Hey mate love your content. Have you considered doing a two panel vertically, or would that be too much pressure for the glass? I’m thinking of doing a native tank with bass this way and around a dead tree sort of style. Any further development with the toga?
You’re a beast, sir. This is inspirational to those of us who appreciate an attempt to replicate the wild more than the more artificial environments most aquarists end up with. Salute!
I appreciate that greatly JMann. I always take inspiration from my dives around the local reefs. It’s the only way to truly appreciate and ultimately protect, what we’ve got on earth
Yeah they were a real pain to deal with. I’m definitely glad to not be getting in and out of the island anymore! I’m happy you like the finished display. I’m pleased with the result. Now onto corals
Adam! What a big milestone and it looks amazing mate! It's been really fun watching this tank from the start, so thank you to putting in the effort around publishing your work. Please do throw us videos of your work around the livestock when you can too - I'd have enjoyed even the process of picking and moving the current fish into that tank. Definitely so for your big boy eel. Re lighting my feeling would be that you try to keep that immediate concave area under the lip of the island unlit so as to hide that more plain area and give both the top and bottom more emphasis. I think light strip bars where you've indicated sounds great if you can ensure they can point at the bottom area of the reef and they don't backshine into your face sitting or standing. Another reason you don't want to want the light strips at the concave area of the island is so they don't erase the shadow the island lip creates on it - I think that's important to help sell the depth of shape you've built. Looking forward to the next video!
Ahhh I didn’t think of the light spill under the overhang. I was planning to angle them at a 45, but like you’ve noted, probably more straight down may be better for the illusion of shadow. I also thought of relying on mainly lowlight coral such as leptoseros, and Blastomussa here. I’m just not in love with them, and my butterflies would probably snack on the Blastos. I think I’ll reach out to Orphek and ask about the IP RATING . Many have suggested AI blades for their slimline form factor, however they are only IP 66, and it’s a lot of money to put into lights that may die from direct salt spray. I definitely have plans to produce videos on the livestock. I’ve somehow stumbled into DIY style videos, but it’s the fish and recreating actual underwater habitats that I truly enjoy
@@australianaquarist Maybe get a light meter and see what PAR you're getting down there. Some high power LEDs in those large lamps might get you quite far. But it is a deep tank, so I dunno really. It definitely seems like a uniquely tough setup to light - More hanging lamps would be simple, but then they'd conflict with the view of the awesome island. I wonder if you can pull the lamps up even further with a narrow beam lens?
great video and beautifully explained. Thank you so much sir i have subscribed ur channel only because i like the way you explained it so well. good job.
Thanks for your support, and I’m very glad you got value out of the video. It’s always a balancing act between information and entertainment I guess. Which tang was your winner?!
@@australianaquarist hi mate , i am in this hobby since 2014 , now at present am having a 6 foot fowlr tank , i have just recently sold my clown tang to a friend of mine as it was a pain in the ass for all the other tank mates so so aggressive . i am having tangs , yellow foxface and guess what my new shipment just arrived at the airport just now am awaiting outside the cargo lane for it , so much excited. Dude just please help me out in future if i need any valuable suggestions from you in this hobby. sorry for my long message. 😄oh BTW i have a convict tang also included in my shipment today , and i got so much confidence going through ur video . Thanks once again mate.
@dobbiesnuffy I’m always happy to talk fish with you. The convict tang may need some special alone time to get feeding properly. I’ve only ever caught them myself locally, but as small juvis , they can have a habit of wasting away. A bit bigger, and I’ve found them strong. I imagine though , if they are shipped, they could be a bit delicate.
I’m not sure where you live, but if you have access to some algae covered rocks from the beach, I would go and collect some. That would do a lot, if the convict is a bit delicate
@@australianaquarist thank u so much for the replies mate , i really do appreciate it for ur precious time . i am from the north eastern part of INDIA , here we dont have sea only big himalayan mountains lol . i have to pay really xtra bucks for the shipments specially . Hey i brought my shipment just two hours before and hopefully they all look good as of now but am facing a problem my existing Dussumier's tang which is around 5.5 inch really bullying all the newcomers in the tank , chasing and all stuff . can u suggest me what shall i do to reduce the aggression?? i even tried feeding it nori to make it calm down a lil . BTW U are so lucky that u are from BEAUTIFUL AUSTRALIA , a heavens paradise for reefers. i just love Australia so much, have been to new zeeland but not Australia. ❤️❤️. Here in my place supplies are very less and very much expensive. i paid 17$ USD FOR THE CONVICT TANG , size is around 3.5 inch healthy looking . Lastly Thank u so much again. 👍🏻
Love the way you’ve dedicated a system to these fish. It’s kind of wild how similar we think.. the small details matter. I bet you don’t ever switch off and obsess over new ideas and designs constantly. I don’t think ‘reef tanks’ is accurate, ‘coral display tanks’ is more like what we do. Bio types are a much better representation of a reef.
Coral collection tanks. I’ve seen the same thing happen to the reptile hobby over the last 20 years. I was listening to a podcast yesterday- I think it was the Tidal Gardens podcast with the British LFS store owner. I heard a comment I completely disagreed with. In one breath they discussed how hobbyists need to be more aware of nature, in regards to their tanks, and the next words were that if wild collection shuts down , sustainable aquaculture will see us through and how exciting it is to have cross bred corals and grafted corals. My immediate thoughts were of the reptile industry - as soon as the hobby got away from wild type animals, the average hobbyists knowledge , appreciation of , and care for the wild natural environment, plummeted. I believe this has already started in the reef hobby. Ideas…..!!!!!!! Just thought of a cool 7 x 4 tidal and wave washed reef flat tank for an epaulette shark I saw in Gallery Aquatica a few weeks back. True high and low tides every 6 hours, surge devices crashing over the top of rock pools, filled with Acropora humilis, nasuta and microclados.
@@australianaquarist I hear you. The problem with aquaculture is that it’s so narrow and lacks biodiversity. It seems that only a handful of corals these days are valuable to people and only because of the colours. Jake Adams was so important because he appreciated ALL corals even if they were brown. The cross breeding and grafting seems exciting but the problem is it could eventually dilute the original strains especially if wild collection stops. And these animals are already so difficult to identify and we really should be connected to science and restoration. If the government sees the hobby as a part of conservation that’s a good thing but if scientists think we are just fucking around mixing corals to make the latest trend we will be in trouble. Biotypes need to be the ‘cool’ thing in the hobby not just random collections. The problem is (including my situation) is that most people have one reef tank for the family to enjoy. I’d rather have a few smaller tanks so everyone in my family can have what they like and each animal has a natural habitat. That’s a cool idea I have drawn a tide pool design for a dwarf lion and designed a sump that could take the extra water from a Carlson surge device.
@insanity4224 careful with the dwarf lions in a high flow tank. The times I’ve caught them in the ocean were actually in a very low flow marina in Coffs. That’s the Zebra Lionfish. I hope the biotopes come. I think it’s a natural evolution. The hobby is so new, and after learning how to keep corals, comes wanting to keep all corals. That’s where collectoritis comes in. Getting serious and narrowing down to biotopes and species tanks is next, assuming aquaculture doesn’t mess it up by crossbreeding animals. I was listening to a reptile podcast today, where they were rightly so, lamenting the crossbreeding of Ball Pythons and Green Tree Puthons in the trade
@@australianaquarist thanks for the advice, it’s very helpful to hear from people that see them in their natural habitat. My idea is to have the water from the surge device crash over exposed rock like a wave with the incoming tide, so not really high flow in the display so much. I’d do a rising/lowering tide as well for more effect. Speaking of natural habitat, there’s a great Aussie RU-vid channel called ‘Reef Craft’ they do a shit load of ‘shorts’ showing reef species in their natural environment. It’s a great resource. I hope we head towards biotypes but like everything these days it’s all commercialised and social media driven. The vast majority of hobbyists fall for this crap and it’s only a small passionate percentage that stick around and evolve their thinking. Your channel is a part of that evolution into the next level. Mate you sent me down a python rabbit hole (I have been following ball python and retic breeding for a while) and I didn’t realise that so many cross genus pythons could be crossed. Mind blowing, this isn’t supposed to be possible according everything I’ve learned about ‘species’. Needs to be studied! thesnakeboss.wordpress.com/2014/11/29/hybrids-arent-firing-blanks-they-are-fully-loaded/
Hey Pete Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad to hear you’ve enjoyed watching the build. It’s been a rewarding experience in its construction, though I am pleased to be at the livestock stage!
Hi Adam. Thanks very much for your reply it’s much appreciated. What you have made is very special, you are very clever & knowledgeable about wildlife,diy & solving problems for your paludarium etc. keep up the fantastic & educational work. Pete 🏴
I think metal halides and more of those kessils will look amazing.. get the shimmer and blues from the kessils and the strength from the MHs. Maybe throw the narrow reflectors on the kessils to target spot those areas you mentioned. Any plans for SPS coral like jake adams video in palau? Or just sticking with the softies? Great vid!! been waiting for this one for a while.
The Kessil’s are good and I like their simplicity….. they are just so expensive! $1400 Aussie dollars for the a500x . My original plan was to do a sarcophyton, sinularia and Acropora reef. As I’m evolving the idea of a lagoonal side to the left, and a more ocean side to the right, I’m looking more closely at the Reef Builders video. Pavona cactus, Heliofungia, Pectinia, were noted in the lagoon, along with lobos. I did note that scrolling Montipora seemed dominant in the oceanic reef, which I’m not in love with! So yes, I’m looking closely….., but still love my leathers and acro!
@@australianaquarist yikes.. didn’t know they were so expensive down there. The chinesium reef bar Orphek knockoffs are a good bang for your buck. I know lighting these big tanks is a huge portion of the budget. I’m liking the idea of your coral selection. An ode to Jake Adams
It has turned out great Adam. My two cents would be to light from above. In nature it would be dim under rock overhangs and the like. What about a skylight for the island?
I was told by Tom of Biota Group that deep water ( therefore low light) corals were growing up under the overhangs. However, trouble of my butterflyfish overeating these types of corals. It’ll be a trade off. Life’s a compromise hey. Regarding the skylight…. I’ve replaced two sheets of metal roofing with polycarbonate sheeting, which looks amazing when the fish swim through the rays of natural sunlight
Id love to see your cut foliage setup, im growing natives and proteas in gold coast hinterland for cut flower. Also breed rainbows and setup ponds, building a 5000litre aquarium for my long neck turtle. Im going to use pool fencing glass(inspired by your channel). Love your channel mate, cheers
@@australianaquarist thanks mate i reckon i will one day. Ive stopped selling flowers for a little while, just had kids and returned to mine site work. But ill do it again one day, for now all friends and family get all my flowers😄
Brilliant advice. Shopping by ingredients is essential in my opinion. I’ll definitely be purchasing some Frenzy fish feeds (I’m in West Oz). Personally I feed the Algaemax as well as Hikari seaweed extreme at 67% algae for my herbivores. The best flakes for protein are the Ocean Nutrition ‘Prime Reef’ flakes at 58% protein and great ingredients.
Ahh I’d love to get some Aussie made flakes. I think the processing of flakes is a bit more complex than pellets. I’ve been asking Frenzy to make some flakes, and a dedicated vege pellet for a while now. They are doing plenty of experiments, but have so much going on
@@australianaquarist I’d love to be able to buy a good quality Aussie flake, I’m definitely looking forward to trying the Frenzy pellets they are VERY well priced. Yes I do have experience with ORM.. fantastic range of coral from WA (they collect themselves) and Queensland. Very good prices for very nice corals. Their fish on the other hand should absolutely be QT’d I’ve copped ick, Uronema, possible cyanide poisoning (they import) and I have a purple tang that came with permanent scars from copper. So mixed feelings about the fish. But I will always QT all fish now regardless of where they come from.
@@australianaquarist well, I wouldn’t recommend their fish unless they are Aussie caught, but you might as well get that from an LFS closer to you. I HIGHLY recommend fish from Cairns marine. Went to the facility years ago and their fish are in amazing condition. I would definitely recommend coral from Ocean Reefs though.
Thanks Stephen. I really like the slim form factor of the blades, but they are only IP66, which means they are only splash proof. I’m not sure if they’d handle the proximity to my surge devices?…
This video was great, loved seeing the process! I have a couple of questions though.. What is supporting the middle seam against the weight of the water? Do you really trust paint to protect from leaks?
The middle seem between the two front glass panes? They are locked in place in the recess at the bottom, and held by the metal brace at the top. The join is bridged by silicone and a glass strip inside, and silicone and aluminium strip on the outside. I haven’t used paint to seal the tank. I used 5 coats of Botecote epoxy, and 3 coats of Aquacote polyurethane for colour and the decorative finish. I hope this makes sense. Feel free to keep shooting questions through
@@australianaquarist ah I didn’t see the glass strip on the inside. What thickness is the glass out of interest? Ok the epoxy should be pretty tough. But if a rock hits it I’d think it could scratch. The colours look amazing how are you gonna keep coraline algae off it?
Mate I love what you’ve done here. I have some very similar ideas of my own so I resonate with your style. Have to be honest though I’m very concerned about the plywood and potential for leaks. Obviously you’ve already had 3. Have you considered a layer of 2mm acrylic placed over the plywood/waterproof paint to protect it? Obviously that’s a really big job at this point but the further along you get the harder it’s gonna be. Good luck man I’ll subscribe 🍻
No, the epoxy seals plywood very effectively. When applied to 3-5 coats, it impregnates into the timber grain and then builds on to the surface, and acts like acrylic. I believe my leaks were caused by a structural shortcoming of mine. The front of my curved island form work, was locked at the bottom by the epoxy fillet and the top by the horizontal arch of rock work, but I think was flexing inward , midway up. I should have bridged that joint with plywood, not just fibreglass tape
@@australianaquarist that makes total sense. FYI I’m not trying to find problems with your design just genuinely interested in the process. Very inspiring..
Yes definitely. Though I’ll probably wait until the parasite outbreak has subsided first! Currently treating with hydrogen peroxide and UV. I’ll possibly touch on that when I bring my moray across
Awesome…what a great milestone…congrats. The look also reminds me of the rock islands of Barbados if they had more vegetation ( a heritage site). Great time snorkeling the calmer/opposite side of that island with my family and these videos always bring up good memories. Loved the info on the soil mixture this episode. Thx!
I think you need to build an aquarium to keep those memories alive! That’s the true value of the hobby in my mind- replicating what we actually see underwater , so we can continue to enjoy it
Just received two new OR4 orphek 120mm bars - can confirm that the build quality is excellent, and can believe they live up to their water resistant claims. If you want icon controls get the new OR4, if you are happy with on/off get the now reduced OR3's (only reduced on the orphek website) good luck! Love the tank, only wish I had the space 😊
One thing that worries me is that I like my light on the whiter side, and most LEDs attending to heavy blue, and now more violet . Can the Orphek be tuned to a crisp cool white?
I was just thinking about this the other day! Glad you got those leaks sorted. The planted island looks great. Totally agree on "scale" of animals and hardscape.
Scale is what drew me to keeping large tanks. I wanted to replicate the feeling I got when snorkelling the local reefs, and watch the fish swim as naturally as possible. It’s actually amazing to see how fast my triggerfish can swim!! Something not witnessed in a 5 ft tank
Omg what amazing job and journey its been watching you bring this beautiful system to life. Yes would love to watch you do the sprinkler and drainage system. Thanks so much for showing us your journey from stat to finish. Just amazing. R.I.P Jake
Cheers Mark. It has been quite the journey! Jake Adams certainly did more for popularising and educating this hobby than anyone else I can think of. His work was a great resource for myself, when researching this build
Absolutely George! I could not believe it when I thought I’d fixed it, only to come back a week later and see a puddle. And then it dawned on me, that I had to go through the whole process again. Still, I’m really happy with the result… drinking tea and watching fish right now!
@australianaquarist just wondering if I could pick your brain Adam? I've been wanting to do a shoreline build, so from mangrove shallow shore out to a shallow reef with seagrasses etc. I have 3 options in mind. 1. Dropdown tank 2. Put a huge pot on one end for the mangroves and build up around it with rock or 3. Put a divider on one end with a deepsand bed for the mangroves.
What size tank are we talking? I was thinking of a tidal mangrove and seagrass tank in my old 7 x 4 plywood tank. I feel you need a good and deep bed of actual mangrove mud and estuary sand to get an extensive root system. I’d be looking at some sort of glass divider to hold back the bulk of the substrate, and bury rubble to stabilise the slope , down to the deeper water column for the seagrass. In saying that, seagrass also have extensive and fragile root systems that need a fair amount of depth of substrate. Probably about 20cm (8”). You’d be talking about a deep tank to get a good effect- minimum 600mm (2 ft)
@australianaquarist that sounds really good, thanks for the information, I live right next to an estuary, so that would be perfect. The size of the tank would be around 10 feet long and as wide as I possibly can go. Im running a 7 foot cade on the opposite wall tobwhere this would go atm.Personally I'd love to have the overflow at the shallow end beneath the mangroves to pull nutrients towards them and even run a surge device like you have at the reef/deep end of the tank to cause a wave effect, simulating a reef break. Can you imagine small fish swimming in between seagrasses and up around the mangroves!!!! I truly appreciate your advice.
Try the AI Blades, they are pretty robust, controllable and passively cooled. IMO great for filling in dark spaces. Great job on the tank, I am looking forward to seeing it fully stocked and grown out.
I like the very slimline look of the blades, I’m just a bit worried about them being IP66. There’s a fair amount of salt splash this close to the water in the tank
Thanks to everyone watching. It makes me VERY HAPPY to have got to this stage in Palau Reef's construction. If you got any specific questions about the build, the plants I've used etc, please just ask. I'm happy to chat!
Thanks mate. I’m pretty confident I’ve got it covered….. quite literally, I almost covered the entire front of the island shell with epoxy and cloth. Had to pull out most of the rock across the front. Thanks for your support
looks amazin mate. just watching the B-roll of the actual islands in Palau, the point where the water met the island was really dark from how deep in the erosion was undercutting. Might be an idea to add some contrast and depth at that point by maybe adding a bit of a darker colour or play with the lighting for more shadow
I know what you mean. In the video filming , I’ve used a bright light to shine on myself and the front of the tank, which makes my overhang area brighter than it really is. I’ll probably end up using lowlight corals like Leptoseris, but they will need some lighting
Thanks for the upload Adam. got very excited when it pop up. always great content and very entertaining! that's going to look so amazing! bummer about the velvet :( never fun. keep the vids coming man!
Looks Awesome Mate!! I'm really happy you got those leaks it would of been a nightmare, it was a very inspirational video to wake up to, I hope it all goes well for you, I can't wait for the updates 🙂🏝
No, you’ll have only found me arms deep in a cow, picking flowers or hiding in my greenhouses ….. or preferably somewhere underwater!!! Still I am get older, so if you’ve got any showbiz contacts, I’m more than happy to explore a new direction in life!!! Thanks for the compliment though!
" out of sight , out of mind " that is mostly true , but not when it comes to you and your channel !!! I'm not here to blow you away with all the euphemisms & platitudes since I have no doubt that whatever you didn't have sealed correctly, UNLESS .... PERHAPS ? I have just came up with a potential break in the case , have you ever any odd behaviors that might be our culprits , someone from GREEN PEACE would have no problem poking their sworn enemies and I will put out some feelers in the area whe..... where'd you say you are , I don't think it's wise to share with the World but give me a land mark.or , doesn't have to be seen from Space but I have been known to be pretty quick when criminals are loose and , your obviously from the great state of Texas , I reckon.... I recognize that accent 🤠Good news Tex !!! I have managed to patch my way into one of the the newest Satellites, ... Okay its gonna have to do , just need to get out some charts and brush up on my North Korean .... It's not that much different than the South but I have been deep under and I will be getting back to you when I see where you live in San Antonio but don't tell me anything other than if you ever get a call from someone demanding $$$ , you hang up right after and start covering windows with Aluminum foil and nothing but a Stetson and a Glock .. kr Ruger yeah James Bond is my deep cover title and you didn't hear that from me L,🥸 L THE END
