Congratulations to Oliver Hofmann for winning TOTM for November of 2011 with his gorgeous Metal Halide/LED-driven peninsular mixed reef.
Oliver is known as CheezotheClown on the RTAW Forums and you can read more on his tank in his tank journal.
Introduction
Wow TOTM, what an honour, thanks.
I remember my first aquarium.
It was a leaky old tank taken home from the tip when I was ten. I put
two goldfish in it in the middle of winter. The tank was outside and
un-heated and I wondered why the fish didn't really move around much.
The last aquarium I had was a standard 4 foot freshwater tropical when I
was still in school. I guess this TOTM really started when I decided to
look into keeping an aquarium again, this time salt water, back in '06.
I recall researching all I could for around 6 months before actually
getting the tank. The hard part was making decisions toward achieving
what I wanted, difficult because I didn't know what I wanted! I settled
on a 3x2x2 with an emphasis on DIY, at least to try before committing
to brand equipment. I say this TOTM started then because that first
tank and all the mistakes and trials made with that tank gave me the
experience that lead to this setup. I learned where it was important to
spend on quality equipment and where I could still save.
When
looking for our house I always seemed to find myself considering the
location of a new and larger tank. The house we're in now met that
stringent requirement although it was still to be 1.5 years before the
new tank was actually to be in the new house. In the meantime the old
3x2x2 was wedged in the laundry and kept kicking over.
I designed
the current tank using Google Sketchup including detailed plans of the
stand. Many iterations of the final design, particularly those dealing
with the sump and under-stand area, were tried and scrutinised prior to
any materials purchased. That was in August '09; salt water was added
to the actual tank in April '10. So the tank has been running for about
a year and a half now.
Tank
The
tank I settled on is a 6'Lx2.5'Wx22"H. More accurately measured as
1800x790x550mm. I wanted a wider but shallower tank. The height was
actually increased 50mm to 550mm as this was much easier for the tank
builder to use a standard size. The set up is a peninsular style or
against the wall on one of the short ends and viewable from three sides,
basically a room divider. I did not opt for Starfire reserving that
luxury for the next dream tank.
Stand
I
toyed with the idea of getting a steel or aluminium stand fabricated
for me but I couldn't resist building one from timber myself. I think
my design is extremely solid yet still maximises available space
underneath. Incidentally it still is a work in progress with a few more
bits of trim to finalise the build.
Sump
Sump
space is crucial as I believe in maximising sump volume. Again the
design was made with Sketchup and a cutting list published that I could
take to an acrylic supplier. The build itself was again a DIY job. The
sump on calculated volume is more than 240L. It is a modified
racetrack style and incorporates a settling chamber, a DSB, a chemical
filtration section, a refugium, and a large return section.
Filtration
I
estimate somewhere in the order of 60-80kg live rock in the tank and a
few bits in the sump. I like the look of sand on the base of the
display so it is covered with a thin layer. A critical component that I
believe is largely responsible for the absence of nitrate is the DSB. I
have this set up as a physically separate sump section with dimensions
600x300mm and 200mm deep. I am a proponent of high flows in the sump
and particularly the DSB so I run 95% of the sump flow over the DSB, at a
guess the rate would be circa 4000LPH. This worked on the 3x2x2 and
has worked for this tank too with the evidence of undetectable nitrate
when testing.Even though I have a section for chemical
filtration I have not really made use of it. Occasionally I have thrown
a bag of carbon in the sump. Otherwise PO4 is kept in line with GFO
used continuously in a reactor fed by the syphon from the weir.
I also incorporate a refugium on a reverse-lighting cycle where Culerpa Brachypus goes wild.

Skimmer
A
key, perhaps even the most important IMO, component in the filtration
is the Deltec TC2060. The model down would, on specification, have been
suitable but at the time was not available locally. Although more coin
the performance of this skimmer has been exceptional. Couple that with
the absolute ease of use and simplicity to clean the unit I couldn't
recommend another brand and am content with the decision I made.
Water Flow/Circulation
At
the heart of the system is an Aquabee UP7000 return pump. This pushes a
reasonable amount of water however in-tank flow is primarily achieved
with 4x 6105 Tunze Stream pumps. They are controlled with the 7096
controller. Supplementing the Tunze is a Reeflo Dart rated at 13500LPH.
The 50mm intake is hidden under the rock structure. This pump is
under the tank and set up as a closed loop. The tank floor has six
holes drilled, one intake and five smaller 25mm outlets. Four outlet
flows are managed by an OceansMotions Super Squirt with an additional
outlet used as a bleed line. This is required to maintain flow to within
specified limits for the OM Super Squirt.
Lighting
I
started to buy equipment well before the tank was even built. Included
in the buy was three LumenBright Large reflectors. To go with them are
3x 250W MH 14K BLV SE bulbs powered by Coralvue 250W dimmable
e-ballasts. I've recently supplemented the blue spectrum with a DIY
build of two 24 LED rails. The LEDs are on 1100-2300 (12 hours) with
the MHs 1300-2200 (9 hours).
Other Equipment Other
equipment includes 2x 150W Schego heaters and controller. I also use
an ATJ auto-topup driving a Williamson Pumps peristaltic pump. This was
on the old tank and is still going strong.
A chiller is a must on
this tank. The house gets quite warm and the MH lights impart quite a
bit of heat energy into the system. I've upgraded the chiller to a
Hailea 1000 fed by the return pump.
Otherwise the latest equipment
addition has been a Kamoer dosing pump. Previously I was using a DIY
build using Williamson Pumps and electronic timer. The Kamoer is easier
to use and more consistent particularly as my dosing volumes were close
to exceeding the capabilities of the DIY unit.
Water Parameters
Water parameters I aim for and generally achieve:
SG - 1.027ALK - 3.5Meq/L (9 dKh)
Ca - 420ppm
Mg - 1300ppm
PO4 - 0-0.04
NO3 - 0
Additives/Chemical Maintenance
I
dose a home-made mix of baked bi-carb soda for alk and food grade
Calcium Chloride for Ca based on Randy's Recipe. My recipe however is
more concentrated giving more time between making batches. When
magnesium needs to be dosed I do so manually with a mix of Magnesium
Chloride. Nothing else is added.
Fish Stock
I do want to increase the family size but at the moment the inhabitants are
1x Pomacanthus navarchus Majestic Angel
1x Zebrasoma xanthurum Purple Tang
1x Synchiropus splendidus Mandarin
3x Amphiprion ocellaris Clowns
1x Salarias fasciatus Lawnmower Blenny
1x Centropyge loricula Flame Angel
Coral Stock
SPS and LPS varieties:Acroporidae - including Dallas acro along with many frags of others
Pocilloporidae - mainly Seriatopora hystrix or birdsnest and a couple of Stylophora
Poritidae - mainly encrusting porites
Faviidae - Platygyra daedalea maze coral and Favia sp.
Oculinidae - I think there is a small colony of Galaxea astreata gaining momentum
Fungiidae - fungia
Caryophylliidae - Varieties Euphyllia ancora Hammer coral, E. divisa Frogspawn, E. glabrescens Torch coral and home to the clowns, and E. parancora Branching hammer coral along with a Plerogyra sinuosa Bubble coral
Mussidae - 1x Blastomussa merleti Blasto, 1x Lobophyllia sp. Lobo, and 1x Scolymia Scolly
Invertebrate Stock
1x Tridacna Sp. Clam probably Squamosa
1x Gonodactylaceus ternatensis Mantis Shrimp (that I know of)
Turbo snails
2x Trochus sp.
Acro crabs
Ophiuroidea Brittle stars
Maintenance Routine
Glass is cleaned as required
NSW
water changes don't happen too often particularly this year with the
generally wet weather. I've resorted to a backup bucket of DDH2O salt
when the guilt gets too much.
Occasional prune of the macro as required both in sump and tank.
2-Part dosing needs to be mixed every three weeks
Skimmer
cup cleaned 2-3 times a week, sometimes less sometimes more. Skimmer
deep clean where it is removed has happened once so far but should be
scheduled for six-monthly intervals.
Tunze stream pumps every six months deep clean.
Acknowledgements Thank
you to my local MASx society MASS. The generosity of many members has
made my time in the hobby richer for the experiences and friendships
formed.Thanks to all the RTAW participants over the years. Your
collective wisdom, comments, suggestions and even questions have
combined to make my hobby experience a success and has kept my interest
over the years.Thank you also to the PC&S, there is a large
amount of voluntary work that takes place behind the scenes which can go
uncredited.Also thank you to the sponsors of the TOTM/TOTY. Tim from Aquablue, I'm looking forward to trialling the prize you offer.And
lastly a big thank you to my wonderful Cheezette the Clown. Thank you
for not only being so accepting of my hobby, particularly the time spent
on RTAW, but for also trying to be a part of it. That said the Flame
stays and there can only be one Benny the Blenny.
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