WAMAS Tank of the Month
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It is an honor to be nominated and allowed to share my story with this group. I have been in the hobby the past decade and have learned a lot from this group and I am always trying to figure a way to incrementally make the tank a better place for its inhabitants. Without WAMAS, I am not sure if I would still be in the hobby because there is so much bad info on some of the other forums and I think they have lost their way. WAMAS is a great place with a lot of great people looking to better the hobby. After my 250DD tank at my last house, I really wanted to go big, and I mean big but it just didn’t make sense at the moment. In our new house I wanted a clean setup and have been happy with how this has turned out so far and have enjoyed the evolution of this tank after my big setback. I am loving the dimensions of this tank and don’t know if I ever want to have a shorter tank.
My setup is a Red Sea Reefer 900XXL. I was initially thinking of doing a custom tank but stumbled across the larger Red Sea. With COVID delays and lead times in general the decision was easy because I could get this tank delivered in less than a week. I am very happy with this decision. The dimensions are stunning (79”x25.5”x25.5”) and has a prominent spot in my basement.
I am a big fan of Ecotech products and their customer support. A Vectra L2 provides the main circulation and an MP60QD on each end of the tank provide plenty of movement.
I am using four XR15 Radion G5 blues. The spread is really impressive and even the guys at Ecotech said the 15s would be perfect for this size tank.
The tank started with around 150lbs of dry rock and another 120lbs of dry sand. A Nyos 220 skimmer with ozone injection help keep the water crystal clear. I run a very low level of ozone and monitor ORP with a Milwaukee stand alone controller. It has been a great setup and skimmer production is very consistent. Because I feed heavy I also grow Ulva under a Kessil in the refugium area of my sump. I pull out a gallon or two a week.
I have battled with this recently. I was dosing a constant 7ml of Kalkwasser to keep up with demand. I then setup a GEO618 calcium reactor to supplement. It had always worked well with my last setup but for whatever reason I just could not dial the CaRX this time. I purchased an automated calcium reactor from Aquarium Engineering and it was working well until I screwed it up. I am temporarily using the Kalkwasser and Tropic Marin AFR to keep my Calcium and Alkalinity stable. Both are dosed through Ecoteach Versa pumps.
This tank started much differently than it current sits. After buying a fish online and not putting it through a QT, my tank was introduced to velvet and I lost most of my fish. All of my previous angels with the exception of the Bali Majestic perished. This was a true gut punch and really tested my will to continue in this hobby. After putting all my my fish through a CP and praziquantel treatment my survivors were a Bali Aquarich Majestic Angel, two clowns, azure damsel, kole tang, and biota gold spot rabbit.
Since then everything that goes in is from a Humble fish vendor, a QT by me or Reefescape. The additional inhabitants are Bali Aquarich Colins Angel, seven Bimaculate Anthias, Multicolor Angel, Melanarus wrasse, two Wyoming white clowns. My previous male clownfish developed a swim bladder issue and had a hard time keeping up with the flow in this tank. He and his mate have been relocated into a Fluval 13.5. They have been with me for 12 years. My favorites are the angels but the bimacs are really making me like Anthias a lot more. I feed heavy, especially now that I have Anthias. I just added an Avast plank to my setup and it seems to be a far superior product to any other auto feeder out there. I am trying out their freeze dried blend in addition to feeding frozen mysis, spirulina brine, ROE and pacific plankton. A sheet of nori is also added every day. The biggest setback for this tank by far was my velvet outbreak. I have no one to blame but myself. Nothing goes in or near this tank if it hasn’t gone through a QT that I have personally done or from someone where I know their process and trust. My current challenge with the calcium reactor is an inconvenience but the tank is stable and doing well. I currently have a few fish going through QT waiting to be added and am toying with the idea of adding a Bali Regal. My fear with that is it will be really tiny and the Majestic will beat it up. I already need to re-home the rabbit fish because it is constantly scuffling with the Majestic. Being in this hobby for the past decade has taught me a lot. Patience is the one lesson I constantly come back to. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby and trying to take short cuts always end up costing more time and money. Do it once and do it right is how I have tried to approach this setup. |
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