To be quite honest, it came as a complete shock to be awarded Tank of the Month.

The sheer quality of the other TOTM's had always been something that I had aspired to but an honour that I didn't expect to achieve myself.

My tank has been running for just over a year now, although some of it's inhabitants came from a previous tank before I upgraded.

A lot has happened in a year, I have had successes and failures but I've always tried my best to find an answer or rectify the problems I have come across before proceeding with the set up.

I have only recently returned to reef keeping, I kept a reef tank for about 7 years in the early to mid 1990's, and kept coldwater and tropical fish before that. So much has changed since I kept a reef in the 1990's, it makes those times of trickle filtration and air powered protein skimmers look positively stone age by comparison.

The display tank is 56" long, 27" deep, (24" water depth) and 24" wide with a 46" x 18" x 20" sump. The tanks were built in 10mm glass with braces around the top and bottom of the display tank, they were made by wharf aquatics to drawings I supplied. I would have had the display tank made a standard 5' long but a compromise had to be made to fit a space between a doorway and the wall in my dining room.

The tank stands on a very well made 40mm x 40mm powder coated box steel frame made by 'coxy' a forum friend of mine, which I clad with 'modern walnut' effect doors from the B&Q kitchen range.

The whole build including pictures can be seen in my tank thread here: http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=235269.

Lighting is provided by 2 x 250w metal halide and 4 x 54w T5 bulbs within the giesemann infinity pendant.
I use two 14500k 'coral' giesemann metal halide bulbs,
2 x 54w giesemann actinic plus T5 tubes,
and 2 x 54w giesemann actinic pure T5 tubes,

Lighting times are as follows:
2 x actinic plus T5's on at 10.00
2 x actinic pure T5's on at 11.00
2 x metal halides on at 12.00

2 x metal halides off at 21.00
2 x actinic pure T5's off at 21.30
2 x actinic plus T5's off at 22.00

I also run a 125watt 6500K (blue) envirolight reflector and lamp over my DSB/Cheato Refugium. This provides a lot of light for plant growth without the heat associated from a metal halide.

I've had a few problems with the reliability of water movement with some pumps and ended up using an algae free maxijet mod kit that I bought for use as a salt mixing pump as a temporary fix. It worked so well I later bought another and replaced the second pump.

I'll make no bones about the noise it made when I first plugged it in, it wailed like a banshee! I made some minor modifications to it, super gluing the white propeller blade to the shaft instead of having it free floating as this seems to prevent occasional buzzing when the blade gets pulled forward into the propeller stop. But it still requires a few weeks to bed in before it runs silent.

I much prefer the wider more random flow from these mod kits, you get a great deal of general water movement within the tank without any direct flow.

The sump to tank return pump is an eheim 1262 I've used the eheim hobby pumps for years and found them nothing but reliable. I thought about having 2 slightly less powerful eheim 1260's as sump return pumps, but as the skimmer is gravity fed and would get no extra water I feel the extra circulation would be of little benefit.

The filtration is simply good quality live rock, a big skimmer, an in sump DSB, and cheato algae.

I have around 100kgs of live rock in total, 60 kgs from my previous tank, 20 kgs from acropora house and about 20kgs of reef bones from coventry aquatics that were added as a base for more recent aquascaping. It really surprised me just how quickly the reef bones have become covered in coraline and other encrusting algaes, they are soon indistinguishable from the other live rock.
There is also a 1" deep SSB in the display tank, using aragmax select sand.

The skimmer is a Deltec AP851 that is gravity fed from the weir pipes. The flow is controlled via valves that allow the skimmer to work at its optimum, any excess volume of water from the wier flows into a 100 micron TMC filter bag.

The sump has a large central 6" deep DSB, using mainly aragmax sugar fine sand and topped off with select sand. Also a cheato algae section that helps remove nitrates, lit on a reverse cycle and taking advantage of the economy 7 electricity. (As a safety point the whole tanks electrics are fed from a double gang passive RCD socket)
The cheato is the main reason I believe I have been able to keep nitrates at a low level of >0.2ppm, though I think the DSB does contribute. If I neglect harvesting the algae the nitrates start creeping up over 1ppm.

The Skimmer is also fed for 2 hours twice a day by a Certizon 25mg Ozoniser, though not on a controller. This unit is rated low enough that it has very little effect on ORP, but will provide me with just enough ozone to keep my water crystal clear.

Heating is supplied by 2 x 150w jager heaters, controlled by a habistat temperature thermostat which can keep temperatures within 0.5C. Typically these only operated occasionally at night to keep temperatures up.

The main cooling is done by a Hailea HC-500A chiller, that is piped outside into a purpose built cabinet with louvered grill doors front and back for maximum ventilation. I found it helped lower the average running temperature of the tank by about 1degrees C even without it being switched on.

There are 2 small 240 volt fans blowing over the tank to reduce heat build up from the halides controlled by a habistat cool control. Also two 12 volt 120mm computer fans fitted into the side of the tank cabinet to extract air from the sump. I have fitted a 4" extractor fan through the outside wall above the tank to help remove the heat from the halides, and moisture from the room.

The majority of my additives come from the DIY calcium reactor I built which holds about 6ltrs of very coarse coral gravel. The build thread including pictures can be read here: http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/showthread.php?t=251565.

This supplies the carbonates and calcium my tank needs. It is monitored by an aqua digital ph controller and runs at a pH level of 6.3 and fed by a peri pump. It has a small post chamber filled with ARM media to try and lift the pH a little before it is returned to the tank into the top of the outlet pipe of the skimmer to help dissipate any CO2. Occasional tweaks to the KH/Calcium balance are done by adding labpak calcium chloride and boots bicarbonate of soda.

I have an 80ltr top up tank and ro unit situated behind the back wall of the tank in a kitchen cupboard I commandeered. I drilled a 2" hole between them to feed the wires and pipes through for the tunze osmolator. I use the topup tank to administer a maintenance dose of balanced magnesium chloride/ magnesium sulphate to the tank, over the week the 80ltrs tends to be used up.

The only other additive I use is an occasional dose of bio digest, to help keep up the bacterial diversity of the tank.

I think that automating as much of the rather mundane tasks such as RO topup, mineral additions of calcium, carbonates and magnesium, plus digital timers for lighting makes life so much more easy, and lets you concentrate on other things such as water testing and quality, plus observing and enjoying your tank.

I also think the idea of centralised control by a computer can be a good thing too, but I'm wary of the difficulties of having a piece of equipment suddenly fail, and having to spend ages on software problems.

So for the time being I'll stick with digital timers for lighting, a pH controller for my calcium reactor, separate cooling and heating thermostats, a tunze osmolator for topups, and pin point monitors for the tanks ph and temperature.

I don't always get the chance to feed little and often throughout the day like I do at the weekends. So instead I feed little and often from about 16.30 until lights out at 22.00.

Daily I feed about half a sheet of regular green nori in a clip, 4 frozen cubes of food which vary but include: brine shrimp, mysis, chopped cockle, krill, lobster eggs, red plankton, and chopped mussel.

I also feed a good couple of pinches of new era marine flake and/or marine pellet.

I don't use any coral food as such, and don't target feed, I rely on the very small particles of frozen food that the fish don't get to be used up by the corals. A couple of times a week I dip the end of a bar of cyclopeeze into the tank for a few seconds after lights out.

I check water temperature, pH, and the calcium reactor peri pump daily as I feed or walk past the tank. The pH and temperature are displayed by pinpoint monitors fitted into the pelmet around the tank but I tend to look for any obvious problems with live stock in the tank.

Every other day I clean the algae from the front and side glass and I clean the skimmer cup about 2 or 3 times a week.

Weekly I do a test for salinity with a refractometer, I also test magnesium, calcium, and Dkh with salifert test kits. These are recorded in a note pad and I perform any adjustments if needed, or calculate the magnesium dose for the top up tank. I also change the TMC 100 micron filter bag fairly regularly.

Fortnightly I carry out a 10% water change with reef crystals salt from a green hdpe plastic bin in the garage that adjoins to the house and has a small maxijet pump and 1/2" hose from the bin to the tank.

Monthly I do a test for potassium, nitrate and phosphate, and very occasionally ammonia and nitrite also with salifert test kits. I also change the rowa carbon that I use in a mesh bag under the filter sock as well as test the output of the phosphate reactor, and change the media if there is a reading from here or the tank.

It sometimes feels like all we do is roll from one problem to another with reef tanks. There always seems to be one more thing to solve, though hopefully they get smaller every time.

Right at the outset of this tank, I had a big whitespot outbreak. I had to empty the tank, catch all the fish put them into a rather small quarantine tank, and completely rescape the tank.

I had no time to mature the quarantine tank so ended up doing 30% waterchanges everyday for nearly 8 weeks in an effort to control ammonia and nitrite. That was hard repetitive work for 2 months, but ultimately worth it to see the fish whitespot free and healthy.

I have had a few algae problems, with a type of creeping red macro algae, and cyano. These were partially my own fault for failing to keep up a waterchange regime when I had to go into hospital for surgery last year. My wife did a wonderful job of keeping the tank ticking over until I came out of hospital and I gradually started taking over the feeding and maintenance etc. Following this I did a series of 8 x 10% water changes over 2 weeks and these brought the tank back and the cyano disappeared

I still have a problem with aiptasia anemones. I've tried most things to get rid of them with some success but there are always a few that cannot be reached or defiantly rejuvenate so I will just keep battling them as they appear, or until I can find an answer.

I recently had a peri pump feeding my calcium reactor stop working, this went unnoticed by me for about 4 or 5 days. In that time the dkh dropped to about 6. The only reason I noticed was the tips of my acros had started to look like they were melting and had some base recession too. I slowly corrected this, raising the dkh by about 1 a day until it was back up to 8dkh. Then by about 1/2dkh until back up to just under 10dkh. They soon recovered and though some haven't regained all the base tissue they lost because it is heavily shaded they are actively growing.

I've always had a taste for some of the more obvious fish for a marine tank such as yellow tangs, common clowns, and squamipinnis anthias ect because their colouration is so bold and bright. They epitomise marine fish for me. Though I do still like some of the less colourful more unusual fish. Here is a list of the fish I have at the moment.

Yellow Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)	Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)	Spotted Yellow Eye Kole Tang (Ctenochaetus truncatus)
Coral Beauty (Centropyge bispinosus)	Black Spotted Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon melagris)	Splendid Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon-bipartitus)
Pair Common Clowns (Amphiprion ocellaris)	Squamipinnis Anthias (1 male 4 female (Pseudanthias-squamipinnis)	Spotted Hawkfish (Cirrhitichthys oxycephalus)
Midas Blenny (Ecsenius midas)	Starry Blenny (Salarias ramosus)	Red Scooter Blenny (Synchiropus stellatus)
	Royal Gramma (Gramma loreto)

I originally intended to have a fully mixed coral reef, and started out that way. However, I found that at opposite times the soft and hard corals would be withdrawn and not looking their best which I surmised was due to chemical battles between them. I sold on all but a few of the soft corals, and kept just a few zoas and mushrooms that didn't seem to be antagonising the hard corals. The growth rates and health of the hard corals, specifically the sps increased shortly afterwards.

I seem to heading for an sps dominated reef. That is probably because I just love watching them grow, every few weeks they seem to sprout another branch or spread in another direction. I do like some lps too, in particular the movement they give to the tank.

SPS
Green Slimer Acropora	Acropora millipora	Tabling Acropora
Bluetip Green Staghorn	Solid Purple Acropora	Pink Hysterix
Metalic Green Acropora	Purple Stylophora	Acropora Loisetteae
Green Acropora Efflorescens	Orange Montipora Monasteriata	Green Montipora Capricornis
LPS
Favia Lizardensis	Favia Favus	Euphyllia ancora
Euphyllia glabrescens	Turbinaria Peltata	Pink Echinophyllia
Caulastrea Furcata	Cataphyllia Jardinei	Trachyphyllia Geoffroyi
	Acanthastrea Lordhowensis
SOFT
Various Zoanthids including, Dragon eye and Eagle eye	Blue Mushrooms	Green Palyzoa's

I hve gathered various inverts over time for this system, some of which were from my previous tank.

The magnifica anemone has been with me for a couple of years now and has stayed on the the first piece of live rock I placed it on when I bought it. It has moved around on that rock slightly, but never wandered off - not even when I transferred it to this tank. I do try to supply it with the conditions and position it likes such as bright light under the halides, strong chaotic flow where the outputs from the pumps meet, and a high position on the rockwork. The clownfish took all of about 30 seconds to start hosting it from the moment it went in the tank.

Inverts
Heteractis Magnifica Anemone	Tridacna Maxima Clam	Cleaner Shrimp x2
Blood Shrimp	Peppermint Shrimp x2	Sandsifting Star
Turbo Snails x12	Nassarius Snails x3	Fighting Conches x2
Cerith Snails x6	Porcelain Crab	Redleg Hermit Crabs x6
Mexican Hermit Crabs x12	Yellowtip Hermit Crabs x20

I still want a couple more small colourful fish, like a royal gramma and maybe another leopard wrasse of a different type. For corals i'm still on the lookout for anything really bright, and prefer to grow them on from frags exchanged with friends.

I do have a plan for a further upgrade into the side garage that is accessed from the kitchen, so my wife can have her dining room back.

I've wanted to start propagating corals for a while but haven't had the room where the tank is currently set up. I'd like a large frag tank and larger refugium in separate tanks but still attached to the same system. The garage will have to be fully converted into a room and have the front bricked up and a window put in etc so it may be some time before that could happen.

I'd like to thank everyone at Ultimate Reef who voted for my tank. The wealth of information available and the helpful people who are on Ultimate Reef are not to be under estimated.

Also my thanks go to all the people and new friends I have met and talked with in reefkeeping who have helped me, and inspired me to achieve the best I can with my reef tank.

Thanks to Robin at Coventry Aquatics, who always has time for his customers and goes above and beyond the call of duty, to help out.

And last but not least, my wife Julie. She has helped and supported my obsession with reefkeeping, and cared for my tank when I wasn't able to.