3' Braceless ZeoLight Reef

[Pandy]

Hi folks,

Welcome along to my build thread, and thanks for stopping by.

The tank itself measures in at just under 3x2x2. It's braceless, with the front and sides in low iron glass, with nice mitred corners to the front. I run twin X-Aqua overflows into the sump and 3 VorTech MP10s - so very little disturbance of equipment in the display, just how I like it! It is lit with 3 Radion Gen1s with TIR lenses, which is probably a little overkill - but they were cheap enough

To take care of the biological side of things, I run Fauna Marin Balling Light governing the Kh, Ca, and Mg demands, then on top of that I run Fauna Marin Zeo Light to give me those colours and growth that I crave so badly! The latter is in its infancy on the tank, around 2 months now, but I am starting to see results so pictorial updates will be a plenty.

Enough jibber jabber...pictures!

The tank as I picked it up:

New tank by Pandy100, on Flickr

After a little clean and a re-design of the stand:

Stand built by Pandy100, on Flickr

A lick of paint:

Tank Mock Up Front On by Pandy100, on Flickr

Finishing it off with cladding in Opera Walnut (photo at my parents house - since moved into my own house):

Upgrade Running by Pandy100, on Flickr

Give it a year and I know have this:

FTS 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

As you can see, it's a mixed reef, with focus on SPS mostly and some LPS on the lower levels.

I enjoy my photography, and the two hobbies go hand in hand, so I can hopefully share with you guys some of my "work"

The fish...

Possibly the most beautiful fish I ever did see - my male Halichoeres Timorensis:

Skittles 25-1-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Skittles 3-12-14 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Female Halichoeres Chrysus:

On The Hunt by Pandy100, on Flickr

Male Bartlett anthia:

Danny by Pandy100, on Flickr

One of the three female Bartlett anthias:

Pink Lady by Pandy100, on Flickr

My little Neon goby:

Neon Goby by Pandy100, on Flickr

An old picture of my Chalk goby:

Casper by Pandy100, on Flickr

The female of my pair of tank bred Ocelaris clownfish:

Penny 25-1-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

I also have a Tailspot blenny and a Dracula goby with Randalls pistol shrimp - all yet to be photographed.

The corals...

Forest Fire Monti Mother 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Deep Water Tri 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Granulosa 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Limeberry Hystrix 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Maze 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

SSC 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Robusta 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

 

[Pandy]

Red Planet 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Mille - Green 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Stag - Bali Slimer 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Stag - Blue Tip 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Stag - Blue Tip 2 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Stylo 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Tenius 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Turaki 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Acans TD 26-10-14 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Frogspawn TD 26-10-14 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Favites War - 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Duncans- 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Efflo - 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Hirsuta - 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Rainbow Monti 16-11-14 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Blue Plate 17-12-14 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Mille Blue - 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Goniopora - 15.1.15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Maxima 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

Crocea 1-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

I think that's about it :sad:

Andy

 

[Aquaph8]

Great tank Andy, love the timorensis!

 

[Pandy]

Thanks Brett.

Me too, he is a stunner. Completely changed my Chrysus too - she was very shy and timid before he came in, now she is out and about and copying what he does.

 

[jstec]

Amazing tank ! Love the layout

 

[Pandy]

Thanks jstec - I need to grab a recent top down to show the aquascape off better.

I had a little blip today. Routine testing whilst doing a few jobs and my Kh has dropped from 8.0dkh on Wednesday, to 5.5 dkh today! Not sure what has happened, but I mixed up a new Alk balling batch yesterday, so whether I did something different there (I'm pretty sure I didn't) I don't know. Checked everything I could, and theres no signs of a reaction from the corals yet, so fingers crossed everything stays ok. Get it back up to where it should be slowly but surely now.

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

Absolutely gorgeous!

 

[spspirate]

Very beautiful reef!!! Great job!

 

[kschweer]

Beautiful reef and great photography!

 

[Pandy]

Absolutely gorgeous!

Very beautiful reef!!! Great job!

Beautiful reef and great photography!

Thanks folks, very much appreciated.

 

[kevantheman35]

Beautiful tank!

 

[Pandy]

Beautiful tank!

Thanks

Currently feeling devastated. Went downstairs just (it's 1am here) to find my Dracula Goby lying motionless on top of my mesh - gutted doesn't come close

 

[Macropora]

Nicely done reef and excellent photography!

 

[kevantheman35]

Thanks

Currently feeling devastated. Went downstairs just (it's 1am here) to find my Dracula Goby lying motionless on top of my mesh - gutted doesn't come close

Wow sorry to hear. Sometimes they manage to get out nomatter how hard you try to stop them

 

[Pandy]

Nicely done reef and excellent photography!

Thanks Macro.

Wow sorry to hear. Sometimes they manage to get out nomatter how hard you try to stop them

Yeah, sucks, but fair play to him for squeezing through lol

In other news my pink colours are really developing well lately, although I could do with more vibrance in my Red Planet - something which I am working on.


SSC 15-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


SSC 2 15-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


RP 15-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Pink Mille 15-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


And this thing needs to start growing (Mille's tend to take ages in this tank to settle :wallbash: )


Blue Mille 15-2-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

 

[Pandy]

I picked up a few new pieces the weekend before last, and have had a move around on the left hand side - so with the current stock, I think I'm full SPS wise. I do intend to swap out some of my single colour SPS and replace with some nice Aussie pieces or anything with two or more tones.


I also woke up to a dead Chalk Goby yesterday morning :icon_cry: Had that chap a few years now so am gutted, but I was half expecting it. Ever since I added my Kole tang (removed him a few months ago) my Goby was hounded day in day out, and he lost a lot of weight - I guess he never recovered. But to cheer myself up, I have reserved a quartet of Chalk Bass today to add a little blue to the fish mix


Anyway, for now I have some shots of the new SPS, and I will update soon with some overall shots with the changes to the left hand rock work and coral placement.


Aussie 2 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Aussie 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Ice Fire 2 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Ice Fire 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Pastel Mille 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Bali Slimer 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Unkown 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Frags Top Down 1-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

 

[Arron209]

Great tank! You have such a clean setup and everything looks happy.

 

[Pandy]

Great tank! You have such a clean setup and everything looks happy.

Thanks Arron

 

[Pandy]

Couple more snaps as of yesterday morning:


Gary 10-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Harley 10-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Skittles 10-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Hirsuta 10-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Granulosa 10-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr

 

[Pandy]

I've mostly been leaving the aquarium to its own devices and its doing pretty well for itself - namely due to the fact that our little boy was born nearly four weeks early (thankfully doing well). Managed the time for a few snaps today too...


A couple of photos of two of the four Chalk Bass:


Chalk Bass 2 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Chalk Bass 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


My Ice Fire Echinata is developing lovely rich blue tips now:


Ice Fire Echinata 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


The Red Planet is showing some nice signs of growth - however I am struggling with colour intensity atm:


Red Planet 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


Red Planet Top Down 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


The recent wild Aussie piece has developed a green base at the bottom - I'm not sure but it looks like the 'not enough light' kind of green to me:


Aussie Top Down 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


The Tenius is counting to show lovely colours and growth:


Tenius Top Down 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


And finally, it became clear to me that I've had my Forest Fire Monti exactly a year today, so I grabbed a photo to show how far it has come on (I'd like more green in the tips eventually):


Forest Fire Monti by Pandy100, on Flickr


Forest Fire Top Down 30-3-15 by Pandy100, on Flickr


My Millipora frags have also started to shoot of new growth in the last week or two. Cannot wait to see how the blue one looks in a few months.