Derek's Aussie 240gal Reef

[DerekR]

Thanks everyone
We are trying our best with the corals, sadly the SPS we have access to here in Oz is nothing compared to you guys...

Yes Lyfey, we are using a few removable DSBs in the sump, just plastic containers full in fine coral sand. It means we can take them out and replace them very easy if they get fouled. The refugium is just more rock in the sump, but the DT has been a refugium for a while now - no fish 3-4 months = pods galore!


Here is a bit of an update...

We made a filter using filter wool and acrylic that slips over the baffle in the sump. Much easier to change out than a filter sock and seems to keep the water free of ... stuff... I change out the filter wool daily, takes a couple of minutes.

We also added 10 dispar anthias about 3 weeks ago. Only 8 remain now, lost one to fighting and one to not feeding. All the rest are going really great.

 

[DerekR]

Continuing the update, we took a few coral shots including some top-down shots using a big fruit bowl... sorry about the focus in some of them...
Getting some good growth and decent colour out of our SPS. Considering this is the first time we have ever tried SPS, we are pretty happy with the results.

 

[DerekR]

These are the most recent photos taken just a few days ago.
The tank is going very well, very happy with everything. :spin3:
Well, nearly everything... the power bill is a bit sad...

We have added some more fish to the DT - all the fish are getting 2 weeks in the QT at 10mg/L of quinine. The tangs will get longer than that, maybe 4 weeks.
We have added:
- pair of sunburst anthias
- pair of smithvanizi anthias
- pair of blue assessors
- pair of occy clowns
The sunburst are still a bit picky, but they are eating. All the other fish including the 8 dispar are eating very strong and seem to love the flow in the DT.

And one of our little Sunbursts

 

[n0rk]

Fancy seeing you here, Derek! tank is looking tops mate, given some time to grow out it'll be fantastic.

 

[DerekR]

Hi Ben!
I will be waiting a while for it to grow out though!! :lolspin:
Cheers,
Derek

 

[Last Version]

Nice started, taging along

 

[Michael B]

What a great build - been a pleasure to view & read through (all the best with your "piece of the ocean" & look forward to updates)

 

[DerekR]

Thanks heaps guys,
We will try to get updates up more regularly. :thumbsup:
Cheers,
Derek

 

[adddo]

Nice!!

 

[leslie hempel]

lovley..

 

[wtildens]

love the tank, and the removable DBS's are a great idea.

 

[lgndrympterry]

beautiful sir, I truly respect the Aussie way..I thought that you were gonna have a tidal effect with the way your over flow was built, but a you progressed i see exactly why you have it built that way.

Has anyone accomplished the tidal effect that they use at the Atlanta aquarium in a home reef? I mean I have vortechs that work great but the have actual wave like dumps of water from above, I understand this could cause some corals to break but it is how things are in nature. Im kinda interested in built my next tank to fit the most realistic parameters possible.

I really like that Brain it looks like someone splattered paint all over it.

on a side note:I now understand why people have told me i have too much rock in my 120. but it think all that rock will come in handy when i upgrade to a larger tank. corals might be kinda crammed.

 

[74Killer]

Hey Derek, any updates after 2 years?!!

 

[Zacktosterone]

Any pics after 4 years??

 

[Bjoern]

Tank still running?

 

[ace_92101]

Derek's profile shows he hasn't been online sinnce 2011. Unfortunately, we're probably not going to get further updates.