ADA - the 2 island reef

[DaveFason]

Your tank is looking great and love the idea for the clam. 

-D

[Andreww]

3 hours ago, DaveFason said:

Your tank is looking great and love the idea for the clam. 

-D

Thanks Dave! 

[Andreww]

So now that the 2 returns have been drilled, locline fittings installed, the new Eheim pump hooked up this evening, I LOVE the flow I’m getting in the tank all over the place.

 

The right amount to the all the right places.

Before, even with the MP-10 , I would have dead spots and in some places too much flow. 

 

I’m pushing about 600-650GPH through the overflow now which I think is at the limit for 1” plumbing. I was just barely able to fine-tune it to dead silent with the bean animal configuration but any more flow and I would have had to t-off the return back into the sump. I have the 1.5” drains reduced to 1”.

 

The overflow can handle 2500gph but the sweet spot based on Reef Synergy’s input is 1500GPH with 1.5” drains. 

 

Also put back the light diffuser I made, I really need to look into having it custom made to fit the light perfectly with the factory screws.TAP plastics should be able to do it but they’ll charge an arm and a leg I’m sure . The shimmer is super nice and even, even with crazy surface agitation.

As a result, I turned up the lights another 20% to compensate for the PAR loss through the frosted acrylic.

Need to rent a PAR meter from BRS now that they carry them to dial in the lights.

 

Anyhow, with that pointless rumble out of the way, here’s a couple pics ,cuz we all know a picture is worth 1000 words.Thinking if it, maybe I should have just posted the pictures and skip all the words lol

 

 

 

 

[Andreww]

Took a quick video to show what the diffuser does to the shimmer even with a lot of water movement.

Also the static tv look / disco ball is gone. Nice even shimmer.

Theres still some bryopsis/GHA present in the tank but now with regular cleaning/plucking it’s less and less visible in case you were wondering what the fuzzy stuff on some of the rock is; lol

 

[Andreww]

Pink lemonade showing strong signs of recovering in my tank. Pretty happy about it.

[Andreww]

[Pinner Reef]

That's a big Anthias you got there.

Loving the scape in this. 😎

[Andreww]

4 minutes ago, Pinner Reef said:

That's a big Anthias you got there.

Loving the scape in this. 😎

Thanks!

I think he looks bigger than he really is lol

He is about 3” long at the moment. Will grow more no doubt. I thought no fish will survive my female clown aggression but this guy is a fighter. Up in the clown’s face mouth wide open and fins spiked up. Even bites her if she dares challenging him.

But it’s over quickly, they stay in the same general area and don’t bother each other much.

When it’s time, the lyretail will be rehomed .

[Andreww]

Looks like my clowns have been spawning.

 

[Andreww]

I removed the Favia from the overflow. I didn’t think long term when I attached it there. It was going to be a problem for the SPS once everything took off and got close to each other.

Glue still looking ugly there but I think I’m going with a few pieces of rainbow montipora to cover the overflow. Should look pretty nice once they fill in.

[Andreww]

Fed the tank; not the usual spot fed...broadcasted various blended frozen foods, and the acros are liking it. Never seen such a great response...maybe hard to spot from these pictures.

Will do this more often I guess.

[Andreww]

[blizzardscout2]

I’m glad the drilling worked out. Seems like a really nice upgrade. Your reef is looking great, the 2 islands just works in that ADA. I’m a bit jealous as I have always wanted an ADA reef. 

[Andreww]

16 minutes ago, blizzardscout2 said:

I’m glad the drilling worked out. Seems like a really nice upgrade. Your reef is looking great, the 2 islands just works in that ADA. I’m a bit jealous as I have always wanted an ADA reef. 

Thank you. I wish I had more room front to back to create a nicer aquascape but for now it’ll have to do until we move into a new house.

 

No doubt ADA tanks are in my opinion perfect tanks in terms of build quality(at least the ones I’ve seen) but also overpriced if you go above the 20 gallon mark.

Makes Elos tanks seem like a bargain.😆

 

 

[k4ndyk1ng]

Only just seen the tank now, this one is incredibler good work.

[Andreww]

Added 2 frags of rainbow montipora. Glued them to the overflow, hoping they will take over and hide it somewhat.

The frags have a sharp edge because of the cut and are pretty thick so I’m thinking to place a couple pico magnetic rocks from @NanoRox onto the overflow right next to the montis to taper down the edge. If they will encrust on them they will look more natural that way. Don’t know, we’ll see. Gotta give them some time to make sure they’re liking that spot then go ahead with the plan.

[NanoRox]

Sounds like a good plan.  Depending on the soze of the frags, the Troy Acan might also look really nice as a ledge 

[Andreww]

5 minutes ago, NanoRox said:

Sounds like a good plan.  Depending on the soze of the frags, the Troy Acan might also look really nice as a ledge 

I looked into it, but it will shade the clam underneath. Can’t have that happening 🙂

The small pieces should be great .

I PM’d you about the custom overflow insert but I think I’ll scrap that idea ...maybe on a next build👍🏻

[NanoRox]

14 minutes ago, Andreww said:

I looked into it, but it will shade the clam underneath. Can’t have that happening 🙂

The small pieces should be great .

I PM’d you about the custom overflow insert but I think I’ll scrap that idea ...maybe on a next build👍🏻

Ah makes sense.  Yeah I replied to your PM.  If you do that in the future just let me know.  In this case you are absolutely correct that the picorox don’t stick out far at all so would look awesome.  

[Andreww]

Ordered Phosphate RX which looks like it is lanthanum chloride in the correct concentration.

Should be here tomorrow. Would be interesting to see how it works compared to the GFO.

 

[Andreww]

Enchinata acan attacking my lord acan. Time to move it.

 

[Andreww]

Tonight ALL the sand came out of the tank. And wow, what a load of dirt was hiding deep inside , especially back of the rocks where I can’t really vacuum.

 

Plenty of flow in those areas, sand very clean on top but down below and inch or so was horrible.

 

Had to do 2 x 5 gallon water changes to clear up the cloudiness.

 

As a consequence I had to put the “2 islands” next to each other to form like a block. Not the prettiest aquascape but better than cracking the glass from a rock falling off in the middle of the night.

 

However I have something in mind with the aquascape that I think it’s going to look pretty epic. I need another week or so to work it out.

 

Other than that, cranked up the MP-10 at 100% reef crest. Now we’re talking 👍🏻

No more sand storms. 

[Tamberav]

Looking great! Love that clam!!!  You plan to stick with BB?

 

I am mailing a rental par meter back tomorrow, It cost me $30 for 30 days... the one for aquariums full spectrum, yada, yada. I had to put a deposit down in case I stole it or dropped it in the tank. The $30 includes shipping both ways, they send a return label with it. It is from a company called Nextlight, once I get it sent back and refunded I will do a short review just because I feel like no1 knows about it or tried it. When I ordered it they called soon after and asked me if it was for an aquarium or plants so they could send the right wand. They were on the ball.

 

I saw the BRS one is $50, out of stock and is only 14 days so thought I would mention this place. I will let ya know how it goes!

 

https://nextlight.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_71&product_id=107

[Andreww]

1 hour ago, Tamberav said:

Looking great! Love that clam!!!  You plan to stick with BB?

 

I am mailing a rental par meter back tomorrow, It cost me $30 for 30 days... the one for aquariums full spectrum, yada, yada. I had to put a deposit down in case I stole it or dropped it in the tank. The $30 includes shipping both ways, they send a return label with it. It is from a company called Nextlight, once I get it sent back and refunded I will do a short review just because I feel like no1 knows about it or tried it. When I ordered it they called soon after and asked me if it was for an aquarium or plants so they could send the right wand. They were on the ball.

 

I saw the BRS one is $50, out of stock and is only 14 days so thought I would mention this place. I will let ya know how it goes!

 

https://nextlight.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=62_71&product_id=107

Wow thanks for the info. Thats great 🙂

I will also go with them I suppose. Looking forward to your review!

[Andreww]

2 hours ago, Tamberav said:

Looking great! Love that clam!!!  You plan to stick with BB?

Well thank you. I needed to get the sand out. For the most part it was the original sand that I put in over 2 years ago.

Lots of stuff accumulated in it and I never truly deep vacuumed it, except last time when I had the Dinoflagelates outbreak. I made the connection immediately.

 

I will see if I’ll stick to it; it is not my favorite look, but it tends to look great when SPS are grown in more from what I’ve seen in other people’s tanks. I wanna give it a couple weeks see if it’ll grow on me.

 

Also planning on gluing some lower light montis or even acros to the tank bottom since flow is high now and there’s no sand to upset them.

 

Im definitely digging the higher flow in the tank right now;

 

The clam seems a bit upset about the flow especially when it’s getting hit at 100% but mantle is still fully out.

Tried to wiggle it free from its rock while holding a flashlight on the underside to see if it has attached to the rock and surprise surprise ...it has attached to it, sent multiple threads down so I let it be.