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.
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>.
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.
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
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
Controller
- Profilux Plus II eX with ORP, Temperature, Salinity/Conductivity, pH probes and water level sensors.
Lights
- 72" Sunlight Supply Maristar combo fixture housing..
- Three 250 watt Ushio 14K DE HQI halides
- Four 39 watt Aquascience 22Ks HO T5s for supplementation.
- Two Profilux SimuSpot Sun Rise/Set, Moon and Lightening simulation LED lights (controlled by Profilux)
- The red sunrise/sunset LEDs are on in the mornings from 9:30pm to 10:30pm and again in the evenings from 9:30pm to 10:30pm.
- The 22K T5s are on from 10am to 10pm
- The 14K Halides are on from 1pm to 8pm
- Every Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at midnight there is a lightening storm (white LEDs flash randomly).
- Moonlights are on following the cycle of the moon.
Skimmer
- Hydor Performer 700 with a couple of modifications.
Return Pump
- MagDrive 18 (1800gph)
Powerheads
- Two Tunze 6105s. (controlled by Profilux Controller)
Reactors
- 1 Two Little Fishes phosban reactor housing carbon powered by a maxijet 900
- 1 Vertex Aquaristik UF 15 Universal Media reactor housing 1 liter of NP Bio Pellets powered by a maxijet 1200
Heaters
- 1 Stealth 250 watt
- 1 JBJ 250 watt
Doser
- Profilux 3 pump doser (controlled by Profilux controller)
Auto-Top-Off
- Two switch (main and emergency) top off system from autotopoff.com
Misc
- Profilux Digital Power Bars
- DIY GFCI outlets
- Profilux Propeller Breeze 4 fan
- Profilux View II Display Panel (a HUD for the tank if you will).
The Maintenance
Cleaning:
- Every 3-4 days: Replace filter socks and clean glass with a magfloat.
- Every 5-7 days: Clean out the skimmer's collection cup.
- Every Two weeks: I will blow detritus off the live rock
- Once a Month: I clean out the reactors and replace carbon.
Testing
- The controller gives me a constant view of the Salinity, Ph, Temp and ORP so the only things I test for every week are Alkalinity and Calcium. I test Magnesium once a month.
Feeding
- I feed a combination of Formula 1&2 flakes, pellets, nori sheets and home made fish mush consisting of scallops, shrimp, clams, mysis, squid and octopus (frozen fish medly from the grocery store). I like to feed them a variety so the type of food is alternated every few days. The frozen food is pre-soaked in garlic.
- The fish are fed three times a day. First thing in the morning a sheet of nori is placed in the tank for them to nibble on. Then midway through the day an automatic feeder kicks in that drops flakes and pellets into a feeding ring. Finally, in the evening about an hour before lights out I hand feed frozen foods.
- Every few days I will whip out the turkey baster and spot feed my LPS corals.
Dosing and Additives/Supplementation
- The only additives I add to the tank are Sodium Bicarbonate (in the form of Baking Soda from a grocery store), for Alkalinity and Calcium (purchased in bulk online). I mix up the Two-Part based on Randy's two part formula. This has worked out quite well for me and once the depletion rate is determined there is very little fussing involved. The two solutions are made up every couple of weeks and are stored in 4L jugs.
- The doser doses the two on an alternating two hour interval from 2L soda bottles. 37ml of Alkalinity and 57ml of Calcium is dosed per their respective dosing events (8 times a day). I inspect the bottles every day during feeding to observe the depletion and top up if necessary
- Magnesium is dosed on an infrequent basis as required.
Parameters
- Salinity: 1.026 (~35 ppt)
- pH: 7.9 (night) - 8.4 (day)
- Temperature: 77F (night) - 80F (day)
- Alkalinity: 8 dkH
- Calcium: 420 ppm
- Magnesium: 1300 - 1400 ppm
- Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates, Phosphates -> The big goose egg.
Misc
- I perform weekly water changes of approximately 10-15%. For salt I use standard Instant Ocean, nothing fancy.
- For nutrient export I utilize NP Biopellets in a reactor. Every few days I will inspect the reactor to make sure the pellets are tumbling efficiently and to observe depletion of the pellets. Although I have a refugium section in my sump I no longer grow anything in the refugium. It just houses live rock.
The Livestock - Fish
- Blue/Hippo Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
- Power Blue Tang (Acanthurus leucosternon)
- Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurus)
- Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
- Borbonius Anthius (Odontanthis borbonius)
- Flame Angel (Centropyge loricula)
- Fathead/Sunburst Anthias (Serranocirrhitus latus)
- Hawaiian Flame Wrasse (mated pair) (Cirrhilabrus jordani)
- Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris)
- Solar Fairy Wrasse (Cirrhilabrus solarensis)
- Sixline Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)
- Four Stripe Damsel (Dascyllus melanurus)
- Diamond Goby (Valenciennea puellaris)
- Yellow Watchman Goby (Cyrptocentrus cinctus)
- Mandarin Goby (Synchiropus splendidus)
- Bi-color Blenny (Ecsenius bicolor)
- Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)
- Orchid Dottyback (Pseudochromis fridmani)
- Ocellaris Clownfish (mated pair) (Amphiprion ocellaris)
- Blue-Green Chromis (Chromis viridis)
The Livestock - Invertebrates
- 4 Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)
- 2 Fire/Blood Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)
- 4 Sexy Shrimp (Thor amboinensis)
- 2 Glass Anemone Shrimp (Periclimenes brevicarpalis)
- 4 Pom Pom Crabs (Lybia Tessalatta)
- Porcelain Crab (Neopetrolisthes maculosus)
- Orange Spined Sea Urchin
- Blue Linckia Starfish (Linchkia laevigata)
- Orange Linckia Starfish
- Purple Linckia Starfish
- Red Reef Starfish
- Marbled Starfish
- Sand Sifting Starfish
- Red Bubble Tip Anemone
- Red Coco Worm
- Feather dusters
- Lots of Snails
- Loads Hermit crabs
The Livestock - Corals
- Various SPS, LPS, Zooanthids, Mushrooms and a few softies (Xenia, Leather, etc).
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!