Andy
Bajc's (Andy) Reef Aquarium
Introduction and Background
First, I'd like to say how grateful I
am for being selected for Reefkeeping Magazine's Tank
of the Month. Reef Central and Reefkeeping Magazine
have featured some of the most beautiful tanks in the world
and although I don't consider my system to be in the same
league as many of them, I do consider it a great honor to
be featured among them. Being situated in a small northern
Ontario city, I can't overemphasize the importance of sites
like Reef Central in providing a tremendous resource for learning
about this wonderful hobby. I can certainly attribute a large
part of my success directly to the advice and experiences
I have mined from the Reef Central forums.
My interest in marine aquaria began in
1997 following a protracted fascination with African cichlids
that lasted well over ten years. The transition from freshwater
to marine came with challenges, as I learned what it took
to have a successful reef aquarium. My first marine tank was
a 130 gallon mixed reef dominated by LPS, soft corals and
a large fish population. An undergravel filter supplemented
with a canister, biowheel, fluidized bed and carbon tube filtration
systems proved effective in the short term but eventually
resulted in unmanageable nitrate levels. Overcrowding-induced
stress caused frequent outbreaks of Ich among the fishes.
I treated this temporarily using UV sterilization and potions
marketed for their magical abilities to cure various ailments.
Unfortunately, it was only through trial and error and thousands
of dollars invested in equipment, much of which currently
resides in storage containers, that I acquired the basic skills
required to keep a successful reef ecosystem.
Aquarium
Profile:
|
Tank:
280-gallon eurobraced Inter-American tank (72"
X 30" X 30") with corner overflows and 2" Durso
stand pipe drains
|
|
Sump: 70-gallon
Inter-American sump (48" X 18" X 19")
|
|
Stand &
Canopy: 2" tubular steel stand enclosed by
custom built cabinet with matching 12" high hood
(Aquaview Industries)
|
|
Aquarium Profile
In the spring of 2001, plans were underway
for an upgrade to a larger, 280 gallon system. Space-wise,
I was limited to the same 72" of tank length as the previous
setup but had the luxury of expanding to 30" of both width
and depth. My interests had shifted, as occurs with most hobbyists,
from common LPS and softies to more light and/or flow-demanding
SPS corals and clams. My new system would require some significant
design changes and although the final tank layout still has
a number of inherent deficiencies, it has proven effective
for the successful husbandry of the animals I currently keep.
In this article, I will highlight some of the main elements
of my setup. As we all know, there are many ways to do things
in this hobby. I hope that by sharing my experiences, I can
help others as they strive for success. I welcome comments
and hope this review fosters discussion.
|
The transition to the new system was complicated
by the fact that the tank would reside in the same location
as the old one. That meant I would have to tear down the old
setup and house the live rock and corals I planned to keep
in temporary holding tanks during the transition period. In
September 2001, I dismantled the old tank and began construction
of the new system. The complete new system was installed and
cycled by mid-December.
I purchased my tank from Inter-American
Pet Supply in Calgary, Alberta and was very pleased with the
quality of their workmanship. The tank is eurobraced and has
two back corner overflows, each containing a 2" Durso standpipe
drain and 3/4" return. The tank weighs 800 pounds empty and
if it weren't for hired piano movers, it would have been a
real challenge to get it into position in my family room.
The tank has 5/8" thick LOF glass walls, a 3/4" thick glass
bottom, is laminated with an Indicoat mirror backing, and
contains greylite glass overflows, black silicone seals and
ground and polished corners.
The tank sits on a custom-built Aquaview
Industries stand manufactured in Toronto. A two-inch tubular
steel frame sits inside the stand to provide the necessary
strength to carry the tank's two-ton load. A 12" high matching
canopy built by the same company houses the lighting system.
A 70 gallon sump, subdivided into three
main compartments and containing a series of baffles to prevent
bubbles from returning into the show tank, sits under the
tank in the stand. Two 3/4" bulkheads plumbed to Gen-X Mak
4 return pumps in the adjacent room push tank water back to
the tank through 3/4" Loc-Line spouts split to two 1/2" flared
nozzles. Two Maxijet 1200 pumps provide additional flow along
the back wall of the tank. The sump holds a My Reef®
Creations protein skimmer and receives effluent from the Precision
Marine calcium reactor and Reef Solutions kalkwasser reactor.
Circulation and Filtration
A Tunze Turbelle stream TS/24 kit provides
the majority of the system's flow. I have placed the two powerheads
at opposite ends of the tank, pointing at each other and set
to pulse between 65 and 100% flow at a five second interval.
Since adding the streams, I have noticed a marked improvement
in both coral health and growth rate. Polyp extension is significantly
better and detritus build up on the live rock is significantly
less.
Circulation
Equipment:
|
Tunze Turbelle
Stream TS/24 kit
|
|
Two Maxijet 1200
powerheads
|
|
Two Gen-X Mak
4 return pumps
|
|
Filtration
Equipment:
|
Mechanical filtration
using white floss pads in sump
|
|
My Reef Creations®
dual-injected MR-3 in-sump protein skimmer with
waste collector (currently running one Beckett
injector with a Mag 24 pump)
|
|
Marineland Black
Diamond activated carbon is run passively in sump
|
|
Lighting and Environmental Control
For 6.5 of the 7 years I have been in the
marine hobby, I have lit my tanks with VHO fluorescent bulbs.
It wasn't until December of 2003 that I switched to a metal
halide/VHO combination. I currently light this tank with a
do-it-yourself setup comprising three 400 watt Radiums fired
by Son Agro 430 watt high-pressure sodium ballasts and two
60" URI VHO fluorescent actinic bulbs driven by an IceCap
660 ballast. I am also running a 48" T5 fluorescent actinic
bulb driven by a Workhorse 7 ballast. I transitioned from
VHO to this combination over a ten-week period by slowly increasing
the metal halide's photoperiod by an hour per week and simultaneously
reducing the VHO cycle by the same amount.
Temperature
Control:
Two
250-watt Ebo-Jager heaters |
1/2
hp Pacific Coast Chiller driven by a Mag 9.5 pump |
|
The immediate response to this lighting
change was the bleaching of most of the coralline algae in
the well-lit areas. A decrease in ORP from 425 mV to 350 mV
also corresponded with the change. I assume this signaled
a dramatic die-off of various life forms not adapted to intense
light environs. The ORP of the tank has slowly climbed back
to the range of 400-425 mV. Coralline algae growth has resumed,
albeit at a much reduced rate, and thrives only in caves,
overhangs and lower levels of the tank.
Photoperiod
timing:
Actinics
on at 9:00 am, off at 11:30 pm |
Metal
halides on at 11:30 am, off at 9:30 pm |
|
Heat was a real concern I had with the
transition. Four IceCap fans, mounted inside the canopy, help
to disperse heat and cool the stainless steel reflector. A
1/2 hp Pacific Coast chiller plumbed inline with the sump
generally runs during the metal halide photoperiod and easily
handles the residual heat. The metal halide ballasts sit in
a room adjacent to the tank with the chiller, return pumps,
dosing pump, kalkwasser reactor and make-up water reservoir,
further alleviating any potential sources of additional heat.
Details of the lighting system are highlighted below.
Lighting System Details:
-
3 x 400-watt radium MH bulbs driven by son agro 430-watt
HPS ballasts
-
2 x 60" 140-watt URI VHO actinics driven by IceCap
660 ballast
-
1 x 48" T5 actinic bulb driven by Workhorse 7 ballast
-
70" high-polish stainless steel reflector
Water Parameters
The water parameters that I regularly monitor
include temperature and ORP, and only occasionally specific
gravity, calcium and alkalinity. I have learned to read my
tank's water quality by the behavior of its occupants. I used
to sweat pH to no end but now feel that daily swings between
7.9 and 8.2 don't adversely affects the tank's inhabitants.
On many occasions, the presence of a dozen or more people
in my family room has caused a huge spike in CO2
and an associated drop in pH of 0.2-0.3 pH units over a 3-4
hour period. In all cases, the tank responded as if nothing
were amiss.
Water
Parameters:
|
Temperature:
78-80°F
|
|
pH: 8.1-8.3
(Pinpoint pH monitor)
|
|
ORP:400-425
mV (Pinpoint ORP monitor)
|
|
Calcium:
400-450 ppm (Red Sea kit)
|
|
Alkalinity:
10 dKH (Aquarium Pharmaceuticals kit)
|
|
Magnesium:
1335 ppm (Salifert kit)
|
|
Specific Gravity:
1.024 g/cc (Pinpoint salinity monitor)
|
|
Ammonia and
Nitrite: below detection (Red Sea kit)
|
|
Phosphate:
below detection (Red Sea kit)
|
|
Maintenance
My occupation as a geologist takes me away
from home on many occasions throughout the year. My sojourns
often last two to three weeks, especially during the summer.
I had to keep this “small" point in mind when designing my
system. I don't think I would be too popular with my wife
if she had to top off, dose, feed, perform water changes,
etc. on a regular basis. For this reason, I have automated
as many tank functions as possible. Top-off is performed by
a ReefFiller dosing pump. Calcium and alkalinity are maintained
by a Precision Marine calcium reactor and Reef Solutions kalkwasser
reactor. Water quality is maintained with a My Reef Creations®
MR-3 protein skimmer, which is pretty much set and forget
if the sump's water level is kept constant. That leaves a
quick check of a few vital parameters, and feeding, as the
only daily tasks. Below is a list of the regular maintenance
items I perform on the tank.
Tank Inhabitants
My tank contains several hundred pounds
of Fiji, Great Barrier Reef, Tonga branch and Tonga plate
live rock, some of which I have had since 1997. A large portion
of the rock has been permanently fused together by some of
my encrusting corals such as Porites sp. and Leptoseris
spp., which have spread from one rock to another.
When I was setting up this tank, deep sand
beds were just becoming popular. I opted for a more traditional
shallow sand bed (1-2 inches) composed of CaribSea “select
grade" aragonite. I prefer the look of a shallow sand bed,
and believe I can achieve effective denitrification with a
large amount of dense, chunky live rock. A sand-sifting starfish
and several sea cucumbers keep the sand bed stirred.
|
My fish population has stood at 11 for
the last year or so. Before that, I had a number of others
including a Sunburst anthias, Yellow-headed jawfish and Swissguard
basslet whose disappearance from the tank remains a mystery.
My Six-line wrasse and Potters wrasse both have an affinity
for the overflows, and have jumped into (and back out of)
them on several occasions. I hesitate to add more fish now
because the current group gets along so well. I would love
to have a small school of Bartlett's or Purple Queen anthias
in my tank, but I think their demanding dietary requirements
would negatively impact my system.
Fish:
|
1
Powder Blue Tang
|
1
Six-Line Wrasse
|
1 Potters wrasse
|
1
Cleaner Wrasse
|
6
Green Chromis
|
1
Purple Firefish
|
1
Royal Gramma
|
Invertebrates:
|
1
Sand-sifting starfish
|
4
Blood Shrimp
|
3
Sea Cucumbers
|
Blue-legged
hermit crabs
|
Commensal
crabs in various Acropora colonies
|
Turbo
and Astrea snails
|
3
Tridacna crocea clams
|
1
Tridacna maxima clam
|
Corals:
|
Anthelia
sp.
|
Capnella
sp. (Kenya tree coral)
|
Erythropodium
sp. (encrusting gorgonian)
|
Heliopora
coerulea (blue ridge coral)
|
Pachyclavularia
sp. (green star polyps)
|
Sarcophyton
sp. (toadstool)
|
Sinularia
sp. (finger leather)
|
Xenia
sp.
|
Protopalythoa
sp.
|
Zoanthus
sp.
|
Actinodiscus
spp. (blue, green, green stripe, red, brown, speckled,
marble mushrooms)
|
Discosoma
sp. (bubble or warty mushroom)
|
Ricordea
sp.
|
Anthelia
sp.
|
Acropora
spp. (at least 25 species)
|
Blastomussa
sp.
|
Caulastrea
furcata
|
Echinophyllia
sp
|
Euphyllia
sp.
|
Fungia
spp.
|
Galaxea
sp.
|
Hydnophora
sp.
|
Leptoseris
spp.
|
Merulina
ampliata
|
Montipora
digitata (purple tip, orange)
|
Montipora
capricornis (red, green, brown with blue polyps)
|
Pocillopora
damicornis (pink)
|
Porites
cylindrica
|
Pachyseris
rugosa
|
Pavona
sp.
|
Pectinia
sp.
|
Scolymia
sp.
|
Stylophora
pistillata
|
Trachyphyllia
spp.
|
Turbinaria
spp.
|
Feeding
I used to believe in a heavy feeding regimen
but have now reversed that trend and feed sparingly. I now
feed either once every day or every other day. The tank is
so heavily stocked with corals that it is very sensitive to
excessive nutrients. I have lived through horrendous cyanobacteria,
dinoflagellate and hair algae blooms in my previous tank and
will do everything possible to prevent them in this system.
Despite limited feeding, the Powder Blue Tang continues to
look fat and healthy. Being one of my more sensitive fish,
I figure he would be the first to show signs of malnutrition.
His constant grazing on the rocks is undoubtedly providing
him with more than enough natural food.
None of the corals is target fed. Weekly
additions of either DT's Phytoplankton, Golden Pearls or Cyclop-Eeze,
in addition to the flake and meaty foods (including their
juices) listed below, provide adequate food for the tank's
corals.
-
Ocean Nutrition flake food (Formula
One, Two and Prime Reef)
-
-
DT's Live Marine Phytoplankton
-
-
Golden Pearls Active Spheres Larval
Diet
-
Piscine Energetics mysis shrimp
-
-
-
-
Julian Sprung sea veggies
Concluding Remarks
I'm sure many reef enthusiasts know what
I mean when I say this hobby is all-consuming and offers tremendous
rewards. It has given me great pleasure to share my system
with the reefkeeping community. I thank the staff of Reefkeeping
Magazine and Reef Central for allowing me to do so and look
forward to seeing future Tanks of the Month featured on this
wonderful site.
Feel free to comment or
ask questions about my tank in the Tank of the Month thread
on Reef Central.
|