Rishu's Really Ridiculous Reef: a 96x20x20 penny tank build

[Ranchu50]

Being that Rishu lives 5 minutes from my house, i am very interested in your tank build!
Amazing dedication Rishu!
Excited for you!

[Treebeard]

I would pass on the mushrooms. I would gladly give you all of mine if I could do it without smashing my live rock to smithereens!

[Ron99]

Hmmm, must have had a bad osmolator because the one I used was nothing but trouble. The pump wouldn't trigger on, the controller just showed an error. But could trigger it manually. but I'm pretty sure I've read about others having issues. On the flip side, my ATO.com unit has been flawless. So YMMV.

[rishu_pepper]

Let's try to reply to everyone!

Tim: I have not heard of the Foz Down product. If indeed it does what it advertises, then I'm all in for it! I guess I can always try a bottle and see. I agree that I do not enjoy changing out the RowaPhos stuff all the time.

Warren: Thanks for the branches, they are lovely! I'll let you know of the delivery date, we definitely need all hands on deck for this one!

Delphinus: Yeah it's a bit narrow, but we'll work with it. For lighting, I am still scouring/researching the mid-tier LEDs such as Reefbreeders, Reef Radiance, etc. My current Hydra 52s would work wonders but I cannot afford another $1500 for another two fixtures, so I'm selling my Hydras to fund these ones.

Skimmin: Considering my tank will only have just half of your DT size in terms of gallonage, I think I will be okay for now with 2 RW-20s. Time will tell.

Roskoreef: I saw yours and it looks very similar to mine! It looks awesome and makes me so excited about mine too!

Anthony: Hopefully the RW-20s will be well-situated and enough flow.

Ron/Mikellini/Denny: Perhaps Ron you got a lemon? I have had my Tunze Nano ATO for a while now and it's been extremely reliable, and most people's experience from what I've read online has been very positive. ATO = makes jobs easier.

Patrick: Haha one day you'll need to visit again when the tank is up! I should come visit you too with your new RSM!

Treebeard: I have heard of instances where mushrooms grow out of control, but both the wife and I enjoy these corals so I think they'll have their place.

[rishu_pepper]

Here's the 3D model the wife constructed, with some coral placements. None of these are permanent decisions, rather just having fun with what it could look like:

Side view, dining room


Side view, living room


Front view


Top view, dining room side


Top view, living room side


Bird's eye view

[albert_dao]

LOL ---> Love the labels! ♥♥♥

[rishu_pepper]

-

[.bubbles]

*side note: green stickies represent stuff we already have, pink is to be purchased. The only exception is the 'clams', that one should be pink

Off topic on the tank build, but since the husband has started blogging about our reefing adventures I want to add that I am so blown away by everyone we've met so far and their generosity, kindness and passion! As beginners, it has been invaluable to have the forum advice and encouragement. And every time we meet other reefers, it is pretty cool to be able to instantly connect and share about our respective experience and tanks.

Anyway, looking forward to meeting more fellow reef nerds, and thanks for all the help we've received and will continue to need


( I'm rishu's wife )

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Hi .bubbles

You should rethink the "suncoral" and eventually get another dendro or maybe some photosynthetic gorgonians. Suncorals are notoriously hard to keep alive long term compared to Dendros because each head needs to be individually fed. Suncorals also tend to open up at night or when detecting food. My dendros are open 80+% of the time, in contrast.

Acans also tend to be lower light corals, so placement high up on the rockwork may not be ideal.

Since this is a LPS-heavy system, 2 of the RW20s should be plenty of flow. My main display (165g) only has a WP60 and a WP25. Not enough for an SPS tank but just right for an LPS system.

Love the 3-D models. I never really go that far. I usually aquascape free style and go from there.

Glad to see you are both so into this addiction. My wife would probably divorce me before giving up her car to fund my next tank. Seriously.

Cheers,

Anthony

[rishu_pepper]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

LOL ---> Love the labels! ♥♥♥

LOL thanks for the love

Originally Posted by SeaHorse_Fanatic

Hi .bubbles

You should rethink the "suncoral" and eventually get another dendro or maybe some photosynthetic gorgonians. Suncorals are notoriously hard to keep alive long term compared to Dendros because each head needs to be individually fed. Suncorals also tend to open up at night or when detecting food. My dendros are open 80+% of the time, in contrast.

Acans also tend to be lower light corals, so placement high up on the rockwork may not be ideal.

Since this is a LPS-heavy system, 2 of the RW20s should be plenty of flow. My main display (165g) only has a WP60 and a WP25. Not enough for an SPS tank but just right for an LPS system.

Love the 3-D models. I never really go that far. I usually aquascape free style and go from there.

Glad to see you are both so into this addiction. My wife would probably divorce me before giving up her car to fund my next tank. Seriously.

Cheers,

Anthony

Thank you for the note on sun corals. If it's too hard to keep, we'll find some alternatives probably. The reasoning behind choosing sun corals was we wanted the bright attention grabbing colours at the entrance/tip of the penny so it makes a nice impression. What other red/yellow/orange corals are out there?

The acans can definitely move. Should have a bunch of room on the mid-arch/low-arch to place them.

I find that the 3D modelling, even with just a bunch of scrap paper glued together, gave us a good understanding of the rockwork/coral placement/lighting/etc., it's been a good starting point.

Selling a car, or a big awesome tank?