The Valley - 36g

[Glauber Carvalho]

Hi, everyone! It's been a long time since I appeared here, but I'm doing a new Project, and I'd like to share it with you.

 

The Valley is running since may, 26th. 

 

It is a 32"Lx14"Wx20"H aquarium,

- No sump

- No Skimmer

- No Mechanical filtration 🙄😱!!!!

Only a half of a Jaubert's DSP,

a plenum layer and Macroalgae.

 

Have you ever seen how Jean Jaubert was able to maintain hard corals with absolutely any filtration?

It definitly callanges me!

 

I'm trying to apply only his methodology. In his words, the deep sand bed would take an year to get all it's denitrification capacity, but, if I do many mistakes, I'll have two ways, or to come back to Berlin's method or to throw it all and start from the beggining, trying once more to do just like he used to do.

 

If you wanna know which end this project will get, come and see.

 

May, 2020.

 

 

July, 2020.

[Glauber Carvalho]

At the moment I was triyng to creat it, I was still thinking the "normal nanoreef way" to use my hang-on filter, and my hang on protein skimmer. And, at the beginning, I used a small hang on to make some circulation. But there is already a huge deep sand bed in half of the aquarium, with a plenum board beneath the gravel, trying to do like Jean jaubert's reef tanks.

 

 

 

This rock in the center... it's the cornerstone of my aquascaping, and little ones beneath it. And I use this Cryptonemia crenulata rodophyta alga in all my aquascapes. In every parameters good to corals, it goes well too. I love macroalgae, as soon as I can, I'll put more of it!

 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

20 days after this photos, ammonia and nitrite was gone. This gravel, I had from my last tank, before I moved. I didn't clorate it and I thought it would take more than two months to estabilize the aquarium... thank God it didn't. 

[mipster]

Interesting, It reminds me of aquascaping freshwater tanks. Excited to see what you do with this!

[mitten_reef]

Very interesting concept. Look up @Subsea tank(s) on here, he has an amazing jaubert plenum tank. Good luck and keep us updated. 

[Glauber Carvalho]

Thanks, @mipster and @mitten_reef ! I will upload more photos soon. I'm thinking this aquarium is here to stay!

[Clown79]

Very nice tank. Love the look. Well done

[Glauber Carvalho]

A week later, I placed this live "bowling" rock, that was in my quarantine aquarium. And this little fellas that are with me 5 years now. They're my strong men. Two Calcinus tibicen hermit crab. There are two little Astenira sp starfish (that become a hundren once), one Clibanarius antillensis Hermit and an incredile Ophionereis reticulata brittle star. They're here 5 years with me. But I really call my "clean up crew" the Nitrossomonas, Nitrobacter and all my substrate Worms! They're all play the great role! (in this photos I still had a mechanical filter)

 

 

 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

I didn't mentioned my Turbo 🤭 and her hundreds of snails sons and daugters. 

 

Thanks @Clown79 ! I have already placed the few corals. I will post soon. 

[Clown79]

3 hours ago, Glauber Carvalho said:

I didn't mentioned my Turbo 🤭 and her hundreds of snails sons and daugters. 

 

Thanks @Clown79 ! I have already placed the few corals. I will post soon. 

Great. We luv pics

[Glauber Carvalho]

Then I brogth few corals, a clown and a neon goby. Diatoms started to show up. (Does everybody ever saw how diatoms are beautiful in every details😂?)

 

 

I cut two Ricordea yuma in many pieces and made a mess trying to "glue" them where I wanted🤣

 

If every one agrees with that, I can show you later the Ricordea been cutted.

 

 

And a small frag of GSP. Did I already say how I love this alga? 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

This is what heppened when I put the other Clown and the Pseudocromis fridmani. Diatoms runned crazy for weeks!

 

 

 

I think they're now understending that bacteria rules in there, and I'm starting to see my substrate back since last week.

 

 

I think I'm starting to remember how to upload this pics! Sorry guys, It's not always that I take my DSRL to take best photos, sometimes I just hanging there like a statue in front of my reef tank,  but I'll try to use the DSLR more often. 

[growsomething]

 

For some reason the setup in this pic intrigues me.  Would like this rock with just some zoa and one gorgonian.  It does remind me of one of those ada fw setups that someone above mentioned.  Good luck 👌🏾

[Glauber Carvalho]

On 7/10/2020 at 10:13 AM, growsomething said:

 

For some reason the setup in this pic intrigues me.  Would like this rock with just some zoa and one gorgonian.  It does remind me of one of those ada fw setups that someone above mentioned.  Good luck 👌🏾

Thank you @growsomething ! That's what I think too about the Zoas. At the top, I want to fill with more of the same Ephyllia. Down, I would love to fill with Zoanthus and Cloves Papaya. And behind, I'm desperatly looking for some Caulerpa sp macroalgae to place there.

 

 

This photo is from weeks ago. The tank was still full of diatoms.

 

 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

I still don't know how Caulerpa prolifera and Padina pavonica macroalgae will fit in the aquascaping.

 

But Caulerpas have beautiful colors

 

 

And Padinas are the most amazing algae I have ever saw. It biosynthesizes many heavy metal ions, removing them from water, and I read that the calcium carbonte all upon this algae indicates ph acidentes, when it occurs.

 

 

I don't know if I will have sucess with them, neither if they will look fine in the aquascape, but I'll try soon.

[Glauber Carvalho]

So guys, this is how the aquarium is looking like after diatoms gone. I still see some small focus of another algae, but I hope it desappears soon. 

 

 

 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

I made some changes today, but I didn't photograf. And about that bottle 😂!  It truly reminds me coral reefs... But my wifey "commanded" me to take it out 😭🤣.

 

 

 

 

 

This little Atlantic's Palythoa variegata polyps are brown in the sun light, but green in blue light. It was my first coral. It survived many things and kilometers, so I let them in. 

Look the same polyps in blue light!

 

 

l love this Ricordea's colors in blue light too!

 

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

Just updating some humble photos from earlier today.

 

 

 

These next two photos shows the angles that I commonly spend hours lying on my floor or on the couch watching it.

 

 

 

I'm missing fish and corals (😍and macroalgae!!!!!)... Unfortunately it has been a little harder to get them in the middle of this Covid-19's Crisis in my country...

I'm gonna wait and see what happens. 

 

See you guys! 

[mipster]

I seriously love this. It's so clean and fresh and open. It makes it look so much larger than it really is. Almost makes me regret putting all the rock I have into my tank! lol 

[Glauber Carvalho]

5 hours ago, mipster said:

I seriously love this. It's so clean and fresh and open. It makes it look so much larger than it really is. Almost makes me regret putting all the rock I have into my tank! lol 

🤣 Thanks @mipster! But you do not have so many rocks!!!!! Everything is nice in your tank!!!!!

 

Look, I can't go on without talking about @leo carvalho, and his tank Sierra Reef. Because, the first time I saw his tank on a brazilian reef forum, years ago, I discovered that I love this minimalist concept.

 

 

 

Obviously, I didn't copy it, and I'm far from reaching the level he reached. Mainly, because I'm running my tank based on a sensitive method that I haven't yet mastered. But Leo's Sierra Reef was, certainly, one of my inspirations.

[Leoito]

The contrast between the GSP and macroalgae on the right is rad! It reminds me of one of those NUVO drop off tanks (higher on left, lower on right), just to a much more subtle degree; following along.

[Glauber Carvalho]

5 hours ago, Leoito said:

The contrast between the GSP and macroalgae on the right is rad! It reminds me of one of those NUVO drop off tanks (higher on left, lower on right), just to a much more subtle degree; following along.

That's it! I use to think this is my unusual Drop off aquarium 😆

 

I'm very happy! It's been almost two months now and this tank continually surpraises me.

 

There is just one thing that worries me... I read that a perfect execution of Jaubert's Method occurs when we use gravel gains about 3mm to 5mm... that allows gas exchange, but I think mine is thinner. A few days, I saw some bubbles stuck in the middle of the sand bed. (Maybe, these bubbles was just rising... I'll pay atention on it)

 

[Glauber Carvalho]

When I moved to this new city, I couldn't bring my furniture... Now the furniture that I ordered two months ago... just arived! You all know I didn't wait for it to come😬, and I filled my tank... It's almost two months now.

I thought it wouldn't be that hard to carry this 36g up to it... I hope I'm not all wrong...

 

 

 

I reinforced the base and the top

 

Thank God it arrived! I don't like the way it is now. I hope everything goes well!!!!

 

Let's go ahead! I'll show some pics later.

 

[Ash1176]

This tank looks amazing, the sand scape is like a sine wave! 

[Glauber Carvalho]

Thanks, @Ash1176! I like your aquascape too!

 

Today I moved the aquarium to the new furniture... It wasn't as easy as I imagined.... 😥😥🥴🥴

I did it myself, and my wife helped holding the furninute... What a bad bad idea I had... All my body is in pain😭.

😂I'll send pics later!