June
2006
Bob the Reef Builder's System |
|
|
Introduction
Hi my name is Rob. Thank you very much to SARK,
for asking me to post my tank on here as PSTM
for June.
It’s wonderful to see how differently people
run systems. I have had tanks since I was about 11 (small freshwater
system). I grew into Discus breeding after school
and worked for a reef system building and maintenance
company for about six months in Singapore. This
is where I came into contact with marine reef
systems. I have loved them ever since.
I have for the past thirteen years built and looked
after other peoples reef systems, but, believe
it or not, until about 18 months ago, have not
had my own! I now do and it has brought endless
joy to me and my family. I set out to build a
mixed reef system with an emphasis on SPS. I wanted
to see if it could be done with a relatively simple
system. I set it up with the fundamentals, as
I see them, in place.
Powerful skimmer. Strong Lighting. Fair bit of
circulation. The system worked very well. SPS flourished as
did all the livestock. I have added useful equipment
since then, and it is not as simple as it once
was. |
Display
Tank Size in cm
2meters long x 750mm high x 400-750mm wide (because
of the curved front)
Sump Size in cm
1.6m x 400 x 400
Additional tanks if applicable, linked
to main system
I have a standard 3 ft tank linked as a frag holding
facility. .
Total system volume
About 1200litres
Natural Sea Water or synthetic mix
I use Tropic Marine or Aqua medic salt with RO
to mix my water
Tank Construction (Glass, thickness, bracing
etc)
12mm with 12mm bracing.
10mm double base.
Cabinet
Cherry cabinet.
Location
Entrance area. Seen from lounge. |
|
Mechanical
IM skimmer (Contact Chamber is +- 700mm x 200mm
diameter)
Biological
+- 120kg live rock (Kenya)
6inch gravel over 1 inch plenum in the fuge. (probably
not doing too much nitrate removal (not fine enough),
but nice place for little food critters to grow).
Lights to grow macro algae.
Chemical
Prosphate remover to keep phosphates reasonable.
Other
About 2 liters of Carbon is run permanently. |
|
Main
system lighting
3 x 250W halides (10 000k BLV) bog Standard magnetic
ballasts
4 x 150W halides (20 000k Venture) Magnetic ballasts.
2 x 140W actinics Phillips 03
Photoperiod
Actinics - 14 hours
20 000k halides - 12 hours
10 000k halides - 10 hours
Other lighting over fuge and frag tank
1 x 14000k 3 foot T5
1 x 20 000k 3 foot T5
Photoperiod
Permanent over fuge
12 hours over frags.
|
|
Return
pump
4500l uplift
Powerheads/intank
3 x 4500l powerheads.
2 x 2500l powerheads alternating on a simple flip-flop
timer.
2 x Tunze’ 12 000l streams with controller. |
|
Calcium
reactor (Aquamedic 1000)
Kalkstirrers (IM)
Still add Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium.(Pure
Reef)
Other additives you add to your system
and how often
Iodine and Strontium. (Pure Reef.)
Auto top-up from RO barrel to Kalk stirrer. |
Livestock
FISH
|
|
1
Powder Blue Surgeon, Regal Tang x3, Anthias
(Tuka) x9, Dutoiti, Blue Cheek Goby
Maroon Clown,Yellow Tang, Fox face, Fire
gobies x 2, Blue Damsel, Green Wrasse |
| SOFT
CORALS
|
|
Big
Sarco, Finger Leather Yellow, Pumping Xenia,
Various Star polyps,
Various polyp colonies, Ricordia, Other
mushrooms |
| LPS
CORALS |
|
Huge
Elegance, Torch Euphilia x 3, Baby spawned
Euphilia x 3, Candy cane, Blastomussa
Plate Anemone, Fungia, Brain, Echinophilia
(Purple, Green, Pink.)
Black branching Sun coral, Cynarina, Alveopora |
| SPS
CORALS |
|
About
42 colonies of various Acropora species,
some are of the same species but different
colour morphs. I hesitate to try to name
them as I’d probably get many wrong,
I think even the taxonomists haven’t
sorted it all out yet. Also - Montipora
Veliferum (4 x Colour morphs), Montipora
Digitata (3 x Colour morphs), Porites x 2, Pocilopora x 5, Seriatopora
Caliendrum and Hystrix, Stylopora Pistilata |
|
OTHER
INVERTEBRATES |
Clams
x 6 (Maxima Squamosa Crocea), Sand Anemone,
Sponges
Clean up crews:
Hermits x 30-40, Nerita Snails lots, Turbo
x 6 big lots of babies, Pentagon stars |
|
Water
change regime
50- 100l per week
How often lamps replaced:
Yearly
How often major equipment is stripped
and cleaned:
No specific schedule.
General system parameters
Tested :Weekly
Levels
SG.: 1.025
Temp (High/low): 25-26
PH: 7.9-8.1
NO3: 0
PO4: 0.03ppm (or thereabouts)
CA: 400ppm (or thereabouts)
Alk: 7-9dKH
Mg: 1250-1350ppm
Feeding
Types of food:
Nori, Marine mix frozen, Fish eggs, Tetra Marin
sinking pellets
Artemia, Mysid
How often:
Twice daily, mixed combos
|
Things
I like most about my system?
That things are reproducing in it ie. Elegance and
Torch corals. Colour and growth of corals. The way
that things are starting to grow naturally and sort
of intertwine, instead if the placed look that you
get in the beginning.
Things I would change if I could do it over?
Plumb in closed loop circulation. (plan all circulation
better). Wider tank for more surface area, and more
aquascaping possibilities. Better organised electrical
everything, with a separate supply for the tank.
Build in more fail safes. I could think of a couple
more main points if I had more time. Bigger so that
colonies can really spread and grow.
My next tank will take these into account.
Favourite on line resource besides SA Reefkeeping.com?
Reef central and Advanced aquarist.
Best Advice received?
Never stop learning, listen to advanced and novice
aquarists.
Worst Advice received?
Theres a lot. I’m not sure what the worst
was.
Favourite fish:
Mardarin (why don’t I have one? I don’t
know)
Favourite coral:
My big Elegance, or the Black Sun.
My all time wish list for a fish I don't
have but would love
Flame Boxfish.
My all time wish list for a coral I don't
have but would love
I don’t know. I want all my corals to grow
big and beautiful.
The American market seems to get the real pick of
the awesome coloured corals |
| Conclusion
Recently
someone pointed out that my system is no longer
simple. It now has more lighting, a chiller to
cope with the extra heat, Calcium additive systems,
and more circulation (I couldn’t resist
all the talk about the Tunze stream systems).
He is right, except that the basics are still
the same. The extras have been fun to add, and
have sometimes made life a little easier. I do
have strong reservations about them having made
a significant difference to the corals or other
life in the tank, it’s just difficult to
stop fine tuning, as we all know it’s a
major symptom of the reef disease we all have.
While this is an expensive hobbie, and some expenses
are unavoidable, the importance of knowledge is
so often overlooked in the mad scramble for hardware,
leading to huge frustration, unnecessary expense,
and sad deaths for our reef creatures.
That is why it is fantastic that forums like this
exist to help spread the knowledge that we so
often lack.
Thanks SARK for all your hard work and a most
enjoyable site. - Rob |
|
|
|
|
