Thalassographia Reef

[Hudds]

Thalassa was the primeval spirit of the sea in Greek mythology. It also means "sea".
Graphia means "writing, drawing".

This is what I want to achieve by keeping a reef, a live picture of the sea.

My name is Giorgos, grew up in the island of Crete next to the sea, currently based in Athens and I have a passion with everything sea related.

I started (as many of us) with fresh water aquariums and for the last 8 years I maintain reef systems.

Below is the presentation of my current aquarium.


Main tank:

• Gross volume: 515 liters (136 gal)

• Dimensions: 120x80cm55(h)cm (47x31x21h inches), 15mm low iron glass, rimless, peninsula style

• External coast to coast with Bean Animal overflow

Sump:

• Gross volume: 200 liters (53 gal)

• Dimensions: 100x60x50(h)cm (40x24x20(h) inches), 8mm glass, with internal compartment for top up water

• Steal frame stand, with 18mm marine plywood woodwork

Equipment:

• Light: DIY T5, 10x39w, controlled with arduino

• Skimmer: ATI PowerCone 250is DC

• Calcium reactor: Vertex RX-C 6D

• Zeovit reactor: Vertex RX-Z 3.0

• Return pump: Jecod DCS 12000

• Wavemakers: 2 X Coral Box QP16 & Jebao CP-120

• Heater: Schego 600w controlled through elitech STC-1000

• ATO: Hydor Smart Level ATO system

• 5 stages RO-DI

 

[Hudds]

This tank started on September 2013, having been through different stages, with several corals and fishes, having used several methods and gaining some useful experience.

Stand build

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placement

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Bean animal overflow a.k.a. pipe parade

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[Hudds]

Back in September 2013..

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The initial aquascape

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[Hudds]

and some coral development over the following years
(sorry for the bad photos)

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image

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[Hudds]

Coming to present, I decided to make a total restart of the system, using the full zeovit method. Again, I will be keeping SPS.

The tank was emptied, livestock was transferred to holding tanks, did some maintenance jobs and thorough cleaning, new aquascape, new dry coral sand, new zeovit, replaced the LED lighting with T5 and refilled with fresh water.

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"Day 1" was on 18/2/2019.
Started with dosing as per instructions and waiting for the system to stabilize in order to start transfer back some of the fishes.
Coral wise, I've kept some frags and rest will be new additions, as I find them available.


Thalassographia reef



That's all for the moment, thanks for following and looking forward to share with you Thalassographia's progress.

 

[acesq]

Very nice! Looking forward to your progress.

I spent a week vacationing on Crete with my family and another family in 2012. What a beautiful and amazing island!

 

[Hudds]

Very nice! Looking forward to your progress.

I spent a week vacationing on Crete with my family and another family in 2012. What a beautiful and amazing island!

Thank you!
I'm glad you liked Crete and had a good time.

 

[GrumpFish]

Your fist tank looked stunning., great pictures I'm playing around with Zeo as well with great results. Looking forward to seeing this build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[pisanoal]

Why did you go T5? Don't get me wrong, I prefer them but only because I haven't been successful with led. It doesn't look like you struggled in that department though.

 

[Hudds]

Your fist tank looked stunning., great pictures I'm playing around with Zeo as well with great results. Looking forward to seeing this build.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank you! I was previously using biopellets. Let's see what zeovit has to offer.
I'm glad you see great results with your system!

 

[Hudds]

Why did you go T5? Don't get me wrong, I prefer them but only because I haven't been successful with led. It doesn't look like you struggled in that department though.

Indeed, I was happy with the Vertex illumina SR360. It did serve me well, with good coral growth levels and all the bells & whistles its software offers.

I switched to T5 aiming for a broader, gentler and more uniform light dispersion 10 T5s can provide. Being well tried and proven, it is a safe choice for growing SPS as well.

Still, I am very fond of LEDs, their power, spectrum options and shimmering effect. Later on, I might be adding supplemental LEDs. I have some time till then.

 

[Bulldog88]

Beautiful looking setup, I'm looking forward to see your progress with zeovit. I'm worried about going full blown because you hear of crashes when people stop.

 

[Hudds]

Beautiful looking setup, I'm looking forward to see your progress with zeovit. I'm worried about going full blown because you hear of crashes when people stop.

Thank you!

When you stop using a nutrients export method, this will inevitably upset the balance of a running system. This applies to any method, including zeovit.

I believe sudden drastic changes should be avoided and if you wish to exit one method this should be done very smoothly over a period of time, introducing at the same time the next method, watching carefully how the system and corals react and move on respectively.