WAMAS Tank of the Month
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My fascination with sealife started when I was a kid, watching Jacque Cousteau. My first aquarium experience was being put in charge of the class aquarium – coldwater/saltwater tank – in highschool. My first personal tank was in the early 90's. Had it for several years, but moved away from the hobby because I didn't have a lot of time with the kids growing up and getting more active. In 2015 I bought a 29 gallon bio-cube which became a 75 gallon tank. In 2016 we moved to a house and the 75 gallon became a 325 gallon with the sump plumbed to a proper fish-room. I saw that keeping a sump underneath made maintaining the tank a lot harder.
A 325 Gallon Dutch Aquarian Systems (DOS), set up in the basement.
My main return pump is a Reeflo Hammerhead-Barracuda Gold Hybrid supplying 6000 gallons per hour of turnover. In-tank flow is achieved using two MaxSPECT Gyre pumps positioned at opposing ends of the tank to create an alternating gyre baseline current. I supplement this baseline with two Tunze Nanostream 6045 pumps (positioned equidistant from each other on the back wall of the tank) to provide some added randomness and to fill in the dead spots.
Sump: Custom Artfully Acrylic Sump, 48"x20"x16"
UV Sterilizer: Pentair Aquatics Smart High Output UV 80 Watt
Skimmer: Reef Octopus Regal 300 INT 12" Internal Protein Skimmer
Filter Socks: Two 200 Micron Filter Socks 7"x12"
Rock: 250 lbs Pukani rock
Sand: 100 lbs original gray ocean direct live reef sand
I currently dose to maintain alkalinity at 9.0 dKH; calcium at 450 ppm; and magnesium at 1300 ppm.
My fish love to be fed. They are fed small portions two to three times daily with an assortment of frozen foods, including: Hikari Ocean plankton Spirulina Bio-Pure Frozen Canadian Mysis Shrimp Rod's Food Original Blend In addition, I like to supplement the vegetarians' diet with macroalgae grown in my sump. Past challenges include getting my alkalinity, pH, and calcium levels stable. My advice: Make small adjustments over long periods of time and lots of testing I have two challenges I'm facing today: Brightening the colors in my corals is one. And, seeing how I'm deploying soon, leaving behind a system this large is difficult. There are a lot of expenses that you don't see coming when you go with a tank this big. If I were to do it again, I would consider getting the Red Sea tank next time as it seems like a nice system that is all inclusive. Keeping the tank alive - Getting deployed for a year - any future plans are put on hold, just hoping my girlfriend doesn't kill my tank. Reef tanks are not just a hobby, I've met a lot of good friends on this site and at the meetings. Keeps me off the streets and off of drugs lol. |
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