Staring up a 4th reef with my old Piranha's 38 gallon tank, and trying something a little different.
Back when he was alive, this used to be a planted tank, with rather lush growth, and far too much algae. But last year I ended up keeping it as a holding tank for some old rock and macroalgae, and honestly I really liked the way the sunlight fell on the tank during late spring and the summer months, so I decided to make it into an actual reef, and take advantage of that.
I left a small Pavona frag in the corner of the tank for a few weeks to see what would happen, while I was waiting for the shipments of light, rock and sand, and interestingly enough it not only grew a bit, but actually kept its green color. And when time came to move it to another tank, for safekeeping while this system starts up, it actually "popped" off the glass, meaning it had already begun encrusting, under pure sunlight.
But I live too far north for this to be a sutainable growing strategy, so I ordered two Kessil a160we Tuna Blues, after researching them throroughly to ensure they can grow SPS in a tank this size. The Kessils were chosen two two primary reasons: Low profile, and the shimmer. I didn't want the lights to cast big shadows on the tank, to maximize the amount of daylight hitting the tank, and I wanted to match the caustics of natural sunlight.
Everything arrived this week, firs the rock went in, but I had to order extra suspension for the second kessil.
Yesterday the sand came, as well as the extra suspension, so that went in and the second kessil went up.
And today the cloudyness is starting to clear up a bit, and the aquascape is finally starting to show.
I decided to go for a minimalistic setup on this tank, having always favored mounds and walls of rock in the past. The plan here is to just have a few colonies, and allow them space to grow out. I have a Tenuis that's been sitting in one of my other tanks for about a year, that will be going in here and I'm looking to add a Millepora and Bali slimer as well.
Flow wise I'm not quite sure what to go for. Right now I only have a single Tunze 6015, but I think that's probably not quite enough for strong and healthy growth. I'm open to suggestions on that point.
That's pretty much what I got for now.
Back when he was alive, this used to be a planted tank, with rather lush growth, and far too much algae. But last year I ended up keeping it as a holding tank for some old rock and macroalgae, and honestly I really liked the way the sunlight fell on the tank during late spring and the summer months, so I decided to make it into an actual reef, and take advantage of that.
I left a small Pavona frag in the corner of the tank for a few weeks to see what would happen, while I was waiting for the shipments of light, rock and sand, and interestingly enough it not only grew a bit, but actually kept its green color. And when time came to move it to another tank, for safekeeping while this system starts up, it actually "popped" off the glass, meaning it had already begun encrusting, under pure sunlight.
But I live too far north for this to be a sutainable growing strategy, so I ordered two Kessil a160we Tuna Blues, after researching them throroughly to ensure they can grow SPS in a tank this size. The Kessils were chosen two two primary reasons: Low profile, and the shimmer. I didn't want the lights to cast big shadows on the tank, to maximize the amount of daylight hitting the tank, and I wanted to match the caustics of natural sunlight.
Everything arrived this week, firs the rock went in, but I had to order extra suspension for the second kessil.
Yesterday the sand came, as well as the extra suspension, so that went in and the second kessil went up.
And today the cloudyness is starting to clear up a bit, and the aquascape is finally starting to show.
I decided to go for a minimalistic setup on this tank, having always favored mounds and walls of rock in the past. The plan here is to just have a few colonies, and allow them space to grow out. I have a Tenuis that's been sitting in one of my other tanks for about a year, that will be going in here and I'm looking to add a Millepora and Bali slimer as well.
Flow wise I'm not quite sure what to go for. Right now I only have a single Tunze 6015, but I think that's probably not quite enough for strong and healthy growth. I'm open to suggestions on that point.
That's pretty much what I got for now.