April 2010 Featured Tank of the Month

Kien's Tank

Congratulations to Kien for being selected as Canreef's Featured Tank of the Month for April 2010. Thanks, Kien, for sharing your system details with us! Please click on the thumbnails to view the pictures larger.

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Intro

WOW! That was the first thing that popped into my head when I was told that Canreef wanted to feature my tank for the month of April. I started into the salt side of this hobby back in 2003 with a modest FOWLR setup. Okay, maybe if we drop the 'F' and 'O' and 'W' for that matter, the remaining letters more appropriately describe my first attempt at a saltwater tank. Yes, it looked as sad as it sounds. I think we can all agree that there is quite a steep learning curve when it comes to saltwater tanks. And when I say steep I mean you will need to invest a decent pair of climbing shoes, a harness and some good rope. The rope serves a dual purpose but that's beyond the scope of this article. Oh, and don't forget your climbing partner. Reefing is much more fun with friends!

Anyway, since my initiation I've had various sized Fish Only setups eventually dabbling in soft corals, LPS corals and then recently into SPS corals. Like everyone else I have gone through the typical trials and tribulations that come with this hobby. Impatiently waiting for tank to cycle, check. Algae outbreaks, yup. Mysterious fish disappearances, roger that. I would still like to know how a 5" Tang can just vanish over night. Stuck heater, been there done that, got the t-shirt very very wet... I think that through all the challenges, what's most important is what you learn and take away. Although, laughing gas helps too, but only until it wears off. After that you're back to the <air quotes>learning and taking away</air quotes>.

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My current system is an upgrade from a previous 90g tank which for a long time was Fish and Softies only. I was actually quite content with just my fish for a while and never really thought too much about the stony corals. Then it happened. In the spring of last year the family and I went on vacation to Maui where we had a lot of opportunity to snorkel. I think we must have gone snorkeling at every site on Maui. That was when I fell in love with stony corals. Sure this wasn't the Great Barrier Reef, but it was still quite amazing. When we got back I decided to apply a small lighting upgrade and tried my hand at stony corals. Needless to say, like that marlin I caught in Maui I was hooked. After cramming every inch of rock space with frags and colonies of LPS and SPS corals I quickly decided that the 90g was no longer sufficient and set out to upgrade the entire system. So ya, I got the bug, and the bug was actually a giant alien arachnid from Andromeda with a cash register on its back.

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Like every system upgrade, this was the perfect opportunity to apply all those lessons learned as well as gleefully repeat old mistakes. Surely the sump won't overflow a second time in the exact same manner right? RIGHT? I set out with a laundry list of key points that I wanted to achieve. There are quite a few items on the list but here is what I would consider the big three. First, get the biggest tank that my budget, my room and my time can comfortably manage, then add 12 inches and a few hundred dollars for good measure. Next, get the right hardware for the job. How many times have we bought a piece of hardware only to find it woefully inadequate? Last but not least, focus on the aquascape. During the build process the aquascaping was always on my mind. I've had rock slides and I hate rearranging rocks so I envisioned a very open scape with plenty of room under and over the rocks for fish to swim through and be visible on both sides of the tank. I didn't want to stack rocks so I researched the use of acrylic rods and zip ties to secure the structure. With all of these goals in mind I set out and opened a new chapter (and my wallet - ouch!).

The System

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The main system consists of a 150g tank (72"x24"x20") which is supported by a 45g sump underneath. The main tank is eurobraced with an external overflow box at one end of the tank. The overflow box houses four 1" drain pipes. The overflow employs the Herbie System for noise dampening. Two standpipes are merged to form the main overflow, the third acts as the emergency drain while the fourth drainpipe is a direct line to the refugium (which is actually off-line now, more on this later) in the sump. The return system consists of a 1" pipe that runs from the return section of the sump up and over the top of the tank, along the eurobrace and then drops into holes that are drilled into the eurobrace at the opposite end from the overflow.

The sump is a 3 chamber design which houses everything from heaters, a skimmer, reactors, a thermometer and controller probes. Everything but the kitchen sink I suppose.. but stay tuned, that will be plumped in next week. The sump consists of an 8g refugium section, a skimmer/reactor/misc hardware section and finally a return section in the middle. Each section is separated by 3 baffles acting as bubble traps.

The tank sits on a wooden 2x6 DIY built stand that was primed sealed and painted white with water resistant paint. It does a great job of repelling water. I suspect there must be enough salt built up on the bottom to set up another tank, but I can't see it so it's all good. Out of sight out of mind right? The stand is skinned with white Ikea cabinet door panels on 3 sides which are simply held in place by magnets. The stand is topped with a pre-fabricated Ikea counter top.

The entire system is a peninsula which acts as a room divider between our living room and dining room. This has always been my favourite style of tank as it presents 3 viewable sides (two long and a short side). With any tank there is the customary maintenance schedule. I have determined that the scope of the maintenance required is directly proportional to the algebraic equation where 't' is the time you put in, 'm' is the money you've spent on the tank and 's' size of said tank, plus a $42.42 for good measure. Incidentally, the formula for success is the sinusoid of that formula, plus a few hundred dollars. Yes, the journey can be a bit of a rollercoaster ride and the rewards are great but I will admit, I often find myself wishing that that giant alien arachnid would just hurry up and put me out of my misery already. Instead, it taunts me by wrapping me in a warm cocoon that lulls me into a false sense of security whilst biting me repeatedly.. where's that rope at?

The Hardware

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Controller

Lights

Skimmer

Return Pump

Powerheads

Reactors

Heaters

Doser

Auto-Top-Off

Misc

The Maintenance

Cleaning:

Testing

Feeding

Dosing and Additives/Supplementation

Parameters

Misc

The Livestock - Fish

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The Livestock - Invertebrates

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The Livestock - Corals

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Summary

In closing I would like to thank CANREEF for selecting my tank as this months Featured Tank of the Month. It truly is a humbling honour. I would also like to give a shout out to all those CANREEFRs who assisted me through the year. Without your input, guidance, suggestions and recommendations this tank would not be where it is. If you would like to see this build unfold I invite you over to my Tank Journal. Thanks for reading and happy reefing everyone!