InvaderJim's 80g shallow reef

chopper320 · Feb 16, 2021

Looking good! I have the same tank. Good choice with the herbie. I stuck with the default durso and I regret it. I’ve never been able to get it as silent as I would like.

I can’t really drill it now and I can’t come up over the top like you did because I have to have a cover to prevent my wrasses from jumping.

Anyway, I can’t wait to watch your tank grow!

InvaderJim · Feb 17, 2021

chopper320 said:
Looking good! I have the same tank. Good choice with the herbie. I stuck with the default durso and I regret it. I’ve never been able to get it as silent as I would like.

I can’t really drill it now and I can’t come up over the top like you did because I have to have a cover to prevent my wrasses from jumping.

Anyway, I can’t wait to watch your tank grow!

I actually have a lid on mine I just have it cut out around my return line. Planning on ordering a nicer one here soon because mine didn't turn out as nice as I had hoped lol.

REEFCRAFT · Feb 24, 2021

InvaderJim said:
Currently dealing with some diatoms on the sand in most areas.

Added a Gyre XF150 to the left side of the tank running at 40% and moved the mp40 to the back of the tank on lagoon mode. Still trying to tweak the flow. Still struggling with coral placement, hence the sand bed.

Your tank is coming along nicely. What do you have for sifting sand? Diatoms will clear over time, but a sand sifter will help in keeping your sand bed looking clean.

InvaderJim · Feb 24, 2021

amuze said:
Your tank is coming along nicely. What do you have for sifting sand? Diatoms will clear over time, but a sand sifter will help in keeping your sand bed looking clean.

Nothing currently. I've actually been thinking about adding a few conch snails to stir it up.

InvaderJim · Mar 1, 2021

Worked on cleaning up the sand bed a bit today. Conchs, cerith, and nassarius snails on the way to hopefully help rid of some of the algae. Coralline seems to be taking off as well which is exciting.

I’m Batman · Mar 18, 2021

Was this a complete dry rock setup with fish and corals added the next month? Looking nice! I’m setting up a 48x24x12 seaport right now. Ran into the same issue with the overflow and the stand supports.

InvaderJim · Mar 19, 2021

I moved over a couple pieces of established live rock to seed the dry rock, but that’s essentially what I did. It’s a good way to skip the cycle. Not sure how I managed to overlook that but it worked out! Did you get yours situated?

I’m Batman said:
Was this a complete dry rock setup with fish and corals added the next month? Looking nice! I’m setting up a 48x24x12 seaport right now. Ran into the same issue with the overflow and the stand supports.

InvaderJim · Mar 23, 2021

Just returned from honeymoon in Jamaica and for the most part everything is doing good. Looks like one of my frogspawns fell and was stung by my torch so I may lose one of the heads. Duncan decided to start dying right before I left and the main head is a goner. Not sure if the new ones will survive or not. One of my acans lost all its color and has algae growing on some of it in the matter of a week and it looks like my space invader Pectinia is retracting a bit. Not sure what’s going on. No changes to the tank at all which is frustrating

InvaderJim · Apr 9, 2021

Tank has bounced back pretty well in the last few weeks. Finally managed to get my phosphates up. Currently sitting at 0.028 and corals are loving it. One thing I’m trying to figure out though is that the tank is hovering around 9.5 ALK and doesn't seem to be consuming any which is weird. Especially since I use NeoMarine which mixes at 7.5 ALK.

Rented a Par Meter from BRS and i'm pretty convinced my lights need to be higher and further towards the front of the tank. The Red Sea arms aren't nearly long enough for a 24" deep tank so I'm getting some wonky light spread.

Kodski · Apr 9, 2021

Great looking tank! I'll be setting up the same tank here pretty soon. I love the dimensions of these tanks. The one thing I'll be doing differently though is drilling for a ghost overflow and making the tank a peninsula.

Can't wait to see how yours grows out!

InvaderJim · Apr 10, 2021

Kodski said:
Great looking tank! I'll be setting up the same tank here pretty soon. I love the dimensions of these tanks. The one thing I'll be doing differently though is drilling for a ghost overflow and making the tank a peninsula.

Can't wait to see how yours grows out!

Thanks!

I will say I did want to set this tank up as a peninsula because the dimensions are so cool but couldn't make it work out with the room it's in. Can't wait to see how you set yours up.

InvaderJim · Apr 27, 2021

Originally wanted to set this tank up with T5s but went with the Hydra 26s because I found a good deal on them. Well I found a deal on a ATI 6 bulb that was too good to pass up so I'm making the switch. Haven't been too happy with the Hydras thus far, it's probably most due to user error. I'm more of a set-and-forget kinda guy so T5s should be perfect.

Still trying to tweak flow in the tank, moved the mp40 back to the right side of the tank to try and make the flow more chaotic in lagoon mode.

InvaderJim · May 15, 2021

T5s are on! Slowly acclimating the corals to the light, lowering it about 1” per week. Went with 3 blue plus and 3 coral plus and it’s an awesome mixture.

Still battling some cyano algae though. Did a big water change yesterday and have been adding MB7. Hoping it helps

InvaderJim · Jul 13, 2021

Tank is finally bouncing back from a pretty bad dinos outbreak. Just dealing with some bubble algae now which is slowly going away

InvaderJim · Aug 7, 2021

Still battling cyano in the tank (even though it looks good in this older picture) and recently the tank broke out with ICH. No casualties as of yet, it’s been a few weeks. I’m assuming it was already in the tank as I haven’t added anything new but a few corals.

InvaderJim · Aug 12, 2021

Ignore my temporary UV hanging off the side

Ilikefishandlamps · Aug 12, 2021

Nice scape we set up the left side almost exactly the same lol

InvaderJim · Aug 12, 2021

Ilikefishandlamps said:
Nice scape we set up the left side almost exactly the same lol

haha they do look pretty similar!

adittam · Aug 13, 2021

Awesome tank!

I have an 80 gallon Seapora tank ordered with the same dimensions, will be building it as a low-tech sumpless budget build similar to the tank I’m upgrading from, a 46 gallon bowfront. Mine is rimmed and I got a pair of like new Hydra 26’s (non-HD) crazy cheap with the director module. I’ll set up a build thread for it once the tank arrives.

I’ll be keeping an eye on your thread here for inspiration, nice work!

InvaderJim · Aug 14, 2021

adittam said:
Awesome tank!

I have an 80 gallon Seapora tank ordered with the same dimensions, will be building it as a low-tech sumpless budget build similar to the tank I’m upgrading from, a 46 gallon bowfront. Mine is rimmed and I got a pair of like new Hydra 26’s (non-HD) crazy cheap with the director module. I’ll set up a build thread for it once the tank arrives.

I’ll be keeping an eye on your thread here for inspiration, nice work!

Appreciate it! You'll love the tank, its hard to beat the size. Sounds like its going to be a sweet build.