zab34s shallow 80

Have had a 55 gallon running for a little under a year, It was ran on a very low budget with minimal in nice equipment. Got a nice internship from school and finally made enough bucks to start a decent tank.

Here are pics of the old 55 before tear down and new 80 and stand before filling.







Current equipment list includes:

Mag 2 return
Bubble magus nac6 skimmer
20L diy sump. Just basic baffle setup (filter sock- skimmer- return)
2 - 120w full spectrum led panels 3w bridgelux
Reefkeeper Lite
2 300w Heaters controlled by the RKL
ATO also controlled by the RKL

Im currently away at school and my parents take care of the tank while I'm away the best they can but hiccups do occur here and there.

Here are some Progression shots over the past six months or so.

 

Can Anyone ID this chalice?





Also I have dead Plate Coral producing babies. What is the best way to care for these and have them mature into independent plates?



here is one of my better pictures ive taken

 

Stocklist is as followed

Fish:
Pajama cardinals (2)
Yellow tang
Pair of mocha clowns
Yellow Watchman Goby
yellowtail damsels (1)
Blue regal tang (still on the small side and plan future upgrades if not I have a friend with a 300 to take him)
Mandrin Dragonette

Inverts:

Bubble tip Nem
Blood ref fire shrimp
Peppermin shrimp (10)
Mexacan Turbos (4)
Emerald Crabs (2)
Sally lightfoot (1)

Corals:

mushrooms
Yuma
ric
devils hand leather (huge)
Brain Coral (Huge)
misc Zoas and Plays (nothing special or collector)
Fungia
Monti Cap. (orange/red)
GSP
Xenia (blue and Pink)
Yellow Polyps
Acans
Micromussa
Blastomussa
Duncans
Sun Coral
Cabbage Leather
Pocciliopora
Frogspawn
Challice (green with pink/orange eyes) Huge

I was debating building a floating canopy for them and maybe tossing two t5s in the there. But with mostly softies and lps I'm not sure if that would be to much light or not.

Also any input on what i should upgrade next flow or return and what size return do you think would be good?



any recommendations on this? I have a spare ten gallon in the garage or can pick something else up. I use a trash can for ATO and that pretty much fills the space to the right but that can be replaced.

 

Very nice tank! Who needs a fireplace anyways lol.

 

I used a 5g bucket for my ATO, that way i could put a lid on in it and keep bad stuff out(i have dogs that shed). Could also possibly find a sump of some kind that has 2 sections, one for fuge and one for ato. Then drill and plumb the fuge into the sump. Usually my fuges are part of the sump so this is uncharted territory for me. Just snowballing. For a return it depends on how big your drain pipe is and how much flow your trying to achieve. What ever you decide to do just make sure it has a ball valve on it to be able to adjust the flow rate.

 

I live in Florida so barely have had five fires in the past five years. I have a mag 2 on it now and a mag 7 available. I believe the return line is .75 inches and the overflow is 1.25 reduced to 1 inch.

It's a deepl blue 80 gallon if that helps any.

 

I'm sure you could use the mag 7 if it was turned down some.

 

What's the best way to turn it down. Simple ball valve inline? Gate valve?

Bump for Id on the chalice and t5 and leds?

 

Very very cool about the Fungia. Best advice is just keep doing what you're doing.

Nice tank.

For ID on the chalice I usually go to the vendor sites like Vivid, HappyCorals,.......

 

Yes I just use a ball valve inline. Corailline is correct though, if it ain't broke don't fix it.