Werdlone's Starphire SPS Reef
Introduction I started with saltwater aquariums when I attended Michigan State University with a 20-gallon in my dorm room with a trigger, porcupine puffer and a lion fish. Then after a long hiatus, I started a 50-gallon breeder soft coral tank after his father-in-law talked him into it. My father-in-law had a soft coral reef tank that I had always admired. I started with a
VHO retrofit light setup, some Kenya trees, star polyps, xenia, and mushrooms. With some success, more corals and equipment were added. My setup included a sump with refugium, a superskimmer, RO/DI, and homemade auto top off. Back in those days life was easy, I never tested his water and he only changed his water every 4 weeks.
I tried my first
sps coral with trepidation because he knew they were more challenging and higher maintenance. After adding some
SPS, I began regularly testing my water and started topping off with kalkwassar. I became hooked on
SPS and started planning an upgrade. I wanted one of "those" tanks you see online that are filled up with beautiful large brilliantly colored colonies. I started searching forums for used equipment sales and collecting the needed equipment for an upgrade which he financed by selling his soft corals. His current tank has been setup since January of 2008.
The Tank 150-gallon, 72"x 24"x 20" starphire glass tank by Great Lakes Aquariums. My's tank has a middle 1.5" overflow that runs through a filter sock at the sump. Water is returned from the 100 gallon Rubbermaid sump by a Gen-X pcx 40 pump through two penductors on loc-line. In tank flow is supplied by two Vortech mp40's. The sand bed is 2-inches of carib sea special grade sand. I run a MSX 250 skimmer, GEO 418 calcium reactor, Tunze osmolator top off, and carbon through a Two Little Fishes reactor and
GFO through another. Lighting consists of three DE 250 watt Phoenix bulbs in Lumen Max reflectors driven by blue wave HQI ballasts. I also use two 60"
VHO super actinic bulbs for actinic supplementation.
Maintenance All water for top off and water changes is treated using a five-chamber Filter Guys RO/DI filter that gets new DI resin if TDS is above 6 ppm. Water changes are performed every 3-4 weeks of 25 gallons (10%) using reef crystals. Carbon is changed every water change and
GFO is changed every three months. I run a bacteria driven system using Microbacter7 using four caps full once a week and 2.5 ml's of vodka/vinegar mix daily. I also add Lugols iodine 3 drops daily. I add Seachem Reef Plus to the fish food which has amino acids, vitamin c and various other additives for fish and corals.
Water Parameters Temp 78-80 degrees
Specific gravity 1.026
pH 8.1-8.4
Calcium 430 ppm
alkalinity 8 dkH
Magnesium 1400 ppm
Livestock |
| Fish | | Hippo tang | | Tomini tang | | Vlamingi tang | | Juvenile Orange Shoulder tang | | Naso tang | | 3 lyretail anthias | | cleaner goby | | occelarius clown | | royal gramma | | six line wrasse | | | | | Inverts | | 12" deresa clam | | 10-12 nassarius snails | | 4-5 blue leg hermits | | 4-5 astrea snails | | tons of mini brittle stars | | tons of asterina stars | | harlequin shrimp |
| |
| Stony Corals Corals |
| Blue tort | Yellow tort | Tubs purple polyp birdsnest |
| ORA green birdsnest | ORA bellina | Chips acro |
| Blue tenius | Green slimmer | Green with blue tip slimmer |
| Red unknown acro | Pink milli | Pink with blue polyp stylophora |
| Yellow with green polyp stylophora | Yellow scroll | Orange pavona |
| Ponape birdsnest | Idaho grape cap | Orange cap |
| Montipora hispada | ORA green elkhorn | montipora digitada |
| Yellow Porites | Blue bonsai | ORA red planet |
| Green montipora Pawalewensis | True undata montipora | Acropora turaki |
| Shades of fall acro | Yellow humulis | Montipora setosa |
| Blue milli | Orange w/green base Montipora digitada | Meteor shower cyphastrea |
| Red branching cyphastrea | Upscales microlados | ORA green pocillapora |
| Aussie unknown red/green acro | Unknown purple with green polyp monti danai | Christman favia |
| Green and red montestrea | ATL apple berry monti Pawalewensis | ATL banana caroliniana |
| Green frogspawn | Green/peach milli | Unknown blue tip staghorn |
| Tricolor Valida | Pink lemondaide acro | Purple and blue milli |
| Tyree purple monster | ORA german blue polyp acro | Garf Purple bonsai |
| Green trumpet coral | Flower petal montipora cap | Blue tip granulosa |
| Purple tip granulosa | Purple haze monti | Superman monti |
| Sunset monti | Montipora Spongodes | Unkown pink acro |
| Huckleberry monti | Green mirulina | Blue trumpet coral |
| Pink pocillapora varricosa | Red and blue blastoussa welsii | Green balstomussa merletti |
| Zoas and Palys |
| Valentine's day massacres | Darth maul paly | Eye of Ra |
| Everlasting gobstopper | Nuclear green paly | Purple death paly |
| AOI | Unknown blue with yellow ring zoo | Green dragon eye zoo |
| Goochsters | Orange skirt paly (not lunar eclipse) | Orange mouth zoo |
| green/maroon skirt/blue mouth zoo | | |
Featured Reef Aquariums 
Previous Article
Next Article
Linear Mode
