90 Gallon Softie Reef

[dragonmoray]

Lighting is 2 x 54w Juwel t5 (1x MARINE WHITE & 1x daylight) plus 1x 42" Actinic & 1x42" sun glo. The bulbs will be changed once the tank has been running a year, though im toying with the idea of upgrading to MH lighting. In honesty, the corals are doing so well i'm really not sure about upgrading - the large Colt Coral to the far left has had several 3-4" cuttings taken from it in the last 3 months or so and it's still growing like a weed. It's a similar story with the large Lobophytum (in the centre on the sand) and the Capnella above it. The tank has been set up for around 9 months now.

[dberrong]

The water is so clear. What skimmer are you using and how often are you doing water changes. My pictures of my tank keep coming out blue, but I think it is because my background on the tank is blue. Is your background white? I think that makes it look so much brighter.

[dragonmoray]

Live rock.....IMO the best investment you can make.

Skimmer is a v2 600 with an Eheim 200 air pump. If you upgrade the stock water pump to an Eheim 1250 or equivalent, it increases the skimmers efficiency by an apparent 200% or so - this is what i've been told by several different sources - all of them trusted, so an upgrade is on the cards. However i've heard a hatfull of rave reviews for the Deltec MCE.
As for water changes it's 10% weekly RO with TMC Pro Reef to SG 1.024. I'm not sure if this salt is available in the States. I've heard and SEEN superb results - especially on SPS systems - with Reef Crystals, although i have no first hand experience with it. As for the background, it's local DIY store blue emulsion. 3 coats applied with a roller which is a laugh in itself cos the first coat means you'll have the roller sliding round like a *****! Pick a shade you like.... The pics i have posted are the result of experimentation with a relatively new camera, a Fuji s9600. All my shots are the result of manual focus, a decent tripod and experimentation with exposure etc. Photography is a massive subject in itself, therefore if you like my pictures PM me and i'll happily share settings etc.
Thanks for your continued interest.
Regards,
Jase.

[dberrong]

I just purchased my first bag of Reef Chrystals and did a 20% water change yesterday. I'll see if I like it in the next few weeks. I also just got in my RO/DI unit this week too. I have to find a way to store my water so the wife doesn't yell at me. As for painting the back glass, I was afraid of chipping when scrubbing the glass. I'm still not sure how you keep your's so clean. Are you running a sump?
As far as photography, I do enjoy it, but I'm afraid when you get into all of the different settings I get lost fairly quickly. I have a simple Minolta Z2. I'm sure it will do far more than I will ever know about.

[dragonmoray]

Paint the outside of the back glass and you can scrub away till your hearts content. I use a Rena scraper on the back glass of my tank, this is about 5 minutes twice a week. My filtration system consists of 3 cannister filters - there are two Eheim 2217 and one 2028 pro II, the latter running the water through a 30w UV steriliser before its returned to the tank. There is virtually no biological media in any of the cannisters - i leave all the bio filtration to the live rock, the cannisters containing Nitrate Sponge, Phos Zorb, filter floss and (occasionally) Poly Filter. There's a Hydor Corallia 3 circulation pump in the tank and i run carbon once a month for a week through an Aquamedic Carbon Reactor. Water parameters are:
Temp - 76f
S.G - 1.024
NH3 - 0
NO2 - 0
NO3 - < 5 ppm
pH - 8.1-8.3
PO4 - < 0.10 ppm
Ca - 460 ppm
I use Salifert test kits though maybe not quite as often as i should.
For supplements i use Salifert Trace Soft once every week, and 16 drops of Kent Concentrated Iodine each day.
Feeding is a daily mix of Mysis, Omega 3 Artemia, Spirulina Artemia, Krill Pacifica and Red Plankton. One random day each week they don't get fed at all. Every evening on feeding days on my return home from work they get Sea Veggies - my Yellow Tang is nuts for this stuff. Twice a week i dose the tank with 10ml of Phytochrom.
Finally, every 6 days or so i empty the skimmer cup and thats pretty much it. To be honest, i think good quality live rock is the very best biological filter and water polisher you could hope for. Personally i wouldn't even consider setting up a tank without it.
Regards
Jase