# dtum's Practical Reef - 54 Gallons of Coral Jewels



## aquaticlog

I'm setting up a brand new tank and want to invite you for a ride. As with my previous builds, I try to document in both diary and video formats. Pictures are are must.

Quick intro: I live in Toronto, Canada. You may have seen two of my previous tanks: Winterfell Reef (100 gallons) and Pragmatic Reef (180 gallons). There's a number of videos on the internet for both of them. While I'm still enjoying Pragmatic Reef, for over a year now I've wanted to have a second tank, much smaller, something that would host only my most special corals.










The goal for this tank is the following: have a small tank that can be moved if needed that will serve as a backup for my most valued possessions, something is easy to maintain and that will give me an opportunity to try out different equipment than on my main tank. I also want to try a few additives from a few companies and see their effect on the tank's inhabitants.

The vision for this tank is an elevated aquascape, modular, easy to work on and access. Lots of places for fish to hide in. This time around I'm going with lots of tiny fish - the tank will look busy, but primarily with various vibrant little fishies.

As you can see, the goal and vision for this tank is very... practical. Hence the name of the reef and the build thread. I plan to document this on the forum as well as on my YouTube channel.

I will talk more about the equipment in my next posts, but for now let's start with my choice of aquarium.

Originally I was planning to do a custom build as usual, but on a smaller tank the cost is too prohibitive. Plus at this time I did not want to spend too much time designing the stand, sump, etc. I've decided to get something pre-assembled and that comes as a package. After some thinking I ended up choosing a tank from Red Sea - one of their Red Sea Reefer series, a 250 model. I like its length of 36'', the front-to-back is only 20'', which is pushing it, but I can live with it. Their small overflow, the quality of that stand and silent design is what caused me to make up my mind.

So a few days ago I've picked up the tank and immediately dove right into it.



















Let's see how it will turn out. In the next post I will talk about my equipment choices.


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## Marz

Following


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## goobafish

Awesome, following along.


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## silent1mezzo

Can't wait to see how this turns out


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## aquaticlog

So how does one put this thing together? Turns out it is pretty easy, the first thing it makes you think of is IKEA, but the quality appears to be better.










Got to love the mallet.


















And now the stand is almost done









Next step is levelling the tank. One thing I've noticed is that even if you level the tank perfectly, once you start filling it with water, you will need to re-shin it a bit, since the joists give underneath.










And now it is time for the sump


















I like how the sump spans all the way front to back, always been a fan of large sumps, wish it would be just a tad wider.










Now that the stand and overall setup is done (and that was very easy), it is time to hook up some equipment and add water.


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## disman_ca

Wait hold everything, don't fill it with water! You installed it in the wrong house I don't live in Toronto.


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## ruckuss

Following along, I also have a 250; interested to see what you plan on doing with it.


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## mensa

riding shotgun here


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## Vinoy Thomas

disman_ca said:


> Wait hold everything, don't fill it with water! You installed it in the wrong house I don't live in Toronto.


lol

Sent from A0001 using Tapatalk.


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## teemee

this is going to be awesome!


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## aquaticlog

For equipment I have picked NYOS Quantum 160 Skimmer and EcoTech Vectra M1 return pump, I've heard good things about both and decided to try something new with this tank.
I've already been using MP40 QD on my Pragmatic Reef, so am very much looking forward to running them on this one as well.



















Here comes Vectra M1



















And now that the tank is plumbed, it is a good time to add some sand (Sea-Floor).










After a brief period of contemplation I've decided to jump in with both feet: let's add some water (mostly from my main tank).










Everything is looking good, I'm already working on my fish list.


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## goobafish

Very nice. I see you added water from your display, do you intend on adding live rock from it as well, or are you going to start the system with dry rock? I'm curious because I had this option with my 1.5 year old reef moving to a larger setup, and didn't use any materials from it.


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## aquaticlog

goobafish said:


> Very nice. I see you added water from your display, do you intend on adding live rock from it as well, or are you going to start the system with dry rock? I'm curious because I had this option with my 1.5 year old reef moving to a larger setup, and didn't use any materials from it.


No dry rock for me, only the real thing. And I hope never have to use Marco Rock again.

If you can suggest a few good places to get nice flat pieces of live rock - let me know.


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## goobafish

aquaticlog said:


> No dry rock for me, only the real thing. And I hope never have to use Marco Rock again.
> 
> If you can suggest a few good places to get nice flat pieces of live rock - let me know.


Sorry, I haven't seen any. I am the opposite, I will never use a piece of rock from the ocean or someone's tank. Only fully dried and inert rock, preferable calcium carbonate (man-made).


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## ruckuss

aquaticlog said:


> No dry rock for me, only the real thing. And I hope never have to use Marco Rock again.
> 
> If you can suggest a few good places to get nice flat pieces of live rock - let me know.


Have you had issues before with Marco rock?


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## Yellowtang

*Practical Reef-54 Gallons*

Sharp looking set up. I haven't seen the Red Sea Reefer series of tanks and stands before but they look great. Can't wait to see what it looks like when you finish it. Good luck.


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## aquaticlog

goobafish said:


> Sorry, I haven't seen any. I am the opposite, I will never use a piece of rock from the ocean or someone's tank. Only fully dried and inert rock, preferable calcium carbonate (man-made).


That is why I love this hobby - so many ways to achieve great results, all very unique.


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## aquaticlog

ruckuss said:


> Have you had issues before with Marco rock?


I have seen a few threads where people had some really bad issues - phosphate and other chemicals. I used to use Marco Rock exclusively in the past - it is nice and easy to setup, but the last few years I am leaning towards something more natural, plus I really like all the life that comes on them.

I always had elevated phosphates in my Pragmatic Reef, not sure if this has anything to do with Marco Rock, but don't want to take any chances.


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## aquaticlog

The water has cleared, so now it is time to start talking lighting. A lot of people were asking about this one, and this time around I'm doing something different.










I threw some freshly bought (some of it uncured) live rock into the tank and somehow managed to add two fish in there already. A yellow wrasse and pajama cardinal.










Now back to the lighting. Ever since seeing AquaIllumination Prime in person, I've always wanted to try something similar on my aquarium. I run Radions on my main tank, so it only makes sense to try another product from the same company on another. I went with Hydra 52 HD on this tank. Now 3 Hydra 52 is an overkill, I'm pretty sure I could've used 3 or even 2 Hydra 26, but given that this will be hosting all of my prized super expensive and temperamental SPS colonies, I wanted to make sure there was no spread issues and really error on the side of caution.



















Now here comes the fun part - I did not realize that the mounting hardware for Hydra needs to be attached to the stand on the back wall. Guess what - there's no way I can fit my screwdriver back there, so that leaves me one option - I now have to get all the water out, move the tank, attach the mounts and put it back. Got to love the 54 gallon size - this would be impossible with a bigger tank.

Meanwhile, here's the first YouTube video. Enjoy.


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## Cichlidrookie

Nice set up...love the progress. 
Good luck mounting the lights.
Just wanted to follow along.


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## kamal

that's a serious amount of lighting over that tank  I always personally felt that in the past when people complained about lack of LED success it was because hobbyist have not been putting sufficient amounts on their tanks.


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## Tdog

Can't wait!


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## aquaticlog

So, the benefits of a small tank allow me to drain the water with fair ease and move the tank if I wanted to. And so I did.










I'm using my Brute trash bin that holds saltwater for this.










The first post goes up.










And here are all three of them now



















It is time to start adding water back in










I always notice that even if the tank is perfectly level when it is empty, it may need a bit of re-shimming after the water has been added.










Time to start fooling around with lights. It does look very nice.










And here's the final result


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## kamal

that's very cool

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk


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## Yellowtang

*Coral Jewels*

Great looking tank, now you've got me thinking&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;&#8230;..


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## Sea MunnKey

I'm looking to get those mounting hardware ... does anyone know where to get 'em locally?


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## Windowlicka

Lol! The OCD within me can't stand it! Please move the tank 4" to the right, or the picture above it 4" to the left… or compromise, and 2" each!!! 

(Very nice otherwise!)


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## Marz

Windowlicka said:


> Lol! The OCD within me can't stand it! Please move the tank 4" to the right, or the picture above it 4" to the left&#8230; or compromise, and 2" each!!!
> 
> (Very nice otherwise!)


Now that there is funny!! 

Agreed, it looks excellent.


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## StevieK

Well I need to follow along as well. Have enjoyed your previous builds. 


S


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## StevieK

For the record my new thoughts are more flow less light ... Just trying to throw in a wrench here and there ...


S


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## aquaticlog

Windowlicka said:


> Lol! The OCD within me can't stand it! Please move the tank 4" to the right, or the picture above it 4" to the left&#8230; or compromise, and 2" each!!!
> 
> (Very nice otherwise!)


Trust me, you are not the only one. It is long gone by now - I was waiting for the stand location to settle down and now am sporting this wonderful picture right on top of my work desk. Worked out great!


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## aquaticlog

StevieK said:


> For the record my new thoughts are more flow less light ... Just trying to throw in a wrench here and there ...
> 
> S


Then you will like my new aqua scape. And stop throwing those wrenches - everywhere I look I find yet another rusty wrench left by Steve at my house.


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## aquaticlog

To keep things a little bit more interesting I've added two tiny fish in the tank: yellow wrasse (really like this guy) and pajama cardinal.










A few people have mentioned that the picture is not centered, they are right and now that I've finalized the location of the tank the picture was moved over my workstation.










Next thing to do is to add lighting under the stand. I really like this LED lighting from COSTCO - it is very low profile and provides awesome lighting underneath the tank.



















So let's hook it up.










It is activated by waving your hand underneath - very handy and works well even when hands are wet or your are holding something.










Right now the wiring is all a mess. Cleaning and organizing this is one of the next steps for me.


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## Cichlidrookie

Great lighting idea for under the cabinet sump. 
Do you think that if the light gets a little we it will be okay?
Just curious.


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## aquaticlog

Cichlidrookie said:


> Great lighting idea for under the cabinet sump.
> Do you think that if the light gets a little we it will be okay?
> Just curious.


I have been using this light on my other tank for 2 years without any problems. It is designed to be used over the countertops, so it should be able to handle a few splashes.


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## duckhams

Looking good Dmitry! That's going to be a great setup! Keep the pics coming!


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## 4pokguy

How are you going to remove the excess wood shims without damaging the floor? 
I ask this cuz I'll be doing this in the future and I don't want mess up my hardwood floors.


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## aquaticlog

4pokguy said:


> How are you going to remove the excess wood shims without damaging the floor?
> I ask this cuz I'll be doing this in the future and I don't want mess up my hardwood floors.


This will be in the upcoming post.


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## aquaticlog

*Shims and picture*

A lot of people were asking me when and how I'm going to get rid of those unsightly shims sticking out from underneath the cabinet.










Others were asking me about the off-centre picture behind the aquarium.










Well, both of the issues have been corrected. Picture is now centered over the desk and I've carefully cut the shims not to stick out. Some were cut with the knife and then broken off and some of them had to be marked with a pencil, yanked out, cut to length and put back in (I like this approach better).










As you can see, I've bought more live rock and just piled it on top of each other here. In the next instalment I will go through the process of documenting my new aquascape and getting the look I like. A similar process was done for Pragmatic Reef, this time you will see more pictures and will gain a better understanding of how to achieve a similar result.


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## Windowlicka

aquaticlog said:


> Well, both of the issues have been corrected. Picture is now centered over the desk...


Thank-you!


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## clearnet

Beautiful setup Dmitry! 

Allen from mgmt Xchange...


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## aquaticlog

clearnet said:


> Beautiful setup Dmitry!
> 
> Allen from mgmt Xchange...


Great to hear from you!!!


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## duckhams

QUESTION RETRACTED - I see you're using MP40's. How are they doing? Do you think MP10's would have been enough?


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## aquaticlog

duckhams said:


> Are you using 2 x MP10's or MP40's in there Dmitry? I can't tell.


2 MP40s, love those beasts. But they are being run at about 15% right now otherwise the anemone gets very sad. With just SPS I could run it at 40%.


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## aquaticlog

So, it has been 2 months since I've started the tank. The tank is doing great, SPS corals look fairly healthy, many have lost their vibrance but they are not bleaching and polyp extension is through the roof, even better than in the old tank - I think not having a flame angel around could have something to do with it.

I like the tank and don't mind the centre overflow, I like its compactness and how practical it is. Having said that, if the tank was deeper by another 4 inches it would be a lot better.

The sump is quite small, but I've managed to put everything in there and have a few ideas for future modifications.

I've shot a video that overviews my current progress. My goal is to continue stabilizing the system, riding out various mini cycles that are going on in the tank and start working on coloration around September.


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## aquaticlog

We are now at a 3 month mark, colours are starting to improve and I am getting some crazy polyp extension. See for yourself:


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## Yellowtang

*dtum's Practical Reef*

Great looking tank, your sps are very colourful and healthy. The way you set your rock work up looks fantastic, super clean system, great job.


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## duckhams

How's the Nyos performing? Im considering the 120 for my 40 gallon, wondered how you're getting on with the 160?


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## aquaticlog

duckhams said:


> How's the Nyos performing? Im considering the 120 for my 40 gallon, wondered how you're getting on with the 160?


160 is great, I like it a lot. Not the quietest one, but is a solid performer. I am happy with it.

Here we are at a 4 months mark:


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## aquaticlog

The tank is at a six month mark!


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## majaxx

beautiful setup! following along,

Im interested in these tanks. im trying to decide between 250 and 350. cant make up my mind yet.

I feel like the 250 might run out of room fast, but the smaller water changes on the 250 seem easier lol

Would you have gone to the 350 after having the 250 for 6 months?

Thanks!


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## Ramez

aquaticlog said:


> The tank is at a six month mark!


What happened to the clam ?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## aquaticlog

majaxx said:


> beautiful setup! following along,
> 
> Im interested in these tanks. im trying to decide between 250 and 350. cant make up my mind yet.
> 
> I feel like the 250 might run out of room fast, but the smaller water changes on the 250 seem easier lol
> 
> Would you have gone to the 350 after having the 250 for 6 months?
> 
> Thanks!


That's a good question. If you are going 350, definitely get their extended version. That's what I would get. I'm happy with my current tank and really like how manageable it is, but it is harder to keep than a bigger tank and is a lot more challenging. I would say get the bigger one.


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## aquaticlog

Ramez said:


> What happened to the clam ?
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


It did not make it at about 3 month mark. I think that the new tank syndrome plus some parameter swings is what killed it. But it is possible that I should've spent a few hours acclimating it to the new tank and instead I just dropped it in.


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## aquaticlog

7 month mark for Practical Reef. Enjoy


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## do_0b

are you still using radions?


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## Ramez

Amazing tank! Love it 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## aquaticlog

do_0b said:


> are you still using radions?


I have switched to AI Hydra 52HD just for fun, both are great and for my next tank I will have trouble picking one between them.


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## babykillers

nice to meet you in frag box the other day, Your tank and equipment setup looks identical to my reefer 170-same light, same heater, same way to place the power heads and almost the same age tank being setup lol.


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## babykillers

duckhams said:


> QUESTION RETRACTED - I see you're using MP40's. How are they doing? Do you think MP10's would have been enough?


Mp10s definitely not enough. I am using 2 Mp10s for reefer 170 and turned almost at max already. For 250 you need 2 mp40s.


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## Ryguy

This tank is off the hook. Kudos.


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## majaxx

looking great!


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## aquaticlog

Hey everybody! To finish off 2016, here's Practical Reef at 8 months.


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## altcharacter

Just checked out your tank for the first time and it's looking really nice! Definitely would love to swing by one day and see it in person.

Congrats on a beautiful tank dude!


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## mmatt

Looking good brotha! Damn anemone getting all jammed up in there. They always find the best places lol. Your old tank is still sitting in my garage waiting to be setup. Only 9-12 months to wait. Argh!!! they don't break ground until March.


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## aquaticlog

As some of you may know, I have experienced my first real crash last month, my prized acros have not reacted kindly to the move, I did make a few mistakes that had caused a total meltdown over the course of 24 hours. Here's a re-cap:
















Good news is that I'm still in the hobby, the tank is back to normal and I'm starting almost from scratch. I might do a few things different and better this time around. Stay tuned.


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## do_0b

aquaticlog said:


> As some of you may know, I have experienced my first real crash last month, my prized acros have not reacted kindly to the move, I did make a few mistakes that had caused a total meltdown over the course of 24 hours. Here's a re-cap:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Good news is that I'm still in the hobby, the tank is back to normal and I'm starting almost from scratch. I might do a few things different and better this time around. Stay tuned.


sorry to hear about the crash! but im sure your tank will be back and better than before  
sorry if this was posted but can i ask what settings are you using for your vortech pumps?


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## aquaticlog

Practical Reef at 15 months mark. 3 months after a full on crash that has wiped out all of my acros.


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## aquaticlog

Practical Reef is now 16 months old and it has been just over 4 months since all of the corals had been wiped out during the move.

Everything has stabilized and is now starting to show decent color. Here's the side shot.










I've also taken a photo from the same angle in the morning when the tank is lit by sun:










And this is what the tank looked like two weeks ago:










A few more shots:




































And here is a couple of videos:


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## Yellowtang

*coral jewels*

Your tank is beautiful, it's amazing how your tank has matured in a short time. Great job!!!


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## Rookie2013

awesome recovery...beautiful indeed


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