TX’s Reef’s zoo med 50 gal lowboy

[TX_REEF]

The system is officially filled and salted! Once it’s cleared up I’ll measure salinity and get some rock from my displays set up in the sump.

 

[Goldberg]

The tank looks amazing, beautiful design

 

[TX_REEF]

Salinity and temperature is stabilized (1.026 and 78 degrees F respectively) so I freed my LPS-eating emerald crabs from their prison in my display tank sump and released them into their new home where they can both be comfortable and do no harm - in the large refugium of my shallow tank sump where they will soon enjoy plenty of sand, rocks and mangroves. I also imported a good bit of rubble rock from my main tank sump which has been seeding for a couple months.

 

[TX_REEF]

I completed the Mangrove Refugium. It turned out almost exactly like I imagined, which is rare for me! I used a combination of mature rock from my mixed reef and dry Caribsea life rock which I soaked overnight in RODI. I love the ability to take the above and below water line shots.

I picked up some super cute but skittish blue yellow belly damsels at LFS. I only wanted 3, but they were $14 each or 4 for $35, so you can guess what I did

I also decided to move the gyre to the opposite side the the return to create a more true circularly flow pattern. Love the top down view on this shallow tank!

I still have to build something to hang the display light from, but I’m in no hurry for now as I have no coral frags ready to move in.

 

[DIYreefer]

Looking good man, congrats!!

I finally got my stand done. I screwed up my back assembling it in place (had to, it's significantly taller than the door way) because I was so limited on space and it's pretty heavy. It's basically 2 full sheets of 3/4" plywood.... whatever that weighs. Anyway, it's done and I don't think I will ever build something like this again. I'm not a huge fan of the stacked tanks but I had no choice. I didn't have enough room to build out so I had to build up, lol. Still need to build lighting fixtures, put baffles in the sump, and do some simple plumbing and I'll be ready for water as well.

This is the current state of my man cave. Please ignore the mess!

 

[TX_REEF]

Looking good man, congrats!!

I finally got my stand done. I screwed up my back assembling it in place (had to, it's significantly taller than the door way) because I was so limited on space and it's pretty heavy. It's basically 2 full sheets of 3/4" plywood.... whatever that weighs. Anyway, it's done and I don't think I will ever build something like this again. I'm not a huge fan of the stacked tanks but I had no choice. I didn't have enough room to build out so I had to build up, lol. Still need to build lighting fixtures, put baffles in the sump, and do some simple plumbing and I'll be ready for water as well.

This is the current state of my man cave. Please ignore the mess!

I love it!! Vey clean look.

Don’t forget to take some Advil and stretch

 

[DIYreefer]

I love it!! Vey clean look.

Don’t forget to take some Advil and stretch

So part of the deal I made with my wife in order to basically take o er the spare bedroom in our house is that I would at least make it look half way decent. The stand for the tank on the right used to be completely open. That didn't fly, she didn't want to see all of my tank junk underneath it. Ironically, that system is basically a giant all in one system... no sump underneath. I won't be surprised if the new set up gets a set of doors covering the sump at some point as well.

Advil and stretching... got it, thanks! I've been very fortunate in that I've never had any sort of back injuries. This is a first for me and I'm not a fan, lol.

 

[TX_REEF]

So part of the deal I made with my wife in order to basically take o er the spare bedroom in our house is that I would at least make it look half way decent. The stand for the tank on the right used to be completely open. That didn't fly, she didn't want to see all of my tank junk underneath it. Ironically, that system is basically a giant all in one system... no sump underneath. I won't be surprised if the new set up gets a set of doors covering the sump at some point as well.

Advil and stretching... got it, thanks! I've been very fortunate in that I've never had any sort of back injuries. This is a first for me and I'm not a fan, lol.

Now I feel extra lucky, your SO wants you to make the tank I the guest room look pretty and mine let me have an open 2x4 stand right next to the front door! I’ll have to make sure to get her a nice Christmas gift haha

 

[fluffyhouse]

Now I feel extra lucky, your SO wants you to make the tank I the guest room look pretty and mine let me have an open 2x4 stand right next to the front door! I’ll have to make sure to get her a nice Christmas gift haha

Lucky guy

 

[TX_REEF]

My “treasure chest” order of live rubble rock and live sand arrived from Tampa Bay Saltwater @LiverockRocks today. I am beyond impressed! It included awesome hitchhikers: Macroalgae, numerous mini brittle stars, worms, hermit crabs, emerald and/or pithos crabs, and a FREAKING MANTIS SHRIMP!!! The tiny mantis is now happily residing in my display refugium.

 

[bradreef]

How did you find the mantis? Was it out of the rocks?

 

[TX_REEF]

How did you find the mantis? Was it out of the rocks?

Yes! I noticed it swimming in the bag of rubble and thought it was a fish at first.

 

[TX_REEF]

I moved one of my giant hermits from my main display into the refugium:

 

[TX_REEF]

I mounted my power strip and controllers for pumps and heater to my stand. I also installed my optical ATO kit, with a Rubbermaid 23 gal slim Jim trash can as a reservoir (thanks @jason2459 for the tip!)

 

[DIYreefer]

Since I haven't started my own build thread, can I vent here? Lol.

I unboxed and put together my new skimmer for my low boy frag system. Awesome, right? Wrong. It has the wrong collection cup. No problem... return it for an exchange. Nope. I bought it in Oct. of '21. I just never opened the box until now.

I messaged BRS but I don't expect them to do much considering I bought it 2 years ago. $300 down the drain. As far as I can tell they don't sell stand alone collection cups for this particular skimmer (aquamaxx dfc-120). Sucks.

 

[TX_REEF]

Since I haven't started my own build thread, can I vent here? Lol.

I unboxed and put together my new skimmer for my low boy frag system. Awesome, right? Wrong. It has the wrong collection cup. No problem... return it for an exchange. Nope. I bought it in Oct. of '21. I just never opened the box until now.

I messaged BRS but I don't expect them to do much considering I bought it 2 years ago. $300 down the drain. As far as I can tell they don't sell stand alone collection cups for this particular skimmer (aquamaxx dfc-120). Sucks.

I can’t quite tell the issue - any chance it can be rectified with a DIY gasket or something similar?? Maybe a new different cup?

 

[DIYreefer]

I can’t quite tell the issue - any chance it can be rectified with a DIY gasket or something similar?? Maybe a new different cup?

The collection cup is too small. I'm pretty sure it's for the next size down from my skimmer.

I was already thinking about seeing if someone could 3d print some sort of adapter to make it work.

Honestly, it's probably not as big of an issue as I've made it out to be. I skim VERY dry and really only run skimmers to oxygenate the system and boost ph (skimmer air intakes pull in air from outside the house). It would probably work OK by simply placing the collection cup on the skimmer body. I guess it would only become a problem if I needed to skim more aggressively due to high nutrient levels.

I'll see what BRS says, but now that I really think about it, it's not that big of a deal. Should work out alright for what I want to do.

 

[Bakedpwn]

Some more measurable progress tonight.

I primed and cemented the pre-Union pvc to the overflow. I wasn’t worried about the purple color of the primer because my PVC is black and I am going to paint the white fittings:

I used stainless steel pipe clamps with rubber grips combined with spacers and stainless steel screws to prevent the weight of the PVC and accompanying water from stressing the glass:

I added a water change drain because I think I’m fancy:

I measured, cut and dry-fit downpipes for both the main and emergency drains with the intention of them terminating 1.5 inches below the sump water level. I also shortened the diagonal emergency drain line to shorten the horizontal run to conserve horizontal sump space, and make it even with the main drain:

I received my perfect-sized sump baffles with adjustable water level weir and dry fitted them with a 9-inch sump water level in mind. I considered making them myself, but acrylic sheets are quite expensive on their own and I only have basic power tools and hand tools, so getting pre-fab was more cost effective for me:

I ordered 50 feet of 1” braided vinyl tubing because it was 50% off and ended up being cheaper than buying 25 feet which was the shortest length on Amazon. I’ll use it to attach my Reefbreeders nautilus DC return pump to the PVC return plumbing:

I drank some whiskey because tank plumbing is more fun with a buzz:

nice this makes sense for a return! sick build dude

 

[CasperOe]

Looks like you've made great progress since I was last here! I love the shallow reef look, one day i will have a lagoon style reef as well!

 

[TX_REEF]

I fashioned a light hanging arm out of spare wood and stainless steel screws. Once the wood glue dries, I will sand and paint it black, and secure it to the wooden ledge behind the tank that is built into the wall using stainless construction screws. I’ll hang my Kessil AP9x from it with the same black chain I used to hang the fuge light. The height of the device is 40 inches so I’ll have plenty of height to play with when deciding how far above the water line I want the kessil. I expect I’ll end up hanging it quite high since the tank is so shallow and the LEDs are quite powerful.