druluv
Member
Hi Everyone:
I Have embarked on a journey few will take. I'm going to attempt to start a full scale reef tank with just a refugium system.
Yes thats right not protein stripper! I'll update you guys once a week with pics and a status of how the tank is doing:
I'm also highlighting the growth, maintance, and ups and downs of a reef aquarium. Let me Know What you think.
Experiment Details Started 4/16/04:
Tank Specs:
180 Gal - Custom Design w/ two overflows
45 Gal refugium- Live Sand & Miracle Mud & Fuge Creatures (Dual Returns)
fuge creatures: (These Creatures Keep the fuge clean from algae, and detritus)
I add photoPlankton to help with the critters offspring.
sand bed clams
Baby Bristle Worms
MicroHermits
Nerite Grazers
trocus grazers
turbo grazers
Strombus Grazers
Nassarius Snails
Bubble Bee Snails
Amphipods
spaghetti Worms
mini-Hawaiian Reef Brittle Stars
Fuge Plants
Grape Cualerpa
Feather Cualerpa
Shaving Brush
Gold Tang Heaven
Red Tang Heaven
Ulva Blade
Fuge Lights:
Coral Life 130 watt power compact (65watt 10K & 65watt actinic)
Regular 18 watt atinic buld (coral life)
Filtration:
One Fuge custom built System
Live Rock (display & Fuge - Fullied Cured for a year (Tonga Branch, Fuji, Marshall)
No mechanical
Pumps:
return : mag 2400 Pump 2200 Gph
powerheads: via aqua 3600 - 1000 gph, sen 500 - 474 gph
Turn over = 16
Salt:
Tropic Marin
Calcium Supp:
B-ionic Calcium Buffer System - ESV - every day - 30ML of both to help Coraline production
Neilisen Reactor -PM -using EVS KALK -
Ultra life Top-off hook-up to a float switch -
dosed by aqua-medic dosing pump - Should Help precipate PO4
Phosphate Reactor - tlf - rowaphos - maxi-jet 500 pump
Calicum Reactor - PM - coming soon
Reef Advantage Calcium - twice Bi Weekly(if needed)
Reef Builder - twice bi weekly(If needed)
Water Supply - Kent Max deluxe ro/di filter
Weekly water changes - Nutri-seawater (Natural Live Ocean Saltwater)
Food
Frozen - tlf mixed veggies,cytopleeze, Mysis, Brine, water fleas, soaked in ecosytem garlic elixer, vita-chem, selcon
inverts - squid is added to the above mixure.
Lighting
4 160 watt uri bulbs - ice cap ballast(2) (3 Actinic and 1 10K)
1 250 watt MH 10k
1 coral vue led nite light - Excellent View Light
5 watts per gallon
4 MH 400 Watts- Coming Soon
Lighting Duration
Morning Sun-light approx - 4hrs -
2 vho actinics - 12hrs
1 vho actinics & 1 - 10 K bulbs - 11hrs
250 watt MH 10K - 8 hrs
Temperature Control -
1 50 watt heater
1/2hp chiller Pacific coast
Water Parms
NO2- undetectable - sea chem
NO3- 2 ml/g - sea chem
PO4- undetectable - sea chemPH- 8.0 sea chem AMNotes:Live Stock: Date status
Fish:
Yellow tang med - 4/07/04
Blue Regal med - 4/15/04
maroon clown tiny - 4/15/04
Engineer goby - med- 4/15/04
Kole Tang - med- 4/20/04
yellow pymgy angel -med - 4/20/04
Neon Blue Gobies-4/22/04
Blue Devil Dasmel -4/26/04
Bagg. Cardinal -4/26/04
Coral:
Soft
Sarcophyton sp- - 4/15/04
Green finger - 4/17/04
ToadStool Leather - 4/22/04
LPS
Fox Coral(Jasmine) - 4/20/04
Bubble Coral - White - 4/22/04
Candy Cane - 4/22/04
Button Coral - 4/22/04
Plate Coral - Orange - 4/22/04
Hammer Coral - green tips - 5/05/04
Polps
Pumping Xenia - 4/22/04
Green umbrella Mushroom - 4/20/04
Green ricordea Mushroom - 4/20/04
Polyp on a rock - 4/20/04
Mushroom rocks - 4/20/04
Zoo-Pink Finger - 5/06/04
Zoo-Pink Eye - 5/06/04
Zoo-Intense Pink Splotch - 5/06/04
Zoo-No ID - 5/06/04
Zoo-No ID - 5/06/04
Clams
Dersa Clam - 4/22/04
Tonga Clam Red - 4/27/04
SPS
Montipora Encrusting Orange - 4/22/04
Leaf Plate Montipora - 4/22/04
Montipora digita w/ blue tips - 4/22/04
INVERTS:
clump ball sponge - 3/15/04
sand sifter star - 4/15/04
blood red cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
hermit crabs - Solid workers
Sand sifting cucumbers - 4/19/04
various Snails - Solid Workers
Sally Light Foot - 4/20/04 - Very Good algae eater, must have
sand sifting crabs -
Cleaner Clams - Should Help with cleaning the water
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone - 4/22/04
Future wish List:
More rare inhabitants- reef safe eel, reef safe angel, interresting Sps Corals.
Tank Status:
Week four of the experiment:
I have added different assortment of corals and reef safe fish.Here are a couple new member pics. Please understand that camera is only a 1.3 mega pixs. So i'll try my best.
Problems To OverCome:
Need To Add More Flow
Need To Add More Light
Need To Add More Sand bed Critters
Soft and Hard Corals Living Together
Blue Regal Tangs and Parasites
Things I Like Best about the Tank
1. Good Coraline Growth
2. New organisms popping up in the Fuge.
3. Fish Are Eating
4. Crappy Hood I built but saved over $200 dollars - Used it buy a HQI ballast
Newbie Tips do's:
1. Patience - Give Tank time to grow
2. Research - Everybody is a master reefer, take everyting with a grain of salt, and do your own home work.
3. Aclimate properly - when fish come in those overnight bags the ph is about 7.8.
Newbie Tips dont's:
1.Buy too much live stock for delivery - Take too much time to properly acclimate everything.
I Have embarked on a journey few will take. I'm going to attempt to start a full scale reef tank with just a refugium system.
Yes thats right not protein stripper! I'll update you guys once a week with pics and a status of how the tank is doing:
I'm also highlighting the growth, maintance, and ups and downs of a reef aquarium. Let me Know What you think.
Experiment Details Started 4/16/04:
Tank Specs:
180 Gal - Custom Design w/ two overflows
45 Gal refugium- Live Sand & Miracle Mud & Fuge Creatures (Dual Returns)
fuge creatures: (These Creatures Keep the fuge clean from algae, and detritus)
I add photoPlankton to help with the critters offspring.
sand bed clams
Baby Bristle Worms
MicroHermits
Nerite Grazers
trocus grazers
turbo grazers
Strombus Grazers
Nassarius Snails
Bubble Bee Snails
Amphipods
spaghetti Worms
mini-Hawaiian Reef Brittle Stars
Fuge Plants
Grape Cualerpa
Feather Cualerpa
Shaving Brush
Gold Tang Heaven
Red Tang Heaven
Ulva Blade
Fuge Lights:
Coral Life 130 watt power compact (65watt 10K & 65watt actinic)
Regular 18 watt atinic buld (coral life)
Filtration:
One Fuge custom built System
Live Rock (display & Fuge - Fullied Cured for a year (Tonga Branch, Fuji, Marshall)
No mechanical
Pumps:
return : mag 2400 Pump 2200 Gph
powerheads: via aqua 3600 - 1000 gph, sen 500 - 474 gph
Turn over = 16
Salt:
Tropic Marin
Calcium Supp:
B-ionic Calcium Buffer System - ESV - every day - 30ML of both to help Coraline production
Neilisen Reactor -PM -using EVS KALK -
Ultra life Top-off hook-up to a float switch -
dosed by aqua-medic dosing pump - Should Help precipate PO4
Phosphate Reactor - tlf - rowaphos - maxi-jet 500 pump
Calicum Reactor - PM - coming soon
Reef Advantage Calcium - twice Bi Weekly(if needed)
Reef Builder - twice bi weekly(If needed)
Water Supply - Kent Max deluxe ro/di filter
Weekly water changes - Nutri-seawater (Natural Live Ocean Saltwater)
Food
Frozen - tlf mixed veggies,cytopleeze, Mysis, Brine, water fleas, soaked in ecosytem garlic elixer, vita-chem, selcon
inverts - squid is added to the above mixure.
Lighting
4 160 watt uri bulbs - ice cap ballast(2) (3 Actinic and 1 10K)
1 250 watt MH 10k
1 coral vue led nite light - Excellent View Light
5 watts per gallon
4 MH 400 Watts- Coming Soon
Lighting Duration
Morning Sun-light approx - 4hrs -
2 vho actinics - 12hrs
1 vho actinics & 1 - 10 K bulbs - 11hrs
250 watt MH 10K - 8 hrs
Temperature Control -
1 50 watt heater
1/2hp chiller Pacific coast
Water Parms
NO2- undetectable - sea chem
NO3- 2 ml/g - sea chem
PO4- undetectable - sea chemPH- 8.0 sea chem AMNotes:Live Stock: Date status
Fish:
Yellow tang med - 4/07/04
Blue Regal med - 4/15/04
maroon clown tiny - 4/15/04
Engineer goby - med- 4/15/04
Kole Tang - med- 4/20/04
yellow pymgy angel -med - 4/20/04
Neon Blue Gobies-4/22/04
Blue Devil Dasmel -4/26/04
Bagg. Cardinal -4/26/04
Coral:
Soft
Sarcophyton sp- - 4/15/04
Green finger - 4/17/04
ToadStool Leather - 4/22/04
LPS
Fox Coral(Jasmine) - 4/20/04
Bubble Coral - White - 4/22/04
Candy Cane - 4/22/04
Button Coral - 4/22/04
Plate Coral - Orange - 4/22/04
Hammer Coral - green tips - 5/05/04
Polps
Pumping Xenia - 4/22/04
Green umbrella Mushroom - 4/20/04
Green ricordea Mushroom - 4/20/04
Polyp on a rock - 4/20/04
Mushroom rocks - 4/20/04
Zoo-Pink Finger - 5/06/04
Zoo-Pink Eye - 5/06/04
Zoo-Intense Pink Splotch - 5/06/04
Zoo-No ID - 5/06/04
Zoo-No ID - 5/06/04
Clams
Dersa Clam - 4/22/04
Tonga Clam Red - 4/27/04
SPS
Montipora Encrusting Orange - 4/22/04
Leaf Plate Montipora - 4/22/04
Montipora digita w/ blue tips - 4/22/04
INVERTS:
clump ball sponge - 3/15/04
sand sifter star - 4/15/04
blood red cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
cleaner shrimp - 4/17/04
hermit crabs - Solid workers
Sand sifting cucumbers - 4/19/04
various Snails - Solid Workers
Sally Light Foot - 4/20/04 - Very Good algae eater, must have
sand sifting crabs -
Cleaner Clams - Should Help with cleaning the water
Rose Bubble Tip Anemone - 4/22/04
Future wish List:
More rare inhabitants- reef safe eel, reef safe angel, interresting Sps Corals.
Tank Status:
Week four of the experiment:
I have added different assortment of corals and reef safe fish.Here are a couple new member pics. Please understand that camera is only a 1.3 mega pixs. So i'll try my best.
Problems To OverCome:
Need To Add More Flow
Need To Add More Light
Need To Add More Sand bed Critters
Soft and Hard Corals Living Together
Blue Regal Tangs and Parasites
Things I Like Best about the Tank
1. Good Coraline Growth
2. New organisms popping up in the Fuge.
3. Fish Are Eating
4. Crappy Hood I built but saved over $200 dollars - Used it buy a HQI ballast
Newbie Tips do's:
1. Patience - Give Tank time to grow
2. Research - Everybody is a master reefer, take everyting with a grain of salt, and do your own home work.
3. Aclimate properly - when fish come in those overnight bags the ph is about 7.8.
Newbie Tips dont's:
1.Buy too much live stock for delivery - Take too much time to properly acclimate everything.