Cali Kid Corals

Richie's Reefer 500

finalphaze987 said:
Tank looks great! How are those gyres on the end holding up for you?
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A reefwave 45 and a mp40. No issues with either. I do basically no maintenance on them and haven't had any real issues.

I did have the reefwave get stuck awhile back and not rotate, but I just manually pushed it to get it spinning and it fixed itself. I can't recall if it was because a pencil urchin spine was stuck in it, but might have been.

The reefwave is not as quiet as I'd like, given the location in the living room, but it's quieter than the previous I replaced. The MP40 of course is dead silent.
 
Any opinions on this right side rock structure? I put it together really quickly out of rock I had on hand. I have all my original rock from before I tore this down still in the holding tub with the fish and coral, but I may get rid of some that have a bunch of shrooms. Given that I put other rock I have in quickly to help get it seeded.

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Ignore the center and empty other end. That will change when I actually move things in. Sorry for the glare, I couldn't avoid it.

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richiev said:
Any opinions on this right side rock structure? I put it together really quickly out of rock I had on hand. I have all my original rock from before I tore this down still in the holding tub with the fish and coral, but I may get rid of some that have a bunch of shrooms. Given that I put other rock I have in quickly to help get it seeded.

View attachment 68453


Ignore the center and empty other end. That will change when I actually move things in. Sorry for the glare, I couldn't avoid it.

View attachment 68454
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I dig it. Are those rocks attached or just piled?
 
If the rocks are just resting upon each other….a little scary (assuming you have a glass tank
Hopefully in a year the micro fauna will grow and hold it in place.

If the top rock falls toward the glass, can it hit sand before the glass?
If so, you’re probably fine
But, IF you have fish that will excavate, I would make it more secure from the start
 
It looks great, but yea...the stacking with no support would leave me a little uneasy...

What are you planning on having atop? Maybe leave a little more room for growth?
 
They're stacked right now. I did it last night at 11:45pm :)

I wasn't expecting to like it. Given positive vibes I'll drain the tank down and start cementing at some point this week. At that point I'll also be making sure it's nested on glass not sand.

Thanks all!

RE what will go on top, honestly no plan right now. Very spur of the moment. I'm thinking it'd be a good stick + monti cap spot.
 
As @Coral reefer mentioned at the workshop, it's good to plan ahead for flow and growth (having parallel openings underneath your structure that allow the water to pass through helps reduce gunk from accumulating). That could be as simple as rotating it 90 degrees or moving the base rocks 90 degrees as I assume your pumps will be on the short ends of the tank.

I forgot why you took down all the livestock in the main tank again. Was to load up the frag system?
 
Darkxerox said:
As @Coral reefer mentioned at the workshop, it's good to plan ahead for flow and growth (having parallel openings underneath your structure that allow the water to pass through helps reduce gunk from accumulating). That could be as simple as rotating it 90 degrees or moving the base rocks 90 degrees as I assume your pumps will be on the short ends of the tank.

I forgot why you took down all the livestock in the main tank again. Was to load up the frag system?
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I had the floors redone so had to move everything out. Once removed, feels like I might as well future proof and replace some things.
 
Current setup. I'd love critiques. Semi epoxied while I wait for nyos cement to arrive.

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This is a lot more rock than I used last time, but still doesn't feel too full so I'm ok with it.

I tried to @Kensington Reefer style have more varied hides, and @Coral reefer dead spot reduction. Though I do see two spots detritus gravitates to, which might be helpful in that I have a garbage dump I can siphon from.

This was not the setup I wanted, but every time I tried to cement the setups I liked I caused a rock collapse and eventually ran out of time and ended up with this. It's basically a giant arch but has a lot of unshaded area because I have that one really really big rock piece. Also ignore the front section. That's currently a holding ground for random pieces I haven't transferred yet.

Flow wise currently have a mp40 and will move my gyre over once I move the rest of my coral and my fish over. I might also install some locline on the return to point the flow forward and down over the top.

Apologies for blue, early morning and I hate the kessil app so much.
 
richiev said:
Current setup. I'd love critiques. Semi epoxied while I wait for nyos cement to arrive.

View attachment 68752

View attachment 68753

View attachment 68754

View attachment 68755


This is a lot more rock than I used last time, but still doesn't feel too full so I'm ok with it.

I tried to @Kensington Reefer style have more varied hides, and @Coral reefer dead spot reduction. Though I do see two spots detritus gravitates to, which might be helpful in that I have a garbage dump I can siphon from.

This was not the setup I wanted, but every time I tried to cement the setups I liked I caused a rock collapse and eventually ran out of time and ended up with this. It's basically a giant arch but has a lot of unshaded area because I have that one really really big rock piece. Also ignore the front section. That's currently a holding ground for random pieces I haven't transferred yet.

Flow wise currently have a mp40 and will move my gyre over once I move the rest of my coral and my fish over. I might also install some locline on the return to point the flow forward and down over the top.

Apologies for blue, early morning and I hate the kessil app so much.
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Looks good
Yes known dead spots are good, but with more fish and coral growth they may change over time
I too HATE the Kessil app. I’m a big fan of manual control!!
And... what’s the “Kensington reefer style”?
 
Nyos reef cement is awesome stuff. You do need to be careful to not push too much and turn it into dust, but it hardens so fast underwater it's shocking. Coral and fish seem unaffected by the residue in the water.

@Coral reefer do you ever use this?

I'm wondering if I should some carbon temporarily just in case
 
richiev said:
Nyos reef cement is awesome stuff. You do need to be careful to not push too much and turn it into dust, but it hardens so fast underwater it's shocking. Coral and fish seem unaffected by the residue in the water.

@Coral reefer do you ever use this?

I'm wondering if I should some carbon temporarily just in case
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That's what he uses from aqua scaping workshop. Once dry if u want super glue and sand to cover joints if it matters that much to you.
 
richiev said:
Nyos reef cement is awesome stuff. You do need to be careful to not push too much and turn it into dust, but it hardens so fast underwater it's shocking. Coral and fish seem unaffected by the residue in the water.

@Coral reefer do you ever use this?

I'm wondering if I should some carbon temporarily just in case
Click to expand...
I have used it a lot, but never under water. I have out freshly used cement into tank right away tho without issue
 
I would also imagine unless it's a existing tank already fully of stuff and ur just adding a new rock probably a heck of alot easier just to do it out of water than under it.
 
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