tommyboynj
New member
So, I had a thread in the large tank forum. But honestly, this is where i spend most of my time (and money). I'm quickly realizing im becoming an sps junkie.
My current tank is my third (an according to the wife) my final tank. I prefer to refer to it as my final "system" as this gives me some wiggle room when trying to explain why another tank made it into the fish room.
My first two tanks where really mixed reef. I had a few colonies that id bought on the sps side but never really focused on them. I made the decision with this tank that i would grow alot of SPS but from frags only. I still have a few zoas, and lps but the plan is to have this thing bursting with SPS within the next few years of grow out.
So, what led to this third and final system. Well, last year we finally decided that we were not moving into a bigger home because we loved the neighborhood etc. So, we set to work to have a significant addition put on the back of our ranch. Somehow i convinced my wife that a large tank and fish room was a critical component to this. So, in September, we broke ground and managed to get it all done the week before xmas!
After the holidays were over it was time to set to work on the tank:
The tank is a custome starfire which i got for a steal from a reefer moving out of town. Dimension are 48*30*27 with a ctc external overflow plumbed herbie
The fish room is directly behind the tank through the door on the left. Excuse the mess. This was right after we got her up and running so i have since cleaned the cable spaghetti up with conduit:
With the sump and fuge total water volume right now is around 200 gallons. I have a frag tank on order so that will increase it a little further.
My plan for this system was to follow the methods on one of my buddies who has had some of the most healthy sps tank ive seen. Massive skimmer, fuge and heavy feeding. The skimmer employed for this system is a reef octopus 3000 external. Rated to 400 gallons. I changed the orignal feed to a dc pump to reduce noise and power consumption and am very happy.
My fuge is a diy acrylic tank is used and a frag tank on an old system. It has some macro and some mangroves and is lit by a AI Sol White running at 100% for 10 hours a day opposite my display lighting schedule
I have also implemented a continuous water change system utilizing a neptune DOS. I change 10 gallons a week right now and am keeping my nitrates close to 0 and no phosphates. I feed 2/3 times a day with LRS and will occasionally put in a nori sheet.
Lighting over the display is 3 AI hydras. At my peek ramp period Im getting about 150par on the sand, 250par 1/3 the way up and about 350par 1/3 from the surface. So far im finding this spread of par is giving me plenty of room to accommodate light needs suited to individual corals. Lighting over the frag tank will be another hydra in order to maintain consistency.
Heres the tank the day of set up. With the added space, i was lucky that i could move all of my live rock over to the sump (100lbs) along with all my fish and not worry about a cycle. Unfortunatly, i was starting from almost scratch coral wise. Knowing that i was going through the renovation, i sold alot of stuff from the old system last fall and only kept a few sps, lps and gorgs in the tank.
And 2 months later here is how the tank looks now:
My current tank is my third (an according to the wife) my final tank. I prefer to refer to it as my final "system" as this gives me some wiggle room when trying to explain why another tank made it into the fish room.
My first two tanks where really mixed reef. I had a few colonies that id bought on the sps side but never really focused on them. I made the decision with this tank that i would grow alot of SPS but from frags only. I still have a few zoas, and lps but the plan is to have this thing bursting with SPS within the next few years of grow out.
So, what led to this third and final system. Well, last year we finally decided that we were not moving into a bigger home because we loved the neighborhood etc. So, we set to work to have a significant addition put on the back of our ranch. Somehow i convinced my wife that a large tank and fish room was a critical component to this. So, in September, we broke ground and managed to get it all done the week before xmas!
After the holidays were over it was time to set to work on the tank:
The tank is a custome starfire which i got for a steal from a reefer moving out of town. Dimension are 48*30*27 with a ctc external overflow plumbed herbie
The fish room is directly behind the tank through the door on the left. Excuse the mess. This was right after we got her up and running so i have since cleaned the cable spaghetti up with conduit:
With the sump and fuge total water volume right now is around 200 gallons. I have a frag tank on order so that will increase it a little further.
My plan for this system was to follow the methods on one of my buddies who has had some of the most healthy sps tank ive seen. Massive skimmer, fuge and heavy feeding. The skimmer employed for this system is a reef octopus 3000 external. Rated to 400 gallons. I changed the orignal feed to a dc pump to reduce noise and power consumption and am very happy.
My fuge is a diy acrylic tank is used and a frag tank on an old system. It has some macro and some mangroves and is lit by a AI Sol White running at 100% for 10 hours a day opposite my display lighting schedule
I have also implemented a continuous water change system utilizing a neptune DOS. I change 10 gallons a week right now and am keeping my nitrates close to 0 and no phosphates. I feed 2/3 times a day with LRS and will occasionally put in a nori sheet.
Lighting over the display is 3 AI hydras. At my peek ramp period Im getting about 150par on the sand, 250par 1/3 the way up and about 350par 1/3 from the surface. So far im finding this spread of par is giving me plenty of room to accommodate light needs suited to individual corals. Lighting over the frag tank will be another hydra in order to maintain consistency.
Heres the tank the day of set up. With the added space, i was lucky that i could move all of my live rock over to the sump (100lbs) along with all my fish and not worry about a cycle. Unfortunatly, i was starting from almost scratch coral wise. Knowing that i was going through the renovation, i sold alot of stuff from the old system last fall and only kept a few sps, lps and gorgs in the tank.
And 2 months later here is how the tank looks now:
