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Reef Builders

The 'Kitchen Sink' Reef Tank - 100 gallons of Diverse Corals

1

Tank Featured

26

Minutes

2022

Released

Jake Adams of Reef Builders gives a long-overdue tour of the studio's 100-gallon 'kitchen sink' reef — an Innovative Marine NUVO 100EXT that started as a soft coral tank and became a catch-all for diverse corals that don't fit the studio's themed systems. He walks through the equipment specific to the tank (AI Hydra 64 lights, two VorTech MP40s, NUVO stand and Clearview lid) and then a detailed right-to-left coral and fish tour. The tank is notable for its diversity, a large tang herbivore crew acting as cleanup, and low-maintenance stability over three years.

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00:00:50Tank history: started as soft coral tank, now the kitchen sink reef 00:02:24Equipment overview and Innovative Marine NUVO 100EXT tank 00:03:52VorTech MP40 flow placement keeping rock clean 00:04:44NUVO stand and Clearview lid 00:05:36Lighting: Hydra 52 to Hydra 64 upgrade and self-shading 00:07:27Fish / tang gang overview 00:08:40Cleanup crew philosophy (tangs, no added CUC) 00:11:55Turbinaria coral collection 00:14:26Astreopora corals 00:16:21Central bommy corals and leathers 00:19:44Bird's nest corals and Lazy's Blue Zinger hybrid 00:23:59Dual-rail lighting upgrade and future maintenance plans

The Build

Tank Specs

Every spec, brand, and livestock mention pulled from the host's narration. Click any tank tour above to compare.

Tank 01

The Kitchen Sink Reef Tank

100

Gallons

mixed reef

Style

36

Months Old

Innovative Marine NUVO 100EXT

Brand

A 100-gallon (~75 actual) Innovative Marine NUVO 100EXT run by Jake Adams as the Reef Builders studio 'kitchen sink' tank — a catch-all for whatever diverse coral doesn't fit elsewhere. Originally a soft coral tank, it now holds an extremely varied mix heavy on Turbinaria, Astreopora, bird's nest, and leathers, lit by two AI Hydra 64s with two VorTech MP40s. Its standout traits are a huge tang-driven herbivore cleanup crew and bottom-mounted flow that keeps the aquascape remarkably clean and largely undisturbed for three years.

Lighting

Aqua Illumination Hydra 64 ×2 $701.99in stock

Flow

EcoTech Marine VorTech MP40 ×2 $341.99in stock

Filtration

Part of a larger central system; mineral balance/filtration handled at the system level, not tank-specific

Husbandry & Practices 7

Dose nitrate and phosphate to sustain soft corals and broaden success across a diverse mix.
Position both VorTech MP40s at back bottom corners, alternating ~75-80%, to keep rock detritus-free.
Rely on a heavy tang/surgeonfish herbivore crew instead of a deliberately-added cleanup crew.
Elevate the Millepora colony on 4-inch legs so flow blasts underneath and fills the gap.
Let a pest Xenia grow isolated up the back glass so it can't overgrow other corals.
Added eight Springer's damsels together at once to keep aggression balanced.
Added dual-rail hung lighting plus LED strips to combat coral self-shading.

Corals

36

Turbinaria peltata (powdery sky blue)Turbinaria (scroll-like, spun growth)Neon green scroll/turbinaria coral (from Atlanta)Turbinaria bifronsTurbinaria heronensis (light green colony)Turbinaria heronensis (bluish branching)Turbinaria heronensis (green grafted, from Jason Fox)Astreopora randalli (bright green polyps)Streaking grafted Astreopora (green/brown streaks)Large-polyp Astreopora (collected in Australia)Milka Stylo (Millepora/Stylophora placeholder)Acropora horrida (collected on Great Barrier Reef)Bird of paradise (Seriatopora)Seriatopora hystrix (pink bird's nest)Green tip bird's nestLazy's Blue Zinger (tank-made Seriatopora hybrid)Pacific Ocean tenuis (yellow-green, dark blue tips)Bonsai Acro Manila spy Montipora crystal experimentPocillopora verrucosaPocillopora damicornisPocillopora aduie (Cat's Paw, pink)Green Psammocora (pest, from poet bailout)Green Nephthea leatherSinularia (branching orange strains x2)Golden folded crown toadstool leatherFiji yellow leatherLong-pop leather coralLarge-pop leather coralCaulastrea (starry candy coral)Wine red BernardporaPavona decussata (green)Mint chip PavonaRed Lobophyllia (from Ocean Reef Marine Aquariums, West Australia)Green Poritas AstreoporaRed sea pulsing XeniaRandom ACI Aquaculture frag

Fish

10

Wild-caught gray Molly (from Florida)Yellow tangTomini tangConvict tangGem tangPowder Blue / Powder Brown hybrid tangBristletail filefishBanggai cardinalfishOnyx percula clownfish (tank bred)Springer's damselfish (x8, Chrysiptera)

Inverts

4

Peppermint shrimpAsterina starfishStomatella snailsEmerald crabs

Shop the build

Featured products from our catalogue

Equipment mentioned in this tour that we cover in our gear catalog. Click through for full specs, retailer comparison, and where-to-buy.

AI Hydra 64 HD

Mentioned as: Aqua Illumination Hydra 64

EcoTech Marine Vortech MP40 QuietDrive

Vortech MP40 QuietDrive

Mentioned as: EcoTech Marine VorTech MP40

In their own words

Notable Quotes

We generally call this the kitchen sink reef tank because whatever coral doesn't fit in another aquarium we'll try to fit it in here.

This is probably the most successful aquarium that we've designed to have the power heads at the back bottom of the aquarium.

The entire cleanup crew is basically all the tangs and whatever asterina starfish and stomatella snails have reproduced in this aquarium.

I put eight of them in here specifically to break a myth that they might eat flat worms... so stop saying that Springer's damselfish will just magically eat them.

It's not a squeaky wheel so we don't give it much oil, but I think it's time to get a little bit of attention.