November 2013 Tank of the Month!!

My Softie Tank

My Softie Tank

It's a 125 self-drilled tank with Many Xenia, frogspawn, zoas, other assorted polyps, and many different mushrooms. There is a long tentacle anemone, 2 maroons, a yellow tang, cleaner wrasse, foxface, 3 cardinals, a coral beauty, and a gold spot goby. There is a coral banded shrimp, many different snails and a few left-handed hermits. Attached to the DT is a 40 gallon macro tank and a 10 gallon mangrove tank dumps into the 40 gallon sump. Lights are 2 4buld 54 watt T5 HO and 2 96 watt P/C's. Lights are 14,000 k daylights, blue plus, 1 actinic, coral plus, and a purple plus, with both P/C's being 10,000k daylights. 2 closed loops one with a 1200GPH pump and the other with a 1000GPH, a few powerheads as well. I have 2 cabbage corals too, one yellowish green and the other pink. That is a green star polyp colony in the middle that has spawned all the other 5 in the tank. It started as a single 1.5" plug. The tank had been up and running for 2 years now
 

Attachments

  • My Softie Tank 11182013 pic 2 resized.jpg
    My Softie Tank 11182013 pic 2 resized.jpg
    48.8 KB · Views: 0
Last edited:
First, let me say you have a spectacular tank. I love it.

Second, let me also compliment you on your taste in music! I thought I was the only person in the world who loved well composed trailer and sound track music, I have every score and album you've got playing in your videos. "Heart of Courage" from Invincible was a delightfully obscure thing to hear in your 'behind the scenes 2' video.
 
Thank you everybody for the kind comments!! I have been missing in action for a number of reasons but am pleased to say the tank is going strong. I need to do some pruning shortly. Below are long over due responses.

Be sure to follow my thread to see the latest updates!

I love how clean this tank looks. Congrats!
Thank you

Gz. Beautiful
Thank you

Hi Andrew,
Congrats on TOTM! I used your tank as an inspiration in designing my current reef system. It has been up for over a year and about two weeks ago I switched the system over to Zeovit. My question for you is around your dose of ZeoStart - 0.2ml twice a day. That is a very small amount, especially in comparison to the amount of stones you use. How did you arrive at that amount? What effects did you see at higher amounts?
Thanks so much in advance:)
Thank you. I actually use 0.2ml as refered to from Bob on the zeo forums. This advise was given 3years ago and everything remains stable.

This quote os courtesy of Bob. I'm in phase 3

ZEOvit phases depend on the nutrient level & coral appearance. Nutrients are relatively high[with "pooled-reserves"] & corals are dull in coloration. Polyp-extension may or may not be present.

Consider phase 1 the initiatation of ZEOvit method. The basic 4 are used to reduce nutrients in a balanced manner. As nutrients & "reserves" are depleted, the corals become brighter, lighter in appearance & the quantities of the zeo's dosed becomes less.

Enter phase 2[~3-6mos], the corals continue to colorize more & nutrients are becoming more exhausted. During this phase, however, if dosing is stopped for more than a few days, nutrients again begin to rise, & corals become darker. This is due to "pooled-reserves" still remaining available.

Phase 3[5-10months] is characterized by stable nutrients & color appearance of the corals, ie. if the zeo's are not dosed for many days, the N03's/P04's do not increase & coral colors remain fast. In this phase, the stored nutrients are exhausted, as evidenced by the low quantites of Bak/Food7/Start used, with coral color intensive.


Your tank is near sterile, it is so clean and expertly organized. Most impressive. Most of us would not go the extra MILE. So, in feeding your fish only once per day, how is that working for them ? How long have you had them ? The Foxface never tastes the LPS ? What is your substrate and how deep is it. I assume that it never blows around ? How many lbs of LR do you have in there ? Your stand sheethed in Formica ?
Thank you for the kind words. I have had all my fish for at least 3.5yrs now. The fish are generally fed once a day. If I'm home they can get an extra feeding. I feed pellets, seaweed and frozen food. The foxface will let me know if he's hungry as he will start to nip at the clams.
The substrate is a mix of trpic eden flakes and Korallenzucht Coral sand Aragonite 3-5 mm. The sand varies in depth but is no more than half an inch in most places. The pumps don't blow the sand at all. In-fact, I need more flow nowadays.
I have no idea how much live rock is in the tank, but it's not much. The stand is a metal frame covered with wood.
Hope that helps

Congratulations!!

What kind of overflow system you have installed. A bean animal or herbie overflow? Are you using manual diaphragm valve?
Thank you. I use x2 CJ Standpipe drains. No manual diaphragm is used.

Congrats and I love the clean and sharp look to it
Thank you

Beautiful tank, congrats!
Thank you

Congratulation, it is so clean and simple.
Thank you

Wow what a clean setup!
Thank you

Congrats. Very, very nice!
Thank you

Congrats, beautiful tank!
Thank you

Simple but amazing. Great job
Thank you

First, let me say you have a spectacular tank. I love it.

Second, let me also compliment you on your taste in music! I thought I was the only person in the world who loved well composed trailer and sound track music, I have every score and album you've got playing in your videos. "Heart of Courage" from Invincible was a delightfully obscure thing to hear in your 'behind the scenes 2' video.
Thank you very much. I believe music is key to an aquarium video and usually sound tracks are perfect. Inception is my favourite!

Thank you

Love the simplicity. Not overdone just beautiful.
Thank you

Beautiful tank love the open space
Thank you

Such a nice tank!
Thank you

What an amazing tank
Thank you
 
Information Request

Information Request

Hello Andrew, congratulations on TOTM. Well deserved. I'm new to reefing (in the planning stage) and living in Shanghai. I get to HK frequently and would appreciate any contacts for equipment and inventory. Cheers
 
Back
Top