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50 Gallon shallow reef


Jolleyreefs

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Jolleyreefs

Many of you have already seen my 50 Gallon build on other forums but I thought it would be cool to share it on Nano-Reef too.  This tank has been through a lot of moves, most recently a couple months ago.  Roommate bolted for Denver(understandably) so I had to pack the tank up and restart it which has resulted in a mini cycle but luckily nothing has been lost.  Looking forward to getting this thing back to its glory! 

Specs:
36x24x13 rimless DSA aquarium
18 Gallon sump
SCA skimmer
Gen 1 Ecotech Radion x 2
Jebao wavemaker
Quiet one 4000 return

Inhabitants:
Snowflake Clownfish
Pygmy Angelfish
Neon Goby
Fire Shrimp
Peppermint Shrimp
Various hermits
Emerald Crab
Astrea, Cerith, and Fancy Nerite snails

Coral:
Various Zoanthids and palys
Green Slimer
Blue Cali Tort
Acro valida
Mystic Sunset Monti
Green Digitata
Green Pocillipora
Duncans
Fox coral
Branching hammer
Green Sinularia
Sun Corals
War coral
Gum ball chalice
St. Thomas shrooms
Various shrooms
Lucky Charms favia
Trumpet corals
Pulsing Xenia
Rainbow bubble tip anemone
Blastomussa
Mint pavona

Maintenance:
10 Gallon water change a week
Clean skimmer each week
Toss excess sump macro weekly
Top off a Gallon daily
 

FTS 6-24-17

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Jolleyreefs

I created a new video to showcase some of my Reef.  I just did a water change yesterday and pulled out some of the algae.  Trying to bulk up my CUC a bit and added a couple small pin cushion urchins to my sump to keep my macro in check.  (They even eat the chaeto)

 

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mitten_reef
On 6/25/2017 at 8:30 PM, Jolleyreefs said:

FTS 6-24-17

IMG_0216.thumb.JPG.0575fb7cc42c106acc2e2f786670c655.JPG

 

Ok, have to ask. What's up with the back wall and the return "tower"? Are those part of the tank? Or sitting behind it, can't really tell. 

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Jolleyreefs
10 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Ok, have to ask. What's up with the back wall and the return "tower"? Are those part of the tank? Or sitting behind it, can't really tell. 

Very fair question lol.  So the main design of this tank was to have a surge style return.  So the back would fill and surge when it reached a max fill.  It has returns in the front two corners of the tank too so I decided to cap those off and just run a more conventional return method.  I hate the tall glass in the back and had a wall of mangroves in the back but they didn't transplant well in the move so I'm waiting for the mangroves in the area to drop props to restart that look.  

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mitten_reef
45 minutes ago, Jolleyreefs said:

Very fair question lol.  So the main design of this tank was to have a surge style return.  So the back would fill and surge when it reached a max fill.  It has returns in the front two corners of the tank too so I decided to cap those off and just run a more conventional return method.  I hate the tall glass in the back and had a wall of mangroves in the back but they didn't transplant well in the move so I'm waiting for the mangroves in the area to drop props to restart that look.  

Gravity fed once filled, I'm guessing?

That's super cool! Next time you should do a video of how the surge "rushes" into the display tank. 

Does it also help eliminate the need for multiple power heads? 

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Jolleyreefs
3 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

Gravity fed once filled, I'm guessing?

That's super cool! Next time you should do a video of how the surge "rushes" into the display tank. 

Does it also help eliminate the need for multiple power heads? 

I actually don't have it running that method.  I adjusted it so it just comes out like a "typical" return.  The surge style required a bunch of flex hose and pvc that cluttered under the cabinet and made it difficult to fit a larger sump and skimmer.  It was also a bit noisy,basically sounding like a toilet was flushing every few minutes lol.  The goal is to purchase a cadlights or Red Sea in the next year and upgrade to something a little longer.  

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  • 2 months later...

Thought I would update what's going on with my tank.  It's completely broken down thanks to Irma.  First off living in the Keys without a generator is a bad idea. I will be purchasing one soon. But I decided to evacuate and take my reef tank with me. After loading up 4 tough Rubbermaid 10g containers and 5 5g buckets with the inhabitants I was ready to go. I took everything to Port Orange FL south of Daytona Beach. Everything Survived!! Then the hurricane shifted. Once again I loaded everything up and ran to Charlotte. I am happy to report that no coral or fish died in the transport. I do have a lot of broken coral pieces which is to be expected. Out of all the containers I only ran a bubble box with air stone on the bucket with the fish. The rest sat in the truck bed and the bumps and brakes were my wave maker. I am now back in Key West and am very fortunate to have an untouched house, power, and internet. Now starts the clean up and restart phase. for now the coral and fish are still in North Carolina until my tank has cycled and is ready to be restocked. What a process, but the reward of not losing any of my inhabitants makes it worth it. Happy reefing and stay tuned for updates!

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