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I would like to sincerely thank the WAMAS TOTM committee for this honor. I’d also like to thank WAMAS community at large for all the help and support provided since I got into this hobby in November 2010. I started with a 6-gallon pico tank because I was new to reefing and I didn’t want to invest a lot of money upfront. I had done lot of research before starting this tank and the tank flourished. Then just like many in this hobby, I soon ran out of space for corals and I upgraded to a 36-gallon nano tank. Got some more experience with running reactors, doser etc. which was needed to keep my many SPS corals happy. The success with my nano gave me confidence to upgrade once again, and I started planning my 200-gallon tank in January of 2014.
My tank is a 200 gallon mixed reef display and 45 gallon sump and refugium, set up in June 2014. The tank sits on the second level of our townhouse in front of the dining table. It’s placed so it can be viewed from all sides and you get to see the beautiful LPS side of the tank while coming up the stairs from the 1st floor. I got into this hobby because of corals, so it’s primarily an SPS tank, but I also have some LPS and of course some fish. One of the things that really annoyed me with my past tanks was hauling water buckets from the garage to the second floor. We resolved this issue by connecting my RODI unit and water-mixing container in the garage to my tank on 2nd level. This has really made water change days fun as it involves turning few valves and turning on the pump in the basement. Another pipe connected to our house main drain allows me to drain water by turning another valve during water change. So now I have more time to enjoy my tank.
I am using a Water Blaster 7000 to return water from the sump via a derKroon Flow Diverter. I also have an MP60 and MP40 for additional flow in the tank. The MP60, MP40, and derKroon provide enough flow for the tank today, but I do see a need for another power head as my corals grow.
I decided to go with 3 Ecotech Radions as the primary lighting for my tank since I had success with LEDs in my previous two tanks. I also wanted to try out T5s so I have 2 Giesemann Razor T5 fixtures with 2 bulbs each. So far I love this combination. I am getting great growth and color in my SPS. What I have found is that with only Radions I had some shadowing at lower part of the tank, but once I added the T5 there is no shadowing.
The water first passes through two felt filter socks in the sump and then my Royal Exclusive Bubble King Double Cone 200 does its magic. I also run GFO in a reactor that sits between my sump and refugium. The small refugium section, which is before the return section, grows dragon’s breath, chaeto, and halimeda. I have a bag of carbon sitting in the sump, as I don’t like to run carbon in a reactor.
I have been using ESV B-Ionic 2 part with ESV Magnesium to keep my calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium at proper levels. I have used this combination on my previous tank and so this was an easy choice when it came time to start dosing in my new tank. I dose manually as I have yet to set up my Neptune DOS. I am also adding KZ Sponge Power daily and TLF Acropower once a week.
My tank is a mixed reef with a lot of soft corals that I transferred from my two previous nano tanks. I also have quite a few SPS, most of them have come from WAMAS members but I also have quite a few ReefGen and ORA aquacultured corals. Though I absolutely love acropora corals, my favorite coral is goniopora. I have 5 different kinds of goniopora and I’m always in search for more. I have few fish but as you will see from my fish list, I don’t have enough to make my tank look full. All my fish are small and I don’t have any tangs, angels, or butterflies.
I’ve had my pair of ORA Ocellaris Clownfish for 4 years now and they are constantly laying eggs. I also have a breeding pair of Bangaii Cardinal that I got 3 years ago as juveniles.
I have an Eheim automatic feeder set up with New Life Spectrum pellets to feed once in the afternoon. In the evening I feed two cubes of frozen food: 1 cube of PE Mysis and 1 cube of Hikari Mysis. Once a week I feed freshly hatched baby brine shrimp, enriched with amino acids or Selcon. I also feed enriched live adult brine shrimp twice a month.
Since my tank is only 8 months old, I really haven’t had any major challenges yet.
I’m thinking of adding a few larger fish. I’m also planning on switching to Fauna Marin 2 part balling salts and trace elements from ESV B-Ionic. I may upgrade my MP60 driver with the new QD.
I love my current setup because I put a lot of thought into making maintenance easier. I got lot of ideas for my current tank by looking at other members’ build threads. I’ve been in this hobby for a very short time but I have realized that maintaining a healthy reef tank with mostly SPS corals requires you to monitor parameters closely and make adjustments as necessary. I think it’s very important to understand your tank’s “personality”, or else you will be dealing with STN, RTN, and loss in color of corals. Research as much as you can about the coral and fish you want to put in your tank before purchasing: this will save you money and heartache. Patience is the key to success in this hobby.
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- Display: 200g glass
- Sump: 90g sump and refugium
- Skimmer: Royal Exclusive BK Double Cone 200
- Lighting: 3x Radions, 2 Razor T5s
- Return Pump: Water Blaster 7000
- Circulation: derKroon Diverter, MP60, MP40
- Reactor: MRC GFO reactor
- Controller: Neptune Apex
- Salinity: 1.025
- Temperature: 78-80°F
- Alkalinity: 7.5-7.8 dkH
- Calcium: 410-420ppm
- Magnesium: 1400ppm
- Phosphate: 0.01ppm
- Nitrate: 0
- pH: 8.0-8.15
- 1000 Radions on
- 1500 T5s on
- 1900 T5s off
- 2200 Radions off
- Barnacle blennie
- Hawaiian flame wrasse pair
- Bangaii cardinal pair
- Fathead anthias pair
- Ocellaris clownfish pair
- Wheeler's goby trio
- Rock flower anemones
- Pistol shrimp pair
- Sexy shrmip trio
- ORA goniopora
- Milka stylophora
- Hammer coral
- Red Dragon
- ORA Joe the Coral
- Echinata
- Elegance coral
- Pink millepora
- Pink Zippers palythoas
- Red montipora
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