***Winner TOTY 2007***
I thought it was about time I put together my Tank Journal; sort of retrospect!
My fascination with all things aquatic began at an early age.
At just 13 I had aquariums in nearly every room in the house and was breeding fresh water fish. I had also set up my very first salt water tank. This was about 35 years ago, when information on keeping marine species was virtually non existent. Of course I made many mistakes, from trying to keep sea horses with lion fish to under gravel filtration.
Over the years my fascination hasn't diminished.
Back in 2001, after visiting a few local aquarium stores and seeing the array of marine species available I knew I couldn't resist any longer; I just had to set up a reef tank!
My current tank is the result of the progression of three tanks. Originally set up as a 9 Litre Nano and quickly moving on to a 75 Litre tank, which is now my son's mini reef.
9Lt Nano - Sorry about the quality of the pics.

75 Litre

My current tank was established in September 2003. It is made of 8mm glass and measures 4'7 x 18" x 20" with an internal weir feeding into a refugium housing live rock rubble and Caulerpa. A second sump provides additional water volume and an ideal place to hide equipment like the skimmer, heaters and return pump.
I liked the idea of keeping the system as natural as possible and based it on the "Berlin" system with lots of live rock and sand.
After cycling the live rock and crushed marble, the original inhabitants were moved from the 75 Litre.
There has been out breaks of nuisance algae, Aptaisia and flat worms, but with patience and perseverance all have been eradicated.
2003

To cope with the evaporation, I made up a 60 litre top off tank. To keep up with the coral's demands for calcium and carbonates, I installed an Aqua Medic Calcium reactor with a JBL pH controller. My original choice of protein skimmer was quickly upgraded to an Aqua Medic Turboflotor multi SL 1000. For both the closed loop circulation and the return pump I chose Eheim 1260 pumps. Considering I had more than one tank in the room I decided to air condition the room with a split system air conditioner for those really hot days.
I also considered "what if" there was a power outage during a hot period and not only have the tank shut down, but also the air conditioner. I overcame this situation with a mobile air conditioning unit and back up power from a generator.
Calcium Reactor

pH Controller

Portable Air Conditioner

Generator

The heart of my system's filtration is the 60 kilos of live rock and a deep sand bed. In the refugium I have more live rock and copious amounts of Caulerpa prolifera as an algal scrubber. From the refugium the water feeds to the sump and the Aqua Medic needle wheel protein skimmer and activated carbon. From the sump the return pump feeds the water back into the display.
'Fuge

Sump

Two x 150w Mh pendant style lights, along with three 15w Coralife actinic lights were installed right from the start. I was using the actinic lighting to simulate a dawn and dusk with this
Lighting Schedule:
9.30am - Actinics on
10.30am - First Mh on
11.30am - Second Mh on
8.30pm - First Mh off
9.30pm - Second Mh off
10.30pm - Actinics off

Recently I installed a skylight with three 250mm Solatubes to supplement the display with natural light. I have also replaced the actinic lights with a single 40w actinic bulb as I needed to make room for the tubes.
The solatubes are producing intense light during the middle of the day. During summer I am able to switch off the Mh's and not only conserve energy, but reduce excess heat over the tank.
The coral has responded to the sun light with growth and colouration.
Some of the added advantages of the skylight that I have noticed so far are a beautiful natural dawn and real moon light!

To see more detail of the Solatube/skylight install see here: <a href="http://www.masa.asn.au/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=169483&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=">Check my skylight out</a>
Water Parameters
Ca: 420ppm (Salifert)
Alk: 10dKH (Salifert)
Mg: 1350ppm (Salifert)
SG: 1.026 (refractometer)
Temp: 27deg Celsius
pH: 8.00-8.30 (JBL pH controller)
NO3: Undetectable (Salifert)
PO4: Undetectable (Salifert)
Current Livestock:
* Acropora colonies
* Pocillopora colonies
* Montipora
* Seriatopora
* Stylophora
* Echinopora
* Zoanthids
* Fungia
* Lobophylia
* Euphylia Divisa
* Tubipora musica
* Turbinaria
* Duncanopsammia
* Catalaphyllia
* Pavona
* Briareum
* 2 Tridacna maxima clams
Fish:
* Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
* Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
* Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani)
* Pair Fire Clowns (Amphiprion melanopus)
* Yellow Coral Goby (Gobiodon okinawae)
* Male Mandarin (Pterosynchiropus splendidus)
Cleanup:
* Pair Banded Coral Shrimp
* Cucumber (Burnt sausage)
* Trochus snails
* Acro Crabs
* Hermit Crabs
* Tropical Abalone (Haliotis varia)
Well, that's about it, other than a current full tank pic:

Rod.
