My new 40 gallon breeder reef

lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Well, after I took down and sold my 210 and 75, I set up a 40 gallon breeder reef aquarium.
This tank has been running for two weeks now, so there is still a little bit of algae growth. Since the rock and substrate got moved over from the 210 though, no cycle was necessary.
I am running 150 watt metal halide and (2) 65 watt power compact lighting, hydor koralia powerheads, and an emperor 400 for debris pick-up/mechanical filtration. There is also a Corallife Super Skimmer 65 on it. The set-up has an auto-top off under the stand.
fish:
fuzzy dwarf lion
engineer goby
maroon clown
inverts:
10 nassaurius snails
10 astrea snails
10 margarita snails
corals:
pink birdsnest
blue acropora
green acropora
blue zoas, orange, and green zoas
blowpop zoa frag
watermelon zoas
red mushrooms
purple mushrooms
purple tipped hairy mushroom
xenia
caulestrea/candy cane




 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2645717
It looks great lion_crazz!! Do you have just a thin layer of sand in there?
Extremely thin. As close to bare bottom without actually going bare bottom.
Thanks for the comments guys. I will post more shots as the tank progresses.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
http:///forum/post/2645779
Extremely thin. As close to bare bottom without actually going bare bottom.
Thanks for the comments guys. I will post more shots as the tank progresses.
The goby doesn't seem to mind? Why did you decide to have such a thin layer of sand? I have seen the arguments for bare bottom. Is that the way that you were leaning when you made this decision?
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Yes i figured that i could prevent any kind of build up that way. It is about a half an inch thick. I actually had substrate to cover the whole bottom but the engineer pushed it out of the cave
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by lion_crazz
http:///forum/post/2646164
Yes i figured that i could prevent any kind of build up that way. It is about a half an inch thick. I actually had substrate to cover the whole bottom but the engineer pushed it out of the cave
You're not at all concerned about lack of natural balance? I am not convinced that no sand or little sand is beneficial to a system at all. I have read about it but probably wouldn't do it myself. Maybe it does work out great. I don't know because I haven't tried it. Although, now that I think about it, my clowns are doing very well in a 15 long with a few pieces of rock and just a scattering of sand. They have only been there for a few months though. I would not consider that system complete at all. In a reef though I would think that the deeper sand would be home to all of the micro-fauna and inverts that are important to a natural system.
 
stanlalee

stanlalee

Active Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/2646180
I am not convinced that no sand or little sand is beneficial to a system at all..
there is no real benefit to "the system" except allowing high flow without a sand storm and keep detritus suspended in the water where it can be removed instead of resting on the bottom. Unless you want an SPS dominated tank that can benefit from the increased flow it allows and dont want/cant keep a bottom dwelling clean up crew to handle settled detritus (such as when keeping a dwarf lion or an aggressive reef) there's no real need for bare bottom. Its definately less natural looking. I suppose thats why he put just enough sand to cover the bottom. Most bare bottom tanks by the time they are done no one will focus on the bottom or be able to see it.
 
H

heart & sole

Guest
the tank looks great. I like the idea of a almost bare bottom. Great fuzzy lion BTW
 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Alright, I figured I would post some new tank shots. Since the last shots were taken, I have changed the halide from 10k to 20k and I am completely happy with it. The 10k washed the corals out, whereas, the 20 brightens them incredibly. I am still getting decent growth with the 20 as well.


 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Last ones. I like these two because of the growth. The 5 inch hairy mushroom is splitting and the wall hammer is growing tremendously since getting it a month ago.

 
lion_crazz

lion_crazz

Active Member
Pics make it look much more blue. It is actually pretty white (I just stink with cameras).
A few of the new shots were taken with just actinic, as well (like the fuzzy pic).
 
myzislow

myzislow

Member
Looking good! I really like the rock work and how you have a very thin layer of sand. So much easier to keep clean. I recently sucked as much sand out my tank as possible, still leaving enough to cover the bottom in the front of the tank, while going basically barebottom in the back of the tank. I then placed a korilia nano in each rear corner for detritus suspension and added water movement and I must say it's rocking now.
Loving the fuzzy!
 
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