Manhattan Reefs proudly congratulates our Tank of the Season winner...Tusi !!!!
What does being chosen as MR TOTS mean to you?
When I joined MR I never thought that my Tank would be worthy compared to all the beautiful tanks that members have. I guess I always look at the bad things in my tank and ignore the good things. Being chosen means the world to me, I am honored that my tank is selected as TOTM.
How did you get involved in the fish keeping hobby?
I started with fish when I was still in school, the idea started in my Biology class since there was a fresh water tank full of Guppies. So I went home and told my dad I wanted to have a fish tank. He built me one out of a metal frame and some glass with window glazing. At the time silicone was not available. Fish multiplied and before you know it, I had a nicer tank than what was in my biology class room. Till this day my mother still takes care of this tank for me so when I go to visit back home I find it the way I left it [34 yrs later]. When I moved to the States, I went to the pet shop and purchased a 65 gal fresh water tank and filled it with discus and angel fish; of course my family grew bigger and we had to move so that was the end. We moved and wanted to try salt water fish which I did not know anything about. I tried and did not have much success, so the tank was taken down and that was it. Ten years later I decided to do it all over again, but this time I hired somebody to do it for me, I figured I would learn and then take over. I started out with LPS because I was told it was easier. After three years of growing every LPS possible, I got tired of it so I switched to SPS and here is were it led me to. I am very happy that I switched because it is in my opinion more rewarding to see a small frag grow into a colony in a much shorter time.
Please tell us all about your beautiful tank?
My tank is a custom Glass tank built in Texas by Acrylic Glass Exhibits. It has a PVC bottom. The tank is 60? long 30? tall and 24? deep. It is viewable from three sides. At first I did not want to have power heads so It was drilled for a closed loop and plumbed to a wave maker by ocean motions. The top is an acrylic euro brace all around with glass doors. The stand was built locally in Mineola by an iron shop. All cabinetry was built custom by a wood shop in Glen Cove. It was complicated to fit the stand and connect to my office cabinetry. My sump is a standard reef ready sump made by Oceanic.
Equipment:
Reeflo Dart for my closed loop circulation.
Reeflo Marlin for my chiller circulation.
Custom built chiller by Trade wind chillers that sits outside 40? away
45 Watt UV sterilizer
Vertex calcium reactor
Vertex GFO reactor
PM Kalkwasser reactor
Bubble king skimmer
Eheim in sump pump for the above reactors.
GHL profilux 3 controller
GHL-4 doser
60 gal mixing tank for water changes
Blue line aqua pump for mixing and pumping to tank since it is 25? away.
5 stage reverse osmosis set up.
2- MP40 power heads
2- Tunze 6105 power heads
Lights:
Two 400 watt radiums with electronic ballasts.
4-48? T 5s by Aqua medic
4- Blue Reef Brite 9? led fixtures
Led moon lights
All lights are controlled by my GHL controller
Media and Additives:
Calcium and Alkalinity [calcium reactor]
Magnesium
Strontium
Tropic marine trace elements A & K
Pottasium
Iodide
Amino acids
Sponge power
Carbon in a bag in sump [replaced once a month]
Rowa in reactor [replaced once a month]
Probes are in a PM built acrylic box [calibrated every six months]
Tank Maintenance:
25 gal Water change is normally done every week.
Tropic marine pro salt
Clean glass once a week
Vacuum detritus from sump
Change sock once a week
Clean skimmer once a week
Testing:
Check all levels once a month for the exception of alkalinity [every day]
Phosphates- 0.05
Nitrates- 0.25
Potassium ? 380
Magnesium- 1350
Strontium-0.95
Calcium- 450
Alkalinity- 8.5
Iodine- 0.9
Do you plan to change anything about your system in the future?
I would like to change my lights to LEDs and save money on electricity.
Automatic water changes
What types of livestock do you like to keep?
I have approximately 25 fish and over 100 corals
Fish:
Hippo tang
Purple tang
Black tang
Gem tang
Flame angel
Jaculator angel
Tail spot blenny
Yellow clown blenny
Cleaner wrasse
Flame wrasse
Pair of Johnson?s wrasse
Bells wrasse
Leopard wrasse
Femininus wrasse
Ramboid wrasse
Radiant Wrasse
Pair of maroon clowns
Sunburst Anthia
Hutchie anthia
Bloched Anthia
Dracula Goby
Copperband butterfly
3 Long spine cardinals
Corals:
Mostly sps naming a few:
Strawberry shortcake
Ora Pearlberry
Ora Valida
Ora Red Planet
Ora Hawkins
Ora Ponape birds nest
Red dragon
Multiple colors of caps
Pink millipora
Garf bonsai
Acropora purple Horrida
Red staghorn
Origan Tort
Setosa
Granulosa
Rasberry Limeade acropora
And much more...
Do you have a favorite coral or fish, if so, why?
I have a lot of favorite fish and corals but the most fascinating fish and probably the most expensive [because I bought so many of them] is the Dracula goby and pistol shrimp. The way they live together and protect each other while also feeding each other is just amazing. Although it?s a hard fish to keep in a large tank since they get spooked very easily, I learned how to keep them together.
Does anyone else in your family interact with your tank and do you worry when you can't be home?
Everybody in my family loves the tank but everybody is afraid to have any thing to do with it when I am on vacation. One of my boys feeds the fish when I am away and if something happens I have a friend that comes over. I like everything about this hobby even though it?s very expensive, but what I hate the most is the fact that it is very delicate and you can lose everything overnight with one little mistake or a failure of a piece of equipment.
Did Hurricane Sandy affect your tank?
I was very lucky with Hurricane Sandy because we lost power only for 14 hrs so I hooked up my portable generator.
Do you have a back up plan in place for dealing with a future power outage?
Power outage is a big concern at all times so I have a whole house generator being installed in couple of months so I don?t have to ever worry about it.
Do you name your fish?
The only fish that are named are Nemo and Dory and that?s for my daughter which is a fish I must keep in the tank at all times.
What has Manhattan Reefs contributed to your enjoyment of the hobby?
People are hooked to Facebook or Twitter. I am hooked to MR, I love to connect with fellow reefers. When I am having a bad day because I might have a problem in my tank everybody is ready to help. It?s a great community of reefers that are aiming for the same thing. I met and made friends with a lot of good people [Matt, Duke, Jackson, MikeC, Crox, Charlietuna, fishman, kres, MikeNY,Faviafreak, and many more] . This hobby is still evolving and new products are always coming out in the market, so MR is a place were I get to learn who is trying new products or different techniques that could be better than what I am doing. I love everything about MR.
Any closing comments? Anyone you would like to Thank?
I would like to thank MR and all the staff that make this forum so special, KathyC and all moderators that keep us from going out of control sometimes. I would like to thank my wife for keeping up with my mess that I make every Sunday. I would like to thank my friend Afshin who is the one that spent numerous days, nights and long hours helping me. He is the one that originally built my tank and then taught me everything. He is a very special friend to me. I would also like to thank MikeC for taking all pictures of my tank, he is an unbelievable professional photographer who came to my house on a week day on his spare time and took about 300 pictures to make sure there would be enough pictures to choose from, a true gentleman. Thank you to all members and friends on MR who always were there to help me with any questions, a vote when I needed one, or supporting me in any competition that I have been in. I am truly grateful for this award since there are a lot of beautiful tanks that are all worthy of being TOTS.
----------------
I would like to send out a special message of thanks to MikeC who took these fantastic pics for us!! Great job Mike!!!!!!!!!!!
What does being chosen as MR TOTS mean to you?
When I joined MR I never thought that my Tank would be worthy compared to all the beautiful tanks that members have. I guess I always look at the bad things in my tank and ignore the good things. Being chosen means the world to me, I am honored that my tank is selected as TOTM.
How did you get involved in the fish keeping hobby?
I started with fish when I was still in school, the idea started in my Biology class since there was a fresh water tank full of Guppies. So I went home and told my dad I wanted to have a fish tank. He built me one out of a metal frame and some glass with window glazing. At the time silicone was not available. Fish multiplied and before you know it, I had a nicer tank than what was in my biology class room. Till this day my mother still takes care of this tank for me so when I go to visit back home I find it the way I left it [34 yrs later]. When I moved to the States, I went to the pet shop and purchased a 65 gal fresh water tank and filled it with discus and angel fish; of course my family grew bigger and we had to move so that was the end. We moved and wanted to try salt water fish which I did not know anything about. I tried and did not have much success, so the tank was taken down and that was it. Ten years later I decided to do it all over again, but this time I hired somebody to do it for me, I figured I would learn and then take over. I started out with LPS because I was told it was easier. After three years of growing every LPS possible, I got tired of it so I switched to SPS and here is were it led me to. I am very happy that I switched because it is in my opinion more rewarding to see a small frag grow into a colony in a much shorter time.
Please tell us all about your beautiful tank?
My tank is a custom Glass tank built in Texas by Acrylic Glass Exhibits. It has a PVC bottom. The tank is 60? long 30? tall and 24? deep. It is viewable from three sides. At first I did not want to have power heads so It was drilled for a closed loop and plumbed to a wave maker by ocean motions. The top is an acrylic euro brace all around with glass doors. The stand was built locally in Mineola by an iron shop. All cabinetry was built custom by a wood shop in Glen Cove. It was complicated to fit the stand and connect to my office cabinetry. My sump is a standard reef ready sump made by Oceanic.
Equipment:
Reeflo Dart for my closed loop circulation.
Reeflo Marlin for my chiller circulation.
Custom built chiller by Trade wind chillers that sits outside 40? away
45 Watt UV sterilizer
Vertex calcium reactor
Vertex GFO reactor
PM Kalkwasser reactor
Bubble king skimmer
Eheim in sump pump for the above reactors.
GHL profilux 3 controller
GHL-4 doser
60 gal mixing tank for water changes
Blue line aqua pump for mixing and pumping to tank since it is 25? away.
5 stage reverse osmosis set up.
2- MP40 power heads
2- Tunze 6105 power heads
Lights:
Two 400 watt radiums with electronic ballasts.
4-48? T 5s by Aqua medic
4- Blue Reef Brite 9? led fixtures
Led moon lights
All lights are controlled by my GHL controller
Media and Additives:
Calcium and Alkalinity [calcium reactor]
Magnesium
Strontium
Tropic marine trace elements A & K
Pottasium
Iodide
Amino acids
Sponge power
Carbon in a bag in sump [replaced once a month]
Rowa in reactor [replaced once a month]
Probes are in a PM built acrylic box [calibrated every six months]
Tank Maintenance:
25 gal Water change is normally done every week.
Tropic marine pro salt
Clean glass once a week
Vacuum detritus from sump
Change sock once a week
Clean skimmer once a week
Testing:
Check all levels once a month for the exception of alkalinity [every day]
Phosphates- 0.05
Nitrates- 0.25
Potassium ? 380
Magnesium- 1350
Strontium-0.95
Calcium- 450
Alkalinity- 8.5
Iodine- 0.9
Do you plan to change anything about your system in the future?
I would like to change my lights to LEDs and save money on electricity.
Automatic water changes
What types of livestock do you like to keep?
I have approximately 25 fish and over 100 corals
Fish:
Hippo tang
Purple tang
Black tang
Gem tang
Flame angel
Jaculator angel
Tail spot blenny
Yellow clown blenny
Cleaner wrasse
Flame wrasse
Pair of Johnson?s wrasse
Bells wrasse
Leopard wrasse
Femininus wrasse
Ramboid wrasse
Radiant Wrasse
Pair of maroon clowns
Sunburst Anthia
Hutchie anthia
Bloched Anthia
Dracula Goby
Copperband butterfly
3 Long spine cardinals
Corals:
Mostly sps naming a few:
Strawberry shortcake
Ora Pearlberry
Ora Valida
Ora Red Planet
Ora Hawkins
Ora Ponape birds nest
Red dragon
Multiple colors of caps
Pink millipora
Garf bonsai
Acropora purple Horrida
Red staghorn
Origan Tort
Setosa
Granulosa
Rasberry Limeade acropora
And much more...
Do you have a favorite coral or fish, if so, why?
I have a lot of favorite fish and corals but the most fascinating fish and probably the most expensive [because I bought so many of them] is the Dracula goby and pistol shrimp. The way they live together and protect each other while also feeding each other is just amazing. Although it?s a hard fish to keep in a large tank since they get spooked very easily, I learned how to keep them together.
Does anyone else in your family interact with your tank and do you worry when you can't be home?
Everybody in my family loves the tank but everybody is afraid to have any thing to do with it when I am on vacation. One of my boys feeds the fish when I am away and if something happens I have a friend that comes over. I like everything about this hobby even though it?s very expensive, but what I hate the most is the fact that it is very delicate and you can lose everything overnight with one little mistake or a failure of a piece of equipment.
Did Hurricane Sandy affect your tank?
I was very lucky with Hurricane Sandy because we lost power only for 14 hrs so I hooked up my portable generator.
Do you have a back up plan in place for dealing with a future power outage?
Power outage is a big concern at all times so I have a whole house generator being installed in couple of months so I don?t have to ever worry about it.
Do you name your fish?
The only fish that are named are Nemo and Dory and that?s for my daughter which is a fish I must keep in the tank at all times.
What has Manhattan Reefs contributed to your enjoyment of the hobby?
People are hooked to Facebook or Twitter. I am hooked to MR, I love to connect with fellow reefers. When I am having a bad day because I might have a problem in my tank everybody is ready to help. It?s a great community of reefers that are aiming for the same thing. I met and made friends with a lot of good people [Matt, Duke, Jackson, MikeC, Crox, Charlietuna, fishman, kres, MikeNY,Faviafreak, and many more] . This hobby is still evolving and new products are always coming out in the market, so MR is a place were I get to learn who is trying new products or different techniques that could be better than what I am doing. I love everything about MR.
Any closing comments? Anyone you would like to Thank?
I would like to thank MR and all the staff that make this forum so special, KathyC and all moderators that keep us from going out of control sometimes. I would like to thank my wife for keeping up with my mess that I make every Sunday. I would like to thank my friend Afshin who is the one that spent numerous days, nights and long hours helping me. He is the one that originally built my tank and then taught me everything. He is a very special friend to me. I would also like to thank MikeC for taking all pictures of my tank, he is an unbelievable professional photographer who came to my house on a week day on his spare time and took about 300 pictures to make sure there would be enough pictures to choose from, a true gentleman. Thank you to all members and friends on MR who always were there to help me with any questions, a vote when I needed one, or supporting me in any competition that I have been in. I am truly grateful for this award since there are a lot of beautiful tanks that are all worthy of being TOTS.
----------------
I would like to send out a special message of thanks to MikeC who took these fantastic pics for us!! Great job Mike!!!!!!!!!!!
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