MASRQ
Marine Aquarium Society of Regional QueenslandDave's tank
My tank is 4'L x 2'2"H x 2'D and is about 12 years old. It has been through several iterations of fresh (cichlids, discus breeding, estuary fish) and previous salt water setups. After moving house to the present address 9 years ago the tank was left dry for quite a few years when I realised that it would just fit into its present location with about 5mm clearance either side, on top of a solid timber built-in cupboard unit.
I reinforced the cupboard supports before installing the tank. Because of the tight fit and existing centre support I have been restricted in size for the sump. It was a discus tank for quite some time.
I turned it into a FOWLR marine tank about 5 years ago continuing the use of the old mini-reef trickle system with rotating spray bar through bio-balls, pond mat etc. The small size of the sump meant that the return pumps were at the bottom under the filter media. Not ideal for maintenance etc as it meant having to drain the sump and remove all the media to clean and service.
I found and joined the MASA forum in October 2007 and read so much that I soon realised why I had my bad algae and cyano problem and couldn't keep any LPS for any length of time. During 2008 I started slowly removing the bio-balls and pond mat. I installed a Hailea chiller, a Reef Octopus skimmer and 4 cheapo Koralia copy powerheads. Things were slowly looking better but I still struggled with high levels of nitrates.
I became a member of MASRQ in January this year (2009) and in doing so immediately had a visit from Mark (ReefPix) who confirmed my idea of replacing the sump with one to just incorporate a RDSB and side pump chamber separated by a bubble trap. The new "sump" was installed in February. In addition I have replaced the cheapo powerheads with two Vortech MP40W wavemakers, replaced the old power compact lighting fixture with a 8 x 39W T5 unit with a mix of AquaScience tubes, installed a small fluid bed filter running GAC and GFO, and replaced the 15 year old Eheim return pump with an Eden 4200l/h.
As you can see by the photos things are definitely looking up with the all the livestock including the softies and LPS thriving. Also the two small pieces of SPS I have added recently seem to be doing fine. The next plan is to hook up a small remote refugium with macro algae made from a small goldfish tank I have lying around. This will fit in the right hand side of the cupboard to be teed from the skimmer and fbf pump.
Thanks to MASA and MASRQ members (oh and the financial controller for putting up with the $$$$ going out) …… I finally have a much healthier system.
At a glance...
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Tank dimensions |
4'L X 2'W X 2'2"H ( = approx 400 L), with corner overflow and 60L sump |
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Pumps |
Internal: 2 x Vortech MP40W |
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Lighting |
8 x 39W Guppies T5 fixture with "individual" reflectors housing the following tubes: 3 x AQUA SCIENCE BLUE 22,000 K, 3 x Aqua Science Rohre Special 15,000 K, 1 x AQUA SCIENCE Rohre DUO 17,500 K , 1 x Fiji Purple |
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Skimmer |
Reef Octopus DNW1500 |
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Cooling |
Hailea chiller |
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Freshwater topup |
Manually mostly, with gravity fed Auto via a float valve when away for more than a couple of days. Top up water is rainwater collected via a plastic sheet strung across clothes line. |
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Additives |
None |
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Water changes |
NSW - 120L every 2 - 3 weeks |
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Livestock |
Corals: Numerous soft and LPS and have just started introducing frags of SPS as water conditions improve. Also bubble tip anemone. Fish: Pair of Brown Clowns, 3 x Blue chromis, Valentine Puffer, Coral Beauty, Goat Fish, Blue Tang. |
More pictures (click on the thumbnails for a larger view)
