pseudonym
08-21-2012, 06:49 PM
Hey all. Well, I have been lurking here for a while and even met a few of you. I figure it is time I stand up and introduce myself.
I have been keeping freshwater tanks since I was a kid, but had recently gotten out of the hobby. I started it up again when I bought a 29 gal breeder tank from Big Als with the intention of setting up a planted freshwater tank. I was soon convinced by a friend to do a saltwater reef tank and so the adventure began!!
First, the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRTbZiGfllM&feature=youtube_gdata
Let me know what you think! The video covers the tank from the introduction of the first fish to a video taken last night. It is a 29 breeder as a display tank with a 20 gal refugium/sump containing 6" of sand and a 1.5" plenum over 3/4 of the tank. There is no forced filtration. No filter socks, no sponges or anything where water is forced through filter material. There is a small amount of carbon and multi filter pad sitting above the return pump but water is never forced through it. Of course there are no skimmers or reactors anywhere in the system. Nitrates are stable in this tank and tend to always trend downward. Currently they are a little high a 8, and normally are stable at around 4ppm. If I could get some true sea plants, I am pretty sure I could get that below 1. The last, and only, water change done on this tank was 5 or 6 weeks ago to deal with a nitrate spike caused by over feeding.
I have to say, I am sold on Monaco!! I can't think of a system that is more simple. "More biology, less technology" is the by word. Really, the whole thing is just rocks, sand, algae and a pump sitting in a box and maintenance is variations on doing almost nothing. Very small changes have big effects so maintenance is generally just observation and making small adjustments. I call it my "low tech" reef tank, but Ghetto Box o'fish also works =).
There are a few people I want to thank. First off FWC for the cheato he gave me. That changed everything in the tank! Denny for some just mind blowing Zoas and Wayne for the minipora, digis and my first accro! The community has been fantastic and I never imagined that it was even possible for my first tank to turn out like this. I couldn't have done it without the great people here in Edmonton. Thanks also to Aquarium Illusions, Big Als, Red Coral, Marine Aquaria and Blue World Aquatic. I couldn't have done it without bouncing ideas off all your heads, even when you looked at me like I was crazy.
cheers!
I have been keeping freshwater tanks since I was a kid, but had recently gotten out of the hobby. I started it up again when I bought a 29 gal breeder tank from Big Als with the intention of setting up a planted freshwater tank. I was soon convinced by a friend to do a saltwater reef tank and so the adventure began!!
First, the Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRTbZiGfllM&feature=youtube_gdata
Let me know what you think! The video covers the tank from the introduction of the first fish to a video taken last night. It is a 29 breeder as a display tank with a 20 gal refugium/sump containing 6" of sand and a 1.5" plenum over 3/4 of the tank. There is no forced filtration. No filter socks, no sponges or anything where water is forced through filter material. There is a small amount of carbon and multi filter pad sitting above the return pump but water is never forced through it. Of course there are no skimmers or reactors anywhere in the system. Nitrates are stable in this tank and tend to always trend downward. Currently they are a little high a 8, and normally are stable at around 4ppm. If I could get some true sea plants, I am pretty sure I could get that below 1. The last, and only, water change done on this tank was 5 or 6 weeks ago to deal with a nitrate spike caused by over feeding.
I have to say, I am sold on Monaco!! I can't think of a system that is more simple. "More biology, less technology" is the by word. Really, the whole thing is just rocks, sand, algae and a pump sitting in a box and maintenance is variations on doing almost nothing. Very small changes have big effects so maintenance is generally just observation and making small adjustments. I call it my "low tech" reef tank, but Ghetto Box o'fish also works =).
There are a few people I want to thank. First off FWC for the cheato he gave me. That changed everything in the tank! Denny for some just mind blowing Zoas and Wayne for the minipora, digis and my first accro! The community has been fantastic and I never imagined that it was even possible for my first tank to turn out like this. I couldn't have done it without the great people here in Edmonton. Thanks also to Aquarium Illusions, Big Als, Red Coral, Marine Aquaria and Blue World Aquatic. I couldn't have done it without bouncing ideas off all your heads, even when you looked at me like I was crazy.
cheers!