First of all I’d like to sincerely thank everyone who voted for my tank. I was both shocked and elated when my previous tank was voted TOTM in March 2009 and it means just as much, if not more this time, to have my new tank featured as TOTM.

My latest tank is the result of quite a bit of planning and building work, and that’s before I even got started on the tank!

I had wanted a room that could be used solely for keeping a reef partially because I could have a much wider tank, with additional tanks that could be ‘bolted’ on later and also because maintenance is much easier when you’re not getting in anyone’s way, or they’re getting in yours….. With this I decided to convert my attached garage and this had to be done before work on the new tank could start.

It was quite a large project in itself to convert the garage, and whilst I didn’t need planning permission in my area (though some areas you do need planning permission) I did need comply with building regulations, and have them visit site to periodically inspect, and pass off various areas of the construction.

With the hard work of exposing foundations, building brick walls, glazing windows, installing the electrics and heating, then screeding concrete floors, insulating, and plastering (all done by myself!) out of the way, work on the tank could finally start. The whole build including pictures can be seen in my tank thread.

I had decided on wider, style of tank, the same depth as my previous tank, as this allowed me a much better scope for scaping the tank, while still making maintenance relatively easy, and keeping lighting costs down by using 250w halides.

I was originally going to have the tank built 36” wide, but as a 10mm glass sump price was so expensive, I decided to opt for a plastic ‘laguna pond’ as a sump. I designed the tank to be 38” wide to perfectly accommodate the plastic pond tank inside the 50mm steel box section frame, which was made for me by ‘Coxy’ a reefing friend of mine, who is an excellent welder.

I clad the frame with ‘walnut style modern’ larder doors from B&Q, cut out to have 500mm doors fixed on top. These were held in place with ‘keku’ clips that simply hook the panels on and allow them to be quickly and easily removed.

I then added the stand and sump from my previous tank to the left of the new display tank. This had a new frag tank to go on top along with the sump becoming a refugium – these were connected up to the new tank.

Finally I added a juwel record tank and stand, which were also clad with the walnut kitchen doors, to the room for a dedicated quarantine system.

It had always been my plan to use 2 x 250w halides instead of the usual 3 x 250w on a 6ft tank. I wanted 2 islands of rock with lots of swimming space for fish and not to have corals edge to edge of the tank.

I originally only thought about using the 2 x 250w infinity halide from my previous tank until I could afford to change the lighting to something bigger like lumenarcs. But I have been so pleased with the results from it, that I have decided to stick with it for now. In fact I liked it so much, I bought another 2 x 250w infinity for the frag tank.

I have modified the units slightly to include 2 x 70mm 12v fans at either end to help with cooling, and also added some blue LED’s to the T5 end brackets to give off a subtle moonlighting effect from the T5 reflectors.

Display Tank
2 x 250w giesemann infinity with 14.5k giesemann ‘coral’ lamps
4 x 54w aquamedic reef blue T5’s.

4 x Reef blues 10.00 – 22.00
2 x 250w Halides 12.00 – 21.00

Frag Tank
2 x 250w giesemann infinity with 14k BLV lamps
4 x 54w aquamedic reef blue T5’s.

Reef blues 10.00 – 22.00
2 x 250w Halides 13.00 – 21.00

Refugium
2 x 55w 6500k daylight Compact T5’s.

11.00 – 23.00 reverse lit

The return pump is a Laguna 7500 and this not only provides the main display’s return water, it then (via the weir) feeds the AP851 skimmer by gravity. It also supplies the PF509 phosphate reactor, feeds the calcium reactor, and supplies the frag tank, which then gravity feeds to the refugium before finally returning to the sump by gravity again.

The circulation in the display tank is taken care of by 2 x 6125 and 2 x 6065 Tunze streams. There is also an additional 6065 Tunze stream in the frag tank.

I like the sheer volume of water moved by these pumps, and price point compared to the controllable streams. If I had controllable stream pumps I would want them to have a total output roughly double that of the non controllable streams.

I also use one of my maxijet mod pumps in the sump to help with circulation, and have another maxijet mod on a long 5 meter lead and rocker switch that I use to blast around the rock work in the tank periodically. This helps blow away any detritus that accumulates in time.

I made a slight change to some of the methods of filtration that I use on this tank compared to my previous build.

I didn’t include a DSB, as I had encountered some binding issues with this before.

Though nitrates were kept at zero by the cheato algae in the refugium it lead to a few issues with bacterial algaes, so I decided to add a zeo reactor and stones.

I use these with the dosed carbon source (start 2/3) as an additional form of nutrient reduction along with the PF509 phosphate reactor I use with 1.5 liters of osmotics phosphate remover, and cheato algae in the refugium.

The main method of filtration is with live rock but at a lower ratio of kg/rock to water. The mechanical filtration is with 3 x 200 micron filter socks, 2 in the sump and one in the refugium from the frag tanks weir.

The skimmer is a Deltec AP851 that while slightly underrated for a system this size. I have found since using the zeo reactor, the bacteria harvested by pumping the stones are more easily skimmed out than DOC’s alone, leading to a large increase in the amount of skimmate produced - currently in the region of 4 litres a day.

I also use about half a litre of carbon placed in one of the sumps filter socks, and replace the carbon every month.

The RO unit has a booster pump to maintain a good pressure. a 75gpd membrane with sediment filter and carbon block, a full size DI pod, and an additional 'piggy back' DI pod. The 75gpd membrane gives a good enough output, while allowing a good contact time with the 2x DI resin pods.

The heating and cooling for the tank is now controlled by a TC-10 and with its high level of accuracy I can control the heaters and fans by a little as 0.1C.

To heat the tanks I currently use 4 x 300w visitherm heaters with the TC-10.

For cooling I added a pair of 12v 120mm computer fans for the display’s sump along with a single 12v 120mm computer fan in the refugium sump to extract the heat from the T5 compacts. All of these 12v fans are powered by a 1200ma unregulated power supply from Maplins.

I have also fixed 4 x 120mm zalman computer fans to the pelmet of the display tank, and 2 over the frag tank for cooling the heat from the halides, with finger guards and simple angle brackets for support and a 3600ma adjustable power supply from Maplins. These, and a clip on fan fitted over the sump tank are also controlled by the TC-10.

I currently don’t use a chiller I did have one in mind to use but with the large volume of water I have much more trouble keeping the tanks warm than I do keeping them cool, so much so, the heaters come on even during the summer!

Because of this I did need to add a 90 m3 extract fan through the wall, and then added a 250 m3 inline fan in the loft to extract the excess humidity the latter controlled by a timer to run along with the halides.

I make regular small doses of start 2/3 in the morning and evening for the zeo stones, which I have never changed!

I also use some of the zeo colour enhancing additives such as B balance, Pohls extra, stylo/pocci glow, and zeospur 2 although not at anything like the stated doses. I also use occasional doses of coral snow, zeo zym, and zeo bak.

The dKH and calcium levels are taken care of by a FR1016 phosphate reactor that I bought 2nd hand and converted in to a calcium reactor. It holds about 14kg of 10mm coarse coral gravel, and uses an eheim 1250 pump for recirculation.

Magnesium is dosed occasionally as required, but this tank seems to have a much lower demand than my previous tank that had a DSB, for some reason.

Water changes are done at a rate of adding 25ltrs of salted water per week to make up for the large amount of skimmate that is removed by the skimmer – this is also supplemented by a single 160ltr water change once a month.

I’ve often thought about adding a GHL controller to my setup, and I do like the idea of more precise control (not to mention the nice flashy electronic screen) but I always end up falling back on the old adage ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’!

So I have a TC-10 for heating and cooling, Ph controller for the calcium reactor, Tunze auto top up along with various digital plug-in timers, to control all lighting and some other equipment.

I feed a mix of 8-10 cubes of ocean nutritions marine mix, mysis, cockle, krill, and brine shrimp, daily. The tank also gets half a sheet of nori and occasional good pinch of new era flake.

I don’t like target feeding, so I tend not to buy things that need it. I do sometimes feed frozen cyclopeeze when polyps are extended at night, along with coral vitaliser occasionally. Twice a week I add some lancefish for the anemone and shrimps.

Being a maintenance engineer now – I suppose I should have a good grip of tank maintenance. The truth is I have always liked getting my ‘hands wet’ and tinkering about with the tank.

The trouble is not always having the time to do all the little jobs that you want to. But even if I neglect basic glass cleaning for a week or so while I’m busy elsewhere, I always do the things you need to do, to keep things running smoothly.

• Water changes 25ltrs a week and 160ltrs a month
• Zeo stones pumped 10 times twice a day
• Carbon change 500ml every month
• Phosphate media 1.5ltrs every 4 months
• Filter socks cleaned when dirty or blocked.
• Skimmer cup drained at least twice a day, and cleaned once a week.
• Glass cleaned every couple of days
• Calcium reactor checked every day

I test my dKH more often than any other parameter, as this is the one that needs the most control. I test daily if adjustments are being made, and every couple of days when stable as I like to keep it within tight tolerances. I test SG weekly, and all other tests are done once a fortnight.

I don’t know any tank that doesn’t ever have them, and usually they are due to algae, diseases or pests.

I’ve had various unwanted algae in my tanks, small patches of cyno, and other bacterial algae’s, but controlled them by out competing with other bacteria.

I had the ‘dirty sand’ syndrome associated with zeo dosing, though that is now under control with the help of zeo zym.

I have a few odd aiptasia in the tank and whilst I do keep them under control I have not managed to eradicate them completely.

The rest seem to be equipment failures, something that is more annoying than a real problem.

Fish, in part it's what my whole tank concept was about, giving them room to swim through, in, and around the tank.

I like a nice mix of fish, from the small green chromis, to the larger tangs.

Display Tank

Display Tank
Desjardinii Sailfin Tang	Yellow Tang	Purple Tang
Spotted Yellow Eye Kole Tang	Coral Beauty	Royal Gramma
Black Spotted Leopard Wrasse	Splendid Leopard Wrasse (male)	Splendid Leopard Wrasse (female)
Black Leopard Wrasse	Iridis Wrasse	Ocellaris Clowns (Pair)
Starry Blenny	8x Green Chromis	Midas Blenny
	3x Squamipinnis Anthias (1 male 2 female)

Frag Tank
Starry Blenny	Spotted Yellow Eye Kole Tang

A very close 2nd is my love of SPS corals,
Particularly watching them grow, there is something fascinating watching them over time as they branch out in new directions, spreading and growing.
That’s probably one of the main reasons I built a frag tank.
I also like a mix of corals but have had found a mix including too many softies can adversely effect SPS growth, so tend to mainly stick to LPS and SPS.

SPS
Green Staghorn	Tabling Acropora	Purple Acropora
Pink Hysterix	Mettalic Green Acropora	Purple Stylophora
Acropora Loisetteae	Acropora Efflorescens	Orange Montipora Monasteriata
Green Montipora Capricornis	Purple Acropora Nana
LPS
Favia Lizardensis	Favia Favus	Favia sp.
Euphyllia ancora	Pink Echinophyllia	Cataphyllia Jardinei
Acanthastrea Echinata<	Acanthastrea Lordhowensis	Dark Green Lobophillia
Zoa's
3 or 4 different types

Pride of place goes to my Magnifica Anemone, I’ve had him for about 4 years now, and he has grown quite a bit in that time, never moving more than a few inches around the rock that I first placed him on although he does singe the edges of a few SPS colonies that have grown close to him.

There are various snails and hermit crabs, predominantly (astrea) turbo snails that have actually bred in my tank and have now grown to fully adult sizes. With about 6 orange lipped conch’s that scour the substrate.

Hermit crabs are mainly scarlet red legged, I have about 12 of those, and about a dozen yellow kneed hermits, though they don’t tend to be as long lived as the scarlet’s.

I also have a couple of big bristle stars with the usual lots of little ones just about everywhere. A couple of sand sifting starfish too.

I have a couple of clams, a very bright blue maxima that I’ve has since it was about an inch long, and recently a big derasa that I’m looking after for a reefing mate that is having a short break from the hobby.

And about 5 cleaner shrimp, but no idea how many peppermint shrimp, as I put about 6 in, though I do occasionally see one or two of them from time to time.

Invertebrates
Heteractis Magnifica Anemone	Blue Maxima Clam	Large Derasa clam
5x Cleaner Shrimp	6x Peppermint Shrimp	2x Sandsifting Starfish
2x Brittle Starfish	12x Turbo Snails	6x Fighting Conches
12x Redleg Hermit Crabs	2x Yellowtip Hermit Crab

It can be challenging at times, just find the time to care for a reef tank properly with work and family commitments. But with a bit of thought, a lot of the time consuming tasks like water changes etc… can be made easy, giving you more time to enjoy your tank.

On a more positive note, there is always something new happening or growing in a reef tank. It was especially rewarding for me to see the results of the turbo snails spawning in my tank. With all the little ones meandering across the rocks and glass, watching them grow to full size.

I’ll start by thanking those that voted for my tank again, I’ve not had the time to be on the site as much as I used to lately, due to a new job and mountains of DIY to catch up with on the house, after spending so much time on my tank. But I hope to be back on the site a lot more soon.

A special mention to those forum members that have been good enough to come and visit my tank, and have allowed me to pop by and visit theirs. I really enjoy having a good chat about different ideas and thoughts on running a tank.

And to all the friends I have made over the years through reefing, both on this site and elsewhere. Their encouragement and advise was invaluable.

And lastly I cannot express enough, how having a loving and understanding wife that will allow you spend the time and money to firstly convert a garage, and then fill it with reef tanks is quite rare.

So this little bit is just for you Julie.