jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
Lifetime Member
Event Committee
Meeting Host 2020
Meeting Host 2021
Meeting Host 2022
Didn't take you for a LARS candidate.
Looks good; too good.
Looks good; too good.
Chris' Reef Savvy Shallow (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter ChristopherKriens
- Start date
-
- Tags
- acropora frag reef savvy shallow
Orange piping on the main tank, red piping for the frags, and yellow for the water change station (with matching yellow pump). You couldnt find yellow ball valves?!
A little Krylon Fusion and you'll be all set.
A little Krylon Fusion and you'll be all set.
Last edited:
OP
OP
Here's a view inside the overflow box. Full siphon on the right is a street 90 and the open channel is a Tee'd 45 with an open top. The emergency is just a straight pipe that's level with the top of the open channel 45. The details are really just the result of me iterating through a bunch of fittings and pipe lengths to minimize volume for this setup.
The video ends in its balanced state, where the open channel just handles a slow trickle.
[video=youtube;iOHCp0p6jSI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOHCp0p6jSI[/video]
Pretty stable, I've actually had the skimmer off for a couple of weeks to see how much it's really needed. One Bristletooth in 90 gallons produces surprisingly little waste. I have suspicions that he eats his own poop.
The video ends in its balanced state, where the open channel just handles a slow trickle.
[video=youtube;iOHCp0p6jSI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOHCp0p6jSI[/video]
Pretty stable, I've actually had the skimmer off for a couple of weeks to see how much it's really needed. One Bristletooth in 90 gallons produces surprisingly little waste. I have suspicions that he eats his own poop.
Davy Jones
Senior Member
Any update? And final thoughts on your plumbing layout? I have the same overflow and sump for my new build, but am terrible when it comes to plumbing so I will likely get some help and try and mimic this or something similar
OP
OP
Honestly, I don't have many regrets with the way it's configured. I have never used the upper ball valves on the main return lines, so I would probably not add them if I had to do it over again. I did move the tank once, and being able to break the plumbing at the unions made it really easy to decouple everything, get it moved, and reattach quickly.
OP
OP
Long overdue update!
The frag racks have been moved into the garage and the Reef Savvy has become a display. The aqua scape is pretty simple; 5 separate islands built with BRS Reef Saver. Most of the surface area is clean sand bed, and there's a large open space in the center.
The majority of the rock will be covered with zoanthids, which I've started collecting. I have a few dozen frags scattered on the rocks and a couple of old favorite colonies from the ELOS. Structured soft coral and LPS will provide some shape and the "reef look". Though my last system was dominated with small polyp stony corals, I'm flipping the script with this system and plan to have little to none of it.
Simplicity and low maintenance are my priorities, which are informing my stocking and equipment choices. The sump setup and equipment hasn't changed since earlier in the build thread, with just a skimmer and socks handling the filtration. No controller, reactors, or dosing system at this time. This last item may change as I add more clams and their rate of calcification outpaces my water changes.
For fish, I'm currently stocking a trio of tangs; Yellow, Powder Brown, and White Tail, a pair of Royal Gramma, a pair of Clowns, and a Candy Basslet. Followers of my previous build will notice my favorite group of fish is absent in this system, which I miss but the open top and shallow dimension make it too dangerous to keep them.
Flow is provided by two MP-40QD's on the back wall. The system is pretty low flow, partly because the tank is best enjoyed from the top, and partly because running these pumps on high will move a fair amount of sand midway through the tank given the low heigh.
For now, I'm enjoying the (painfully slow) zoanthid growout and just letting things settle in. I still need to find a few nice soft coral or LPS that can serve as centerpieces for each island.
The view from the room entrance:
The view from my desk:
The sump remains mostly unchanged:
The frag racks have been moved into the garage and the Reef Savvy has become a display. The aqua scape is pretty simple; 5 separate islands built with BRS Reef Saver. Most of the surface area is clean sand bed, and there's a large open space in the center.
The majority of the rock will be covered with zoanthids, which I've started collecting. I have a few dozen frags scattered on the rocks and a couple of old favorite colonies from the ELOS. Structured soft coral and LPS will provide some shape and the "reef look". Though my last system was dominated with small polyp stony corals, I'm flipping the script with this system and plan to have little to none of it.
Simplicity and low maintenance are my priorities, which are informing my stocking and equipment choices. The sump setup and equipment hasn't changed since earlier in the build thread, with just a skimmer and socks handling the filtration. No controller, reactors, or dosing system at this time. This last item may change as I add more clams and their rate of calcification outpaces my water changes.
For fish, I'm currently stocking a trio of tangs; Yellow, Powder Brown, and White Tail, a pair of Royal Gramma, a pair of Clowns, and a Candy Basslet. Followers of my previous build will notice my favorite group of fish is absent in this system, which I miss but the open top and shallow dimension make it too dangerous to keep them.
Flow is provided by two MP-40QD's on the back wall. The system is pretty low flow, partly because the tank is best enjoyed from the top, and partly because running these pumps on high will move a fair amount of sand midway through the tank given the low heigh.
For now, I'm enjoying the (painfully slow) zoanthid growout and just letting things settle in. I still need to find a few nice soft coral or LPS that can serve as centerpieces for each island.
The view from the room entrance:
The view from my desk:
The sump remains mostly unchanged:
OP
OP
Until there are large colonies to shoot, we'll have to zoom in.
Hallucinations: Really as cool as they look online.
WWC Purple Monsters: The best part of this polyp is the banding on the skirt.
Hallucinations: Really as cool as they look online.
WWC Purple Monsters: The best part of this polyp is the banding on the skirt.
Davy Jones
Senior Member
Looking awesome as always! Excited to see what you are able to do with a softy tank!!
jlanger
@thatfishcookieguy
Lifetime Member
Event Committee
Meeting Host 2020
Meeting Host 2021
Meeting Host 2022
No kidding!
While you wait for the zoanthids to grow out, add more brain corals! They're awesome; colors, patterns and feeding responses!
And there's no top down photos... prude.
Looking very nice. I love the nearly 360 degree landscape.
Last edited:
I'd be curious what your light settings are and how you like it so far for color.
Looks very nice, Chris!
This setup is kinda preposterous. It doesn't even look real - kudos.
OP
OP
I will need to get out the step ladder and do some leaning to get a true top down photo.. I may have borrow your camera if things go poorly.
This is a work in progress. I starting out by cooking a few frags and have gradually been reducing intensity and observing the effects. The Radions are peaking at about 20% right now, and I'm still seeing some zoas shrink down in response. Some polyps are directly under the lights with 2" of water, so they're receiving quite a bit. I switched everything over to wide angle lenses about a month ago, which has helped.
Yeah I'm capped at about 30% with a similar fixture spread but on ~twice the depth I'm guessing. All my Zoa are in the bottom 6" and doing pretty well. I'm still skeptical of the color mix I'm using but in general get good coloration from anything other than red.
I'm considering using those diffusers they came out with but going to wait until a big sale like black Friday.
Where do you peak on the different color channels? Are you using a specific program?
Attached is my most current.
I'm considering using those diffusers they came out with but going to wait until a big sale like black Friday.
Where do you peak on the different color channels? Are you using a specific program?
Attached is my most current.
Attachments
OP
OP
I'm using a custom color mix. I do run reds through most of the day, even in the mornings and evenings with the blue lights as it brings a little color back to the fish. The ratios are pretty similar to what you're running. This is the color mix of my mid-day peak:
OP
OP
Had a bit of a scare last month seeing spots on some of the tangs and some weird behavior. I pulled out all of the fish for a week and plumbed in a UV, which has eliminated all signs of whatever it was. Kind of a pain, but nice to have peace of mind that things are (hopefully) going to stay under control especially with the triple-ich factory.
Also added a pair of Orange Spotted Filefish from @RSnodgrass. So far they've been peaceful with corals. This is a new species to me as I've always kept SPS in the past.
Also added a pair of Orange Spotted Filefish from @RSnodgrass. So far they've been peaceful with corals. This is a new species to me as I've always kept SPS in the past.