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ALLCORALS REEF TANKS & GEAR
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The 40-Gallon Reef Showcase

The 40-Gallon Reef Showcase

Volume
40 gal
Dimensions
36" x 23" x 14"
Tank type
Softies
Repurposed an undrilled 36" Amazon freshwater tank into a meticulous reef using an external overflow box instead of a drilled sump.

Juan's 40-gallon softie-dominant reef is a meticulously clean, three-and-a-half-year-old tank built from a converted Amazon freshwater aquarium fed by an external overflow. It showcases lush zoanthids, palythoa, mushrooms and LPS grown into each other, run on Tropic Marin All-For-Reef dosing rather than heavy water changes. Standout gear includes twin Deluo lights, a retrofitted Red Sea roller mat, an Octo skimmer and a Hydros controller.

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Source: YouTube · World Wide Corals
What sets this tank apart
Freshwater Amazon tank converted to reef
Repurposed an undrilled 36" Amazon freshwater tank into a meticulous reef using an external overflow box instead of a drilled sump.
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Roller mat crammed into a non-sump
Fitted a Red Sea roller mat into a tank never designed for a sump — calls it the best thing he did for water clarity.
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Read the corals, then test
Uses coral appearance as the first diagnostic; caught a loose doser hose because the corals looked 'weird' before a test confirmed it.
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Added flow to save anemones
Diagnosed dying rock anemones as low flow and swapped to a stronger Octo powerhead plus gyre — the anemones recovered.
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Equipment Breakdown

Shop this build · 1 of 8 items priced
The 40-Gallon Reef Showcase — Full Equipment List
$50
est. build cost
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Filtration
Reef Octopus Octo 110
Reef Octopus
Octo 110
Protein skimmer
🏋️ Workhorse
Pulls a full cup of dark skimmate a week off a lightly stocked 40 gallons — oversized export is part of why this tank looks so clean.
Lighting
Illumagic Light
Illumagic
Light
Display lights ×2
Upgraded from twin AI Primes and run at only ~50% — deliberately oversized so they can move with Juan to a bigger tank later.
$49.99 Buy → at Printed Reef Details →
Flow & Circulation
Reef Octopus Octo 4
Reef Octopus
Octo 4
Return pump
Reef Octopus Octo powerhead
Reef Octopus
Octo powerhead
Wavemaker
The upgrade that saved the rock anemones — swapped in after Juan diagnosed their decline as low flow, and they recovered.
IceCap
Gyre powerhead
Wavemaker
Cross-flow running opposite the return on a randomized schedule — the second half of the flow fix that revived the anemones.
Modern equivalent: IceCap 4K Gyre Powerhead
In our catalog →
Aqua Illumination Powerhead
Aqua Illumination
Powerhead
Wavemaker
Modern equivalent: AI Nero Series →
Monitoring & Control
Hydros Hydros Control (with WaveEngine)
Hydros
Hydros Control (with WaveEngine)
Controller
The WaveEngine syncs a mixed fleet of Reef Octopus, IceCap and AI pumps from one scheduler — no single-brand lock-in required.
Dosing
Tropic Marin All-For-Reef
Tropic Marin
All-For-Reef
All-in-one dosing
Titrated from 5 ml up to 10 ml a day to hold Ca and Mg steady — single-bottle supplementation instead of heavy water changes.

Husbandry & Notes

  • Dose Tropic Marin All-For-Reef, titrated from 5ml up to 10ml/day to hold Ca/Mg stable
  • Test phosphate, nitrate, calcium, magnesium and alkalinity weekly
  • Do water change only when weekly tests indicate, otherwise adjust dosing
  • Ran carbon intermittently (roughly one month on, one month off)
  • Dose Brightwell coral foods every 2-3 days for color and clarity
  • Learned to 'read the corals' to spot problems before testing
  • Placed flow pump opposite the return and made pumps random for even flow
  • Retrofitted a Red Sea roller mat into a converted freshwater tank
Reported parameters
Alk (dKH)
8.7
Calcium
435
Magnesium
1350
Nitrate
13.9 ppm
Phosphate
0.02 ppm
I think I'm going to put you in the meticulous club. This thing is just flawless, super clean.
In my country, salt water is illegal. So I used to have fresh water all my life.
For me it's a hobby. I'm not looking to get any money for this. I just put the zoas and let them grow how they want.
With time you learn how to read your tank just watching. I call it read your corals.
The roller mat is the best thing I did here. It's a mess to put there but it's the best thing because I hate sumps.