Zachtos' SPS Forest My saltwater addiction began with pulsing pink xenia of all things. I graduated from college as an engineer with too much time on my hands so I began to study reefkeeping. This is not a good hobby for a perfectionist. You will never be FULLY satisfied but it is quite rewarding to grow beautiful colonies of corals from tiny fragments. The system is 5 years old but the coral is only 3 years old due to a plumbing mishap a while back. I am a self-proclaimed equipment junkie and a do-it-yourselfer to boot so this write up includes a lot of specs.
System Details
Tank Specs -240 gallons, acrylic, 7'L x 24"T x 28"W (not a fan of acrylic)
-450 gallons total water volume w/ sumps
-DIY foam background coated w/ concrete
-PVC skeleton for liverock
-drilled for returns, drains and closed loop pump
Water Parameters (I test very rarely nowadays)
Specific Gravity: 35ppt
Temperature: 79F
Alk: 8-10dkh
Calc: 425-475ppm
Mag: 1200-1500ppm
No3: 1ppm
PO4: 0ppm
Water Quality -500lbs of liverock (started w/ mostly base rock)
-6" diameter custom skimmer w/ bubble blaster HY-5000 pump (40-50 scfh)
-50 gallon refugium w/ 75W High Pressure Sodium bulb (great results)
-100 micron nylon filter sock changed 3x/week
-8 cups of carbon monthly (55lb bags from a water company)
-8ml vodka/sugar/vinegar daily (nitrate reduction)
-2 cups of granular ferric oxide monthly (as needed)
-5 gallon remote deep sand bed (no tangible results)
Feeding -spectrum pellets 5 days/week
-frozen foods (DIY blend) 2 days/week
-(1) 8"x7" nori sheet daily (noridirect)
-golden pearls, 50nm (for corals - no tangible results)
Maintenance -12.5% water changes bi-weekly.
-water changes via valves tied to main drain line and gravity fed re-fill
-90 gallon of water stored in 30 gallon trash cans w/ valves to divide them up
-RO/DI water purification unit, dual membrane, w/ booster pump
Light -(3) 400W XM10K Metal Halide, electronic coralvue ballasts, lumen-brite mini reflectors, 14" mount height
-8 hours MH, 4 hours LED moonlight (Cree XPG royal blue x 12 at 350mA)
-auto-top off unit-No actinic supplementation is used currently. I used reeflux 12k previously, but prefer the high
PAR of XM10K.
-
PAR: 900 to 400 in coral zones
Flow -24,000gph to 30,000gph closed loop peak flow
-custom designed 3 phase motor with controller to give chaotic flow patterns
-3200gph return pump (1500gph w/ head loss)
Supplements -calcium reactor, custom dual chamber unit
-Baking Soda (alkalinity+)
-DowFlake (calcium+)
-MagFlake & Epsom Salt (magnesium+)
-Iron chelate (for macro algae, not required)
Sump -50 gallon trash can w/ 200lbs of liverock
-150 gallon return sump w/ 100lbs of liverock and closed loop natural gas heating coil
-50 gallon refugium
-50 gallon tank for equipment
-attached 75G anemone tank
Fish and Inverts I keep my bioload relatively low and focus on tangs/surgeon fish.
-adult Emperor Angel
-Sailfin Tang
-Purple Tang
-Hippo Tang
-Achilles Tang (my fave)
-mandarin dragonette
-3 chromis
-2 clarki clownfish
-watchman goby
-leopard wrasse -flame angel
-2 pistol shrimp
-2 cleaner shrimp.
Coral I mostly collect
SPS corals (millipore in particular). Most are fairly common corals that I consider staples of the
SPS collections. Most colonies are about 3 years old.
Millis:
-peach/green
-nathan's green
-palmer blue
-ORA blue
-Dark red
-Rose
-Pink
Other:
-blue tip stag
-tri color acro
-purple digi
-orange digi
-orange monti cap
-grape monti cap
-chili pepper monti cap
-strawberry field monti cap
-tyree flower petal monti cap
-blue chalice
-cactus spongedes?
-Green star polyps
-hairy green mushrooms
-unknown
LPS encrusters
Future I have tried zeovit system, sulfur denitrator, remote deep sand beds, phytoplankton, ozone, wavemakers and every type of light you can think of. 400 watt metal halide is still the best bang for the buck. I'm currently experimenting with LED lighting and Algal turf scrubbing in my office tank. I would like to eventually build a 500G DIY plywood/epoxy display tank and build it in wall with a low iron glass front panel. Light with LEDs, clean with turf scrubber or skimmer, and water movement with two 3 phase motors on variable frequency drives.
Thanks I would like to thank the entire coral reefkeeping community. There has been a number of people that helped me design and troubleshoot over the years but none of this would not have been possible if it were not for online reefkeeping forums. I will continue to build new systems in the future and hope to continue to inspire future reefkeepers as the hobby becomes mainstream.
Humidity I keep acrylic covers over the tank to prevent the large fish from splashing the bulbs and to combat humidity/evaporation. All tanks have covers and this reduced typical evaporation from 60 gallons/week to 30 gallons/week. I should have built the system with humidity controls in mind, but I haven't had any problems since covering the tanks and using the air conditioner during the hot/humid days. Dual dehumidifiers are rarely used to combat cool, humid days.
Storm Drive I built my 'storm drive' a few years ago because I wanted high intensity, chaotic flow with low energy consumption and minimal maintenance. The 3 phase motor with variable frequency drive allows me to increase my maximum flow rate as my tank fills in with corals. The eductor attachments give higher flow by creating a suction effect with high pressure streams, boosting my max flow output by four times. I achieve 6500gph x 4 = 26,000gph, or more if I push past 60hz. I throttle the motor up and down slowly across 60 seconds which causes a 'surge' motion across the tank. It ramps up to 'storm mode' daily to clean the detritus out of the tank, and throttles back at night. I average 180 watts for flow and achieve over 100X turnover rate in the display.
Natural Gas Heat -Natural gas water heater with recirculation pump and closed loop coil in sump. This saves approximately $200 per year in electricity and keeps the tank at the perfect temperature. I idle at 79F 9 months a year. I air condition the house to 78F to keep the tank at 80-82F during the summer months.
Budget My personal rule of thumb for reefkeeping budget. Monthly maintenance cost (averaged over a year) = Display tank gallons x $1.00. New build cost = Display size x $50 (add 50% if you are not DIY). I find this to be a great tool to help you find a tank that you can afford to sustain.
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