180Reefer's Bowfront Reef

March 2011 Tank of the Month · #1

180Reefer's Bowfront Reef

First, all I can say is wow - me - tank of the month?! I find myself looking over my tank on a daily basis, and always looking at something out of place, saying "should I move this or that" - with my focus on the details I often don't think about the "big picture" and how my tank has come along. It's an honor being in the same class as the other beautiful tanks I have seen here on CaptiveReefs!

I started the madness 6 years ago with a brand new Oceanic "bowfront" and a 4 x 96watt pc light fixture with 2 10k and 2 actinics, a small sump/refugium and a little ProClear skimmer and two Mag 7 return pumps. The tank is setup in what used to be the formal dining room. Like most families, our's always congregates in the kitchen and the dining room was essentially wasted space. So I replaced the dining room set with an aquarium and some comfortable chairs to chill-out...and maybe read a book when I'm not obsessing over my tank.

Over the years the tank has progressed from soft coral tank to a sps dominant tank - a rather broad statement covering many (dare I say) thousands of dollars!

I must give credit to forums like Captive Reefs, and our many local clubs out there that have really given a boost to this hobby, and to those that find them early on, for really helping the hobbyist find the shortest way to success. If it were not for these, I would have given up long ago!

I have had one major set back almost a year and a half ago that almost ended the tank: a major case of ich. It was a nightmare that effected all my fish. To treat it, I tore my tank down and caught all my fish to put them in a hospital tank. However, I couldn't save a lot of them and lost some of my favorites.

Currently, the tank has been set up for about a year with a new refugium / sump that measures 48" x 18" x 18" (the ugly picture) that is a 24" pc light with 6500K lights in it.

Equipment

Neptune AC3

3 250-watt Radium 20k mogel base with Lumenbrite mini's driven by Coral Vue HQI ballasts

2 80 T-5's (one true actinic, and one 420nm)

2 Powerbrites for moon lighting

Tradewinds 1/2 horsepower chiller - fed with an Ehiem 1262

MR-1 media reactor that has GFO - fed with maxijet 900

MidWest Aquatics Sulphur Dinitrator

Korallin 3002 CA reactor with an Aquariumplants CO2 electronic regulator

BRS Kalkstirrer (custom built, and holds about 3.5-gallons)

Microzone O3 plumbed into the skimmer

Deltec AP 702 skimmer

Dolphin Amp Master 3600 for the return and skimmer feed

Dolphin Amp Master 3600 with an OM 4-Way on a closed loop

36w Turbo-Twist uv

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Maintenance

I have really changed my maintenance schedule over the years, starting with IO salt mix with water changes every two weeks - and dosing the tank by hand in the beginning - to now I change water about every 6-7 weeks! Same amount, 30 gallons. I now use Tropic Marin BioActif reef salt, and cannot speak to the growth rate that I have achieved over the last six or seven months - off the charts!

I feed Spirulina 20 flake every day. Once or twice a week I feed Rod's food and mysid shrimp along with Nori on the chip clip...

Water Parameters:
Alkalinity: 7 -8 dkh
Calcium: 420
Magnesium: 1400
pH: 7.9 - 8.2 su
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.01 -0.02 ppm

Inhabitants

Fish
Desjardini Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardini)
Sohal Tang (Acanthurus sohal)
Red Sea Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
2 Scopas Tangs (Zebrasoma scopas)
1 Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
Marshall Island Mystery Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus ocellatus)
Yellow Coris Wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus)
Yellow Candy hogfish (Bodianus bimaculatus)
2 Blue Jaw Triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus)
Decorated Goby (Istigobius decoratus)
Inverts
Blue, Red Leg, and Scarlet Hermit Crabs
Turbo and Nassarius Snails
2 large Serpent Stars

Coral

I have a lot of different varieties in there including a green slimer, Seritapora, Montipora cap, Montipora spongodes, Montipora digitata, Poccilapora, Euphylia, green star polyps, several varieties of Favites, red mushrooms, and lots of other Acropora. Truth be known, I forget the names of most of them...Yes, I should know better, but hey - this is a hobby!

180Reefer's Bowfront Reef-180reefer-1.jpg

180Reefer's Bowfront Reef-hippo-tang.jpg

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Sir Patrick · 03-01-2011, 09:32 AM

Looks great!!!

Got my vote.

jimsflies · 03-01-2011, 09:33 AM

Awesome system Matt! Thanks for sharing it with us.

180reefer · 03-01-2011, 11:55 AM

I really appreciate it! I should post up what it looked like in the beginning when I first had it set up!

Rabidgoose · 03-01-2011, 01:32 PM

Congrats! Very nice tank!

180reefer · 03-01-2011, 02:11 PM

Thanks!

vega15 · 03-14-2011, 07:56 AM

Really looks good!!!

What has made the difference for you going from a water every other week to six to seven weeks?

180reefer · 03-14-2011, 08:09 AM

Two things I think were major contributors to less frequent water changes - 1: Tropic Marin BioActif reefsalt, and 2: Midwest Aquatics Sulphur Denitrator. Both of these together have really made an impact on how my tank processes waste. I also recently added a Kalk stirrer, and use Brightwell Kalk+ to keep up on the trace elements. so instead of turning up the CA reactor and dumping more CO2, I now add kalk to make up the difference. Has really worked for me...