DIY Artificial Reef for QT Tank

[redfishbluefish]

In setting up a 55 gallon QT, the standard PVC plumbing pieces just didn't look right for that deep of a tank. The fish would have to hang out on the bottom of the tank. There was nothing in the upper water column for the fish to hide. Having left over 4 inch PVC pipe, I made two upright pieces and zip tied them together. One artificial reef has three pipes while the other has two......But first I went nuts with a hole saw drilling a bunch of holes.

Now, did I waste my time or do you think this is a good idea?

 

[TheEngineer]

Nice!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Sweet.
Id add a couple of t's to the tops, just to see who liked them.

 

[All Mixed Up]

I like it, I'm sure the fish will too!

 

[Pola0502ds]

I did something similar and made the mistake of putting a T5 light over the QT tank and i ended up having to clean all that PVC weekly and its a pain. All the algae comes off easy, but...

 

[redfishbluefish]

I did something similar and made the mistake of putting a T5 light over the QT tank and i ended up having to clean all that PVC weekly and its a pain. All the algae comes off easy, but...

Thanks for the heads up, but.......

I have a relative old Perfecto single bulb fixture over the tank right now.....from my freshwater days years ago. The bulb is a regular old HD T12 34W fluorescent bulb. That picture above, no white balancing needed....it's a regular white bulb. So I'll keep an eye on it, but have to believe it's not putting out the greatest of wavelengths to grow stuff.

 

[stunreefer]

Looks great, Paul!

Might opt to put globs of silicone on zip-tie ends, as I've had them scrape up fishes before in similar use. I would also put globs on the bottom of 4" vertical tubes so detritus can flow freely under them, or just keep on eye on food and detritus settling inside them.

Great note on lighting for QT, and I would add that intense light of any kind breaks down most medications. Simple fluorescent or ambient light is your best bet.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Thanks @stunreefer . I did file the cut-end of the zip tie flush with the box portion. I could possibly slide that portion into the hole so that the fish can't touch it....with just the cable portion exposed. I'm going to go try to do that now. Thanks again.

Your comment about the light, it wasn't planned that way. As Dick Vitale would say, "Serendipity baby." After picking up the tank, it's what I had laying around that perfectly fit that four foot tank.

 

[Pola0502ds]

Like I said, I had a bunch of PVC like you in my QT. It's not set up right now but when I go to do it again the other thing I would change is find a way for the PVC to not blow around everywhere. I use a power head in mine and they never stay put.