27 replies to this topic

[Gavin]

I have had this tank for 15 months after upgrading from a 3ft tank that I had for 3 years before that. I had a wall that annoyed me because it blocked the view to the backyard and darkened the kitchen/dining area so I cut a hole and stuffed a tank in it



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Some of these pics are a bit outdated, I have since aquascaped a bit and got rid of most of the brown and green staghorns to allow some more colourful frags to grow and while as you can see in some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

[golden_dase]

Hi Gavin!

How much did it cost you to set-up, not including fish?

Regards
Kevin.

[Ado1968]

A real impressive set up gavin...well done

[Tucunare]

one of the best tanks ive seen in a long time

[Gavin]

Thanks guys.
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.

[Leevers]

fantastically done! what a creative way to renovate a wall

[Cicolid]

You really need to see this set-up to appreciate the overall beauty of it. It is by far the best set-up I have ver seen.

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

[Sushi]

It might have cost $2500 for the tank etc, but what did it cost in bribes for the wife ?

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!!!

[Den]

Fantastic tank, probably the most healthiest looking tank I ever seen, every invert seems to be thriving, well done.

You know there is an easy cure if your corals keep growing, just get a bigger tank.

Cheers
Den

[Gavin]

Cheers guys
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.

[Gavin]

[Malaga Aquariums]

your seriatopora appears to be doing exceptionally well were did you get it from.

Kev

[Gavin]

It was from Oceanarium, I have a couple of extra frags off it- were you looking for some?

[keleherr]

amazing tank dude and you make it sound so simple!! 1day i might take the plunge
is all your filtration done through the live rock?
james

[Gavin]

This is the 2nd tank I've set up this way but perhaps I've just been lucky
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.

[keleherr]

whatever it is your doing its working well. 1 thing thats kept me away from a S/W setup is the need for all the fancy filters and complicated water changes. i got 3 planted tanks so if u ever need any tips or plants give us a yell

[Neakit]

what fancy filters???? protien skimmers are just foam factories.

[keleherr]

yeh but you need to re add half the stuff they take out and they stand out like dog nuts(the ones for bigger tanks anyway)

[Den]

If I ever get SW again I will make a huge refugium full of claupera and mangroves, at least 200litres of refugium for every 100litres of fish tank, then I could hopefully forget about having to do regular water changes.

[Gavin]

Thanks Keleherr I may just take you up on that:)
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.