My DIY 55gal shallow reef

[Deep_Six Corals]

I might its hard to find the dimensions that i want in my tank without paying out the ***.

Well, depending on the size, more importantly the height of the tank, your gonna have to brace. Probably euro brace for anything above 20 inches tall. I recommend looking hard into diy aquariums before making a decision. Good luck!

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Picked up a trio of blue reef chromis yesterday from the LFS. the damsel I have in my tank killed the previous trio I had, and has already begun harassing these. The last trio were super small tho and didn't stand a chance. I'm gonna try to trap the damsel today and remove her. She is a left over from the 2 fish I used to start the cycle the tank. If I get home and the aggression has subsided, I'll leave her, but as of now she's got to go. Also, that will open a lil more space for fish,I'm at just about the limit on what I wanna keep fish wise.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Here's shot of my sump and some equipment. The clear container is a custom acrylic 4 gal ATO reservoir. I'm using the jebao dp2 doser to dose alk as my consumption is pretty high. I use ME corals calcium and alkalinity made my my friend Mark at ME corals. The TFL phosban 150 only runs for 12 hrs once a week. The phosguard inside is powerful stuff. My Refugium doubles as a place I can keep some fish. The blue tang in there in between homes as I try to find her a place to live out the rest of its life, she's pretty old. I trim my cheato once every two weeks or when I feel it's taking over, it grows pretty quick. My skimmer is located on the other side of the sump in the drain section. I have no idea what to do with that mess of wires lol.

 

[gettaReef]

I just stumbled across your build......amazing job. I'm super impressed how you've basically diy'ed everything. I love your stand and the job you did on the tank is stunning. Definitely following

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

I just stumbled across your build......amazing job. I'm super impressed how you've basically diy'ed everything. I love your stand and the job you did on the tank is stunning. Definitely following

Thanks! I rly enjoyed researching and then trying my hand at different projects. I just help a buddy put some baffles in a sump for a new set up he has.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Took a couple shots top down. I'm considering investing in a camera. Im not feeling how the light messes with the phone cams. These are pictures of Aussie shortcake, a. Sarmentosa, tricolor acro, an unknown maricultured acro (you can see the lil acro crab in the middle of it), mystic sunset, and some others are in the shots. I'm pretty happy with my colors but I know there's some room for Improvment there. I dose 32ml of KH and CA along with 1.5ml of acropower daily.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

While R2R was down, I found the time For a project. My refugium section was beginning to look dingy. With minimal flow across the whole compartment, cyno was beginning to take over. I liked the benefit of being able to keep some fish and other critters separate from the DT and also the "benefit" of a DSB and macro algae. But the truth is I was getting alot of detritus build up and coupled with the cyno, I was getting frustrated with it. So I decided I was going to convert the large refugium in my sump into a frag tank. I procured a kessil a350 tuna blue for dirt cheap, it's a nice looking light,but as I've said before on here, I don't trust leds just yet. So let's see how that goes. I emptied my Fuge, sand rocks and all, cut some egg crate to fit and hung the light from the top of the stand. The corals sit 24" from the light, 6-7 inches under water.i have no idea what the recommended settings are for a kessil so I have both channels at 50%. If any one has some insight on kessil lighting, let me know!

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Some updated tank shots. Visited a coral dealer this weekend and picked up a large torch and an open brain. Wasn't rly into lps but these things are sweet. Again I wish I had a better camera

 

[Paul87]

Some updated tank shots. Visited a coral dealer this weekend and picked up a large torch and an open brain. Wasn't rly into lps but these things are sweet. Again I wish I had a better camera

Looks great! Love that torch.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Thanks! I have a frogspawn that used to open up nicely but Its been shriveled for the longest now. Hopefully this guy does better.

Looks great! Love that torch.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Here's a small update because I entered the reef2reef tank build thread contest and I can really use a new skimmer! Next I'll post a pic of me kissing my favorite fish. This is pink tip sarmentosa. I bought this as a 20$ browned out frag. It's coloring up nicely

 

[Paul87]

Here's a small update because I entered the reef2reef tank build thread contest and I can really use a new skimmer! Next I'll post a pic of me kissing my favorite fish. This is pink tip sarmentosa. I bought this as a 20$ browned out frag. It's coloring up nicely

Nice and what a good deal! They have some pretty color, mine isn't even half the size but its doing really good.

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Awesome! Looks just like mine. I have it up high under my t5s with good flow. What lights is yours under?

Nice and what a good deal! They have some pretty color, mine isn't even half the size but its doing really good.

 

[Paul87]

Awesome! Looks just like mine. I have it up high under my t5s with good flow. What lights is yours under?

Thanks. It's up pretty high under a 120w LED fixture (Chinese).

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

I use these chems in my tank. Always have since I started keeping sps. My friend @marke from ME corals makes it and has begun distributing it across the country, advertised as pharmaceutical grade and pure. I have nothing but good things to say about his three part, I've been able to keep parameters stable and my corals are thriving! I would recommend these products to everyone, if you can get your hands on it, give a try!

 

[CoralClark]

Wow great job!

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Wow great job!

Thank you my friend!

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Mark at ME Corals also gave me a bottle of some new stuff he's been working on. AAV stands for amino acid vinegar. He showed me his research and development and the science behind it sound promising. He has mixed AAs with vinegar and has instructed me on the dosing of it. He claims that the carbon dosing along with his blend of AA will help to fuel coral growth by keeping nutrient levels down and nourishing them. He hasn't start production of this yet and I'm considered a beta tester. I'm going to use my build thread as a log to post progress and results over the next couple week. Stay tuned!

 

[Deep_Six Corals]

Shortcake is doing well since starting the new carbon dosing regimen. Growth is steady and color is coming in

 

[gettaReef]

Mark at ME Corals also gave me a bottle of some new stuff he's been working on. AAV stands for amino acid vinegar. He showed me his research and development and the science behind it sound promising. He has mixed AAs with vinegar and has instructed me on the dosing of it. He claims that the carbon dosing along with his blend of AA will help to fuel coral growth by keeping nutrient levels down and nourishing them. He hasn't start production of this yet and I'm considered a beta tester. I'm going to use my build thread as a log to post progress and results over the next couple week. Stay tuned!

Excited to see your results using this. Seems like a promising product; love the idea of combining vinegar/carbon dosing with coral supplementation. Keep us posted