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Cultivated Reef

Made in Africa - A Shallow Reef


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I've been lurking around the forums for a while so I should probably stop being rude and introduce myself; My name is Shaun and I'm from Cape Town in South Africa. I love travelling, photography and my hamburger pants.

burgers.jpg

I'm looking to recreate a mixed reef for my home office studio. A stock list is not yet complete but definitely some LPS (love hammers and frogspawn), SPS and a couple of fish, I think Blennies are pretty awesome. <_<

Equipment
Tank: 700mm x 700mm x 300mm (27.5 x 27.5 x 11.8 inches) - Custom by SAreefkeeping
Sump: 600mm x 600mm x 400mm (23.5 x 23.5 x 15.75 inches) - Custom by SAreefkeeping

Lighting:ATI Sunpower 8x24W T5

Flow: 2 x Vortech MP10WES

Skimmer: Reef Octopus Diablo 160XS
Return: Halea 1750L/H return pump Eheim Compact 2000
Doser: Pacific Sun Kore 5th
+ ATO and more.

Inspiration
Many reefers here on Nano-Reef.

My tank and sump arrive this week but then I'm out of town for a few days so progress might be a little slow. <_<

A few pictures of the progress.

level.jpg

top.jpg

sump.jpg

(Some in progress shots before final sanding and last coats of paint)

cabinet.jpg

(Almost done, just need to paint the door)

  • Like 19
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It looks like you are off to a great start!

Thanks

 

LOL Wow that is a whole lot of white! Can't wait to see it coming along.

Haha, yah. Our office is rather bright; but it helps make smaller spaces seem bigger. :happy: With that said, looking forward to the tank bringing a bit of colour to the space.

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lnglostsurfer

Whoa, this looks like an awesome start to the build. Great attention to detail so far and you've only shown us the stand!

 

How is the reef hobby in cape town, popular at all? I know I've always dreamed of hitting up some beaches of south africa to go surfing. I actually have a co-worker going there this winter (summer for you) for a wedding and he's super stoked.

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How is the reef hobby in cape town, popular at all? I know I've always dreamed of hitting up some beaches of south africa to go surfing. I actually have a co-worker going there this winter (summer for you) for a wedding and he's super stoked.

 

It's pretty popular, and for the most part we can get anything we want. but when it comes to cool gadgets and equipment we don't have as many choices (or maybe I'm just not looking in the right places, haha) as Europe or the US; for instance; we don't have light choices like Aqua Illumination or controllers like Apex Controllers readily available and importing them isn't even a choice (expensive shipping and 20% import duty on LEDs + 14% tax) and it gets expensive very quickly, haha.

 

All that said, I have a great LFS who is MAC approved with amazing quality livestock and a genuinely helpful person. So looking forward to the adventure.

 

Head on over and enjoy the beaches, we have some great ones here. ;)

 

 

Wow, it's going to be really bright with that kessil. Looking forward to seeing more :)

 

 

Indeed, I have a feeling I might have to dial it down quite a lot. :haha:

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As a designer, I'm very intrigued by the whiteness of your office and how your tank will just explode with color off that white 'canvas'! Should be really cool! W-

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As a designer, I'm very intrigued by the whiteness of your office and how your tank will just explode with color off that white 'canvas'! Should be really cool! W-

Thanks, me too.

 

Are you planning on keeping all sides clear and open or will you be painting the back?

All clear - which is why neatness is of the essence, should be a good challenge, haha.

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Hopefully picking up the tank today. Unfortunately the glass company broke one of pieces of glass for the sump which happened to be the base, typical, so the building was delayed. <_<

 

Should be able to get plumbing soon. :naughtydance:

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Can't wait to see your setup! :)

Thanks. I'm excited get it all up and running. Now if work and life would calm down for a few weeks and let me have some me time that would be awesome. Haha. :D

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burgers.jpg
sump.jpg

 

 

Do you think moisture will be a problem inside the cabinet? Might want to consider some sort of ventilation.

 

Love the first photo BTW, awesome work.

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Do you think moisture will be a problem inside the cabinet? Might want to consider some sort of ventilation.

 

Love the first photo BTW, awesome work.

I don't think so, however, I might install a PC fan or 2 to get more airflow in the sump area.

And thanks. :)

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Nice start! I love all the white!

 

What are your livestock plans?

 

BTW, :welcome: to Nano-Reef!

Thanks and thanks. :)

 

As far as livestock, honesty I'm not 100% set. Thinking a Euphyllia garden, and curved ridge flowing front to back with SPS. As far as fish... I like Blennies. Going to take it slow and figure that out as it all evolves.

 

Wow.

 

Looking good.. Great pictures..

Thanks and thanks. More to come soon. :)

That is a beautiful start. Can't wait to see what you do with it.

Thanks.

 

Mini Update

 

The tank has arrived and it's looking pretty sexy, picking up the sump tomorrow and a few plumbing bits and pieces and then I can get things rolling. :naughtydance: Hopefully I'll be plumbed come the end of the week. fingerscrossed

 

Picture update to come then.

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tank_001.jpg

 

Sump arrived, along with my rock. Did a quick test scape and pretty excited to get it all up and running. -_-

 

 

Slick start! I really like the 'scape you've got mocked up.

 

Something to bear in mind is that euphyllia will mask the really interesting nuance in the rockwork as it grows in. You might look into encrusting monti's for the bases of the rock, or monti caps for the base which whorl into really interesting patterns with high flow. Euphy's don't play nice with SPS in my experience so be careful of the sweepers.

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