This page is laid out as a basic system summery to tie up all the other pages on my new set-up. Certain details are also 'links' back to specific pages that cover this area in greater detail. I will be adding to this section over time with a small write-up covering each photo. (call it a photographic diary if you will)

System basics.

Dimensions/Displacement

Main tank is 72x24x24

Sump/DSB tank is 48x12x18

Total system volume after rock displacement around 170gall +, Only about 1/4 is dedicated to Live rock as a central island (bommie) running nearly the full length of the tank.

Filtration by Live rock/Skimmer/Rowaphos/ a 2” fine sand bed in the main tank (100% Aragamax) and a 5”deep DSB in custom built sump (100% Aragamax ) with combined Macro algae.

Equipment.

Deltec AP 850 Skimmer fed via an Ehiem 1250.
Home made fluidised Rowaphos reactor fed via maxi-jet 1200.
Home made Twin pump recirculation Calcium reactor with Schuran Media running at pH 6.5 24/7 controlled by an Aquamedic pH2001 controller and IKS peristaltic Pump.
Ratz Kalk stirrer fed from remote RO container via a maxi-jet 1200 pump with control tap. ( ceased after 6 months as not required to maintain pH )
Hawco temperature controller running 3 x 6” fans (2 on tank, 1 on sump) and a single 300w heater.
Top up via remote RO/DI reservoir, gravity fed through a mini ball valve into sump.



Lighting

3 x 250w 10k BLV’ Metal Halides with remote ballasts. (no lenses) + Supplemental 2x 80w actinic T5 ‘03’s + 1 x 36W marine glow 03 florescent tube for dawn dusk lighting.

Sump is lit 24/7 by 1 x 36W marine white and 1 x 36w marine blue florescent tubes.

Circulation.

2 x 3000lph aquabee return pumps.

 5 x 3000lph Aquabee closed loops running through various outlets and spray bars in main tank

Total system turnover within the tank. In excess of 40x/hr

Turnover through Sump around 4.5x/hr

Turnover through raised DSB in sump, approximately 2x/hr teed off from main overflow pipes.

Turnover through Skimmer 1.8x/hr emptied every 2 days

Turnover through Rowaphos reactor 1x/hr

Specifics.

Dosing. None except occasional Mg addition (booster) and Kalkwasser added in sessions over night time sessions at no more than 1 drp / sec . approx 1.5ltrs total /day.

Water changes : 25gall/month using Instant ocean. All water including top-up is pre treated through a 4 stage RO unit consisting of - 1micron pre filter/carbon block pre-filter/75gpd RO/De-ionised resin chamber. No further action is taken prior to mixing up new batches i.e. no water conditioners/re-mineralizer's. only water and salt.

Light times; Actinic’s on @ 10am/off @ 11.00pm . Metal halides 11hrs. running in sequence 1 hr apart from left to right on start up and shutdown. starting at 11.00am last one off at 10.pm giving a sunrise sunset effect across tank/corals.


Feeding: As much as I can cram in there. Typical daily feed is three blocks of frozen food for the fish (thawed and rinsed) and a half sheet of Nori for tangs. Every three-five days I will also add one or two split mussels to the sump DSB area and the sand bed in the main tank. Intermittent feeding is via an auto feeder kicking out twice daily with a small amount of high protein pellet for the Anthias.

Parameters.

Temp 25.5 - 26 over 24hrs (occasionally hits 27.5 when hot)
 SG 1.025
 pH AM: 8.10 / PM 8.39
 Mg 1350.00 ppm
 Ca 435.00 ppm
 Alk 10.5 dKH
 NH4 Undetectable
 No2 Undetectable
 No3 well below 0.01 ppm
 Po4 well below 0.03 ppm

Inhabitants/Stock.

Photos.

Hector the Blue reef Lobster. Only about 2.5" long at this time with 6-7" feelers but growing extremely quickly. he put on nearly 1/2" on his last moult alone.

Female Squamipinnis Anthia, 'left' and the male on the right.

One of my bangaii cardinals hovering over some corals 'left' and My young 1.5" Bellus Angel, providing a fleeting glimpse 'right'

Purple Tang on show in font of my Frogspawn coral 'left' And a Kole tang tucking into some nori 'right'

A few  of the clan hanging around relaxing during a mid afternoon Siesta. The male Anthia actually has a harem of 5 females. It appears that he had misplaced one during this shoot.

Lobophillia recently introduced took several days before it would open properly 'left' And a close-up of some tentacles on my Bubble tip Anemone with light passing from above. 'right'

Stunning colouration on the mouth of a single Ricordia Mushroom 'left' And the contrasting bright orange of a Discosoma mushroom 'right'

Continue to page 2 for more shots.