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Yvonne and husband’s goal was simple for this Red Sea all-in-one
system. Their plan was to develop a beautiful/peaceful reef habitat with
live rock, corals, fish and invertebrates. As you can see and will read,
they succeeded spectacularly.
Beginnings:
The development of this project is a story of events coming full
circle; it all started when Yvonne read an article online about Nano
reef systems (!). The Wilson’s at the time had no knowledge of the hobby
and so decided to start small with a Nano system learning as they went.
Initially they had purchased an Oceanic Biocube 29g and with the help of
their cousin, Steve Revesz, who worked at Allquatics in Hamilton NJ, set
the system up in their home. Steve brought the two of them to the store
and introduced them to their long-time staff. He reviewed w/ them the
importance in picking out healthy cured live rock for the tank; and
after grabbing 30 pounds of live rock, one bag of Fiji pink live sand
and 30 gallons of pre mixed salt water we went back to the house. The
Wilson’s are fortunate to have a knowledgeable relation to help with
setting the tank up. He further explained the cycling process, how to
make up saltwater from synthetic mix Due to questions concerning their
source water, Steve encouraged them to purchase their own RO/DI system.
That very night they ordered a six stage RO/DI system from Bulk Reef
Supply along with a refractometer. While the tank was cycling they
installed the RO/DI system in the kitchen. Happily the system is in the
kitchen next to the sink which makes maintenance convenient.
The Basics, History of the System Itself:
The basics of the RED SEA MAX 130D:
The filtration system consists of water flowing through three
media bags; one bag of carbon, one large bag of Seachem Seagel and one
bag of Purigen. There is a stock turbo skimmer along with a hand full of
floss that is placed right behind the sump intake to polish the water.
Circulation for the tank is provided by two provided return pumps to
which they’ve added one Koralia Nano 425 pump to the bottom rear of the
tank to circulate water behind the live rock. The tank has an electrical
power center that everything is conveniently plugged into. It is located
on the right side of the tank, and each item has its own shut off switch
that allows shutting off any component with ease. This is very useful
during feeding, cleaning and water changes. You can turn the pumps off
with a flick of a switch. For Yvonne, the best part of the tank is the
hood. “The hood for this tank is like no other. It has a lid for easy
access to the sump area. The front hood opens for easy feeding. Also the
entire lid can open and support itself during cleaning.” This tank has
be up and running for almost 7 months.
Livestock assortment:
The Wilson’s really just wanted a stress-free reef aquarium where
all the fishes, corals, and invertebrates could coexist. They started
off with a pair of Ocellaris Clownfish, two peppermint shrimp, one fire
shrimp, a handful of Nassarius snails, and 6 real small scarlet reef
hermit crabs. They spent a good deal of time going to our local LFS (Allaquatics)
and talking with their staff about different corals for future purchase.
After a while both found it easier to bring our smart phones into the
store and just look up what they had in stock online. They found one web
site, Dr.s Foster & Smith’s Liveaquaria.com to be one of the best;
giving quick, accurate stats on whatever coral or fish you typed
in. These statistics include details on the care level,
temperament, reef compatibility, water conditions, average maximum size,
diet, origin, and family of most species available in the trade. This
information is very helpful as a majority of fishes on offer get too
large for small systems and are overly aggressive.
The actual species involved, any notes regarding their
selection:
Most of the selection was narrowed down considering max. size and
temperament. A few aggressive corals were selected and placed in their
own sections of the tank. (Frogspawn/Torch)
Fishes:
2 Ocellaris Clownfish, 1 Royal Gramma Basslet, 1 Bicolor Blenny, 1
Diamond Watchman Goby, 1 Kaudern's/Banggai Cardinal, and 1 Six Line
Wrasse
Cnidarians:
1 Trumpet Coral, 1 Neon Green Frogspawn Coral, 1 Torch Coral, 1
Neon Orange short tentacle Plate Coral 3", 1 Neon Green Plate 1", 1
Candy Cane Coral,
1 Acan Brain Coral of approximately 20 heads,1 Sympodium
colony, 1 Green Bulb Anemone, 1 green Leather Coral, 2 Ricordea
Mushrooms, Numerous red and blue Mushrooms, numerous Heteroxenia Polyps,
Numerous assorted Button Polyps, 1 green Blastomussa, 1 Dendrophyllia of
approx.. 7 heads.
Other Invertebrates
3 Electric Blue Hermits, 1 Red fire Shrimp, 8 Cerith snails, 6
Nassarius snails, 1 Porcelain Anemone Crab, 7 Scarlet Reef Hermit
Crabs, 1 Hard Tube CoCo Worm, 1 Hawaiian feather duster, 1 Mole Crab,
Copepods, amphipods, 1 peanut worm, 5 Bumble Bee Snails,
1 Electric Blue Maxima Clam 1" <Shari, there are quite a few
livestock pix to sort through>
Maintenance Schedule:
The Wilson’s perform a 5 gallon water change every week, using
Seachem Reef salt mix with water made up the day before in a 5g bucket.
Yvonne explains her MO: “The day of the water change I set everything up
around the tank. 1 empty 5g bucket, 1 5g bucket with fresh salt water,
siphon hose, power head, turkey baster, and tooth brush. I start off by
topping the tank off with RO water and shut the pumps. I then change the
floss in the sump and empty and wash the skimmer collection cup. Next I
use the turkey baster and blow off all the corals, polyps and live
rock. I use the tooth brush to brush away any start-up of hair algae or
red slime. I then run my hands through the sand a few times to kick up
any large detritus. After the tank is cleaned and I have a lot of debris
and detritus floating I start to siphon the water into the empty bucket.
After I take the 5G out I hook up the power head and pump in the 5g of
fresh salt water. After everything is said and done I turn the pumps
back on and make sure both of them are pushing water out.”
Issues: Things You’d Change
Yvonne changed the live rock layout in the tank, moving the
foundation rocks two inches away from the back of the glass to improve
water circulation. As mentioned above she also placed a circulation pump
at the bottom left side of the tank to help with moving water behind the
rocks. The second big change for this tank was the sand, instead of
using just sand she went with a 50/50 mix half live sand and half
crushed coral. “This to me made a big difference when doing my weekly
five gallon water change. I would be able to move the substrate around
to release the detritus and the coral mix would settle fairly quickly.
Also when taking the water out I would take it from the bottom to pick
up all the heavy detritus and before with just sand as a substrate a lot
of it would be sucked up. And of course you know the detritus is there
but with the coral mix it’s just not laying on the surface, it’s hidden
amongst the crushed coral.”
A zoo colony purchased introduced little slugs of concern. Sure
enough these turned out to be pest Nudibranchs. They chose to treat with
Coral RX purchased online, dipping all their stinging-celled life; and
could not believe all the hitchhikers that came out; Brittlestars,
Asterina starfish, bristleworms, Nudibranchs and Aiptasia. Following
this episode when they buy any new corals we dip them in Coral RX, using
the 5 gallons of old water from a water change to make a dip-mix with
the Coral RX..
Cloze:
The odyssey of one couple’s introduction to the marine hobby;
happily one of success due to their taking their time, consulting w/
good staff at local fish stores, getting useful information from a large
livestock etailer’s site to aid them in putting together a compatible
assortment. Important lessons to be emphasized here: Patience, planning,
and getting good help are important when starting out as novices in our
hobby interest.
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