I haven't posted pics of my rejuvenated reef yet, so I snagged my wife's new camera and took a few. Back in October or November my 37gallon sprang a leak. Opportunity to upgrade right? Well I did, sort of. I transferred my livestock to a borrowed 55g (thanks Tri) and ordered an Aqueon 40 Breeder and matching stand from Fish2morow. Fortunately most of my favorite specimens survived including my four fish:
First, my female mandarin goby, which I've had for a few years. I was worried about her food source because my refugium effectively died between the move to the new tank and the holding period. Consequently, she had only copepods, etc., in the liverock in tank. Fortunately I had around sixty pounds in my system and she never seemed to suffer. Partially, I think because--though I've never confirmed this--she eats frozen mysid, pellets, etc. I feed a mixture of many different frozen foods, to attempt to provide as much variety as possible to all my livestock.
Second, I have a pair of Occellaris Clowns that were about my first purchases since I got back into reefing in 2005.
Finally, my favorite fish that I've had for around 1 1/2 years--a redspotted rockskipper blenny.
So, as you can see I have a small bioload fish-wise in this tank. I have several interesting inverts including a cleaner shrimp, porcelain crab, Halloween hermit crab, and assortment of snails. I've taken out most of my hermit crabs and have only kept a few that I am attached to because I believe they are opportunistic feeders and will kill snails, at least that's been my experience, but I do have a few scarlets and blue legs.
I have a handful of sps colonies/frags, which are the main focus of the tank. Unfortunately I lost colonies of lps (my LE Alien Eye Chalice from Ultimatefrags) zoanthids, my superman monti, as well as some other sps. Presently in the tank is a large colony of Montipora Capricornis (Orange), Tri-color Valida, Acropora Tenius (purple with lime green tips), Acropora Yongei (Green Slimer), a titanium efflo, a miami orchid (this nearly died in the transition), and finally a green monti cap. I have a few species of LPS--black and orange sun polyps and a branching hammer. I have a large lime-green Florida Ricordea, and a colony of Orange Florida Ricordea. In addition, I have an assortment of zoanthids and pallys, mostly small colonies.
The tank's filtration is achieved via natural filtration through roughly 60 pounds of fiji and tonga live rock, a refugium, which utilizes chaetomorph algae and a single mangrove (mostly because I've always wanted one and not necessarily because it's uptaking a lot of nutrients) on a 24/7 photo period via a 6500k spiral fluorescent bulb in a simple clip-on shop light. In addition, I have 40lbs of Fiji pink sand in the display and around 15 lbs of pulverized limestone in the refugium.
Mechanically, I use a Tunze 9005 DOC Protein Skimmer and a single Phosban reactor with carbon, 24/7.
The tank's circulation is achieved via a pair of basic modded Tunze Nanostream 6025s and a Mag 7 for the tanks primary pump. My external overflow drains approximately 300gph so the Mag is operating at about half capacity.
Other equipment includes a Ranco Temp controller connected to a 150watt heater as well as a azoo fan to help cool the tank. The tank is grounded via a titanium grounding probe. All of this is connected to a GFCI, which I believe are crucial to any setup for safety's sake.
Lighting is achieved through a single Lumenarc Mini Stealth Pendant powered by a ARO E-Ballast which powers a Phoenix 14k, 250 watt HQI lamp. I have the tank on a 10 hour daylight period. The lamps come on around noon and are turned off via a digital timer at 10pm.
I test magnesium, PH, Alk, Specific Gravity, routinely and dose magnesium as needed. I use Lugol's Iodine (3 drops) once a week, and dose two-part every day.
The demise of my first tank was a bit frustrating and I honestly almost quit the hobby but I have been glad I didn't. That is one reason why I really didn't do that much of an upgrade. I really like the depth offered by the 40breeder and it was the key feature I was looking for in my new tank. Anyway, here, are some pics. Enjoy!
First, my female mandarin goby, which I've had for a few years. I was worried about her food source because my refugium effectively died between the move to the new tank and the holding period. Consequently, she had only copepods, etc., in the liverock in tank. Fortunately I had around sixty pounds in my system and she never seemed to suffer. Partially, I think because--though I've never confirmed this--she eats frozen mysid, pellets, etc. I feed a mixture of many different frozen foods, to attempt to provide as much variety as possible to all my livestock.
Second, I have a pair of Occellaris Clowns that were about my first purchases since I got back into reefing in 2005.
Finally, my favorite fish that I've had for around 1 1/2 years--a redspotted rockskipper blenny.
So, as you can see I have a small bioload fish-wise in this tank. I have several interesting inverts including a cleaner shrimp, porcelain crab, Halloween hermit crab, and assortment of snails. I've taken out most of my hermit crabs and have only kept a few that I am attached to because I believe they are opportunistic feeders and will kill snails, at least that's been my experience, but I do have a few scarlets and blue legs.
I have a handful of sps colonies/frags, which are the main focus of the tank. Unfortunately I lost colonies of lps (my LE Alien Eye Chalice from Ultimatefrags) zoanthids, my superman monti, as well as some other sps. Presently in the tank is a large colony of Montipora Capricornis (Orange), Tri-color Valida, Acropora Tenius (purple with lime green tips), Acropora Yongei (Green Slimer), a titanium efflo, a miami orchid (this nearly died in the transition), and finally a green monti cap. I have a few species of LPS--black and orange sun polyps and a branching hammer. I have a large lime-green Florida Ricordea, and a colony of Orange Florida Ricordea. In addition, I have an assortment of zoanthids and pallys, mostly small colonies.
The tank's filtration is achieved via natural filtration through roughly 60 pounds of fiji and tonga live rock, a refugium, which utilizes chaetomorph algae and a single mangrove (mostly because I've always wanted one and not necessarily because it's uptaking a lot of nutrients) on a 24/7 photo period via a 6500k spiral fluorescent bulb in a simple clip-on shop light. In addition, I have 40lbs of Fiji pink sand in the display and around 15 lbs of pulverized limestone in the refugium.
Mechanically, I use a Tunze 9005 DOC Protein Skimmer and a single Phosban reactor with carbon, 24/7.
The tank's circulation is achieved via a pair of basic modded Tunze Nanostream 6025s and a Mag 7 for the tanks primary pump. My external overflow drains approximately 300gph so the Mag is operating at about half capacity.
Other equipment includes a Ranco Temp controller connected to a 150watt heater as well as a azoo fan to help cool the tank. The tank is grounded via a titanium grounding probe. All of this is connected to a GFCI, which I believe are crucial to any setup for safety's sake.
Lighting is achieved through a single Lumenarc Mini Stealth Pendant powered by a ARO E-Ballast which powers a Phoenix 14k, 250 watt HQI lamp. I have the tank on a 10 hour daylight period. The lamps come on around noon and are turned off via a digital timer at 10pm.
I test magnesium, PH, Alk, Specific Gravity, routinely and dose magnesium as needed. I use Lugol's Iodine (3 drops) once a week, and dose two-part every day.
The demise of my first tank was a bit frustrating and I honestly almost quit the hobby but I have been glad I didn't. That is one reason why I really didn't do that much of an upgrade. I really like the depth offered by the 40breeder and it was the key feature I was looking for in my new tank. Anyway, here, are some pics. Enjoy!
