- Location
- Yonkers, NY
Hello Everyone!
Like to introduce myself and my new tank build here on Manhattan Reefs.
My name is Mike and I have been hooked on this hobby since 1980. My father indoctrinated in marine aquariums at an early age (he started keeping marine fish in the late 60's) and have addicted ever since. Over the years I have had many types of aquariums from fish only to SPS aquariums. My latest evolution has been for the last 3 and change years I have been keeping non-photosynthetic corals and crinoids.
I am very excited to finally start my new tank build! The Artisan 50 from CADLights was the perfect size up-grade tank for my next non-photosynthetic aquarium project.
I was out growing my 18" x 18" x18" High Clarity ECOCUBE and was in the market for a larger tank. With the filtration being built into the back of the ECOCUBE I was losing valuable real estate inside my aquarium. A few requirements I was looking at in a new tank were: it had to have a sump, be rimless, and had to be made of low-iron glass. I looked into ELOS, Solana XL, and custom options all were more than I was looking to spend on a 60 gallon or less glass box. When I saw that CADlights decided to venture into making the Artisan 50 gallon system, with it's dimensions being 24" x 24" x 20", having the minimalistic look of an ELOS, being made of beautiful, low-iron, Starfire beveled glass, it was my logical choice.
With the heavy demands of Azoo corals I didn't want to take a chance of the skimmer and sump to undersized. Cadlights designed a custom sump based around the Bubble Magnus NAC-6 protein skimmer.
Filtration and Water Movement
Having high flow/water movement in a azooxanthellae aquarium is key in keeping heavy detritus from forming and transporting food to the inhabitants in the aquarium. For in tank water movement; a Vortech MP40w will be used on the back of the aquarium, left side of the overflow box and a Vortech MP10 will be used on the right side. The pumps are being installed this way due to how the rock structure will be placed. In addition, a Tunze Silence 1073.04 will be used for return pump.
The skimmer I choose for this aquarium was a Bubble Magnus NAC-6. A high performing skimmer is a must, the BM mini was available with CADlights pro set-up, which would be more than enough for normal keeping of LPS, SPS, or soft corals, but I wanted to rest easy knowing that I had a skimmer that was going to handle the intense feeding that I put my aquariums through. I feed my aquariums very heavy and do water changes as much a 50 percent, twice a week.
Aquascaping
The tanks aquascaping is planned to be open and rockwork to be minimal. Only two pieces of rock are used. One being a piece of live rock which I has travel from my 90 gallon to my 24 gallon and now to 50. This rock was previously "cooked" before I actually started using it in my aquarium. If you are not familar with the process I can expain it if you would like. It is a simple process, just takes time, patience, and going through alot of saltwater, so if you want to know, let me know. The second rock that is being used is a ceramic sculptured rock from Aquaroche. To avoid any PH issues with using ceramic rock, was soaked in RO water for a week and the water was changed daily.
Lighting
Lighting for this aquarium is provided by two 21 watt PAR38 LED lamps (one 12k and one 20K) in adjustable lighting fixtures from AquaTouch.
I also have a all red 21 watt PAR38 lamp. Why Red? Besides red light being visually different and not something everyone is accustom to. Red lighting can be used to view nocturnal invertebrates without disturbing them since it seems that most can not see red light.
Mike
Like to introduce myself and my new tank build here on Manhattan Reefs.
My name is Mike and I have been hooked on this hobby since 1980. My father indoctrinated in marine aquariums at an early age (he started keeping marine fish in the late 60's) and have addicted ever since. Over the years I have had many types of aquariums from fish only to SPS aquariums. My latest evolution has been for the last 3 and change years I have been keeping non-photosynthetic corals and crinoids.
I am very excited to finally start my new tank build! The Artisan 50 from CADLights was the perfect size up-grade tank for my next non-photosynthetic aquarium project.
I was out growing my 18" x 18" x18" High Clarity ECOCUBE and was in the market for a larger tank. With the filtration being built into the back of the ECOCUBE I was losing valuable real estate inside my aquarium. A few requirements I was looking at in a new tank were: it had to have a sump, be rimless, and had to be made of low-iron glass. I looked into ELOS, Solana XL, and custom options all were more than I was looking to spend on a 60 gallon or less glass box. When I saw that CADlights decided to venture into making the Artisan 50 gallon system, with it's dimensions being 24" x 24" x 20", having the minimalistic look of an ELOS, being made of beautiful, low-iron, Starfire beveled glass, it was my logical choice.
With the heavy demands of Azoo corals I didn't want to take a chance of the skimmer and sump to undersized. Cadlights designed a custom sump based around the Bubble Magnus NAC-6 protein skimmer.
Filtration and Water Movement
Having high flow/water movement in a azooxanthellae aquarium is key in keeping heavy detritus from forming and transporting food to the inhabitants in the aquarium. For in tank water movement; a Vortech MP40w will be used on the back of the aquarium, left side of the overflow box and a Vortech MP10 will be used on the right side. The pumps are being installed this way due to how the rock structure will be placed. In addition, a Tunze Silence 1073.04 will be used for return pump.
The skimmer I choose for this aquarium was a Bubble Magnus NAC-6. A high performing skimmer is a must, the BM mini was available with CADlights pro set-up, which would be more than enough for normal keeping of LPS, SPS, or soft corals, but I wanted to rest easy knowing that I had a skimmer that was going to handle the intense feeding that I put my aquariums through. I feed my aquariums very heavy and do water changes as much a 50 percent, twice a week.
Aquascaping
The tanks aquascaping is planned to be open and rockwork to be minimal. Only two pieces of rock are used. One being a piece of live rock which I has travel from my 90 gallon to my 24 gallon and now to 50. This rock was previously "cooked" before I actually started using it in my aquarium. If you are not familar with the process I can expain it if you would like. It is a simple process, just takes time, patience, and going through alot of saltwater, so if you want to know, let me know. The second rock that is being used is a ceramic sculptured rock from Aquaroche. To avoid any PH issues with using ceramic rock, was soaked in RO water for a week and the water was changed daily.
Lighting
Lighting for this aquarium is provided by two 21 watt PAR38 LED lamps (one 12k and one 20K) in adjustable lighting fixtures from AquaTouch.
I also have a all red 21 watt PAR38 lamp. Why Red? Besides red light being visually different and not something everyone is accustom to. Red lighting can be used to view nocturnal invertebrates without disturbing them since it seems that most can not see red light.
Mike
