Husker 55g Display Refugium/Seagrass tank

[HuskerBioProf]

Some of you may have seen my Mr. Aqua 12g long macro algae tank that was up a pitiful couple of months. I decided pretty quickly that I would rather have one one big system than 2 little systems for a multitude of reasons.

For the past several months I have been working on my new build upgrade: 150 gallon SPS display, 75 gallon sump, 55 gallon display refugium.

Here is the plan for the setup, creating a bit of a multi-habitat aquarium nook for my office:

I am not going to talk much about the main display tank in this thread. This thread will focus on the "display refugium." There are a lot of people with considerable macro algae/seagrass experience who check this subform, so I would love to hear any suggestions and advice.

Here is the overall plan:

• I want the tank to mimic the feel of the Florida Keys patch reefs surrounded by seagrass

• Nutrient export is not a primary concern, as I have a jumbo skimmer for the system

• I am planning on stocking the main display with Anthias, so nutrient export would be an ancillary benefit (along with providing planktonic food for the display)

• Deep sand bed to house mainly turtle grass, perhaps other species
  Foam rock wall in the back corner made from Great Stuff Black Foam + Rock Rubble + Sand + LEGOs (yes, LEGOs)

Equipment (so far):
Lighting: Reefbreeders Aquasanrise Plus R120
Flow: MP10wqd + return pump
Other: No reactors or funny complexities on this system; my best success with SPS (this is still connected to an SPS system) has been with simple feed + flow + skimming


This tank will drain directly into the shared 75 gallon sump. The tank will be ready to fill in the next few weeks, so I look forward to any suggestions!

I will keep this thread updated with progress on this portion of the system.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

A local was selling a 55g + oak stand for cheap. I thought it would be much easier than building the stand by myself, as I am already working on the stand for the main display.

I wasn't too fond of the red, though..

Sanded off the red and painted the inside with Killz. I didn't go overboard with the Killz, as the entire area under this tank will be dry dedicated to electronics.

Restained (to match the display tank stand):

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Foam rock structure made out of rock rubble and Legos.

 

[BonesCJ]

Clever use of Lego's, I Like.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Clever use of Lego's, I Like.

Thanks. We'll see if it ends up looking okay in the actual tank.


I made some progress on the rock structure. The system might be ready to set up in the next week or two.

 

[Chasmodes]

Looks great!!!!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Thanks. I think it will look okay when the algae starts filling in.

 

[Ron Reefman]

Husker, that project is moving right along and looking good. What kind of foam did you use to make the structure? The use of legos was genius!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Why thank you. The foam is Great Stuff Pond Foam (black). I have read the yellow is not as easily reef safe. It is very sticky, but I like how you can create a seemless structure instead of just a stack of rocks.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Testing out the new light.

I'm very impressed with the color blending on this. I'm curious to see how it looks with water and some life.

 

[JoeyH08]

OMG! Is anyone else using Legos to create rock work? That is amazing! Theres nothing in them that can leach into the water? Thats brilliant.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

OMG! Is anyone else using Legos to create rock work? That is amazing! Theres nothing in them that can leach into the water? Thats brilliant.

I am pretty sure they are fine. I have seen reef tanks up with large Lego structures (like a Lego Colosseum or pirate ship). I also know they are notorious for their high quality plastics that don't chip off any colors and are completely non-toxic (kids eat these things). However, in looking around, I couldn't find them used to make aquascapes. They really work pretty well for a "rebar" for the foam.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

Your fake rock scape looks way cool! Legos, brilliant. How are you securing it all from floating?

Great illustration by the way. I'm stoked you're doing seagrass!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Your fake rock scape looks way cool! Legos, brilliant. How are you securing it all from floating?

Great illustration by the way. I'm stoked you're doing seagrass!

I am securing it with a combo of spraying it right onto the glass (it stuck pretty well), sticking quite a bit of live rock rubble into the foam, and burying part of it under the sand. I hope that works. The sand is going to be deep enough for seagrass, so it will cover and weigh down a lot of the foam, hopefully.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

That just might do it! Long term though might be iffy. Buoyancy is a powerful thing. If it is attached to something under the whole sand bed, like a thin piece of plastic, you get the weight of the whole sand bed holding it down. Hard to say from here! Fill the tank with water for a while and see if it holds.

It's gonna be cool!

 

[HuskerBioProf]

Do you think I should silicone it to the glass? I'm not sure if silicone would bond strongly enough to the foam to be structural.

 

[Michael Hoaster]

It's hard to say. It may be fine as is. Throwing some water in there might give you a better idea. I'd hate to complicate your situation unnecessarily. I'd also hate to see your cool design break up. Maybe show it to a physics prof, or someone who might know about this sort of thing.

I'm almost sorry I brought it up, but I guess it's better fix things at this stage, rather than later.

 

[HuskerBioProf]

It isn't just you. A member of our local reef group said he had the stuff attached to his glass in a freshwater tank for a year before it fell off. I have it connected on three sides of the glass, which might help a bit. The plan is to half the structure on the left about half buried in the sand and maybe put a rock on it. It will be a fun experiment!

 

[JZinCO]

Husker, I followed your last thread on macroalgae. My last macro tank ended up becoming absorbed into my DT and sump. Eventually, I would like to have a multidisplay system like:
60gcube--125g long--60g cube all at the same height, moving the mixed coral reef contents from the 125 into the 60s. Then the 125 will be a Fla Keys tank with gorgs, sea grasses and tanks. I am thinking of the patch reef/sea grass ecotone as well but scaped as a few coral bommies. I would also lay 3" of mineral soil (yeah, I'm crazy but that's how we learn, good or bad) below 2" of sand.

So for that reason, I'll be following yours.

- How will you import Keys life? I plan on using TBS and Gulf Live Rock and possibly augmenting with livestock from KP Aquatics and Carribean Tropicals.
Also I've built a couple rock walls. Here are some of my experiences:
- The best experience I've had is to take rock and join them into whatever structures using foam (i.e. 90% rock, 10% foam). I've found it difficult to have a mostly foam background. Sand doesn't stick around and crushed coral eventually gets picked off by inverts. One thing I haven't tried is to, after forming the foam and pressing in sand/crushed coral, lay clear coat epoxy to coat the outside.
- For some reason the white great stuff holds better underwater but tends to turn pink when exposed to light. The brown stuff stays brown.
- Adding in rock to the structure also weights down the structure and keeps from floating.
- Affixing the structure to the back wall, or multiple walls is best. I've adhered to the bottom of the tank and that doesn't hold well long term unless anchored by sand substrate or rocks.
- Silicone is a decent adhesive but best results were when I sprayed foam directly onto the glass (it also cleans up easier in case you scrap it)
- Also, let everything cure thoroughly! I was 90% done, filled the tank and found some parts to be bouyant, I partially drained, added more foam to the glass, and re-filled the tank hours later. I almost killed off coral and a fish months later when I moved in livestock. It wasn't until I drained and let everything dry that the foam's chemicals left the water.

- One example of my struggles with foam. I wanted to create a little cryptic zone I could watch life grow in. It was 4"x5"x5". Essentially a 4 sided box with bottom and side facing the glass open. I siliconed it to the bottom of the tank. The little foam box had rock rubble on the outside to look natural. Filled up water.. bouyant and ripped the sealent hold.. added 2" sand on top of the box.. still bouyant... added 8 lb of rock..stayed still, until I slightly moved one rock on top the box...

Anyhow those are my thoughts. I'd hate to see you do work just to have the sand/crushed coral coat slough off and/or the whole thing float.

 

[JZinCO]

Also, I've heard of people using lego frag disks and racks: take a flat piece as a rack and one can snap on or off frag disks as needed.
good call on the ingenuity