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Cultivated Reef

ADA 60F rimless shallow reef


Mangimi

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Hi Guys,

 

I've been reading this forum for almost one year now, but never really contributed to it, so this is my tank introduction.

 

It's a drilled ADA 60F with self made 6 gal sump. The goal was to achieve a tank as free of equipment as possible. Also I wanted it to be fail save and easy running, with only the absolutely necessary equipment.

 

Light: Aqua Medic Ocean Light with royal blue LEDs instead of the cyan ones. This light is basically a cheap china light with a german company label sold for 5 times the original price. The pro is: with 36W it's more than enough for a shallow tank like the ADA and Aqua Medic provides a controller with basic sunset options and two dimmable channels. I plan on replacing the cold white LEDs (8) with at least 2-4 warm whites (4000-6000K) and two UV LEDs with 390-410nm wavelength. This hopefully results in a bit warmer looking light colour.

 

Return Pump: Jebao DC1200. It's simple, it's cheap and it can be controlled in eight steps. I run it on 6 of 8, thats about as much as the sump can hold and the overflow can handle. I get quite nice surface motion and on some places in the reef a nice current. Other spots are of very low flow, but the Euphyllia likes it and the long pumping Xenia are on the side of the stream showing nice pumping action and irregular flow pattern. Looks very nice to me.

 

Just a 50W heater and a self made flow through reactor for phosphate adsorbent. Thats it for the equipment part. No skimmer, nothing.

 

The only water parameters I'm measuring are: Temperature, salinity and kH. Since I started dosing kH, the Euphyllia looks much better and so does the rest of the reef.

 

Problems so far:

- 1 L. wurdemanni shrimp jumped out

- 1 Hectors goby died (maybe starved due to lack of green hair algae)

- 1 Clownfish jumped out

 

I hopefully will get some new corals tomorrow from a private reefer close by. He has a big tank and a really good stock of captive grown corals.

 

I'm also thinking of getting the Clown and the whitestrip shrimp out and focus more on smaller more "reef interactive" animals. Little Trimma gobies or a pistol shrimp with goby, something like that. Just not to lose a fish due to jumping again.

 

Let me know what you think, here are some pictures (sorry I only have the cam on my mobile phone)

 

IMG_61769045.jpg

 

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IMG_617861f3.jpg

 

IMG_6179e328.jpg

 

IMG_61808308.jpg

 

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IMG_61824ed3.jpg


Oh I almost forgot: I orientated myself and got motivated for the drilling by Scorched and his beautiful 3 foot office nano

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wow, your tank looks incredibly clean. I absolutely love it! Wish my tank had a light background instead of the built in black acrylic. Suppose that is just how AIO's are.

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Hi,

 

thanks for the nice feedback :)

 

Yeah AIO have their disadvantages. I was thinking about one for a long time, but thanks to Scorched's reef I wanted the aquarium with as little artificial stuff in the display as possible. It took a lot of effort. The aquarium is in my bedroom, so the overflow had to be really really quiet. It does make some noise from time to time, but thats lower as the pumps noise, so I can sleep pretty good with it.

 

I also liked the open sand bed. It's a bitch to keep it tidy and I am getting some brown algae growing on there but I really hope it'll disappear soon. Otherwise it needs to be vacuumed during water change.

 

Future plan is to change the sump, because I don't trust my first acrylic build. It's water tight at the moment, but who knows how long? In the new sump I'm considering algae filtration.

 

@niQo, I really like your tank as well. I think if you had a finer sand the same optic as in my aquarium would appear. Your scape is very nice, creating a deeper view. E.g. more structure in the depth of the tank. Sorry it's late here and sometimes my english fails at describing things properly. I might add a little peace of rock in front of the left rock to "copy" that look in yours. Just need to clean those rocks.

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Moare sump pix plzzz

on your demand:

 

BTW: once I'm done with my master thesis, I'll get a job and first thing to buy is a proper camera. Phone pictures aren't too bad, but not sufficient for good tank shots.

 

It's a filter sock, but shortened and cut open. It holds some filter fleece and a blue sponge for noise canceling

IMG_6183f22b.jpg

The self made media filter. Made from two falcon tubes out of my laboratory, some air hose and filter fleece

IMG_6184ef9e.jpg

DIY light fixture over the sump. Nothing special, I just had that stuff laying around here and it would be enough light for algae

IMG_618573a6.jpg

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wow.such.chris

Sweet dude. I've just started my masters as well. What are you researching?

 

How is that laid out? It's a cube w/ 3 or 4 sections, correct? Drains to front left, overflows to the back single? chamber w skimmer and then to the return in the front right?

 

Thanks for getting back to me so quick, that was crazy

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Sweet dude. I've just started my masters as well. What are you researching?

 

How is that laid out? It's a cube w/ 3 or 4 sections, correct? Drains to front left, overflows to the back single? chamber w skimmer and then to the return in the front right?

 

Thanks for getting back to me so quick, that was crazy

 

 

 

Hi,

 

I'm working on Cichlids and Bedotia endemic to Madagascar: I got some samples from zoos from all over europe, trying to establish a quick and easy barcoding approach for them plus checking for hybridization within the fish for sustainable breeding programs. I'm just writing my thesis and doing one or two more days in the lab.

 

2nd: Yes, the sump works as you said. There is one big chamber with inlet and live rock. Second chamber is for skimmer and heater (it's poorly designed, so the water flows in and out at the top of that chamber, not much water exchange going on there on the bottom. The last chamber has some water redirections for filter media or so. Last chamber is the return pump. There sits the water level switch.

 

Since the sump doesn't catch much water like this, I had to make sure

1st: If the screen in the display clogs up, no water should overflow --> return pump chamber had to be small enough (I don't think the screen will ever clog)

2nd: If the pump turns off, the sump has to catch all the water falling down which is about 10 l or approx 3 gal.

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I got some new corals yesterday, some nice frags from a close by hobbyist for fair prices with great quality. Just see:

 

IMG_62068850.jpg

 

IMG_62078ef2.jpg

 

IMG_6208e961.jpg

I love riccordeas and especially the yuma. Unfortunately they are crazy expensive... But this one was a bargain

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Those are pink Palythoas, very nice and he said they grow faster than zoas

IMG_621056c8.jpg

Just a montipora for monitoring the water quality. Since I'm not measuring much I rely on indicator corals to know if something is wrong

IMG_6211175b.jpg

 

I'm really looking forward to change the white LEDs. Under the cold white LEDs everything looks a bit sterile. I'm not used to that with my DIY fixtures I had before with 6000-7500K cree LEDs

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  • 2 weeks later...

Little update for today:

 

This overflow is great and awful at the same time. Sometimes after I turn off the pump and put it back on, it makes terrible gurgling sounds. I spend two hours last week trying to get it silent again. For a bedroom I wouldn't do that again, just a AIO tank and things are easier to go with. Yet I still admire the very clean look of the tank.

 

My Frogspawn is still not looking as good as I want it to look. I have no idea why. I started doing regular weekly 2-3g water changes, turned off the skimmer and let the filter floss in longer to obtain some nutrient levels. Also I'm monitoring and adjusting kH alkalinity as the only chemical parameter I measure. Unfortunately with rather little success. All other corals do well, but the frogspawn is never happy.

 

Next thing is, that elevated nutrient levels contribute in algae growth. No green ones, but I get brownish/yellow hair algae which is directly attributed to a change in filter media. Nothing strong, but worth mentioning. The quality of my live rock is rather poor and coraline algae growth is quite restricted. They grow, but really really slowly. But I assume this is a result of not measuring the water parameters and not correcting them other than kH and weekly water change.

 

Plan for the future is to add some Trimma or Eviota gobies and to get rid of the clownfish. I think a small reef like this really benefits from tiny fish that are proportionally more suited to all the micro habitats the rock provides.

 

Another thing still is the light, you can see it very great on the watermelon zoas, they just don't really look colourful and this wasn't the case under the T5 the seller kept them with. Just not sure if I should solder the LEDs in the existing fixture or if I should rather design and DIY a new light. I need to do some trials with PMW power supplies to find out if my light controller works for a DIY project. That would make things much easier.

 

Let me know if you have questions or maybe if you know what to do about the Frogspawn.

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masterbuilder

 

Plan for the future is to add some Trimma or Eviota gobies and to get rid of the clownfish. I think a small reef like this really benefits from tiny fish that are proportionally more suited to all the micro habitats the rock provides.

 

 

I like your thinking!

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I love your tank. Your rock scape is very simple and minimal like mine, leave a lot of room on the sand bed for big LPS like Lobo, duncans, plates, and more! Keep posting more pictures, looks great!

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Awesome build! I have the same overflow on my Mr. Aqua 22 and like you said it's tough after water changes sometimes to get the gurgling to stop. I have the dual overflows though so I know your struggles with the noise except I have to deal with two of them gurgling.... What a headache it is trying to get them back to normal.

 

I am following along, would love to know maybe why the frogspawn isn't doing as well. I have some Acans that I just can't figure out why they aren't doing well at all.

 

This is the first tank I have been using LEDs on and have mix feelings about them so far, love saving on my power bill but love the t5s growth. I am planning on trying to find a 4 bulb t5 and retrofitting my LED strip into it.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what school are you receiving your masters from?

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I like your thinking!

 

Thank you! I've just seen a full grown pair of clownfish and I really don't think they fit too good into a nano tank.

 

I love your tank. Your rock scape is very simple and minimal like mine, leave a lot of room on the sand bed for big LPS like Lobo, duncans, plates, and more! Keep posting more pictures, looks great!

 

Thanks again. I really like the open sand area much more than a fully stuffed tank with rocks everywhere. Those tanks have benefits of better filtration, but also they tend to be more demanding on circulation. There are many rules to estimate the flow in your tank but I think that highly depends on your scape. I tried a Jebao RW-4 Wave Maker and despite the "ugly" look it had way to much flow for my little scape. The frogspawn didn't like it at all.

 

I'll try to do some new pictures tomorrow. I don't want to do the same photo over and over again.

 

Awesome build! I have the same overflow on my Mr. Aqua 22 and like you said it's tough after water changes sometimes to get the gurgling to stop. I have the dual overflows though so I know your struggles with the noise except I have to deal with two of them gurgling.... What a headache it is trying to get them back to normal.

 

I am following along, would love to know maybe why the frogspawn isn't doing as well. I have some Acans that I just can't figure out why they aren't doing well at all.

 

This is the first tank I have been using LEDs on and have mix feelings about them so far, love saving on my power bill but love the t5s growth. I am planning on trying to find a 4 bulb t5 and retrofitting my LED strip into it.

 

If you don't mind me asking, what school are you receiving your masters from?

 

 

Thank you too! I can imagine the pain with two pipes. On my tank it often is an air bubble, trapped in the overflow hose. Ideally the water should rinse down the inside wall of the hose, but physics make it very hard to obtain what you want.

 

I have no idea for the frogspawn, maybe it's not stable enough water parameters (I'm not monitoring water chemistry) or it was bothered too much by my shrimps. It also has some flat worms on it, but thats only very few. I will just see if it recovers or if it dies. It looked worse couple of weeks ago. Also I did change the sand this year and I changed the scape many many times just before new year.

I only kept acans once, but I never had problems with them. Maybe your tank is young and still maturing?

 

On my previous tank I had a DIY light with Cree LEDs only, 6500K whites and royal blues, about 0.5 watts a liter and I had really good growth in all corals, softies, SPS, LPS, zoas and mushrooms. In the current ADA growth seems to be really slow despite my current light being twice as powerful. Maybe it really is the different spectrum created by the cheap china LEDs.

 

No problem in asking, I'm doing my master at the University Basel in north-west Switzerland.

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Thanks guys, I much appreciate your feedback. I just love the ADA, the proportions of this tank are unique and beautiful but it is a challenge to fill it with a great scape.

 

So far I'm still not totally happy with this tank. The gorgon in the left corner helped a lot in my mind. Amazing how it positively influences the look.

 

Unfortunately the life rock that I have is not really pretty and I'm in serious doubt if it even was life rock. It came from a LFS and initially I just wanted it for the sump. I then figured it was too big for the sump and it looked good in the display so I left it. Had to remove one peace already because it got dark green, covered by non removable algae. The left rock shows the same green now and I'm afraid the two right ones are following already.

The LFS rocks came out of a large pool with light, flow and rock in it. Quite certain they just put dead rock in it and try to vitalize it. With aiptsaia and flatworms mostly...

 

It's not a plan yet, but a consideration to change the rock completely and almost start all over. Or maybe first I'll be watching what the rock is doing. I'm adding a coraline algae booster every two days or so, hoping to get those rocks covered and prevent too much algae. Let me know what you think in this case.

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Time for two new pictures:

 

I did a bit of scaping to get the sand free again and to make the rocks look more populated as well as to put the SPS closer to the light (not that this would be necessary in such a shallow tank)

IMG_62969fb8.jpg

 

Those two rocks were glued together and I think the mushroom looks pretty good on that "podest". As you can see the frogspawn looks a bit better but it could be twice the size. Maybe it'll recover.

IMG_62985eb5.jpg

 

Sorry for the bad pictures, I still don't have a proper camera and smartphones, despite all the development, still have pretty bad cameras.

 

Overall I still have some issues about really really small coral growth. Despite the growth the corals look very happy, so I assume the light is not perfect yet. I'll try to put a DIY solution over the aquarium but this has to wait some trials because I want it to look perfect.

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Got the same tank and similar issues: almost all my corals look happy, but hardly any growth. Curious if you can figure it out!

 

 

I'll try to. As I said, so far I blame the lighting but I have to figure that out. Or maybe I disturbed the biology too often and it's not yet mature enough. I'm trying to move as little as possible for a stable environment to be established.

 

Something else I noticed it that there is a high concentration of stinging poison in the water. Stuff released by corals. I can feel it when I have my hands in the water, it starts burning a little bit. Not much, but it is there. I only feel it because I have very dry irritated skin in winter. I don't think this is an issue, but I run active carbon from time to time.

 

Thinking back to my old tank (100l = 26g) I had 50W LED over 26g and now I'm running 36w over 8g but the light has the same optical intensity (I know that means nothing to corals). On the old tank I used CREE LEDs only and I had crazy growth. I don't completely understand that. The efficiency of the CREEs is much higher than that of the Epistars I'm using now, but wavelength is wavelength, thats what I thought.

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How long has the tank been running? A lot of people talk about not really experiencing major coral growth until the tank has really established itself, which most believe can take up to 9-12 months.

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How long has the tank been running? A lot of people talk about not really experiencing major coral growth until the tank has really established itself, which most believe can take up to 9-12 months.

 

 

I think thats true for my tank. It's running since April or May 2015, but as I said, I was constantly changing scape, rocks and even the sand. Patience should not be underestimated in this hobby, sometimes thinks grow right away and sometimes they don't...

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Well just keep at it, just try to keep your hands out of the water as much as possible, and stability, stability, stability is key. BTW I love the tank. I have been drooling over 60f's for a little while now. Really want to set one up after I finish downsizing from my 34.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well just keep at it, just try to keep your hands out of the water as much as possible, and stability, stability, stability is key. BTW I love the tank. I have been drooling over 60f's for a little while now. Really want to set one up after I finish downsizing from my 34.

 

 

Hi,

 

I was a bit quiet the last weeks. But thanks for your commendation. It's always great to get great comments for your tank :)

 

I tried keeping out my hands as much as possible. I think I found out what my frogspawns problem was: It was separating heads. I count three mouth discs at the moment and I'm sure once it grows a bit new skeleton the polyps will extend much more.

 

Here are some new pictures, please enjoy!

 

Forgive the dirty screens

IMG_6435e348.JPG

A white tree I got almost a week ago. Lighting is too strong I guess, it still looks like this and standing up (no polyp expansion) over night. Hope he'll make it.

IMG_6437ebe1.JPG

Indicator coral

IMG_643448f1.JPG

 

I got the S. hystrix only as indicator coral. I think that you can assess your water quality quite well by the look of some SPS. The hystrix tends to get brown quite easily if something doesn't fit but look at that colour, I never expected it to be so bright to be honest. Keep in mind, I'm only doing 1-2g water change weekly and thats it. I never measured any water chemical parameters except of kH and salinity. And I chose to ignore kH now because it does drop to a default value one day after dosing and dosing with pre mixed stuff is too expensive and too costly for me. Maybe one day with a dosing pump and Balling I'll keep Ca, Mg and kH on track (which is not really necessary IMO).

So I guess the tank runs fairly well.

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