romanr
New member
I've been asked about my new tank upgrade and I think I'm finally ready for a grand opening. I've now had a reef tank setup continuously since 2003. Live rock and some of the corals from the '03 setup are still part of my current setup. In the beginning it was a 29, then a 65, and now a Marineland 150 deep dimensions cube. I lost all my fish during this last upgrade due to a pump failure to one of the holding tanks so I have all new fish but the rock, sand & corals all made it over to the new setup. Over the years my setup has progressed from a Berlin skimmer and one powerhead to the current setup which includes the following.
The Hardware:
150 Deep Dimensions Marineland Cube (standard glass all around) 36' X 36' X 27'
Custom-made stand build out of 2 X 4's and skinned with 3/4" birch. Stand is 32 in high (nice for both seated and standing viewing)
400W Magnetic ballast running XM 20K SE bulb in Hello Lights spider reflector
29g all-glass tank for a sump (no dividers, 4 X 8 filter sock, filled with Bio-Chem Zorb)
Eshopps S150 Cone skimmer with collection cup overflow prevent flow. Air fed from outside house.
Kent reactor with Brightwell's Katalyst bio pellets
Mini Arctica chiller
150w Hydor Theo heater
Vortech MP10 w/ Icecap battery backup, set to full blast in long pulse mode with the longest pulse interval setting.
Scicce Syncra 3.0 return pump, fed to tank via lockline nozzle which is pointed in the same direction as the Vortech to create a gyre-style flow.
AC3 controller w/ ATO float control, pH, ORP, Temp monitoring and control, Internet web control and monitoring, 3 Waterbug Flood sensors on floor.
15g Kalk top-off reservoir controlled by AC3 (Brightwell's Kalk +2 used)
4-stage 75 gallon/day RO unit, with 32g auto-fill reservoir
Misc items: Overflow float shutoff, Neptune breakout box, Eheim auto-feeder, 8 on/off switches for manual power control of equipment. Custom-made screen top.
Aquascaping:
Minimalist-style setup with only half of the tank's bottom having live rock.
Other half of tank bottom is covered with a slopped 8 inch mixed substrate (aragonite reef blend, Florida crushed coral, Oolite sand). Substrate is colonized by various worms (spaghetti, bristle & others). 25% of substrate came from my 65 setup and had been alive and well for years.
75% of tank's inside volume is empty swim space for fish.
100 lbs of live rock from my previous aquarium setups.
Livestock:
Fish:
6 Spotted Garden Eels (Taenioconger hassi) - acquired on Nov 2010 from Bluezoo Aquatics
2 Orange Spotted Filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris) - acquired on Nov 2010 from Live Aquaria Diver's Den
6 Blue/Green Chromis (Chromis viridis) - acquired on Oct 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
1 Flame Hawkfish (Neocirrhitus armatus) - acquired on Dec 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
1 Black Bar Chromis (Chromis retrofasciata) - acquired on Oct 2010 from Live Aquaria
Corals:
Orange Cap (Montipora capricornis) - acquired 2010 from Ron's tank
Orange Digi (Montipora digitata) - acquired 2010 from Ron's tank
Red Mushrooms (Actinodiscus sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Blue Mushrooms (Actinodiscus sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Blue Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired Dec 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
Orange Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired 2008
Green Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired 2008
Leather Coral (Sinularia sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Palys, 3 or 4 varieties (one was my first coral put in my 2003 29g tank and acquired from Aqualinks, Ocala
Zoas, 3 or 4 varieties
Acan - acquired 2008 from Pet Solutions
Green Short Tenacle Gonipora (Gonipora sp.) - acquired 2009
Red/Green Blasto (Blastosoma sp.) - acquired 2008 from Pet Solutions
Neon Green Hammer ( Euphyllia ancora) - acquired 2006 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Neon Green Torch (Euphyllia glabrescens) - acquired 2009 from Word Wide Corals, Orlando
Neon Green Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa) - acquired 2010 from dude in Gainesville
Favite Coral (Favites sp.) - acquired 2009 from Live Aquaria Diver's Den
Candy Cane Coral (Caulastrea furcata) - acquired Nov 2010 from acro-ed
Sunset Monti (Montipora undata) - acquired 2010 from Ian Simmons
Misc. & Inverts:
Turbo snails, Cerith snails, Nassarius snails, Nerite snails, Blue-legged hermits, Electric Blue hermit, Green Serpent Star, Oyster, Emerald crabs, Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint shrimp.
Husbandry:
65g water changes monthly with IO mixed with RO water
Bio-Chem Zorb media changed monthly
Skimmer cup emptied and cleaned weekly
2-part Calcium/Alkalinity supplement added daily
Magnesium dosed as needed
Brightwell MB7 dosed weekly
Sump Sock changed out weekly
Glass cleaned with Mag-float 350 every other day.
Feeding:
Auto-feeder feeds twice a day a mixture of pellets, powders, flakes and freeze-dried food)
Around 3 cubes of frozen food is feed daily to include Hikari Mysids, Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, H2O Life Mini Mysids, PE Mysids, Cyclop-eeze, H2O Life Reef Caviar, Rod's Coral Food blend, Rod's Original blend.
Picture coming tomorrow!
The Hardware:
150 Deep Dimensions Marineland Cube (standard glass all around) 36' X 36' X 27'
Custom-made stand build out of 2 X 4's and skinned with 3/4" birch. Stand is 32 in high (nice for both seated and standing viewing)
400W Magnetic ballast running XM 20K SE bulb in Hello Lights spider reflector
29g all-glass tank for a sump (no dividers, 4 X 8 filter sock, filled with Bio-Chem Zorb)
Eshopps S150 Cone skimmer with collection cup overflow prevent flow. Air fed from outside house.
Kent reactor with Brightwell's Katalyst bio pellets
Mini Arctica chiller
150w Hydor Theo heater
Vortech MP10 w/ Icecap battery backup, set to full blast in long pulse mode with the longest pulse interval setting.
Scicce Syncra 3.0 return pump, fed to tank via lockline nozzle which is pointed in the same direction as the Vortech to create a gyre-style flow.
AC3 controller w/ ATO float control, pH, ORP, Temp monitoring and control, Internet web control and monitoring, 3 Waterbug Flood sensors on floor.
15g Kalk top-off reservoir controlled by AC3 (Brightwell's Kalk +2 used)
4-stage 75 gallon/day RO unit, with 32g auto-fill reservoir
Misc items: Overflow float shutoff, Neptune breakout box, Eheim auto-feeder, 8 on/off switches for manual power control of equipment. Custom-made screen top.
Aquascaping:
Minimalist-style setup with only half of the tank's bottom having live rock.
Other half of tank bottom is covered with a slopped 8 inch mixed substrate (aragonite reef blend, Florida crushed coral, Oolite sand). Substrate is colonized by various worms (spaghetti, bristle & others). 25% of substrate came from my 65 setup and had been alive and well for years.
75% of tank's inside volume is empty swim space for fish.
100 lbs of live rock from my previous aquarium setups.
Livestock:
Fish:
6 Spotted Garden Eels (Taenioconger hassi) - acquired on Nov 2010 from Bluezoo Aquatics
2 Orange Spotted Filefish (Oxymonacanthus longirostris) - acquired on Nov 2010 from Live Aquaria Diver's Den
6 Blue/Green Chromis (Chromis viridis) - acquired on Oct 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
1 Flame Hawkfish (Neocirrhitus armatus) - acquired on Dec 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
1 Black Bar Chromis (Chromis retrofasciata) - acquired on Oct 2010 from Live Aquaria
Corals:
Orange Cap (Montipora capricornis) - acquired 2010 from Ron's tank
Orange Digi (Montipora digitata) - acquired 2010 from Ron's tank
Red Mushrooms (Actinodiscus sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Blue Mushrooms (Actinodiscus sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Blue Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired Dec 2010 from Tanks A Lot, Ocala
Orange Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired 2008
Green Ricordia (Ricordea florida) - acquired 2008
Leather Coral (Sinularia sp.) - acquired 2003 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Palys, 3 or 4 varieties (one was my first coral put in my 2003 29g tank and acquired from Aqualinks, Ocala
Zoas, 3 or 4 varieties
Acan - acquired 2008 from Pet Solutions
Green Short Tenacle Gonipora (Gonipora sp.) - acquired 2009
Red/Green Blasto (Blastosoma sp.) - acquired 2008 from Pet Solutions
Neon Green Hammer ( Euphyllia ancora) - acquired 2006 from Aqualinks, Ocala
Neon Green Torch (Euphyllia glabrescens) - acquired 2009 from Word Wide Corals, Orlando
Neon Green Frogspawn (Euphyllia divisa) - acquired 2010 from dude in Gainesville
Favite Coral (Favites sp.) - acquired 2009 from Live Aquaria Diver's Den
Candy Cane Coral (Caulastrea furcata) - acquired Nov 2010 from acro-ed
Sunset Monti (Montipora undata) - acquired 2010 from Ian Simmons
Misc. & Inverts:
Turbo snails, Cerith snails, Nassarius snails, Nerite snails, Blue-legged hermits, Electric Blue hermit, Green Serpent Star, Oyster, Emerald crabs, Cleaner shrimp, Peppermint shrimp.
Husbandry:
65g water changes monthly with IO mixed with RO water
Bio-Chem Zorb media changed monthly
Skimmer cup emptied and cleaned weekly
2-part Calcium/Alkalinity supplement added daily
Magnesium dosed as needed
Brightwell MB7 dosed weekly
Sump Sock changed out weekly
Glass cleaned with Mag-float 350 every other day.
Feeding:
Auto-feeder feeds twice a day a mixture of pellets, powders, flakes and freeze-dried food)
Around 3 cubes of frozen food is feed daily to include Hikari Mysids, Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp, H2O Life Mini Mysids, PE Mysids, Cyclop-eeze, H2O Life Reef Caviar, Rod's Coral Food blend, Rod's Original blend.
Picture coming tomorrow!
