Ed Reef’s Shallow Crest Inspired ART

[Ed Reef]

Sorry no scaping image at this moment. All in the head so I guess you will have to wait it out...

[Ed Reef]

OK, things are moving and getting closer as over the weekend I went around to all the furniture stores around and managed to get someone to make my custom dimension stand….

Some prelim schematics drawings of my stand from my cabinetmaker just arrived for those interested…









In order to ensure the stand can hold the weight of the tank, I got them to make a metal frame as support.




Hopefully it will be here in 10 to 14 days…


WISH ME LUCK

[ataller]

Tank looks like it is going to be amazing Ed. I'd love to do something like this one day.

In terms of aquascaping, if you are going for the amano look, why not have the live rock that is hiding your overflow continue out of the water. That way you hide the overflow from your 5th viewable side (the top). And you will have an esthetically pleasing mountain rising from your reef below. Just a thought. You could epoxy some lr together so you can easily remove it to service the overflow. Kind of like a liverock lid for your overflow.



Adam

[bennekepenneke]

Well to throw myself in the group . I'm kinda an addict of sketch up, but the free version, so did i miss something or is it possible to get those nice views as wel .



This is the image i made but it's just a print screen.

And as a final question how can i ever place the Sketch Up file here???

Thanks in advance

Ben

PS : never mind my name i think i was drunk

[bennekepenneke]

I really am an idiot can a mod replace this to the DIY section - Sketch Up .... please

Srry

Ben

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by ataller
Tank looks like it is going to be amazing Ed. I'd love to do something like this one day.

In terms of aquascaping, if you are going for the amano look, why not have the live rock that is hiding your overflow continue out of the water. That way you hide the overflow from your 5th viewable side (the top). And you will have an esthetically pleasing mountain rising from your reef below. Just a thought. You could epoxy some lr together so you can easily remove it to service the overflow. Kind of like a liverock lid for your overflow.



Adam

Thanks Adam - that's what I envision to have the overflow box totally hidden...problem is finding the right type of rocks for this type of scape is the real challenge here...

Well....we will see what I can come out with in the end...

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by bennekepenneke
Well to throw myself in the group . I'm kinda an addict of sketch up, but the free version, so did i miss something or is it possible to get those nice views as wel .



This is the image i made but it's just a print screen.

And as a final question how can i ever place the Sketch Up file here???

Thanks in advance

Ben

PS : never mind my name i think i was drunk

Good rendering Ben, eventhou it's in the wrong forum

[Ed Reef]

These are old pictures but you get the idea… lol I used this sand in my previous tank and I’m very please with it. This korallen-zucht Aragonit sand is about 2-3mm in size and I think it’s good enough to avoid any sand storm from my Streams. I will also take some live sand from my previous tank to seed the sand and kick start the cycle


Each bag comes in a 4.6kg packaging and in total I need 19 bags of each to get a substrate of 2-3cm. A lot more bags of sand compare to my previous tank, if I remember correctly as this tank base is much wider.


Also forgotten how expensive sand beds can be?? Mmm… makes me wonder why I didn’t just go with BB??


Already started cleaning them and soaking them in RO/DI water and will exchange out the water daily.

[dmorel]

I love it!
Awesome Goby list.

In my shallow tank I have a few pieces of Live rock coming out of the water surface so I therefore whole heartily approve of such a decision!

Can't wait to see the progression.

Oh, just a quick note on the spots, the super cool bulbs I'm running are like 50K so there is some stuff beyond the 14 and 20K. That's really only the G12 base bulbs that you are limited to.

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by dmorel
Oh, just a quick note on the spots, the super cool bulbs I'm running are like 50K so there is some stuff beyond the 14 and 20K. That's really only the G12 base bulbs that you are limited to.

Thanks dmorel....something to think about for future upgrade maybe??

[erics3000]

Love that sand. I really want to change min out for a larger size.

[Ed Reef]

It's a good size to avoid sand storm, especially for us shallow tanks and also easy to clean compare to those sugar fine sands. Used it in my previous tank and absolutely love it...!!

[Ed Reef]

Getting closer as today my T5 tubes arrived. I have to get someone to hand carry them over from HK for me!! God bless those wonderful friends of mine…!!

These are the tubes combos I will be using, a mixture of ATI/ KZ …





I got 2 additional KZ T5 Coral Light New Generation14K tubes and might swap out one or both the ATI Blue+ should the overall colors become too blue.

Anyway this is my revised lighting diagram with the new dimension of the tank…..







Funny how things work out as now I can use all the T5 reflectors I previously bought for my 295-g tank - talk about good fungshui !!

[tcmfish]

Just quickly scanned through it, and one thing that caught my eye... why the bicolor dottyback, pretty aggressive fish. An orchid, sankeyi, indigo, would all be better choices for far less temperment.

Also if you set on that color sceme why not a royal gramma?

[Ed Reef]

Hi Tim,

Love the color of the bicolor - I know what they say about em but I used to have one before it went carpet surfing and overall mine doesn't seem aggressive at all...maybe due to the fact he is being tank with a couple of 3-4" Tangs, 1 trigger, 2-3 Angels....??

IME, a Royal Gramma is more aggressive as a friend of mine has one and he is seen giving his Tangs and Angels a run around in his 150-g tank!!

Well, the stocking list is not final so we will see how it goes as this stocking plans has less aggressive fishes...!!

Might give him a miss altogether




Btw, is that a betta on your avatar?? How's he behaving?? Was always dreaming of having one but was worried if he will eat my inverts

[SunnyX]

Looks like your new system is going to be a stunner.
I will be following along.

[tcmfish]

I have a pair of bettas. That one in my avatar is not mine, but here are a few pics of mine, well at the moment I only have this one, but its my favorite anyways:



Also as far as inverts, I would trust my pair with ornamental shrimp such as a skunk cleaner or fire shrimp. When I tried feeding these live shrimp they only took the tiny feeder shrimp from the LFS not the larger ones I collected.

I also kept a third one with this pair before he got the boot by the male and it never wanted larger shrimp either.

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by SunnyX
Looks like your new system is going to be a stunner.
I will be following along.

Thanks Sonny - look like I'm joining the club of shallow and rimless

Wish one day it will be a stunner like yours.... yours is due for a 2nd TOTM

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by tcmfish
I have a pair of bettas. That one in my avatar is not mine, but here are a few pics of mine, well at the moment I only have this one, but its my favorite anyways:



Also as far as inverts, I would trust my pair with ornamental shrimp such as a skunk cleaner or fire shrimp. When I tried feeding these live shrimp they only took the tiny feeder shrimp from the LFS not the larger ones I collected.

I also kept a third one with this pair before he got the boot by the male and it never wanted larger shrimp either.

And how do you differentiate the male/ female?? Difference size polka dots??

I'm now really tempted to add one in my stock list plans....

[tcmfish]

They aren't going to be out and about, but if your pairing its kind of hit or miss. I would do it in another tank, where you can monitor them. But one would be fine.

[Ed Reef]

Originally posted by tcmfish
They aren't going to be out and about, but if your pairing its kind of hit or miss. I would do it in another tank, where you can monitor them. But one would be fine.

Thanks Tim - one last question on Betta - did you place your betta in after your inverts has settle in or before??

Reason I ask is I presume it will make a difference as I used to have a Niger Trigger and only place him in after my inverts has settle in but any new inverts (shrimps, snails) I add in after him, he will not give it a friendly welcome

[tcmfish]

Well I didn't buy or add any of the "classic" inverts such as the ornamental shrimps, but the shrimps I did add were shrimps I collected locally as food for the bettas only for them not too eat them. They preferred the shrimps in the 1" range like the ghost shrimps you would buy at the LFS, or fish the size of feeder guppies.

If you can find shrimp to feed them though it is sooo awesome to watch them try and scare prey with their tail! They will also try and scare you sometimes if you put your face up to the tank fast they will whip around backwards to try and scare you!

[Ed Reef]

Hahahha....using their tail false eye!! COOL

[Ed Reef]

Now with the stand design and dimension finalized, I realize I would need to revise my sump dimension and overall design AGAIN in order for it to fit under the stand.

So this is what I came out with….






No….this beautiful drawings are not done by me but I ask a help from a local reefer here who is very good with AutoCad program…!!

This should be the final version as I have sent it out to the tank maker this morning.



Note to self: Need to post this in the DYI Forum: Free Sketchup Renderings *inquire within* and see if they can do a rendering of what it will look like in this dimension with the new revised tank, stand and sump….

[Ed Reef]

OK, I’m too excited and decided to do a quick review for those who is interested…


Packaging:

As usual, I like to start off with packaging… well, nothing much to say except that this is one area I think Tunze should spend some effort.

Some of the local pumps here in China packed better…. lol




Size:

They come in two model - 1073.020 model rated at 2,400 l/h (634 USgal./h) and 1073.040 rated at 3,000 l/h (792 USgal./h). My model I’m using is the larger model



What’s Inside?





Dismantling the pump for cleaning is very easy….


However, I was misinform and this US model only comes in 115 V / 60 Hz so this will means I cannot use it here in China…. I e-mail Roger and this is his reply:

“US pump will only work on 115V 60Hz so for China is on 50Hz. Since a synchronous pump depends on the Hz for its rotational frequency, the Hz are critical to flow rate and start up and it is not likely that the 5024.040 will last very long if it is running on 50Hz even with a transformer. For 50Hz the coil is different and the impeller is larger.�


In summary, he don’t recommend running it with a step-up transformer so guess I’ve to return it back to the US





With that I’ve no choice but to go back to Ehiem…..





This is the new Ehiem Compact series pump with even higher capacity compare to their Universal pump models 1262, which we are all more familiar with…

They have a chose of 3 with adjustable flow models to choose from: 2000/ 3000/ 5000




Pretty cool that the pump comes with a hanging kit, which means you can suspend your pump in mid air….

Also comes with 2 plastic clip-on to secure your hose to the output of the pump. Only thing I don’t like is the output of the pump is fix and cannot be exchange out, unlike their Universal model



Suitable for both internal and external used.