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WAMAS Tank of the Month


Thank you to WAMAS and the TOTM Committee. This is my second TOTM, and while it’s an honor in itself to get nominated just once, getting nominated a second time is really special!

An SPS dominant tank. Just like July 2015’s TOTM this tank is also a Deep Blue 57G Rimless. The tank is on a custom stand built by a fellow WAMAS member. I bought it non-reef ready and drilled it myself with the help of Shoelace, another WAMAS member, and installed a Glass-Holes Overflow box. The reef ready version of this tank has a huge overflow in the center of the tank that takes up way too much room.

Water movement is provided by a Maxspect Gyre XF150, and a Jebao WP25. The return pump is a Waveline DC4000.

The tank is lit by a 36” 6-bulb ATI Sunpower with a Reefbrite strip. I use 2 Blue Plus, 2 ATI Actinic, 1 Aquablue Special, and Purple Plus bulbs. I tried numerous LED fixtures before, and finally settled on T5s. I really like the colors produced by the actinic bulbs and royal blue Reefbrite.

“Oversize the skimmer whenever you can” is my motto, and that’s exactly what I did with this tank. An Avast CS1 combined with a Swabbie, and Locker help keep the tank nice and clean along with a filter sock. I use very little carbon, and no GFO (more on that below).

I dose 40ml calcium and alkalinity additive daily. I also add 300ml magnesium weekly, or as needed. No other additives. I like to keep things as simple as possible.

Corals – SPS dominant. Mostly came from other reputable WAMAS members (gws3, copps, monkiboy). Red Dragon, ORA Joe the Coral, Red Planet, Oregon Blue Tort, etc. LPS consists of acan colonies, fungias, scolymia, and a few ricordea mushrooms. Fish – A pair of Flashing Pylei wrasses which are by far my most colorful and favorite fish. This pair has bred before, and it’s a sight to see when the male starts flashing at the female. The tank also has a Bangaii cardinal, Tomini tang, a pair of Maine Mocha clownfish, blue-green chromis, and a one-spot Foxface.

I feed various LRS blends 1-2 times a day.

Oh wow lets see here. I travel a lot for work, and if I didn’t have a wife that was patient this tank wouldn’t exist! The Apex system helps to keep a lot of things automated while I am out of town. Alerts/alarms warn me if anything major were to happen with the tank. So far nothing major has happened, and I hope to keep it that way. As a rule I don’t change or clean anything with the tank within 72 hours of traveling. This minimizes the risk of leaving town and leaving something disconnected or shut off. My first challenge with this system was ich. A number of fish died, and the remaining fish were QT’d, and treated while the tank was left fish-less for 12 weeks. That was rough seeing all those fish die only because I didn’t quarantine a new arrival. Always quarantine your livestock before you put them in your main tank. The other challenge I had were corals that were too pale and slow growing. After some research it dawned on me that I was overusing GFO and carbon. Basically stripping the coral of much needed nutrients. I stopped using GFO altogether, and cut way back on carbon. After a couple of months the corals started to color up, and growth took off!

None really. Just sit back and watch everything grow. Eventually I would like to upgrade to a larger system down the road, but that won’t happen anytime soon.

Thank you all again for your nomination! Quarantine all new arrivals for a minimum of 30 days, keep things simple, and don’t overuse GFO/carbon.


  • Display: Deep Blue 57g rimless
  • Sump: DIY 20g
  • Skimmer: Avast CS-1
  • Lighting: ATI 36" Sunpower
  • Return Pump: DC4000
  • Circulation: Gyre XF150 and Jebao WP25

  • Salinity: 1.025
  • Temp: 78F Summer/80F Winter
  • Alkalinity: 8.0 dkH
  • Calcium: 450 ppm
  • Magnesium: 1350

  • 1000 Reefbrite on
  • 1200 Actinic on
  • 1430 Blue+/Purple/AB on
  • 2000 Blue+/Purple/AB off
  • 2100 Actinic off
  • 2200 Reefbrite off
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