Rêverie Reef - Video thread

[Ardeus]

I still have the Maxspect and the Aqua Medic running side by side and I changed my opinion. I don't know what the heck I was looking at yesterday, the Aqua Medic has a very similar spectrum and it looks brighter than the Maxspect. The major difference is the crazy strong shimmer of the Aqua Medic.

I find that the fill light has very little impact in the overall look of the tank, it's too weak.

The tank will be in front of a large glass pane looking south, so I will have the lights' programming mimick the sun. Having the 3 lights in this orientation should provide an interesting effect (A = Aqua Medic, M = Maxspect)

A.........M.........A
/............-............\

 

[don_chuwish]

Love what’s going into this build. Your ability to draw and animate everything is hugely useful as well as entertaining for us.

 

[Ardeus]

I am not mad at the guy who's building this for taking so long.

One of the reasons is that I know he will do an amazing job if he's allowed the time to do it. The other is because it allows me to enjoy the anticipation for a really long time.

That includes creating these animations. That being said, I can't believe I just used alphanumeric characters to represent the lighting rig

 

[Ardeus]

Here's a better explanation of the lighting scheme:

 

[Ardeus]

I asked him to include a fan to ventilate the cabinet.

The hole to the right is for the electrical cables. I think it may need to be larger because there's the main cable for the electrical panel, 3 cables for the lighting fixtures and 1 circulation pump.

 

[Ardeus]

Is it too crazy of an idea to have these 4 electrical cables coming out through the overflow?

 

[don_chuwish]

Is it too crazy of an idea to have these 4 electrical cables coming out through the overflow?

Not sure it's worth the trouble but I like the theory - I assume that pipe is more like a conduit, not gonna be full of water right?

 

[Ardeus]

Yes, it's dry.

The problem is the glass that covers the cabinet was tempered and I don't think it's possible to drill now.

So this was the only way I found to have the cables reach the top of the tank. I am not sure there's room for 1 more hole though.

 

[saintsreturn]

Keep in mind that the hole for the cabling may not need to be that large. Especially if you have access to the skill set to make custom cords. Then you can run them before they terminate and use a smaller diameter. Another option, that may not be loved by some would be to run them through your emergency plumbing. Ideally, this line would never take on water and if it does, it is for a short period of time while you sort things out.

 

[Ardeus]

I may need at least 1 custom cord anyway because 1 of the fixtures is too far from the overflow.

I will be using the Herbie system, so the emergency plumbing will be carrying a small amount of water.

In the meantime I got a quote for the system that would move the 2 fixtures over the tank: 4.305 euros. Lets don't and say we did.

 

[don_chuwish]

I may need at least 1 custom cord anyway because 1 of the fixtures is too far from the overflow.

I will be using the Herbie system, so the emergency plumbing will be carrying a small amount of water.

In the meantime I got a quote for the system that would move the 2 fixtures over the tank: 4.305 euros. Lets don't and say we did.

That’s 4,930 USD to us Americans! More than a nice custom tank.

 

[Ardeus]

Yes, it's absurd.

I would have given up on the idea, but the guy who's building the tank doesn't want to give up just yet.

He's looking into using camera sliders, which have a much more reasonable cost.

It's more than a gimmick. We normally use T5's to suplement leds to avoid shadding. This would be a more natural approach and I am sure it would influence the corals' growth pattern.

For the time being I will stick with the idea of having the 3 fixtures oriented in a way so that they can provide light coming from the east, south and west.

I lived in a sub tropical island for 14 years. I am kicking myself in the butt for not having built a saltwater pond.

 

[Ardeus]

Still going very slowly.

 

[Ardeus]

The brace is a challenge, because it's a single piece of glass with curved corners on the inside.

But this single piece of glass will be made of 2 laminated pieces on top of each other, the lower one wider than the top one, to supply a support for the lids.

 

[Ardeus]

The guy that is making the tank works very slooooowwwwly.

Here is the bottom half of the brace.

It's 12mm thick. The top part is 6mm thick. They are going to be laminated so it will be a 18mm brace. A bit too thick for my taste.

The cut in the corner matches the overflow angle.

He was taking so long to make the tank that I had to tell him to pick a delivery date himself and accept a 10 euro deduction per day of delay.

It was supposed to be here today.

 

[Ardeus]

Crazy brace.

 

[Ardeus]

 

[Ardeus]

The fish I currently have:

- 3 Ocellaris clowns
- 2 Flame angels
- 2 Yellow assessors
- 2 Banggai cardinals
- 2 Threadfin cardinals
- 1 Diamond goby
- 1 Tomini tang

I prefer pairs or peaceful groups of fish of the same species.

I don't like fish that swim a lot because they keep reminding me they're in a cage.

Even when selecting a tang, I first looked up the smallest ones and then went to youtube to watch how they swim and behave. I went with the Tomini because it seemed to be the one that didn't swim a lot.

I want to add some more fish and continue with the same guidelines.

- 7 Threadfin cardinals (9 cardinals seem like a happier group)
- 2 Matted filefish (I like them and they help in keeping aiptasias in check)
- 1 Diamond goby (the reason I only have 1 is because I don't think that there's not enough real estate in my current tank).

Now, here's where things start to get tricky. These are the options I have on the table by order of preference.

Option A

- 2 Flame hawkfish. I love the behavior, but will they pose a threat to the yellow assessors? Or to the smallest clown?
- 2 Marine bettas. Same questions as above. I would be getting a pair of sizes S and M.

Option B

- 2 Okinawa gobies.
- 2 Yasha gobies and a pair of pistol shrimp

Option C

- A majestic angelfish... in a mixed reef tank. How will it get along with the flame angels?

Option D

9 Chromis
3 Anthias

Option E

5 Yellow cardinalfish
2 Yellow damsels

 

[Ardeus]

For now, option A is my favorite.

Thinking about aquascaping.

I have 4 blocks to mess with:

- BTA island
- Magnifica
- Coral island
- Xenias

The xenias are now on 2 rocks in the middle of the BTA island and they're winning the war. I will have to separate them. They're in a couple of small rocks, it's not dramatic.

Both the Coral structure and the BTA structure are hollow, the fish can get in and out.

Here are 3 options:

 

[Ardeus]

This is what I could come up with the left over rock I still had. I think I used 12 rocks.

This will be the coral structure. There's lots of space for the fish inside to both sides of the entrance and has lots of exits.

The fish for sure would choose to have the coral structure near the overflow, 3rd option.