Helsinki Low Iron Reef - 910 liters

[The Cardinal]

Greetings from Helsinki Finland :wavehand:!

BACKGROUND:

After living as a kid in Miami in 1985-1986 I was amazed with the coral reefs at Pennekamp and the tropical environment so different from my earlier childhood in Sweden. I dreamt that one day it would be possible to have corals and marine fish in an aquarium; my own slice of the tropical ocean when the winter storms raged outside my window to lighten up the darkness of the North.

In 2004 I stumbled upon Reefcentral and saw the TOTM and was thrilled to see the amazing results that technology and the knowledge could produce.


MY FORMER REEF TANKS:

In 2005 I therefore started my first reef; a 375L reef without a sump converted from my fresh water aquarium:

I also started a smaller 275L cube aquarium in 2008 where I kept seahorses and my captive bred Banggai Cardinals:

In 2009 I had to stop with the hobby due to changes in my family situation.

 

[Crazy_Beaver]

Both of your tanks were beautiful!i bet the new tank will be awesome!

 

[The Cardinal]

MY CURRENT 910L/240G PROJECT

I knew I would get back to the hobby when I had a chance so I saved much of the equipment from my previous reefs. About a year ago I started planning the new aquarium and as most people I wanted to go bigger :spin3:.

PHILOSOPHY:

The display would be a central part of our apartment and fit in aesthetically with the rest of the interior. I wanted to make the aquarium as safe and quiet as possible and at the same time hide all technique from view. The biological aspects would be the primary focus so I wanted to incorporate a refuge as well that would be viewable from the side and add interest/filtration and biological variety to the display.

THE PLAN ON PAPER:

Central placement in apartment:

The inlet hole to the refuge is now close to the bottom and not the top as shown below:

The stand (some modifications were made to the design)

 

[The Cardinal]

TECHNOLOGY AND SPECS:

- Low iron aquarium built in Germany by Eheim/MP
- 200cm length, 70cm breadth and 65cm height so ca 910L in total
- 2 x Tunze 6105 (max 2 x 13000 l/h)
- 1 x Tunze 6095 (max 9500 l/h)
- 1 x Tunze wavebox
- 2 x 250w MH with lumenarc reflectors
- 3 x 80w T5
- Balling with automated dosing pumps
- Ozone
- Tunze automatic water refill
- Skimmer Yasi Champagne 200 http://amagmbh.eu/product_info.php?products_id=32

SUMPLESS:

I again choose to go without a sump in order to use less pumps/heat/ noise and money to transfer the water vertically and also lessen the complexity and the risk of leaks and possible fire. I had a flood due to an external skimmer in my old tank so I decided that the skimmer must also be placed inside the aquarium to further minimise the risks. I simply chose a larger aquarium than I had originally planned.

REEF CERAMICS:

In order to hide and remove all equipment from the main display I hid the technique compartment with a wall of reef ceramics customized from Germany:

REFUGE:

To the right of the technique compartment I made a space for the refuge measuring 12cm or ca 55L in total. The refuge is viewable from the right side and will function as a biological filtration using live rock, sand and chaetomorpha. It will also provide live food from the micro fauna produced here. The refuge is fed with a pump based in the technique compartment and the water exits through gravity back into the display. It will be a fun challenge to make the refuge an interesting part of the viewing experience and not have it hidden from view.

 

[The Cardinal]

UNDER CONSTRUCTION!

With help from a good friend and drawings from RC we built the stand.

There is a sturdy wooden sheet attached to the back side of the stand that is not clear from the photo below.

 

[The Cardinal]

AQUARIUM SAFELY IN PLACE!

After some heavy lifting three work colleagues helped me to bring the aquarium in place at the end of August. The work carried out by Eheim/MP is very good and polished. The low iron does make a big difference and worth the extra cost IMO.

Reef ceramics in place:

Refuge:

Refuge and technical compartment visible (skimmer is now standing on the right side of the compartment):

 

[The Cardinal]

AQUASCAPE:

I ordered 60kg base rock and 10kg live rock from Germany. The base rock consisted of some really nice large light weight rocks which was easy to work with.

Upon arrival:

Scaping in progress:

 

[The Cardinal]

AQUASCAPE IN PLACE:

Left side. On the left side I have tried to resemble the vertical islands seen outside Thailand for example and also try to add visual depth by placing a smaller rock in the foreground (the plan is for this rock to be covered in ricordea later for the size to remain small).:

Middle. For the middle part I have tried to make a spiral formation that moves in a circular and upward movement. This is a bit hard to see in the photos but I think it will look good with the right corals/planning/trimming. :

Right side. The wall of reef ceramics creates a dramatic reef wall going up to the surface of the tank. From the right side I have then made the other parts progressively smaller towards the left side and I will have this in mind when the corals grow.

To add interest and improve circulation and hiding spots for the inhabitants I have chiseled out several kg of rock to make caves that run through the rocks. This also adds visual depth to the scene and a three dimensional feel to it. I have also added shelves to some of the rocks but these will likely be removed later when the corals have grown to avoid a cramped impression. I will try to keep the sand free of corals to keep the open spaces ... open .

The lighting in these photos are only from the T5 in the back so apologies if they are a bit dark.

 

[The Cardinal]

MORE SHOTS:

Skimmer in place:

Kitchen view:

Shark attack

Refuge:

 

[Thorndunes]

The tank looks great!

 

[Newbie Aquarist]

You take "All in One" to another level. I like the sleekness. It's very modern. Great job.

 

[adddo]

Cant see the pics

 

[Ldagger]

perfect- very clean and nice. and not a bulkhead in the whole thing.
love it

 

[chingchai]

Subscribed.
This must be a great tank.
Peter. Thank you for sharing.

 

[The Cardinal]

Thank you very much guys, appreciate the comments and glad you like it! Many of your creations, not least yours Ching, have been a source of great inspiration and admiration for years :wave:

Hi Adddo, nice to see you here as well ! I believe you have seen the pictures in saltvattensguiden. My user name there is Clownen. I hope I am not doing something wrong when uploading the photos??


FIRST CORALS & CLAM ORDERED:

After around 7 weeks with water in the system and stable water parameters I have now added the first LPS corals and clam Tridacna Derasa:

Shots from the shop:

 

[The Cardinal]

NEW CORALS AND CLAM IN THEIR NEW HOME :

 

[dave.m]

Hi. It looks like you are off to a great start. Just a couple of questions:

Your initial drawings show the space above the tank to be enclosed. Will you continue with this plan, or will you just leave it open?

I can't help but notice there are no fish. Usually people have some fish to create a bio-load and get the bacterial filter going. Will you be adding fish?

Thx,

Dave.M

 

[Bello]

Beautiful aquascape!

 

[The Cardinal]

Thank you Bello and Dave!

Dave: I am still building the top of the tank according to the drawing and it will be more or less finished next week. I had enough die off from the live rock not to use fish and I have been feeding the worms and micro-fauna that already live in the tank/refuge. I have collected sand from three sources to add bacterial variety. The first fishes will come next Wednesday and will probably appreciate the cycled tank .

 

[postshawn]

I love the rock formations and the partial rock wall. Awesome setup!