Introduction
I would first like to thank the moderators at Manhattan Reefs for the privilege of being selected for the tank of the season, and a special thanks to Jonathan Hale who spent a few hours taking all the photos you see in this article.
The tank you see here has only been set up for a little over a year, but most of the corals and livestock are from my previous 180g that was up and running for 6 years or so until a recent move.
I have always had a fascination for the ocean for as long as I can remember.
My first tank was a 400g local fish only tank in San Diego, with inhabitants that were caught off of Baja Mexico while working the charter and commercial fishing boats.
The tank had everything from a small yellowtail caught off kelp paddies to calico bass, and a lot of others I realize now after being in the hobby, I shouldn’t have brought back (oops!).
Once I moved to the East Coast I knew I needed to start another tank, but I wanted to try my hand a reef tank. After about 7 years of reading, help from other reef keepers, plus a lot of learning from mistakes, this is the tank today.
System profile
Main tank: 225g 72”L x 24”W x 30”H standard AGA
Sump: 100g custom acrylic
Total system volume: 275g
Water movement
The two overflows at each end of the tank are fitted with 1.5” Durso standpipes for drainage.
The returns are two flex pipes, on their own Blueline 30X pump, each pushing about 800-1000 GPH.
Each of the 3 Sea Swirls are on their own closed loop and are also each driven by Blueline 30X’s at the same rate as pumps above.
Water Parameters
Temperature: 77 to 83 degrees
Specific Gravity: 1.024
pH: 8.08
Calcium: 450 - 480 ppm
Alkalinity: 10.00 – 12.00 dKH
Magnesium: about 1300 ppm, but not tested often
PO4: Never tested
NO3: Never tested
Filtration
The skimmer I’m using, is a PM Bullet XL driven by an Iwaki 70RLT pump pulling from the 100g sump
Other filtration, is 3 cups of ESV carbon which is changed every 3 weeks along with my 15% water change done at the same time.
I do have a sponge in the sump to help with micro bubbles, but no filter socks.
The final part of the filtration, is 400+ pounds of e>Fiji live rock and a 2” sand bed of Aragalive from a few different islands (at least that’s what they say), it is all coarse though.
Additives
All my dosing is done with a SpectraPure LiterMeter II. I dose only ESV 2 part B-Ionic and have for the past 7 years. I must thank Bob Stark at ESV for starting me early when we met at an LFS in my area. Currently I’m dosing about 240ml of each part, Alk and Calc, daily. I also dose ESV B-Ionic magnesium, Kent’s iodine, ESV potassium iodide, ESV bromide fluoride, and ESV strontium chloride. To keep my salinity correct, I use a RO/DI auto top-off system from SpectraPure.
Lighting/Other Equipment
The fixture I started out with, was an Aquaspacelight, until 6 months ago, it caught on fire.
At that time, I contacted IceCap Inc. and they modified the entire fixture.
All 3 250w electronic HQI ballasts are remote, and I added an actinic T-5 running off a 660 IceCap ballast. It now weighs about 50 pounds less, is cooler and has been running great for about the last 5 years now. The lamps in the fixture at the time of the photos, were Phoenix 250w DE 14,000K, I have since gone back to the EVC Tech 250w DE 10,000k for a bit more white, because I supplement with actinics. The light cycle for my MHs is 8 hours and the actinics are on for 12 hours. Both are nice lamps though. The entire tank is run by an AquaController II. It handles the chiller, pH, dosing, and light cycles for both the MHs and actinics.
Corals
Acropora sp. is the most abundant coral in the tank, but I have a few varieties of Montipora sp., Stylophora sp., Pocillopora sp., and Seriatopora sp. Although the tank is about 80% SPS, I really love the look and movement of LPS, which makes up the other 20%, along with one large Squamosa and a small Crocea clam.
Fish
Green chromis
Hippo tang
Clown tang
Yellow tang
Kole tang
Banggai cardinal
Percula clownfish
Flame hawkfish
Pink square anthias
Bimaculatus anthias
Sunburst anthias
Meleagris Leopard wrasse
Copperband butterfly
Randall’s shrimp goby
Inverts
1000 blue leg hermits
100 astrea snails
10 sand stars
4 cleaner shrimp
Final thoughts
Reef keeping has given me and my family countless hours of enjoyment, kept me from going stir crazy in the winter, and introduced me to life long friends. It’s called a “hobby”, but any aquarist will tell you that there is a reason so many of us are obsessive compulsives. There is a true commitment and dedication that goes into any healthy tank. I have by no means, mastered reef keeping and am learning every day. The best piece of advice I can leave you with is, “Don’t try every new fad that comes along and keep your hands out of the tank.” Consistency, in my opinion, is key.
all photos copy right Jonathan Hale 2006
MR Featured Tank Kedd Lytton-Smith 
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