80 Gallon Shallow Reef - 48 x 24 x 16

Antics · Sep 14, 2017

Performed a large water change and cleaned up the glass. My fish look great so I can't complain about anything.

Just a couple shout outs for those that helped me that I haven't had time to properly thank recently.

@Humblefish for always giving great advice on quarantine and helping me with my husbandry in general. Pretty much always answering questions and giving great suggestions for improving the chance of survival whenever I run into issues!

@4FordFamily for his great articles both on Tang Aggression and the need for proper quarantine with Acanthurus tangs. Hoping I can keep my Gold Rim happy until I have a chance to upgrade the tank.

Humblefish · Sep 14, 2017

@Antics Glad to see you came out OK!

4FordFamily · Sep 14, 2017

Antics said:
Performed a large water change and cleaned up the glass. My fish look great so I can't complain about anything.

Just a couple shout outs for those that helped me that I haven't had time to properly thank recently.

@Humblefish for always giving great advice on quarantine and helping me with my husbandry in general. Pretty much always answering questions and giving great suggestions for improving the chance of survival whenever I run into issues!

@4FordFamily for his great articles both on Tang Aggression and the need for proper quarantine with Acanthurus tangs. Hoping I can keep my Gold Rim happy until I have a chance to upgrade the tank.

I'm glad everything is working out! You're more than welcome, glad you found it helpful!

Amoo · Oct 10, 2017

Tagging in for 2 reasons. 1 I love shallow reefs, 2 Feeding 6 times a day is awesome. Gotta run to the store though. I'll catch up shortly.

Leishman · Oct 10, 2017

there should be a thread for the 80g deep blue tanks.

Amoo · Oct 10, 2017

Leishman said:
there should be a thread for the 80g deep blue tanks.

That's Tankish or something offensive, I only have the 60 deep blue

Antics · Oct 10, 2017

So I've always been a fan of Bubble King. My first serious tank had a Bubble King and I remember all the grief I got from reefing friends when they found out how much they cost. When I planned out this build I was using a Reef Octopus Regal 200 SSS. It was DC, half the price of a Bubble King, and I knew RO was a great company. It did its job, but I never felt like I was amazed by its performance. After using it for close to a year I was planning on buying a new skimmer to be used in an eventual upgrade.

Due to some bad luck for a local reefer, Hurricane Irma decimated his tank. ;(

As he was liquidating his equipment I was able to pick up a Bubble King Double Cone 180. I've had it for almost two weeks and I remember why I fell in love the first time.

The photo below is the result of 48 hours from when I cleaned it Sunday night up until now.

revhtree · Dec 26, 2017

Any updates on this great build?

Antics · Dec 26, 2017

revhtree said:
Any updates on this great build?

In the process of planning a small upgrade, more details in the future.

Janci · Feb 11, 2018

So @Antics... what about that upgrade?
Today is the future!!!

Anthony Cusumano · Mar 9, 2018

Awesome tank! Can you give the part number for this tank? I’ve been wanting a deep blue rimless 80 with out corner overflow.

BluTang85 · Jul 19, 2018

Very nice tank, I really like how the doors are glass and u can see the equipment.

Antics · Jul 19, 2018

BluTang85 said:
Very nice tank, I really like how the doors are glass and u can see the equipment.

I like them too, but I've been working on / planning an upgrade for about a year and my wife is pretty adamant about me not doing glass again... but we'll see.

cpark645 · Jul 20, 2018

Do you have any issues with sand blowing around? I'm planning on upgrading to these exact dimensions with sps, so I'd love to hear how sand has worked out for you.

Antics · Jul 20, 2018

cpark645 said:
Do you have any issues with sand blowing around? I'm planning on upgrading to these exact dimensions with sps, so I'd love to hear how sand has worked out for you.

I have Tropic Eden's reeflakes as substrate which is a rather large grain at 3mm. I get minimal sand movement from my vortechs and that's with them sitting fairly low due to my Shadow overflow. I think if you want to mount your vortechs on the back wall like I did you will need to use a larger grain to prevent sandstorms. If you're planning to mount away from the overflow and higher on the glass it should be fine.

In my upgrade I believe I am going to go down to a mix or meso and miniflakes (2.7 and 2mm grains).

Volcom6981 · Jul 20, 2018

I'm looking at doing a 48x24, but mine would be 12 inches high, and I have 2 vortech mp10s laying around, did you feel those did good with your set up?

Antics · Jul 20, 2018

Volcom6981 said:
I'm looking at doing a 48x24, but mine would be 12 inches high, and I have 2 vortech mp10s laying around, did you feel those did good with your set up?

For sure. I run 3 MP10s at 100% without issue. You can always tone it down to 50-60% for a shallower aquarium.

Janci · Jul 21, 2018

Can we see some updated pictures?
Were any corals added to the tank?

Antics · Jul 21, 2018

Janci said:
Can we see some updated pictures?
Were any corals added to the tank?

Come on man, you can't be coming in here and pointing out how my reef tank doesn't have any coral...

I'll get a few updated pictures today when the lights come on. The aquarium has been running about two years now and I haven't added anything in almost a year. All my fish are doing great but I haven't had any coral in my coral quarantine for at least six months. I didn't have the time or will to really focus on doing that in the past year.

However, with this upgrade my wife has been very adamant that she wants coral and doesn't care about my beautiful fish... so I will be adding some in the future. Because this system has a full quarantine on it I've noticed its more difficult planning and managing the parameters of two tanks when I'm trying to add corals. I remember the fun days of just buying coral at the fish store and dumping them in the tank right away. But I do get pretty depressed when my fish get sick or die so I'm glad those days are behind me (knock on wood). All that being said... I will still be doing a full quarantine on corals, cuc, and shrimp.

Janci · Jul 21, 2018

Antics said:
Come on man, you can't be coming in here and pointing out how my reef tank doesn't have any coral...

I'll get a few updated pictures today when the lights come on. The aquarium has been running about two years now and I haven't added anything in almost a year. All my fish are doing great but I haven't had any coral in my coral quarantine for at least six months. I didn't have the time or will to really focus on doing that in the past year.

However, with this upgrade my wife has been very adamant that she wants coral and doesn't care about my beautiful fish... so I will be adding some in the future. Because this system has a full quarantine on it I've noticed its more difficult planning and managing the parameters of two tanks when I'm trying to add corals. I remember the fun days of just buying coral at the fish store and dumping them in the tank right away. But I do get pretty depressed when my fish get sick or die so I'm glad those days are behind me (knock on wood). All that being said... I will still be doing a full quarantine on corals, cuc, and shrimp.

The forum is all about little text and lots of pictures.... ;Snaphappy;Snaphappy;Snaphappy;Snaphappy