My Zoa Garden

[slin1977]

Very nice. Being a newbie what are the rules for Led lights to produce enough light for coral growth? Have a small 20 gal reef system starting .

Good question....I was a very early adopter of LED in fact I used LED before Vertex launched Illumina and well before Eco Tech launched Radion.
The early days saw much success growing zoanthids with simple blue 470nm and Cool White. Zoas would thrive with this simple recipe. However our LPS and SPS would not fare too well. It was the addition of near UV and Royal Blue , as well as neutral white that made a big difference.
As for power a unit capable of 70 to 90 watts with Cree 3 watt LED would be suitable for your 20 Gallon Tank. You won't need to use all that power but its usefull at your peak period of lighting. The rest of the time your LED unit can run between 50 and 75 percent.

 

[Psionicdragon]

What is this? I assume its the overflow? Can you explain the design and why this type?

 

[slin1977]

Hello Psionicdragon,
The overflow device is a popular Japanese style.
The concept is simple. It skims the surface film as well as draws water from the bottom of the aquarium. Water spills down the central tube and I regulate the flow down this tube by throttling two ball valves below the tube. The water is channeled to the filter sock. The water is returned to the tank via the black eductors.
This concept is totally silent.
Since I built this tank myself I was not confident building an external overflow.

 

[Reefed419]

Slin,
I am curious what u used to raise your rocks off the glass. A link to a product or maybe a picture of some sort. amazing tank, awesome build.

 

[slin1977]

Hello Reefed419,

In Australia - we call them chairs. In construction of a concrete slab, chairs are used to lift reinforcing steel to a height within the slab. The chairs I found were about 1 inch to 5 inches. What worked best were 1 inch in height. If I needed a little extra height I would put a couple chairs on each other. I remember cutting one down to suit a rock section.
I have seen chairs manufactured from ABS plastic and others made from recycled PVC.

 

[Fsarmien]

Thought I'd take a quick photo of my tank today, leaving Sydney , Australia for a trip to the West Coast , USA for three weeks ! Lets see how it goes for the tank.

What's the pink coral behind the birdsnest? It's really nice

 

[slin1977]

The Xenia is behind the Birds nest. That Xenia grew from a tiny 1 cent bit to the size you see. That's the second time it's grown from scratch.

It's my aquariums second birthday in 10 days time.

Stay tuned for some photos , Ill get them up soon.

 

[Fsarmien]

The Xenia is behind the Birds nest. That Xenia grew from a tiny 1 cent bit to the size you see. That's the second time it's grown from scratch.

It's my aquariums second birthday in 10 days time.

Stay tuned for some photos , Ill get them up soon.

Thankssssss, You have a really nice tank. I want one like that lol

 

[650-IS350]

Tank, corals and inhabitants look great. Awesome pics and congrats and on a nice build.

 

[slin1977]

Tank, corals and inhabitants look great. Awesome pics and congrats and on a nice build.

Thanks mate! Thinking about adding some fish to pimp the tank out! Thinking Flame angel..... Would also consider a young Dragon wrasse.
Time to start searching the LFSs.

Or another 5 chromis.... Any ideas / suggestions ????

 

[slin1977]

 

[Meldrath]

Absolutely gorgeous. I love the tank! Wish you didn't have those sps in there!!!! MORE ZOAS!

 

[Reefed419]

Thanks for the reply, I am pretty sure I got what u are referring too, In the states we use them to put on top of rebar as protection so people don't fall on them

 

[slin1977]

Thanks for the reply, I am pretty sure I got what u are referring too, In the states we use them to put on top of rebar as protection so people don't fall on them

Almost there... What you are talking about are Caps. We put caps on exposed Rebar to prevent legs getting scratched and of course people getting speared...
Chairs lift rebar into to centre of a horizontal concrete slab. They prevent Rebar being exposed to air on the underside of slabs.
I've seen a few DiY home jobs use rocks to lift rebar into the centre of the slab.
You could get away with PVC pipe to lift your rock work off the bottom. :thumbsup:

 

[acuario]

I am impressed with the contrast of the Hawaiian black sand against all those zoa colors. It's a really great look!

 

[alejandro77]

Love the black sand

 

[JACK733]

very nice setup great pics

 

[frostyjay1]

can I just have 1 of everything!!!!!

 

[slin1977]

Thought I would add a quick photo.

 

[reefer999]

Corals look great, congrats!