Unfortunately due to an ever increasing work load I don’t tend to get on the forum as much as I would like too, so you can imagine my shock and amazement when I logged on to find a PM from Chris to say my tank had been awarded TOTM. It truly is an amazing honour and privilege!! When I see some of the fantastic examples that grace this forum I can’t believe my tank got any nominations never mind enough to win TOTM!

This system is my 2nd attempt at reef keeping, my first tank was the usual conversion from a planted tropical tank and many mistakes we’re made!!! Eventually I’d got a reasonable system but I always wanted to upgrade. A few guys from my LFS put me in the direction of this forum and from then on my knowledge improved tenfold!!

I have always found this site as a fantastic resource and no matter what problem or issue I had, I could always find someone who’d encountered the same issue and duly had the right advice from some of the experts lurking on here!

In early 2008 I came across this tank for sale on this forum and from then on I’ve been trying to build up my equipment list!

The tank measure 60'' x 24'' x 24'' c/w a 38'' x 18'' x 18'' sump and purpose built oak finish cabinet. I couldn’t tell you who manufactured the tank, they previous owners did tell me but I forget!!

The tank lighting is provided by an Arcadia 3 x 250w metal Halide pendant c/w 2 x T8 Actinic tubes. I want to update the T8’s to T5’s or maybe even the Arcadia actinic LED’s at some point soon, that said even the simple T8’s give me the opportunity to view the tank after main lights out just under the blues, the florescence off the SPS makes for a stunning display.

I’m currently running marine lux full spectrum 12,000k lamps but previous to this I have always run 10k BLV’s. I couldn’t fault the BLV’s but I fancied giving the 12k’s a blast. I must say the colour is exceptional, very crisp with just the right amount of blue. That said, I do believe that I got slightly faster growth of the 10k’s. I’ve never done any PAR tests on either bulb so I can’t comment on the difference but aesthetically the ML 12k’s are excellent. The bulbs are going to need replacing in a couple of months so its decision time again!!

Tank circulation is proved by 2 x Tunze 6100’s controlled by the Tunze 7095 multi-controller. I also run a couple of smaller Tunze’s just to alleviate any dead spots in the corners of the tank.

The main return is courtesy of an Ocean Runner 3500.

I purchased the Tunze’s 2nd hand off this forum and I must say they have been faultless. My only issue is their bulkiness and due to ever growing SPS particularly some large plating Acro’s on the right hand side of the tank shading is now becoming a bit of an issue….I may have to look at Vortech MP’40 sooner or later!

Overall the powerheads give me 52 x turnover p/h.

Due to the relative success of my first system I decided on running this tank as a Miracle Mud Eco-System. At first it ran to the book as a skimmer less Eco-system but as I’ve tweaked and added things along the way it now sits as a kind of Berlin-Eco tank hybrid!! The structure in the tank is courtesy of live rock and reef plate arranged in an open structure.

The first section of my sump contains Bio-balls, I have read all the talk of nitrate factories but I have never had a nitrate issue on this set-up. I do give the balls a good stir every so often to remove detrius but their main function is as to act as a bubble stop. The first section also contains the feed pump for my Skimmer which is a Deltec APF600. The skimmer is housed remotely in the right hand side of my cabinet. This skimmer was an addition 12 months into the tank and I must say it made an immediate difference. I now have to clean the skimmer every 3-5 days and the gunk it pulls out is incredible. After seeing this I wouldn’t be without a skimmer running 24/7.

The second chamber is a large MM algae section with a mixture of both Caulerpa and Cheato. This gets harvested every few weeks and has always meant I have been able to control my nutrients and I have never had nitrates over 5 (and I feed heavily) Although I use and recommend Miracle Mud and Mineral Mud, the mud in this tank came out of my original system; that had been running 2 years. It’s now been in this tank for 3 years; so 5 years all together. I have never changed any of it. The manufacturers recommend changing a percentage after a period of time, call me pessimistic but I can work out why they recommend this!!! I repeat, I’m not saying this is right or wrong but I’ve seen no issue with not changing the mud.

In my opinion the real benefit of MM is as a fertilizer for the micro algae, whether or not the price tag justifies that I leave to you! It does provide an ideal substrate for the Caulerpa to root into though.....

The final section of my sump houses a phosphate reactor filled with Rowaphos, the return pump and the return from my skimmer.

Heating and cooling is taken care of via an ATC 800. The tank has 1 x 300w heater and 1 x 200w heater as back-up. I also have a couple of cheap PC fans attached via the controller and these tend to come on daily by mid afternoon. The temperature is pretty consistent at 25.5deg in the morning up to 27.5 deg by 9.00pm.

The main supplementation in my system is taken care of by way of my calcium reactor; this keeps Alk, Cal amd Mag in check. Up until recently this job was performed by a V2react 1500 reactor, this I found to be a good piece if kit, the only issue I have had is that after time most of the plastic connectors snap off (if you own one you’ll know the ones!!) and it was looking worse for wear. I now have a Deltec PF500 fed from my return pump but due to the ever demanding increase in Cal, Alk etc; it was struggling to keep up…. To solve the issue I dug back out my V2 1500 and now just use this as an extra chamber full of media. The PF500 is filled with Rowalith C+ and the V2 chamber is coral gravel and magnesium chips.

In the early days I added nothing in the way of supplements with the exception of TMC’s Iodine added daily. This was always fine and the tank flourished. As the tank has grown out and become my demanding I have recently started added Grotech A, B and C. Its early days but initial feeling is that the SPS look happier.

As for other supplements; I’ve tried that lot, you name it I’ve used it!! I switched the tank over to Zeo for 6 months and although was fine, the constant adding and adjusting meant it wasn’t for me. I've tried an extended period of adding Phyto plus all other sorts of coral feeds such as Oyster Relish, Coral Gel to name a couple..... My conclusion; nothing beats regular water changes and a good calcium reactor. As with all food stuffs, you have to keep a constant eye on nutrients.... I recently tried a really heavy feeding regime to see what benefit the SPS gained and my phosphates went through the roof in only a couple of weeks. Trying to get the right balance is the Holy Grail I guess!

This system has various methods of automation. The first and one of the most crucial is the Tunze auto-top up, this is fed from a 24x18x18 tank situated by the side of the main system. I need a relatively large fresh water reservoir as we tend to go away for quite a few weekends through the summer. As mentioned earlier I also run an ATC-800 to control heating and cooling.

To run the calcium reactor effectively and efficiently I have a TMC pH controller - monitor, this controls the C02 input into my Calcium Reactor. When I first got the reactor I was simply judging the CO2 addition via the bubble counter, this method worked fine but I did see a pH dip which meant I knew I had to invest in a pH controller. Calcium Reactors are a fabulous piece of kit but they have to monitored closely; it still gives me the biggest headache and worry to this day, I’ve seen and read about so many systems falling victim to jammed solenoid or similar reactor issues. The Reactor is fed via a small t-off from my return pump, again this works fine but getting a steady drip rate without a peristaltic pump isn’t easy. Another investment on the cards!!!

I do try to feed as much as I can get away with without having a detrimental on the system in the way of nutrients. As mentioned earlier, a recent experiment in heavily feeding the inhabitants led to a huge surge in phosphate which caught me by surprise. The tank has some large tangs in and these boys need well feeding!! Depending on where work has taken me or if it’s the weekend the fish will get fed anything from 2 – 10 times per day. The main feeding consists of New Era Marine Flakes. When my Powder Blue was originally added some 18 months ago, he would only take mysis, eventually I weaned him onto the Flake and this has allowed me to stop feeding frozen foods unless I’m target feeding the LPS at the bottom of the tank.

The tangs; especially my Regal will demolish huge amounts of the flake in one gulp; this keeps them all fat and healthy. They also get a large piece of Nori (picked up from the local Chinese supermarket for not much at all) each day first thing. This lasts all of about 10 minutes!!!

The other fish in my tank, specifically the Anthias and the Chromis get a small amount of Cyclopeeze daily, this they adore! For the corals, again as stated previously; I’ve tried all sorts; Oyster Relish gets a superb response as does Coral Gel, I’ve recently been mixing a bit of coral gel with Cyclopeeze and sticking this high up the back of the tank where my tangs can’t get at it, this releases Cyclopeeze slowly for the Anthias to pick up in the top half of the water column.

The front of the tank glass gets cleaned every couple of days and depending on how fussy I’m feeling, the back and sides get cleaned once a week. Getting to the back panel has now become difficult to say the least and I might have to accept defeat…. I do love the look of a clean tank on all sides though! The other issue is that I’m that clumsy that I end up knocking the tops of various Acros when I do try and get to the back though!

As for water changes, I try as much as possible but I must admit this isn’t one of my favourite jobs. The tank is situated on the middle floor of a 3 story house so carting buckets of water up the stairs isn’t great…. That said, I do try and stick to once a month if possible! Other maintenance includes the pruning of various corals as and when required. I’ve always got my hands in the tank doing something!!

Where do we start!!! There’ve been a few and most of them lately!

The beauty (and nightmare) of this hobby is that it’s always throwing something new at you to deal with, the key for me has been not to get too frustrated and try and deal with them as best you can.

The only issue that has caused me to consider my reef keeping future has been flatworms!!! I see so many posts on here relating to the little blighters. I had them in their trillions. Every available piece of rock was inhabited by thousands. No matter how many I siphoned out, they’d be back with a vengeance the next day. I was trying hard not to result to chemical treatments such as FW Exit as I heard bad stories relating to them but I nearly crumbled. I tried Velvet Nudi’s, a leopard Wrasse, a Jade Wrasse and a Mandarin, and although the Jade and the Mandarin, had a go, noting would have dented the plague I had.

I decided to start a vigorous daily siphoning attack on them; this along with natural predation eventually defeated them. I still have a few in the sump but if they get into the main system, one of my fish takes care of them! I wish I’d taken a picture to show; the normally beautifully coloured coralline rock was completely replaced by Flatworms!! All I will say is don’t give up if you have this issue, they do tend to burn themselves out. The tank has now been flatworm free for 18 months!

Most other issues have been small, normally linked to the Calcium Reactor or other equipment failure… My Tunze osmolater appears to have died on me last week and my halides have also recently decided to give up… They are now back with Arcadia to hopefully fix without costing me a fortune.

The hard times are where this and other forums prove so fantastically valuable. Thanks to various local guys (Andrew especially, for lending me a halide unit to keep me going) any issues aren’t irreversible (albeit frustrating!!) I guess this is one of the problems of a system of this age (3 years and it was purchased 2nd hand) sooner or later something goes and needs replacing!!

As you can see I have a bit of an SPS addiction, I absolutely love the variety of colours, shapes and sizes. I do also have a few LPS at the bottom of the tank to give me movement; there is nothing better than watching the sway of my Euphyllia’s, Goniopora and Gorgonians.

Fish wise; I’m actually in a period of transition. I absolutely love my tangs (and I have never had any issues with w/s or any other disease’s) but certainly in the case of my Regal and Naso, it’s probably the right time to move them on. I’ve spent the last couple of months really trying to find the ideal home that they can go to and thrive, the regal I’ve had since a baby and the Naso was a rescue! Both are now in absolute pristine condition but they are getting to big and boisterous. The Regal has already snapped various SPS trying to get to food and although I’ll be gutted, I know they’re going to a good home. A word of caution to anyone looking at a Regal Tang; with the correct feeding their growth rate is Phenomenal, a big tank is a must! The Yellow tang was one of the first fish I picked up in my previous system. I also have a Coral Beauty that has been with me for years plus, so far he's never even looked at my SPS!

This is my current fish list:

• Power Blue
• Regal Tang
• Naso Tang
• Yellow Tang
• Fire Clowns
• Coral Beauty
• Jade Wrasse
• 4 x Coopers Anthias
• A pair of Lyretail Anthias
• Mandarin
• Flymo Blennie
• Green Chromis x 2 (originally a shoal of 12 from my original tank but as in most cases they have whittled themselves down to 2!)

Acropora Sp. Montipora sp, Seriatopora sp, Poccilopora, Stylopora, Pavona, Euphillia, Goniopora, Caulastrea, Porites, Duncanopsammia, Acanthastrea spp, Pectinia, lobophyllia

2 Cleaner Shrimps, Boxing Shrimp, Various small Hermits, Porcelain Anemone Crab, 4 Turbo Snails

I guess the goal and key for me now is keeping the system and its inhabitants happy and thriving. Many of the SPS, especially my plates are a fantastic size, so I’d hate to lose any of them after getting this far…. I hope to keep learning and stay as passionate about the hobby as I am now. Through my tank and this forum I’ve met some fabulous knowledgeable people and dare I even say I look forward to the next tribulation this tank throws at me as it’s certainly the way to learn. Maybe one day a slightly bigger set-up may be on the cards, space is certainly at a premium and my obsession for corals isn’t diminishing!

Firstly a huge thank-you to everybody who voted for my tank, this truly did make my day and I’ve bored most people talking about it already!! All the hard work and effort really has been worth it and will hopefully continue to be so.

Thanks to some of the great local guys I’ve met, whose advice and time has always been greatly appreciated and valued; hopefully I can reciprocate this to other new members and local reefers. Mike, formally of Maidenhead Bold Heath, now TMC who’s ordered me stuff in when needed and always been on the end of a text to check stock!!

Another mention to Andrew (Mitchell) for lending me the lending me the light unit, there really is some good people out there who will always help you out when it’s needed!!

Finally a well deserved thank you to my wife Gemma, the endless trips to various LFS on her days off, the constantly trying to look interested when I’m telling her about a new coral or something else tank related and for letting me spend hours of my spare time behind the sofa working on the tank without too much grief…….She really is one in a million

Thank you again guys.

Matt