Gavin's 600l Inwall Reef
#1
Posted 15 April 2008 - 07:51 PM
My setup is quite simple, the tank is 1620 x 650 x 600mm High, there is a weir that leads to the sump that really serves no purpose other than to hold my spare rock and as a holding area for fish.The rocks are bare limestone that gets covered in pink/purple corraline algae within a couple of months. There is no mechanical or chemical filtration and I don't use a skimmer because frankly, I have undetectable nitrates and phosphates without one. Pumps consist of a 2000l/h sump return and a Tunze 6000l/h stream pump + a Resun Waver 15000(variable speed stream pump) for circulation. I use a light pendant that consists of 2x 150W metal halides(20000k) and 2x 54w t5 fluoros. It also has a moonlight feature that I rarely use.
To allow me to take holidays I have automated some tasks such as an auto top up device made from a car windscreen washer pump and a float switch. As I keep some stony corals I need to add calcium and carbonates to replace what the corals use to build their skeleton. That is done by adding calcium chloride and sodium carbonate via seperate dosing pumps - these are simple home made devices made from an air pump, check valve, some hose and a timer. I feed a DIY mix of blended prawn,mussel and nori along with some NLS.
Maintenance is less than you might imagine, I clean the glass twice a week(as a see-through tank the algae is very noticable) and I change 30% of the water monthly using water I collect from the ocean(either at a clean beach or by going offshore in a boat). Oh and from time to time it is necessary to prune the corals as they get too big
In this tank I have had clownfish spawning(I raised the larvae and they are now juvenile fish) the chromis regularly has a clutch of eggs and the trochus and cerith snails reproduce.
Some of these pics are a bit outdated, I have since aquascaped a bit and got rid of most of the brown and green staghorns to allow some more colourful frags to grow and while as you can see in some other pics it looks a bit bare currently they are growing quite quickly and should make a nice display- but I still think the rockwork needs some redoing
#2
Posted 15 April 2008 - 07:59 PM
How much did it cost you to set-up, not including fish?
Regards
Kevin.
#3
Posted 16 April 2008 - 10:18 AM
#4
Posted 17 April 2008 - 09:59 PM
#5
Posted 18 April 2008 - 08:29 AM
It cost around $2500 for tank,pumps,heater,sump,cabinet and lights.
Currently I have in the tank
2 chromis
2 percula clowns
1 occelaris clown
2 occelaris clowns(in sump)
1 scopas tang
1 bicolour angel
1 bangai cardinal
1 royal dottyback
1 6 line wrasse
Probably a dozen trochus snails
hundreds of cerith snails
and a few hermit crabs.
#6
Posted 18 April 2008 - 11:46 AM
#7
Posted 18 April 2008 - 05:01 PM
It might have cost $2500 for the tank etc, but what did it cost in bribes for the wife ?
That is one great set-up Gavin, you should be very proud of what you have achieved.
Never enough photo's though.
Col
#8
Posted 23 May 2008 - 07:07 PM
Col
Haha it cost her a black eye when she didnt agree. Haha jokes, i'm sure Gavin is a top bloke, and wouldnt do that. Great setup mate, only a few more months till i get my own!!!
#9
Posted 23 May 2008 - 07:40 PM
You know there is an easy cure if your corals keep growing, just get a bigger tank.
Cheers
Den
#10
Posted 23 May 2008 - 10:18 PM
Time for an update - a few things have changed since those pics were taken such as rescaping the acro end of the tank and removing most of the large acro colonies to allow some more colourful frags I had to grow. They are coming along but it will be a while until I get that "full" look I want - I think it will be worth the wait though. Also the clarki clown was removed(gone to stud in a friends tank) because it was too territorial. The Bicolour angel also went due to it pecking slightly at corals(just enough to keep the acanthastrea from opening) and it would also bully new fish.
In their place went a pair of Percula clowns, a Blue(regal) tang, a foxface and a Solarensis wrasse. The new fish have settled in well despite my QT cracking 1.5 weeks into quarantine, causing a premature end to the Q. I was at the computer with my back to the tank when I heard it crack across the base - very lucky I suppose.
Anyway time for some pics, I'm still not happy with the quality of the pics but I think it's the best I can do with my camera.
#11
Posted 23 May 2008 - 10:19 PM
#12
Posted 26 May 2008 - 05:02 PM
Kev
#13
Posted 26 May 2008 - 05:20 PM
#14
Posted 26 May 2008 - 06:16 PM
is all your filtration done through the live rock?
james
#15
Posted 26 May 2008 - 06:54 PM
To tell the truth, I also keep a planted FW tank and constantly struggle with it but the reef gets almost neglected.
I have no filter at all on the tank and even the sand beds are too shallow(2-3cm) to work as DSBs. I have no macro algae either, however I believe the leather corals and Xenia play a part in assimilating nutrients from the water.
There may be a hangon filter visible in some shots. That was my frag tank filter (the tank cracked) it is just there till I set up another.
Another interesting story - When the tank cracked and I had to add the fish and corals to the main tank I also transferred some trochus snails without acclimating them. The change in water triggered them and the 30 odd snails in the tank to spawn - there were clouds of eggs and sperm everywhere. It has happened to me before but I have many more snails this time so I was worried about spoiling the water with so much gunk so I did a waterchange after I thought they were done but that started them off again. Then I put them all in a bucket with a heater and powerhead till the next day when they had quite finished:)
Soon I'm expecting to be overrun with tiny snails again - at least the corals had a good feed.
#16
Posted 27 May 2008 - 12:31 AM
#17
Posted 27 May 2008 - 08:27 AM
#18
Posted 27 May 2008 - 11:28 AM
#19
Posted 27 May 2008 - 03:46 PM
#20
Posted 27 May 2008 - 06:54 PM
I know of a few tanks that have performed well for at least 2 years without water changes, I haven't tried it but I don't think you could do it indefinetly.
I simply take a few 20L containers to a local clean beach ramp, wade in and fill them.
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