dmorel's 220 Round & Shallow reef build

[dmorel]

well a little update, not particularly interesting but BRS finally got their dosers back in stock today so I've ordered two of those and 12 gallons worth of their two part kits.
I figure I can get 50 days of dosing out of four gallons of two part, so I'll have enough for about 5 months of dosing straight and will simply make up four gallons at a time. Once the dosers and my huge box of two part arrive I'll make up 4 gallon batches in buckets and set the dosers up on RKE for timed dosing. The pumps run at 1.1 ML per minute, and I'm doing 300ML a day so I need to dose for 4.5 hours a day. I imagine I'll stagger the addition of alk and calc so run each at 30 minute intervals 9 times over the 24 hour day with breaks between alk and calc additions. I'll also probably dose into two separate areas of the tank, just to be double sure everything stays as it should.

 

[Elliott]

well a little update, not particularly interesting but BRS finally got their dosers back in stock today so I've ordered two of those and 12 gallons worth of their two part kits.
I figure I can get 50 days of dosing out of four gallons of two part, so I'll have enough for about 5 months of dosing straight and will simply make up four gallons at a time. Once the dosers and my huge box of two part arrive I'll make up 4 gallon batches in buckets and set the dosers up on RKE for timed dosing. The pumps run at 1.1 ML per minute, and I'm doing 300ML a day so I need to dose for 4.5 hours a day. I imagine I'll stagger the addition of alk and calc so run each at 30 minute intervals 9 times over the 24 hour day with breaks between alk and calc additions. I'll also probably dose into two separate areas of the tank, just to be double sure everything stays as it should.

I'm with you, I'm waiting for the same from BRS, I'm lazy so I have two 40g containers being shipped with 5g of ea Ca, Alk, MgS04 and MgCl, dosers and timers, so I should be set and forget for 6-8 months at a time :fun2:

 

[robot2222]

i went to world wild life zoo with frag and there is a the shark exibit with a rounded front .i brought up your tank saying how unique your tank was being round ,shallow and the spots . The person I was talking to has seen your tank in person . Telling me how the pictures are not as beutifull as it is in person .I feel that by the tank being round it seems less confining to the fish to me as the fish swim around and through . you are on to somthing nice there . keep up the good work and thanks for pics.

 

[dmorel]

I'm with you, I'm waiting for the same from BRS, I'm lazy so I have two 40g containers being shipped with 5g of ea Ca, Alk, MgS04 and MgCl, dosers and timers, so I should be set and forget for 6-8 months at a time :fun2:

Wow, 40 gallons at a time is awesome.
I'm (as of a few hours ago) officially on automated 2 part.
I mixed up four gallons each of alk and calc, set up the RKE to dose.
My BRS dosers actually output 1ML even per minute as opposed to the 1.1 they state on their site. So I've got a schedule of 30 minutes on 1:54 minutes off for each pump, with them being staggered a bit so I'm not dosing both at the same time. They also both drip into separate areas of the system, the calc going into the overflow box on the isolatable water chamber and the alk dripping into the frag tank where there is a ton of flow.

The reactor is in a bucket next to my shelf of junk I don't use anymore...

 

[dmorel]

i went to world wild life zoo with frag and there is a the shark exibit with a rounded front .i brought up your tank saying how unique your tank was being round ,shallow and the spots . The person I was talking to has seen your tank in person . Telling me how the pictures are not as beutifull as it is in person .I feel that by the tank being round it seems less confining to the fish to me as the fish swim around and through . you are on to somthing nice there . keep up the good work and thanks for pics.

I bet that was an awesome trip, seems like everyone had a good time.
I'm really struggling to take good pics, it's something I've never been particularly good at. I'm starting to at least try a little more, but I will say that I've yet to really capture the tank as it sits in a photo. I was actually thinking of getting a macro lens pretty soon, but they are pricey and folks in the photog forum say I will have trouble shooting through the round walls.

You should feel free to let me know if you want to come check out the tank, I'm not at all adverse to visitors. I love having a beer and looking at the tank

I do think the round tank helps the fish a bit, there is a common theory that it's the corners that drive the fish nuts. I will say honestly, my fish know they are captive. They see me and immediately come to the part of the tank where I feed them

 

[trueblackpercula]

Omg what a beautiful system more pictures please.

 

[paulmartin]

That's a sweet build!

 

[dmorel]

Omg what a beautiful system more pictures please.

thanks for the kind words! I'm taking shots today, mostly to try and get better with the camera, so far... not getting much better. I'll post a few up right now.

 

[dmorel]

That's a sweet build!

Many Thanks Paul!

 

[dmorel]

Still trying to get better with the camera. I went to look for a macro lens yesterday to see what I could do with that, but the local shop only had one that was 700+ bucks. I passed until I can find one to borrow and make sure it will help. This may all just be user error with the camera but here are 5 (of the 40!) I've taken so far today using some new settings on the cannon.

 

[Elliott]

save your money, these photos are excellent!

I'm up and running with dosing, so far so good

 

[Lightsluvr]

Simply stunning!

Congratulations.

LL

 

[elijaher]

Simply outstanding.

 

[mpoletti]

Just took a couple of shots for a thread on my local club forum, reposting here for your viewing pleasure, these are shots from this morning with just the superkaru's on.

The required "full tank shot" of course I can't really get a full tank shot since it's round, but you get the point

Stunning display. Thanks for sharing

 

[Leonardo_]

Thanks for the update, I can imagine that it can be hard to aquascape a round tank but it looks really good. Your corals also seem to flourish under the spotlights. Are you still pleased with them?

Leonardo

 

[trueblackpercula]

Love it.....is it easy to keep clean or hard then a square tank? Also there's is nothing wrong with your pictures they look great.

 

[Oldude]

I can't believe I have missed seeing this thread until now. Your build is innovative, unique and all "around" very cool. Things are looking great.

 

[dmorel]

save your money, these photos are excellent!

I'm up and running with dosing, so far so good

HA!Thanks Elliott, the pics look OK, but they don't do the colors of the corals justice. I just can't seem to get a true reproduction, but I'm going to keep reading, trying new things and eventually I'll get there!

I'm up and running with dosing as well, and it's working great. The buckets of two part have been in effect since Friday and everything has been really stable. It also has the added bonus of keeping the PH up a little at night since I'm not just dumping 150ML in twice a day but spreading it out and some of the alk drip is happening at night.

Simply stunning!

Congratulations.

LL

Thanks so much for the kind words. I'm a fan of your builds btw

Simply outstanding.

Really appreciate the great comment, glad you dig it.

Stunning display. Thanks for sharing

Thank you Mark, really nice of you to say. Your tank and corals are so amazing, truly inspirational.

Thanks for the update, I can imagine that it can be hard to aquascape a round tank but it looks really good. Your corals also seem to flourish under the spotlights. Are you still pleased with them?

Leonardo

My pleasure. I will say that aquascaping wasn't too bad actually. In part because my wife seems to have a bit of a knack for it. The main issue I'm running into is the height. I already had to re-arrange a few pieces because they were growing out of the water. My staghorn has flat tops on a few pieces where it grew out, and the huge green milli is about to have the same problem.

As to the spotlights, I am very pleased with them. Actually I could easily use three more of them to really light the whole tank. The only issue I have with my current lighting set up is the lack of actinic supplementation. There are a few pieces I know would benefit (and by benefit I mean look nicer to me) with some traditional actinic lighting. But, I'm not *yet* willing to sacrifice the current lighting scheme to achieve that. We'll see how I feel in another few months

Love it.....is it easy to keep clean or hard then a square tank? Also there's is nothing wrong with your pictures they look great.

Thanks! It's relatively easy to keep clean, certainly don't have to do much with a razor in a corner IF I stay on top of it and just run around the tank with the algae mop once or twice a week it stays pretty much clean. A little coraline at the base of the tank which I sometimes go after, but mostly just ignore...

I can't believe I have missed seeing this thread until now. Your build is innovative, unique and all "around" very cool. Things are looking great.

Greg, thank you. Means a ton coming from someone who has such inspiring stuff.

 

[tonyespinoza]

congrats on such an awesome system! i'm also interested in where you got the lights. you say you imported them? if you have any links or more specific info you can share (even the model numbers/makes of the lights) that would be awesome. my system has a large surface area and i've been scratching my head about how to light it since i don't care to light every inch of it up, so some spots may do the trick. sorry if i missed this elsewhere in your thread!

 

[InsaneClownFish]

I just skimmed this entire build and it's simply fantastic. Thanks too, because you've given me some great ideas for covering up some remote lines!