Reef Face 22L - inspired by Phanta Rhei, Jurijs J., Sebastian, Adey and Tyree....

[Andrew Mc]

In order to kick off this build thread, I'm going first to go a few years back and show a freshwater tank that was kind of a "proof of concept" that lead to the system that makes the basis of this build thread. First, to give credit where credit is due - Stumbling across video footage of Panta Rhei's "Stream Tank" was the genesis of the underlying concepts I tried to emulate in generating massive, tidal like, reef face flow. It wasn't until after seeing Sebastian (a friend of YT's accomplished aqua-scaper Jurijs Jutjajevs) present his scaled down replica stream tank on YT in a living room friendly size, that I finalized the mental blueprints for the adaptation of this lateral "stream-type" flow for a marine reef setting. (Please check out "20.000 l/h River Stream Flow Tank Aquarium - Double Bottom Aquascape explained" and "Aquascaping a DBL bottom Aquarium - Step by Step River Stream Flow Tank aquascape tutorial" on Jurijs Jutjajevs' YT Channel )

The flow I sought to replicate would mimic tides which, unlike a FW stream, will often reverse direction as a result of cyclical lunar gravitational influences. Therefore, I set out to modify the "stream tank" and and give it a reverse gear. In short, it's akin to a closed loop system that uses a false bottom (aka double bottom) for directing and controlling flow as opposed to the typical exterior PVC plumbing joining two bulkheads. The false bottom is an integral component of the closed loop circuit and segues nicely into another yet another area of build homage - Tyree's cryptic and semi-cryptic zonal systems.

But first, a few build shots of the Mr. Aqua 12L freshwater stream tank -a proof of concept

 

[Andrew Mc]

This Mr.Aqua 12L has a false bottom that hides a Tunze DC 6040 Nanostream, the flow of which creates a cyclical circuit. Additionally, a sump a few feet below the tank houses a Tunze DC return pump that creates a yet another circuit of flow (Overflow box / Loc-Line Return) that runs parallel to the first circuit. The Poplar wooden side panels as shown, hide the void created by the double bottom. In unison, the two Tunze pumps created an incredibly strong, high volume current of lateral flow, which theoretically maxed out well in excess of 1500 GPH without destroying the contents of the meager 12 gallon aquarium (estimate based on the combined flow of the Tunze Silence 1073.050 rated at 290-790 GPH in addition to the Turbelle Nanostream 6040 rated at 53 - 1,190 GPH).

 

[Andrew Mc]

Last freshwater aquarium picture, promise... So tons of flow and way too much light, leads to unchecked plant and algae growth and lots of Furcata Rainbow fry.

 

[Andrew Mc]

So now the evolution of tinkering... An AquaMaxx 22L gets opposing Glass-Holes Nano Overflows (I miss those Glass-Holes!) rated for approximately 700gph and matching 3/4 Loc-Line returns.

 

[Andrew Mc]

The 22L takes its proper place upon some 3030 Aluminum Extrusions from Zyltech in Houston.

 

[Andrew Mc]

but it's levels...

I finally mastered routing acrylic to the point of hobbling together a decent DYI sump that combines the opposing overflows of the display tank and creates what will eventually become the cryptic zone of this system, which sits on the second of three levels. A Durso style overflow drains this acrylic sump into my trusty Mr. Aqua 12L which is on the ground floor below, A big shout out to Mr. Aqua as this tank is on it 11 year of consistent use (and abuse). They make a quality aquarium. Note that I removed the false bottom (Grey Type 1 PVC - cut to spec by Tap Plastic) from the Mr Aqua 12, which is visible, before commissioning the system. It bears mention that I used Tap Plastic again to special order a cut to fit PVC Type 1 false bottom for the 22L, which is the only false bottom in this current build.

 

[Andrew Mc]

Seven posts in and finally an aquarium with saltwater and live rock. This picture caught some heat in my previous posting on fb. The reason being is that I didn't adequately illustrate that this is an "under the hood" look at the double bottom structure. This isn't how the aquarium typically presents as the Poplar wooden sides panel that covers the void of the double bottom has been temporarily removed to allow for your viewing (dis)pleasure. Lol.

At first I used the Tunze 6040s controlled by Apex V1/V2 in conjunction with two ReefBuilder 900DC returns (also controlled by Apex V3/V4) so as to create a substantial cyclical flow that could reverse direction on a dime. However the Tunze 6040s proved to be a little touchy for this application and caught a lot of debris, which they don't love, especially in the confines of the false bottom. That was going to be a problem. So, in the spirit of "more is better", I replaced the opposing 6040s with two Sicce xStream 5000s - increasing max flow by another hundred gph, but at the expense of losing incremental flow control. In other words, I could ramp up the 6040s, whereas the Sicce are either on pushing 1320 gph or off and pushing zippo gph.

 

[Andrew Mc]

After picking up some 2020 from Zyltech, I set out to build a stand for my DIY calcium reactor. It ended up becoming not only a stand for the reactor, but an additional refugium made out of some spare glass I had on hand. This was the first glass aquarium I've ever put together, so it's not factory fresh, but it will certainly well as a sea grass refugium - 26" x 11" x 19". Additionally, an extra sump was placed underneath for an Octo SSS110.

The filter feeding zone, which is the clear acrylic box below the display, yet above the cryptic sumps, will feed into the sump of the sea grass refugium. The sump of the sea grass tank is joined to the Mr. Aqua 12 Long, although I have yet to flood that connection. First I need to get the sea grass substrate settled out and make sure it doesn't spike due to heavy nutrients or dead fauna, I collected it from the bay, which supports a heavy amount of shoal grass (Halodule wrightii). Hopefully, I'll be able support one of the easier vascular marine plants for nutrient export.

The system is around a month old and some of the rock is still curing. Not to mention, I've got ten pounds of live base rock for the cryptic sump. Currently, I have about 20 pounds in the system and 7 pounds in another tank that has a pretty awesome hitchhiker...