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Cultivated Reef

Chris George's Silverstrand Reef


Chris George

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Chris George

I've been putting this build together for awhile now and I'm finally starting my thread. I was a longtime poster over at RDO many years ago, and I've quietly been back in the hobby for the last year and a half with a BC14. I've always wanted to do a cube, but never pulled the trigger on that. After seeing all these shallow tanks and being totally inspired, I finally started my very first custom build. Updates should come quickly, I'm getting close.

 

FTS 2/21/2012:

fts_front_2_21_2012.jpg

 

Top View:

fts_side_2_21_2012.jpg

 

Equipment

Tank
: Visio 28x28x12, 3-panel Starphire glass

Lighting
:
Undecided, either Par30/38 LEDs
or AI Sol Blue

Skimmer
:
My old AquaC EV-90 from 1998
SWC Extreme 160 Cone

Controller
: Reefkeeper Elite NET

Flow
: Vortech MP10 es

Return pump
: Eheim 1260

Fish and Inverts

1 Ocellaris Clown

1 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Wanted: Banggai Cardinal, Fire Shrimp, Black Ice or Snowflake Clown

Corals

1
Green
Ugly Brown Echinopora sp.

1 Orange Monti Cap

1 Orange Montipora Digitata

Many Various Zoanthids

1 Purple and Green Favia

1 Orange/Pink/Green Acan sp.

1 Green w/pink tips Frogspawn

1 Fuzzy Green Acropora

1 Blue Tort? (id pending)

1 Pink Stylophora

1 Blue Millepora

1 Large Mr Coral Zoanthid order (breakdown of all polyps coming soon)

Cleanup Crew

4-5 Nerites (down from 25, very little algae to consume. They also jump)

60+ Dwarf Cerith snails

30 Nassarius Vibex snails

20 Dwarf Planaxis snails

6 Virgin Nerites (reproducing in tank, lots of baby virgins)

4 Red Scarlet Hermits

1 Blue Let Hermit

Current Parameters 2/8/2012

Specific Gravity: 1.025

ph: 8.2

Ammonia: 0.0

Nitrite: 0.0

Nitrate: <5.0

Phosphate: not tested recently

Calcium: waiting for new kit

Alkalinity: waiting for new kit

Magnesium: waiting for new kit

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Chris George

For the woodworking fanatics on here, a few work-in-progress shots of the stand:

 

frame.jpg

 

skinned.jpg

 

emptyfts.jpg

 

opendoor.jpg

 

empty34.jpg

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Chris George

Thanks a lot. I just subscribed to your topic. Proportionally, our tanks seem identical. Can't wait to see how yours turns out too.

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Thanks a lot. I just subscribed to your topic. Proportionally, our tanks seem identical. Can't wait to see how yours turns out too.

 

yeah, our tanks are virtually identical, but i'm like the big brother :P . looks like we're aiming towards the same livestock, but i might have to pull a shocker on you ;)

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Chris George

Thanks guys. Yes I built, stained and finished the stand by myself. I planned it out entirely in 3D first. I'll dig up some shots of those plans too. I hadn't done any serious woodwork since junior high woodshop in 1990, but I was really happy with the results.

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Chris George

My plumbing parts came yesterday! Not shown are the Sch80 pipes. I know I didn't have to go with Sch80, but every part you could ever need is easily found on BRS and it looks so much more pro. Hopefully I can learn to be an amateur plumber now.

 

My BRS Reef Saver dry rock and bulkheads came too. More pics to come.

 

plumbing.jpg

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Chris George

Here are the 3D mockups I did for the stand construction. I made some changes while building, but it's mostly the same.

 

3d_frame.jpg

 

3d_final.jpg

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Subscribed

 

Looks like a nice setup you have there. Any ideas on sump setup yet?

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Chris George

I just got my sump yesterday. I was going to DIY it with a cheap petco glass aquarium, but I can't get a 24" wide tank (20H) into the stand. I ended up going with the Berlin-style acrylic sump that MarineDepot sells (doesn't appear to have a brand name). They are 23" wide, and it fits perfectly. I'll start posting more pics of my progress. I have the overflow all plumbed now, with two standpipes for a Herbie-style setup. One of the bulkheads for the returns is leaking slowly, so I have to figure out what I did wrong there. Luckily, any bulkhead dripping just falls into the sump.

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I love the dimensions! Been wanting to do one of these for a future tank. I'll be watching in interest.

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Chris George

Overflow is plumbed, with no more leaks from the bulkheads. I've actually finished the drain plumbing under the tank too, complete with unions so I can take it apart (this pic is an older work-in-progress). BRS Reef Saver Rocks are in there just to see how much I was going to use. This is not the aquascape I plan to go with. I'm going to experiment with the rocks for quite some time until I find something I'm happy with.

 

sump.jpg

 

overflow.jpg

 

rocks.jpg

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gutterguy

Great looking build. Stand looks good too! I had as much fun building my stand as I did the tank.

 

good luck

gg

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Chris George

Thanks everyone for following along. So I have all the plumbing finished, the tank has been filled up to test all the joints. None of the plumbing joints leak. However, all of my bulkheads have a very slow drip. They are all hand-tightened, and I have the gaskets of all of them in the overflow, on the flange side of each bulkhead. I will admit that the quarters are tight underneath the stand, so I might not be hand-tightening them enough. With the way my stand was built, getting a wrench in there is pretty much impossible. Aside from that, does anyone have any other ideas of what I've done wrong or possible solutions? It's really heartbreaking to see this constant dripping. Thanks.

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It sounds like you're doing all that right. I can't think of anything except getting them tighter. I'm planning a tank with similar dimensions to yours. Tank and stand look great! I might yank your general plans for your stand cause it looks really nice and simple. ;)

 

Following along!

 

willy

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