I could never have a reef without sand. I think it makes it look more natural plus gives my favorite types of fish a place to sleep and hide. Wrasses. But these are definitely some great ideas. I dont really have any problems with my sand blowing around. Must be the size of sand I use.
Good points about the benefits of having no sand, and I went bare bottom for a while when I set up my tank again over a year ago for the same reasons, but I could never fully appreciate my tank without the sand, and a few months ago put sand in my tank. I like my tank to replicate the ocean, and for me a big part of the ocean is the sand, I have never been to a beach that had a glass floor. Sure bare bottom is easier and less work, but for me less appealing. For me a bottomless tank doesn't look like a display tank but rather a grow out tank or a quarantine tank. Everyone's tank is unique to how each person likes to have their own tank and the way they like to do it, and as such great diversity is achieved in this hobby which makes it so interesting to see how different things work for different people.
My tank is viewable from all four sides. I placed the powerheads on the internal overflows that are in the center of the tank in such a way as to create a gyre flow that circles the tank. Every hour the direction of the flow would reverse. Unfortunately I found that with this type of gyre circulation, the center of the tank does not get the flow it needs. The perimeter of the tank gets powerful flow, the inside gets very little. The best flow I ever had on a tank was with powerheads mounted on wavyseas. The back and forth action and chaotic flow left no dead spots. I plan to go back to this with my new build. It is however, a challenge to hide and I also hate to see equipment visable. As for sand, it seems contradictory to me to go to great lengths to hide your equipment as to make your tank look as natural as you can and then place your clams and corals on glass.
I made a fake sandbed for my tank by covering ABS sheets in a thin layer of silicone and sprinkling sand into them. You get the look of sand that people love but all the benefits of bare bottom. (Can't have burrowing wrasses otherwise they may accidentally dive bomb themselves)
Just use Vibrant, per the instructions on the bottle. No special forum informed directions, just the directions on the bottle... and give it roughly 6-8 weeks minimum..
I run the return from my canister through a rain bar the length of the tank (72") aiming down the back wall. It keeps the back wall clean and pushes out any build up without unsettling the sand. I also drilled extra holes so some of the water would push out a few degrees under horizontal or 90 degrees to the water line. By installing it right on the water line, it pulls down the surface water creating a wave or shimmer effect and you don't even notice it under the lip of the tank. I tried it on a 36" rimless using glass instead of black plastic tubing and it was pretty cool coupled with glass lily pipes and clear connectors and mounts. However it was just over $200 and the glass would get dingy or dirty looking within a week.
Jake!!!! Need more videos for quarantine substinance!!! Oh man look at me being demanding, geeez jk man I know you are busy but I got to say I do enjoy watching your videos. Keep up the good work
this topic is exactly what I am looking at for my current tank build! Long story short, my build will be visible by only the front panel as it is built into the wall 5ft X 3ft X 2ft and I own 2 maxpect gyres and I was thinking of adding mp40s on the sides (going 100% SPS this tank! whoohoo!) so I want to maximize flow. But at the same time watching your video I wonder if or how I could get away with putting all my pumps on the back of the display???? (which is black acyclic). I also will not be doing sand for the first time so I can maximize flow.
I actually prefer a blue background to my tanks but I usually paint the back black to help hide my circulation pumps. Also circulation pumps aren’t always necessary, I only add them as needed. Cutesy waves and things are more for viewing, I went for almost 15 years with pumps just hanging from their cords behind the rocks lol.. they kind of blow themselves around creating random flow lol..
Great video and ideas. I hate the look of vortech pumps on the side glass! Especially multiple pumps. There are ways to hide things with a bit of imagination and experiment. Love the new tank too!
I've got bare bottom and a sand bottom, just love my conch with boggly eyes, Wrasse and Goby paired with bullseye pistol shrimp. Bare bottom draws the eye to muck which I find off putting too.
I think I'm getting addicted to your videos. Q: On your SPS tanks are you putting your mp40s on back lower side panels? If yes, does it create enough flow at the surface?
Hello dude. One of the best channels here on RU-vid . Beautiful tanks and lot of useful information. Thanks. I have a question about your digital thermometers, what brand are they and where I could order one to try . Thanks in advance and keep doing well so we can learn new stuff.
Is there any video about the setting of the mangrove-reef tank ? Looks so appealing and exotic, my only clue is a custom tank with low level overflow and substrate box. 🤩
Actually no - sand zones are sand zones and 'reefs' are limestone rock built from ancient corals. There's 50X more coral on rocky reefs than in sand zones
Jake, This video got me thinking, but with sand and an aquascape I don't want to change, what can I do. 90 gallon tank with center internal overflow. Two sizeable rock structures on each side, middle of tank open.
I have a bare bottom with sps along the top and LPS in the bottom 2/3rds. Would the SPS be ok with the powerheads moved to the back bottom like you have them? They're positioned top center right now, blowing across the SPS. I'd like to keep stuff kicked up off the bottom though and hide the powerheads.
Adam do you edit your video your self? Also who chooses the songs you put in. Most of them are dope, just flows nicely with the content especially Jason fox video love that!
Great idea for a video,but I still like sand bed,but when I started marine keeping 1960's that is all we had!What type of clowns are those in the Euphilliya tank?And are those Mollies or swords in the Mangrove bio tope,and what are they called exactly?
Hi Jake great video. You always inspire me. I currently don't have my tank anymore but the build will be coming soon, I hope (wife pending). I fell in love with the closed loop tank you built a while back how is that doing. Would love to see the update on that. Also if you can do a comparison on your tank with the closed loop vs traditional modern builds that you see. I would love to follow your lead if that closed loop is working as intended. Thanks for always sharing. Also do you sell tanks or have discounts for the equipment
Great video. I have a Waterbox 60.2 which is basically a cube (24x20x20). In your opinion would putting a single MP40 on 1 side of the back wall in combination with a programmible return pump like the Ecotech Vectra pump be effective enough to keep corals or do you think 2 power heads is a requirement? Appreciate all the great content.
What pump should i use to make a similar contraption? It'll need a seperate opening in the tank to recirculate water back in the tank, at the pump once i turn valve off.
Hello! Thank you for sharing all the knowledge! I was wondering what the approach would be for your Red Sea Max Nano. Is a power head necessary or one can do with just the flow coming from the return nozzle? I am in the planning stages and a clean, efficient look is definitely one of the goals of the build.
Love the clam tank! May have to move my mangrove into my lowboy and allow the nutrient levels to rise more. What are your water parameters and nutrient levels in this tank?
Would love to talk to someone about getting better flow. I have a 75 with 2 MP40 on each side. No matter what I do there is always detritus in the tank and usually in a place hard to vacuum. I have never understood how people do auto water changes. A huge part of water changes to me is getting the muck out as best as I can. Edit: I really mean it. I have no one to talk to. My LFS suck *** the people in my area that do this suck just as bad. I have been at this a long long time and still have a lot to learn.
You should try to experiment with alternating the flow from your pumps - Vortech MP40 are more than enough power to sufficiently mix all the water in your tank, try the nutrient transport mode with your pumps in anti-synch
Reef Builders will give that a shot. Don’t have a coast to coast overflow. Have a older corner overflow style tank. Have always found it difficult to get dirt over it and into the sump.
I disagree. I went from deep sand bed, to (after years of syphoning) no sand bed, back to sand bed. Something about that white sand bed contrasting with the colors of the livestock that really makes everything pop.
Now that you have finished saling ecotech pumps and pushing bare bottom setups. Show how you can apply similar principles to sand and cabled pumps. Not trying to be smart but there still those of us who prefer sand and don't want ecotech.
Hey jake. Tanks r looking awesome. Quick question. I have an IM 75 Ext. I can't get my mp 10's to stay on firmly. They're barely hanging on with the glass thickness close to 1/2". Any tricks to make them work?
Hı great inovative video thanks. İ have a question i have freshwater aquarium. Now i want to set up a reef aquarium too. İn my country every body tells that i must have sand because it helps some ph or other levels. İf this is true how do you banace it? Di you add special salt or additive? Thanks for answers have good days...
Thank you very much for the answer:)) also in one of your tank set up i saw mangrow . Does it also help anything in the water values. Does it help to fliter? That was a good idea and great scene . Thank you so much. Have a good day..
I have 2 Tunze 6095's Ina 48" x 24" x 16" deep blue frag tank. What would be the best placement for these pumps, both on one end or on opposite ends. This will primarily be a SPS grow out in the future. No rock in this tank.
Jake i just 💘 love your softy tank I wish my mushrooms looked that great .you do such a exclent job at placing your corals .how much water flow do mushrooms need? wish I had some one to talk with in my area to know how to..
Maintaining it is a pain but I just cannot have sand. I do not need a deep sanded but without it tanks look unfinished to me. I do understand all the positives though not gonna lie.
What are your thoughts on back pane mounted pumps? I feel my tank still lacks flow with a gyre, koralia, mp40, and a small jebao on the rear pane. I think it may be due to my rock work but what advice do you have for this configuration. I love the look but currently lacking in movement.
I'd rather have the pump on the end of a longer rectangular tank than on the back wall, I personally feel like it's the LEAST efficient way to drive flow around the tank, and I really dislike it
Hello, i have 2 dual gyres 330 opposition horizontally my programme is ltc mode but the flow is very low i try work just one evry 6 hours but is tow much and i try placement vertical position in back in my tank same result to much my 60 gallon cubic tank is very hardly for the pompe placement. Thank you 🙏
I highly recommend that you put the gyres at the surface of the water, and program them in anti-synch mode on long intervals, that should get the water moving.
What placement of Mp40s do you recommend with a sand bed? I have a 120 2x2x4 mixed acros/torches and micro lords with a 2 island minimalist scape (would be happy to share photos). I currently have one in the left top front 1/3 and a second on the right top back. I run them at 50-60%, i get good growth on my acros but the bottom of the tank seems to build more detritus than i would like around the lords. If i crank them up i end up moving my sand around way too much. I also "need" the sand bed as I have 4 leopard wrasse. Thanks!
You're probably doing fine and some detritus around your lords is kind of where you want them - top third of the tank is one of the best places to have pump outlets and since you have Vortechs, your best bet is to experiment with the different modes.
Reef Builders Cool thanks for the advice, i have been using a mix of constant on one and reef crest on the other (switching every 6 hours). I have been using with a higher energy 75% NTM for an hour or so to help stir up the detritus without blasting coral too long. Do you find benefits from running pumps lower at night than day?
I love this channel. I have to say you have provided the reefing community with such amazing content that I hate to criticise but I must in part disagree with you My tank is a completely grown out SPS tank with full blown colonies, it does have minimum pump contamination but hiding them is not as easy as the systems you have running. LPS, Soft corals require far less pumps so its not hard to do and peninsula tanks are particularly easy to provide for with little pump visibility. I think this was an oversimplification. Also the no sand bed look in my opinion is sterile and wholly unnatural. I am not a sand bed keeper as you say but I am a reef keeper with aesthetics as an important part of my display. Hiding pumps for realism while having a uniform and flat glass bottom with some encrusting corals and corraline on it is a complete juxtaposition in my view. I completely understand the benefits of using bare bottoms and with your number of tanks the sand maintenance would be prohibitive but I have had 39 years of success all be it with extra maintenance using shallow sand beds so I personally would never go bare bottom. I agree that ruining flow for the sake of sand is counter productive so to counteract any sand being blown about i have experimented with various grades of sand/gravel. Its not perfect as the gravel covers with corraline but the mix is still natural looking and with a weekly sand clean it turns the bed over enough to keep it bright and attractive. I hope i haven't come across as overly critical. Regardless you are a genuine legend in the hobby so never stop doing what you are doing!
I have found using a Prazi based deworming medication in quarantine to be highly effective but it is time consuming. Also as Jake pointed out having plenty to graze on is probably the key even if you have removed any parasitic issues.
@@ReefBuildersVideo nice. And for flow would a gyre be too ticky given the square. Maybe a more cone shape to bounce off the glass....not sure either would create turbulence...have you experience with that?
Not going to lie... a bit disappointed that there were only two examples of pumps that were not Vortech, and both of them involve a large internal overflow where they can tuck away next to the glass. That said, I feel like I want to ditch the sand out of my 300 gallon lagoon after watching this.
Good point, I have some Neros and Maxspect around but they are not exactly in photogenic displays. I also use Tunze NanoStreams which are great for tucking behind the scapes.