Puzzle Reef

[Acromaniac]

Hi all

Thought I would share my tank.

36 x 18 x 18
Lights ATI Sunpower 6x39w
Flow 1 x MP40wes and 1 x RW15
Skimmer Vertex Omega 150 body with a Tunze Hydrofoamer pump
Return pump Aquabeeup 3000
Pacific Sun ATO with Potassium Nitrate
Kamoer dosing pump dosing 2 part and Lanth Chloride
Bare bottom, siporax no rock, currently experimenting with 1 micron socks to keep my sump and siporax spotless.

Removed all my live rock a couple months ago because I have never had any luck with any of my builds with live rock, if its not aptasia or valonia or caulerpa racemosa it's something else. Also no matter how much flow I have rock always just seems to be a massive detritus trap.

With a focus on detritus removal, keeping siporax clean and trying to make the tank as maintenance free as possible besides the filter socks (but I have so many on rotation it doesnt bother me, also stops me from having to empty the skimmer so often instead, went from emptying the cup once a week to once ever 3 or 4 weeks since using 1 micron socks) I created these individual platforms because like a flat scape and the colonies to create the different levels with stags behind, rounded colonies in front and plating types in front of those. This also allows me to move the corals around with out having to break them from their position, also rather than prune I can just slightly move the coral out to give more space for growth. At the moment they are just placed anywhere so I can grow them out and until I buy some more then I will scape them and interlock them to make it actually look like a reef. We will see how it works out, I think it should look ok when they become large colonies or lots of plates at the front to create an illusion of a floating reef.







Also have a few frags to swap if anyone in Sydney is interested.

 

[Usernam Invalid]

Cool build following along

 

[justy]

Interesting approach will be following along well done.

 

[Acromaniac]

Thanks guys.

Here is the engine room




So not only is my skimmer only cleaned every 3 - 4 weeks but also my glass. I cleaned my glass yesterday after 3 or 4 weeks and it looked like about day 2 of a normal system. I use a 100 micron sock inside a 1 micron and the Lanth Chloride is also dosed into the 1 micron. Current sock has lasted 2 weeks without changing.

Corals don't seem effected if there are any bacteria being filtered by the sock, brown corals are finally starting to color back up after a long time, all others are the most colorful they have been and am seeing daily growth.

 

[Wiskey]

Do you use a product like PhosphateRX? Or do you mix up your own Lanth Chloride? How much do you dose and how often?

I'm just starting to use this myself, and I'm curious about other's experiences.

Very nice looking corals! How long have you been running it without any rock or anything?

Whiskey

 

[Acromaniac]

Do you use a product like PhosphateRX? Or do you mix up your own Lanth Chloride? How much do you dose and how often?

I'm just starting to use this myself, and I'm curious about other's experiences.

Very nice looking corals! How long have you been running it without any rock or anything?

Whiskey

Hey mate I use a pool phosphate remover we have here in Australia. Some guys rang up and confirmed it had no heavy metals in it. Others have used it with success so there's no problems with it. I'm not sure how pure it is but I mix it in a 1:10 ratio with RODI water and put it on the doser spread out over 24 doses I'm currently dosing 30ml a day. It has a blue dye in it, think my skimmer gets most of it out as the skimate is blue and I also run carbon because of that.

Has been running without live rock for about 2 months now.

 

[kevlow]

Hey Acro, Love what you are doing.

I do not care for live rock myself, and I do not feel the need to create a reef look. I just want to grow beautiful acros. Once the coral reaches colony size it will have a reef appearance on it's own.

I am using ceramic and marble tiles for bases. This allows the coral to encrust and be anchored against snails and urchins; but still be movable for maintenance and redesign. As the tank matures and grows coraline it will gain a natural enough appearance.

Do the PVC end caps you are using for bases trap air when you glue them together? Are they weighted enough on their own to stay put?

This is a cool build idea of which I somewhat use myself. Your coral looks great. Perhaps some close up pics for those of us following at home.

Subscribed!

Kevin

 

[Acromaniac]

Hey Acro, Love what you are doing.

I do not care for live rock myself, and I do not feel the need to create a reef look. I just want to grow beautiful acros. Once the coral reaches colony size it will have a reef appearance on it's own.

I am using ceramic and marble tiles for bases. This allows the coral to encrust and be anchored against snails and urchins; but still be movable for maintenance and redesign. As the tank matures and grows coraline it will gain a natural enough appearance.

Do the PVC end caps you are using for bases trap air when you glue them together? Are they weighted enough on their own to stay put?

This is a cool build idea of which I somewhat use myself. Your coral looks great. Perhaps some close up pics for those of us following at home.

Subscribed!

Kevin

Thanks Kevin

Just checked out your thread your tank is nice man with some really sweet corals. How are the ceramic tiles and marbles staying in place?

The PVC i filled with sand and then glued them shut so no air is trapped. They are heavy enough to stay upright by themselves but with the amount of flow I have they end up sliding around so I used superglue but that only lasts a couple of weeks on the glass, some I have put egg crate around so the egg crate of each touches and they stop each other from sliding. When I upgrade my tank it will have a white perspex bottom so the glue should stick to that properly I'm thinking.

Will try to get some close ups but only have my phone and they don't turn out too well.

 

[kevlow]

Thanks Kevin

Just checked out your thread your tank is nice man with some really sweet corals. How are the ceramic tiles and marbles staying in place?

The PVC i filled with sand and then glued them shut so no air is trapped. They are heavy enough to stay upright by themselves but with the amount of flow I have they end up sliding around so I used superglue but that only lasts a couple of weeks on the glass, some I have put egg crate around so the egg crate of each touches and they stop each other from sliding. When I upgrade my tank it will have a white perspex bottom so the glue should stick to that properly I'm thinking.

Will try to get some close ups but only have my phone and they don't turn out too well.

I like the sand idea to weight down the piece. Simple and easy.

My marble and ceramic tiles pretty much stay in place on their own. They are too low to catch much current. Once the bottom glass gets coraline and other growth it is rough enough to keep the snails and urchins from pushing them around. The 2"x 2" sometimes get moved but not much. The marble pieces are pretty heavy and never move.

The one flaw is that they are all the same height. I need to find a way to elevate them to different heights to allow corals to grow with less interference from each other. I am considering using your idea in some fashion.

I hear you on the only having a phone part. My phone tints pics to the red side and does not have good focus. Other then coral pics there is nothing else in my life that I take pictures of.

 

[Acromaniac]

I like the sand idea to weight down the piece. Simple and easy.

My marble and ceramic tiles pretty much stay in place on their own. They are too low to catch much current. Once the bottom glass gets coraline and other growth it is rough enough to keep the snails and urchins from pushing them around. The 2"x 2" sometimes get moved but not much. The marble pieces are pretty heavy and never move.

The one flaw is that they are all the same height. I need to find a way to elevate them to different heights to allow corals to grow with less interference from each other. I am considering using your idea in some fashion.

I hear you on the only having a phone part. My phone tints pics to the red side and does not have good focus. Other then coral pics there is nothing else in my life that I take pictures of.

If you've got access to cheap fishing sinkers you could use those inside, I think that would be the heaviest option and they wouldn't get blown around.

 

[kevlow]

If you've got access to cheap fishing sinkers you could use those inside, I think that would be the heaviest option and they wouldn't get blown around.

I would kind of be afraid to drop big chucks of lead in my tank; although, maybe some Led Zepplin would be alright.

 

[Acromaniac]

I would kind of be afraid to drop big chucks of lead in my tank; although, maybe some Led Zepplin would be alright.

Hahaha true, but I was thinking the glued pvc enclosure would actually be safer than some of the high end equipment on the market which keep causing problems from corrosion.