My tank is fairly small compared to many of the great systems that folks have. I enjoy the smaller size tank because of the challenges presented by fitting all of the necessary components neatly into a foot print of 30x18-inches. I have had fun tinkering and trying to find clever solutions to problems that I have encountered with this hobby.
SYSTEM SPECIFICATIONS
Born On: July 7, 2005
Display Tank size: ~50 gallon
Lighting: 250 watt double-end halide on an Ice Cap ballast & four HO-T5 actinics on a Work Horse 7.
Sump size: ~15 gallon
Sump flow rate: ~500 gph
Refugium yes or no & size: integrated compartment with sump about 7 gallons w/deep sand bed
Filter type(s) & flow rate: Euro Reef RS-80 skimmer
Total flow rate: 3300 gph
Pump types: Closed loop, Eheim 1262; Return, Eheim 1262; two Tunze 6055's controlled via an Aquasurf
Other equipment: Neptune AC3 Controller, Tunze Osmolator, Korallin Calcium Reactor, UV sterilizer, phosban reactor, DIY kalk reactor, Tripp-Lite battery backup, Super Feeder
FLOW
I have a closed loop with an Oceans Motions Squirt which had two ports closed. I have also added two Tunze 6055's on an aquasurf running in resonate wave mode. My total flow can be as much as 4800 gph, but I typically don't run the tunzes wide open and often don't use the close loop. Here is a photo of my plumbing right after completion:
Just home from being drilled:
Leak testing in the garage:
SUMP
I designed the sump using concepts from Marc (aka Melev) Levenson's website and had it built through Preuss...known on R2R as Crazy Ricks. I have done some minor modifications to it over the past couple years, but I think it does a good job of performing everything I need in a 30x18-inch space. On modification I did was removed a baffle to accommodate a larger skimmer (Euro Reef RS80) and also added a UV Sterilizer and phosban reactor. Here are some photos inside of my stand:
As it sits today:
LIGHTING
My canopy is fairly unique. A good friend helped me design and build the canopy and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. It utilizes a single 250 watt double ended halide and four HO-T5 actinics. At some point, I would like to add some LEDs for a moon light.
CONTROLS AND AUTOMATION
Neptune Controller
The "brains" of the tank is a Neptune Aquacontroller III . This unit acts as a controller and processes signals from pH, ORP, and temperature probes. I have it setup to send an email to my cell phone if there is a problem. The controller is also integrated into my website to provide real time tank status. Which is handy if I am out of town to keep tabs on the tank.
Here's my current tank parameters:
Battery Backup
The Tripp Lite UPS (AP-512) automatically senses a power failure and switches to battery backup mode. In turn, the controller will also detect a power failure and it will switch everything off except the return pump to conserve battery life and send an email alarm. Although I can connect additional battery capacity, the current battery will allow the return pump, controller, and cable modem/router to run for more than four hours giving me time to connect a generator.
Automated Fish Feeding
To feed the fish, especially when I'm out of town, I use an automatic fish feeder made by Super-Feed. The feeder is made by Super-Feeder. Besides being a very well constructed feeder, the cool thing about the feeder is it plugs into the Neptune controller. This allows me to easily program feedings or even initiate a feeding over the internet!
Automated Top-off and Kalkwasser
The tank uses a Tunze osmolator to maintain water and salinity levels by pumping RO/DI water into the sump to replace evaporated water. A DIY kalk reactor is connected to the osmolator and mixes RO/DI water with quick lime to make kalkwasser.
As part of the description of my system. I thought I would include some of the other solutions to problems that I have encountered. These have all been previously shared here on R2R and I have created links that you can click on for more information.
Corian Bare Bottom
If you haven't noticed, I run a bare bottom tank...many people don't realize it at first. In considering various options for the bottom, I liked the black sand beds. Starboard isn't available in black. So I came up with the idea to find a piece of corian countertop material to protect the bottom and give the tank the look I wanted. The photo below was taken right after the tank was first set up. Now I have corals covering up much of the bottom.
Clear Mesh
Having an open top design canopy means that fish can jump out. Glass tops hold in too much heat and block light from getting to the corals. With halide lighting egg crate blocks a lot of the light as well. I found some clear plastic mesh and mounted it in a window screen frame. This has been the perfect solution. Virtually no light is blocked, air exchange is still excellent, and best of all no fish have jumped since I have used the mesh over three years ago now. Link to more info.
Integrated Eggcrate Shelf
The only downside to a small display tank is that I have run out of space for new corals. To clean up the sidewalls of my tank. I had an idea to integrate the eggcrate shelves right into my rock work. So I took small sections of black eggcrate and glued or zip tied them onto the live rock. This works great for frags mounted on frag plugs. More info.
Jimsflies' Reef
Reply With Quote
