This aquarium has literally had a long journey, both the 1000 kilometres from London to Lausanne and how the story has unfolded here during the last 2 ½ years.

It all started here on Ultimate Reef (as usual) in early 2009 when I started to plan an upgrade from my previous Trigon 350 to something newer and bigger. The plan was a Deltec systemised aquarium of around 6ft. Plans were made, prices were sought and much sitting down was required after adding everything up…. Well that and the global recession meant that the plan needed to be delayed somewhat. Keep in mind that this was January/February 2009 and the words “Lehman Brothers” and "global recession" were firmly in our minds! Then I stumbled across Reefingbuddha’s (Tom Hirschmann’s) post in his tank thread where he confirmed that he was having to sell his system as he would be moving to the USA to follow his studies. OK about 3 seconds later I had PM’d and posted in his thread to say that I might be interested.

Few days later and we agreed the conditions of the sale and then I had to start to figure out how I was going to transport a living reef halfway across Europe. This was going to be a serious challenge!!! After some head scratching, phone calls and emails I had a plan, well sort of. It involved coffee, donuts and lots of goodwill from South London reefers and my brother-in-law. The break-down day at Tom's house was a truly fantastic day. It couldn't have happened without all the support that people provided. From bagging fish, corals and live rock, to packing the trailer, making the 1000 cups of tea and mopping up the odd water spillage.....

We did nearly have an "illegal immigrant" travel with us on the return journey. Tom had warned me that he suspected there was a Eunice in the tank, and guess what, he was right! We found it as I passed a large piece of rock to my brother-in-law. He shouted something that I couldn't possibly repeat and jumped off his ladder! The worm was curled up under the rock and was nearly 3ft long. It broke in 2 pieces when we put the rock down. Change of underwear later...

The aquarium is 15mm glass and weighs around 250kg with all the MDF trimmings. This made the lift and shift extremely challenging at both ends, although the London side was the hardest. Amazingly we needed 6 people in the UK and only 3-4 in Switzerland? This was simply down to technique and the fact that I’d asked 2 works colleagues that are used to moving 60t machines for a living. "It’s all in the technique," they said.

The aquarium is a Deltec Panorama systemised aquarium: 180 x 90 x 75cm, gross volume of 1200ltrs and net 1000ltrs. The 90cm is the depth so my arms have been modified accordingly! The sump is 125 x 30 x 45cm but with its raceway style rather than traditional baffle plates it only runs at 15cm depth so provides an additional 85ltrs. The remote refugium is 100ltrs and is located in the fish room that is around 5m away in the centre of the house. The previous owner of the house had used this area as a photographic darkroom so it already had lights, electrical sockets, extractor and most importantly a sink! The refugium is effectively a 300ltr aquarium divided in 2, half is the refugium and the other half is the semi-automatic water change system. It is placed on the 3rd level of a stack system with 2 frag tanks below it. The original intention was that these frag tanks would be connected to the main system but in the end I prefer to use the frag system for coral propagation, coral and fish quarantine, hence they are separate from the display system.

The semi-automatic water change system simply means that I can change 100ltrs of display system water with the flick of 3 switches and turning of 1 ball valve: simple, reliable and effective. Finally the refugium feeds the externally located Deltec Eco-Cooler via a trusty Eheim 1262. The aquarium has a dry box at each end and a single weir on the left hand side, this is a weak point as the weir box is not big enough to have 2 standpipes but rather just one single 40mm pipe. As usual with Deltec the aquarium and cabinet are extremely well made and well thought out. The finish on the woodwork is the classic Deltec silver which is highly polished and typically German in style and design.

The main lighting is metal halide (HQI) provided by 2 x LumenArc III reflectors with 400W CoralVue ballasts running Giesemann MEGACHROME blue bulbs (21000K). At the back there are 2 x T5 24W Aqua Science blue (Fauna Marin). At the front there are 2 x T5 80W Aqua Science blue (Fauna Marin), and over the middle there is an EcoTech Radion. This hybrid system provides deep water punch in the main areas, the T5s supplement at the front and the back, and then the Radion is used to fill the hole in the middle and provide sunrise/sunset effects as well as storm and cloud simulations. Moonlights are a DIY system based on some IKEA LEDs that work well. The total output is around 1200W. The lighting periods are as follows:

Lights On
09:00 - Radion sunrise starts (very low and gradual with red LED)
11:00 - 2 x 24W T5 blues
12:00 - 2 x 80W T5 blues
14:30 - right side HQI
15:00 - left side HQI
24:00 - moonlights on

Lights Off
22:30 - right side HQI
23:00 - left side HQI
23:30 - 2 x 80W T5 blues
23:30 - Radion sunset
24:00 - 2 x 24W T5 blues
02:00 - moonlights off

I usually take a set of PAR readings at least once a year. This is done with an Apogee light meter. I take the readings and shout them out to a selected victim (sorry helper) who copies them onto a previously printed full tank shot (FTS). It's surprising the difference clean bulbs and reflectors make, as well as clear water.

Main circulation is provided by 5 VorTech MP40s, 2 on each side plus one hidden in the right hand side dry box that sits about 15cm off the floor and acts as a reef flush under the tiered live rock. The master return pump is an ATB 9000lph with around 5000lph returning to the display tank on the left hand side. The balance feeds a 5 way manifold for the remote sump/cooler and then the reactors.

A closed loop that returns on the right hand side is fed by a Deltec HLP 5250 which provides around another 5000lph. Both the closed loop and the master return feed through MOcean 2000 progammable rotating returns.These really help to create a chaotic flow pattern. Three of the MP40s are supported by a VorTech battery backup system. The total turnover is around 50x volume per hour.

I tend to use Tidal Swell Mode on the VorTechs although I do switch around a bit just to mix things up, so Reefcrest and Nutrient Transport Mode are also used some of the time. At night the VorTechs are at 50% speed and the closed loop is off so things get a little calmer.

A traditional live Rock principle is used with around 100kgs of rock in use. Actually it’s a mixture of my previous live rock and some newer plates that were bought as bones. These were introduced during the re-scape in January 2011. All the rock structures sit on tiered eggcrate shelves and flow underneath is strong thanks to a Vortech MP 40 acting as a reeflush. A 200 micron filter sock is employed at the inlet to the sump, this is changed twice a week. There is also a small live rock rubble bed in the sump as well as a small Chaeto bed. More Chaeto and other Macro Algaes are in the remote Refugium. Main nutrient export is provided by the ATB Protein Skimmer, this is a European Standard size and is rated at 2500ltrs. I tend to wet skim and take out around 2ltrs of Reef Smoothie a week, this helps to balance the FM Balling Light salinity creep. Chemical filtration is provided as follows:

Phosphate : Fauna Marin Ultraphos 400grms changed every 8wks fluidised in a Deltec FR509 reactor

Nitrate : BioAquatek Bio Pellets, 1.2ltrs topped up every couple of months or so, fluidised in a Deltec FR509 reactor, outlet goes directly to skimmer feed pump inlet.

Other:

Ozone set at around 35mg on for 2hrs p/day just for water clarity.

Activated carbon used at skimmer outlet to collect Ozone waste and also for water purity. 500ml used with 250ml changed every 2 wks, just in filter bags.

I was running full Zeo until September 2010 but found it hard to achieve the mythical target figures, perhaps I like my fish too fat! Also there were so many variables that I decided to drastically reduce my blue bottles and simplify, well for me anyway…. more later

Basic parameters are managed with the FM Balling Light method and I use Fauna Marin products through an Aquatronica 3 channel doser. The only changes from the standard program are that I mix sodium bicarbonate at 75g per litre (not 100g) and that I dose the iodine in the sodium bicarbonate rather than in the magnesium chloride hexahydrate. My dosing volumes are as follows:

Alkalinity : 10 x 95ml per day
Calcium : 4 x 50ml per day
Magnesium : 4 x 14ml per day

I do still dose some Korallen-Zucht supplements as follows:

Sponge Power Concentrate : 11 drops per day
Potassium Iodide Fluoride Concentrate : 11 drops per day
Stylo-Pocci Glow : 20 drops per day
Amino Acid High Concentrate : 11 drops per week
Potassium Strong (K-Balance) : 12ml 1x per week
Coral Snow : 20ml 2x per week
ZEOspur 2 Concentrate : 8ml every 14 days

The above "blue bottles" are what I am now happy with after seeing visible results from their use. Colours and growth are very good.

The system is run via an Aquatronica aquarium computer that measures pH, Temp and Redox. It is also monitoring for water leaks and controls a 3 channel dosing pump. The lighting (not Radion) and various on/offs are run through the computer, as are a few more complex controls for over temperature etc. The computer is connected to the home PC and also has an ethernet connection so that I can control it on my Iphone. Finally it has an SMS module as a fail safe. A webcam will be added soon as my travelling is increasing this year, FaceTime for fish !

Some of the feeding is carried out automatically via an old style Grasslin Rondomatic autofeeder. I like this type of feeder as you can vary the food and also control precisely the quantity. The feeder doses 3x per day with a mixed flake feed. I just mix up a variety of flaked foods for this. Also I feed a variety of frozen foods each evening. The range is usually mysis, calanus, lobster eggs, Moina salina plus various others depending on what I can get my hands on. I feed live baby brineshrimp at least 3x per week to the refugium so that it comes into the display slowly and over a longer period of time. It takes around 30 minutes for one batch of brineshrimp to be delivered to the display tank this way. The tangs get nori around 3x per week and finally I feed Isochrysis and Tetraselmis live phytoplankton around twice a week. I culture these at home along with the brineshrimp. I have another auto-feeder, however this one isn’t powered by batteries. This is called Molly and is No1 daughter. Slightly more expensive to run but effective when I'm travelling, runs on iTunes.....

As the aquarium is quite deep I have more or less made, modified or found special maintenance tools and methods accordingly, ie extended handles, platform ladders and ladders with work trays on etc. In terms of the maintenance itself, there’s the theory of what I should do and then there’s the reality of what I actually have time to do…..In theory here’s the plan:

Weekly: 10% water change (this is always respected); empty and clean out skimmer; change filter sock (usually every 4 days); fill up the RO top up (around 175ltrs p/wk, it feeds the separate frag system as well); clean glass, OK this bit I tend to get lazy with and only clean the front and sides with a magfloat; refill FM Balling Light (Alk mainly).

Monthly: Change the carbon, I use 500ml of Fauna Marin long life (slow) carbon; clean back glass and weir boxes (ok again that is sometimes a good intention that never gets done as often as it should); tend to blast the LR and the corals with a turkey baster and also turn over the sand; refill FM Balling Light (Calc and Mag).

Other: I change the P04 remover (Ultraphos from Fauna Marin) every 8wks and also I top up the Biopellets around every 10-12 weeks. I clean the Vortech wetsides around every 3 months in white vinegar and usually strip out 1 pump (skimmer, master or other) each 3 months. Also at this interval period I clean down the lights and reflectors. I tend to test only the Alk religiously, ie minimum once p/week, and then Calc and Mag every 2 weeks, although can be more if I’m fine tuning. Phosphate and Nitrate are tested every 2-3 weeks assuming things are within spec. Also I calibrate and clean probes every 3-4 months or so and swap out the pH probe once a year.

I did forget to add salt to the water change system when I fired it up for the first time, and wondered why the water coming in created that mysterious salinity haze… No harm done and it only lowered the salinity by a fraction as I caught it quickly. Phew!

The main episode of "challenges" that I had was around Autum 2010. Basically it started with not being able to get hold of salt = less water changes. Then when I could get salt it was a wildly different brand. One week later I accidentally refreshed the carbon with about 50% too much. Right afterwards my alkalinity dosing pipe came off and the alkalinity dropped from 7.5 to 5.0. Next, with the new salt I was dosing too much sodium bicarbonate (salt was giving high alkalinity) so that meant it rocketed up to 9.0. Just when I thought that I had things under control, the 2 year old decided to disconnect, guess what, yes, the alkalinity dosing tube!!! Well, to cut a long story short, I lost about 25-30% of my SPS and some LPS although with most (but not all) I had genetic back-ups in the frag system.

I forgot to add that when the alkalinity pipe came off the first time I thought that I had a leak as the sodium bicarbonate was being dosed straight onto the cabinet floor. So at 02:00 in the morning I stripped out the sump looking for the leak. No leak? Next day I took the sump outside and wet tested it. Definitely no leak! OK by now I was completely confused and I proceeded to pick up the wet and slippery sump and dropped it! Success, I took it outside to find a leak in it and I’d found one….. OK then I eventually realised that it was all caused by the alkalinity dosing tube becoming disconnected. I wasn’t a pleasant person to be around for the rest of that day. My five-lined coral gobies are real SPS munchers although they only frequent one area and hence only one green slimer (Acropora sp.) is on their menu. Trust me, somehow they will be removed!!! Bottle trap at the ready.

I would class the system as an SPS dominated mixed reef, which isn’t bad as I planned an LPS tank with limited SPS….. I seem to be strangely drawn to expensive twigs and have been known to drive for quite some hours when I smell new twigs at a reef shop.