125g Reef Tank, 29g Refugium and a 65g Sump
I had been in the hobby for two
years with a 58g Octogon reef and a 55g Fish Only Tank. After researching
and learning more on the hobby I decided to go with a larger tank and combine
the two tanks into it. I also wanted the tank to be viewed from both sides.
With it set up that way it is a challenge to aquascape it as the rock work
has to be arranged down the center of the tank.
The 29g refugium sits next to the main tank and houses the non-reef friendly
critters. The 65g sump is a DIY project.
The tank hold about 300lbs of live rock and another 60 to 80lbs in the Refugium.
I have now been in the hobby for almost six years. The tank is SPS dominated. The fish in the main tank are A Foxface, Hippo Tang, Purple Tang, Powder Blue Tang, Naso Tang, Cleaner Wrasse, a pair of mated Perculas that lay eggs every 11 days, Male & Female Lyrtail Anthias, Sixline Wrasse.
Stars are the Black Brittle, Red Brittle, Serpent.
There is also two much other life to list as in Asternias, Hermits, Snails and such.
Some of my favorite cleaners are the two yellow Cucumbers, a Tiger Tail Cucumber and two Queen Conchs.
You can see all corals in my tank shots below.
The 29g Refugium holds a variety of Damsels as well as a General Star, Chocolate Chip Star, a huge Green Serpent and a large urchin. It also now houses a 3" long Peacock Mantis.
All parameters are in normal limits. I do 50g water changes every three to four weeks off of the reservoir located in the garage. I feed the tank every day or every other day. I feed a variety of frozen foods as well as cut up Silversides to all the stars.
If I am not at the Fire Station on duty, I am working on and in the tank. Timers control all the lighting throughout the system.
A Mag24 supplies the water to the 1/5hp West
Coast Aquatics Chiller, then splits into the Main Tank and Refugium. Both
tanks are drilled with overflows with DIY
Durso Standpipes back to the Sump. In the sump is an ASM
G2 Skimmer. There are 2 Two Little Fishies Reactors, one with RowaPhos and the other with Purigen. These are plumbed into the return line and are gravity fed, HERE and HERE.
A Precision Marine CR622 Calcium Reactor keeps the calcium levels in check.
Lighting for the Main Tank is Six 80W T5 lights. You can see the DIY project below. The Refugium has a 24" Coralife Power Compact with a 10k and an Actinic bulb. The Sump has two GE energy smart bulbs in it. They are the DAYLIGHT 6500k bulbs and come 2 to a package at Walmart. The cost is $6.44 for a package of two. They are the 26 watt and equal a 100 watt bulb. HERE is a link to them. My cheato is exploding under these bulbs plus the coralline growth is unbelievable. Plus I have been able to grow several types of coral under these lights. There are now several bulbs out that work and are cheap. Click HERE to see other options.
I converted my RO/DI unit over to just a DI unit with no more waste water. Click HERE to read up on how to do this.
For water movement, I use two Seio 1500 Powerheads. These move a lot of water
across the sixfoot tank. Because I have the rock work going down the middle
of the tank it was a challenge to find the right spots for the powerheads
to get sufficient flow across both sides.
Living on the Gulf Coast of Texas means I can go out and collect all kinds
of critters. You can see my thread HERE on what is and is not reef safe.