setup since it’s already been broken down and the livestock has already been stuffed, somehow, into the 40 Breeder, with the exception of Bob and Linda & their BTA couch, who are being cared for by our tank buddies while we get this next thing up and running.
This tank setup will soon be for sale in the selling forum... just sayin'.
Next Post: Where we are going: The new setup.