Manhattan Reefs is proud to announce our winner for the September 2011 Tank of the Month to Chris Damiano and his beautiful 180g reef!!!!!
Congrats Chris, your tank is beautiful and so colorful! What does being chosen as MR ToTM mean to you?
I am honored to be chosen as TOTM and to be considered in the same league of the many amazing tanks that have been previously selected.
How did you get involved in fish/reefkeeping?
I started out in this hobby when I was very young with a freshwater tank. I kept a freshwater tank for a few years as a pre-teen and then left the hobby for a while. Whenever I visited a pet store that had a saltwater tank or saw one in a restaurant or other establishment I was always fascinated by the saltwater fish. They were so much more colorful and interesting. I was especially attracted to the clownfish. I eventually got back into the hobby with my first saltwater tank in 2005. I was initially only interested in setting up the tank as a fish only primarily with the intention of keeping clownfish. However, when I made a visit to Country Critters to purchase my tank and saw the beautiful display tank they had filled with all of the colorful corals, my plans all changed.
Early on in my education about the hobby I studied the info on the GARF website. I used their GARF Grunge to mix in with the sand when I started my previous and current tank. As I learned more about the hobby I joined the Manhattan Reef club and the Long Island Reef club and Reef Central and a few other online communities. I have gained a wealth of knowledge from all of these resources.
My obsession with this hobby has taken over a significant portion of my life. It has forced me to learn many new things about chemistry, plumbing, electricity, etc. I have forged many friendships from it and I have met a number of really interesting people. It has provided me with an outlet for relieving the stresses of everyday life. I can get lost for hours just staring at my tank.
Can you tell us the history of your current system - including any past upgrades?
My first saltwater tank was setup in 2005. This was a 90 gallon AGA reef ready tank. I started this tank with mainly soft corals. Mostly zoanthids and leather corals. I remember getting a frag of a Kenya Tree coral that grew to a tremendous size and I was fragging it like crazy for people. I later added some LPS corals (Torch, Brain, Frogspawn, etc.). I was fairly successful with the soft corals and LPS corals within a very short time.
It wasn?t until I started keeping SPS corals that my addiction kicked into overdrive. This new addiction wasn?t as easy to master as the other types of corals and this is where my competitive nature took over. I was determined to master the keeping of the many different beautifully colored Acropora corals that I saw posted on the different TOTM threads so I began my quest of converting to an SPS dominated tank. After much more research, I realized that the PC lighting I was keeping wasn?t good enough so I switched to a MH fixture. I had some success and quite a few failures in the beginning. The more that I learned about the key principles of stability of the big 3 (CA, ALK, MG), the more success I had.
By 2008 I outgrew the space of the 90 gallon and upgraded to a 180 gallon AGA reef ready tank. In upgrading to the new tank, I implemented many changes to the equipment that I was using including the addition of a Calcium Reactor and a Kalk reactor, new lighting (Lumenarc reflectors), a powerful skimmer, and more powerful Tunze pumps. These new additions really made a tremendous difference in allowing me to be successful with a larger variety of SPS corals. I moved many of the corals from the old tank to their new home.Most of my colonies have been grown from small fragments obtained from local hobbyists and frag swaps, and LIRA meeting auctions from that little 20,000 gallon tank in Riverhead?lol
Yes, that certainly is a nice little tank out there in Riverhead!
Can you give us more details on your equipment?
My equipment consists of the following: Basement fish room with a 75G sump, 2 x 40G breeder frag tanks, and a 50G water change tank. All of the tanks are plumbed together and fed back up to the display tank on the main floor by a Reeflo Barracuda pump. I use a GEO Calcium reactor for maintaining CA and ALK. I also have a GEO Kalk reactor to help with the demand and to help increase PH. I also use a reactor with carbon as well as a reactor for GFO occasionally. My skimmer is a MSX (Marine Solutions Inc) 250. I removed both of the Sicce pumps and replaced them with a Bubble Blaster HY5000 pump. This skimmer more than meets the needs of my tank. I added an Apex controller last year and this device has significantly simplified my setup. I could never understand the benefits of this type of device (given the high cost) until I installed it and saw how many other timers and power strips and other gadgets I was able to remove to simplify my setup. Being able to receive email alerts about the status of the system was also a nice feature and being able to control any outlet or setting of the system remotely via my Smartphone was incredible!
Flow - I am a firm believer in providing lots of flow for SPS corals. In addition to the flow provided by my return pump, I initially added 2 Tunze 6100 series pumps. As corals grew out more, I added an additional Tunze 6205 pump. As I am writing this, I am awaiting shipment of an additional Tunze 6201 pump. The pumps are all controlled by the Apex with a program that provides chaotic random flow.
Lighting ? I started out with 3 Lumenarc mini reflectors with Reeflux 10K bulbs and Coralvue 250W dimmable ballasts as suggested by a friend who has a great looking tank. I later retrofitted 3 T5?s with an Icecap 660 ballast to add some additional supplementation. The colors provided by this setup was a good balance of white and blue and provided for excellent growth. I was later attracted to the look and results people were having with Radium bulbs. I had great growth from my current bulbs, but I wanted to see if I could get any further enhancement to the colors with a higher kelvin bulb. A few months back I decided to make the switch and I replaced my ballasts and decided to buy the Radium bulbs. Unfortunately, this was at the time that Radiums were no longer available due to the export ban. So?..I spent lots of time researching an alternate bulb and came up with the Aquaconnect 14K. Of course, now the Radiums are available again?.so I will probably be switching again on my next bulb change. I have been happy with the Aquaconnects, but the pricing and limited availability is a negative. Another change that I made recently is to replace my T5?s with VHO?s. While I am sure that the 3 T5?s were providing more PAR than the 2 VHO?s, the pop in colors that I get from the VHO?s is much more pleasing to my eyes. Now I can?t wait for the MH?s to go off at night so I can see the amazing fluorescence that is shown by the VHO?s. Lighting schedule: Actinics ? 13 hours, Halides ? 7 hours
Dosing ? I experimented with Vodka and Vinegar dosing for a year or so. This helped me to get my Nitrate and Phosphate down to undetectable levels and helped to improve the coloration of my corals. However, I found that while all of the corals were growing I was unable to reach the level of deep coloration that I was seeking. Some corals appeared paler than I wanted?.especially any purple acropora. So, my new challenge was to master keeping a purple colored acro. I attributed this to fact that my nutrients were too low. I eventually stopped the carbon dosing and started to feed more heavily. This has helped in my quest for better coloration and I have been able to maintain a deeper purple color on some of my corals. I believe that part of the equation is a matter of mastering the fine balance between too much vs. too little nutrients. I am still learning about how to fine tune this ratio. I also dose Seachem Reef Plus, Potassium, and Lugols. I have recently been trying out some KZ supplements - Pohl?s Coral Vitalizer and Pohl?s Xtra.
Can I interview you every month, loving all of the details and I?m sure some reefers are taking notes on what you have learned!
What is your husbandry routine?
I have tried many different salt brands. I settled on Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt for a while and was happy with that over any other salt. The only concern that I had was the variations in parameters whenever I did a water change. I believe that this is an inherent problem with most of the salt mixes due to settling in the bucket. Last year I switched to ESV salt since all of the components are separate and I can determine what my exact desired parameters should be and mix up a batch to the same parameters every time. I do a 15% water change every 2 weeks.
My feeding consists of a variety of different things. I feed Nori 2 or 3 times a week. Other feedings are done twice per day and consist of a mix of different flake and pellet foods for the first feeding and I alternate between this and frozen food (Mysis or Rods foods) at night for the second feeding. I also feed Oyster Feast, Coral Frenzy, Rods Coral food, and Amino Acids a few times a week.
Do you have a plan in place in the event of a power outage?
I have an AGM Battery which will automatically transfer power from my Tunze pumps using the Tunze adapter cable. I also have a power inverter which I can connect to my car battery. I just purchased a generator in preparation for Hurricane Irene and this has definitely put my mind at ease for the hurricane and any future power outages.
Do you plan to change anything about your system in the future?
I am always thinking about changes to make in the future. That?s what makes this hobby so interesting to me is that you are never done. Even when you get to the point that you are having a high level of success, a new coral can RTN without any indication as to why and it instantly humbles you. This keeps it from getting boring. There are always new things to learn and new methods to learn to improve your husbandry. At some point in the future I would love to upgrade to a larger tank with a 3? depth. And of course I am also keeping my eye out on the future development of LED lighting. I think this will eventually be a technology that we will all be using once more is learned about it and the prices come down.
We?re enjoying the pictures you?ve provided but do tell us what you have stocked your tank with...first fish and then corals?
Fish ? Powder Blue Tang, Purple Tang, Yellow Tang, Kole Tang, Mystery Wrasse, 2 x Yellow Coris Wrasse, Melanurus Wrasse, 2 x Squamipinnis Anthias, 2 x Ocellaris Clownfish, Royal Gramma, Midas Blenny, Female Japanese Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos), Red Spotted Hawkfish, Fridmani Pseudochromis
Corals ? Acropora Species - Blue Tort, Tubs Pink Jade, ORA Red Planet, ORA Pearlberry, Blue Tenuis, Various Milleporas (Blue, Pink w/blue tips, Yellow, Rose, Pink), Cytherea, Bali Green Slimer, Nana, Blue Hoeksemai, Loripes, Neon Green Vermiculata, Blue Vermiculata, Green Turaki, ORA Hawkins Echinata
Seriatopora ? ORA Green Birdsnest, Pink Birdsnest
Stylopohora ? Pink Stylo, Green Stylo, Rainbow Stylo
Yellow Porites
Montipora ? Peach Digitata, Superman Monti, Sunset Monti
LPS ? Various acans, Neon green candy cane, Lobophyllia, Scolymia, Frogspawn
Do you have a favorite coral or fish - if so, why?
It?s tough to pick one favorite. I have changed favorites quite a bit over the years. Lately, my favorite coral is my Pearlberry. The colors on it are simply beautiful.
Even tougher to pick a favorite fish. They all have such unique personalities. I guess if I had to pick one I would have to pick my Powder Blue Tang. He is the king of the tank and loves to feed from my hand and sometimes it looks like he is trying to communicate with me (yes, I have been staring at the tank too long).
I have to ask this one?do you name your fish?
I used to name them in the beginning. My Powder Blue Tang is named Picasso because he looks like he was painted. My Purple Tang is called Bella because she is beautiful, my Yellow Tang is called Pinocchio (for obvious reasons). My daughter named a recent addition ? my Midas blennie?. she calls Goldie.
Does anyone else in your family have an interest in the hobby?
My 3 year old daughter is very interested in the tank and is always looking to ?help? when I am doing maintenance.
Anyone you would like to thank?
I would like to thank my wife for putting up with all of the stuff that goes along with my obsession and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way for helping me gain the knowledge needed to achieve my success.
All photo credits ? Chris Damiano
Congrats Chris, your tank is beautiful and so colorful! What does being chosen as MR ToTM mean to you?
I am honored to be chosen as TOTM and to be considered in the same league of the many amazing tanks that have been previously selected.
How did you get involved in fish/reefkeeping?
I started out in this hobby when I was very young with a freshwater tank. I kept a freshwater tank for a few years as a pre-teen and then left the hobby for a while. Whenever I visited a pet store that had a saltwater tank or saw one in a restaurant or other establishment I was always fascinated by the saltwater fish. They were so much more colorful and interesting. I was especially attracted to the clownfish. I eventually got back into the hobby with my first saltwater tank in 2005. I was initially only interested in setting up the tank as a fish only primarily with the intention of keeping clownfish. However, when I made a visit to Country Critters to purchase my tank and saw the beautiful display tank they had filled with all of the colorful corals, my plans all changed.
Early on in my education about the hobby I studied the info on the GARF website. I used their GARF Grunge to mix in with the sand when I started my previous and current tank. As I learned more about the hobby I joined the Manhattan Reef club and the Long Island Reef club and Reef Central and a few other online communities. I have gained a wealth of knowledge from all of these resources.
My obsession with this hobby has taken over a significant portion of my life. It has forced me to learn many new things about chemistry, plumbing, electricity, etc. I have forged many friendships from it and I have met a number of really interesting people. It has provided me with an outlet for relieving the stresses of everyday life. I can get lost for hours just staring at my tank.
Can you tell us the history of your current system - including any past upgrades?
My first saltwater tank was setup in 2005. This was a 90 gallon AGA reef ready tank. I started this tank with mainly soft corals. Mostly zoanthids and leather corals. I remember getting a frag of a Kenya Tree coral that grew to a tremendous size and I was fragging it like crazy for people. I later added some LPS corals (Torch, Brain, Frogspawn, etc.). I was fairly successful with the soft corals and LPS corals within a very short time.
It wasn?t until I started keeping SPS corals that my addiction kicked into overdrive. This new addiction wasn?t as easy to master as the other types of corals and this is where my competitive nature took over. I was determined to master the keeping of the many different beautifully colored Acropora corals that I saw posted on the different TOTM threads so I began my quest of converting to an SPS dominated tank. After much more research, I realized that the PC lighting I was keeping wasn?t good enough so I switched to a MH fixture. I had some success and quite a few failures in the beginning. The more that I learned about the key principles of stability of the big 3 (CA, ALK, MG), the more success I had.
By 2008 I outgrew the space of the 90 gallon and upgraded to a 180 gallon AGA reef ready tank. In upgrading to the new tank, I implemented many changes to the equipment that I was using including the addition of a Calcium Reactor and a Kalk reactor, new lighting (Lumenarc reflectors), a powerful skimmer, and more powerful Tunze pumps. These new additions really made a tremendous difference in allowing me to be successful with a larger variety of SPS corals. I moved many of the corals from the old tank to their new home.Most of my colonies have been grown from small fragments obtained from local hobbyists and frag swaps, and LIRA meeting auctions from that little 20,000 gallon tank in Riverhead?lol
Yes, that certainly is a nice little tank out there in Riverhead!
Can you give us more details on your equipment?
My equipment consists of the following: Basement fish room with a 75G sump, 2 x 40G breeder frag tanks, and a 50G water change tank. All of the tanks are plumbed together and fed back up to the display tank on the main floor by a Reeflo Barracuda pump. I use a GEO Calcium reactor for maintaining CA and ALK. I also have a GEO Kalk reactor to help with the demand and to help increase PH. I also use a reactor with carbon as well as a reactor for GFO occasionally. My skimmer is a MSX (Marine Solutions Inc) 250. I removed both of the Sicce pumps and replaced them with a Bubble Blaster HY5000 pump. This skimmer more than meets the needs of my tank. I added an Apex controller last year and this device has significantly simplified my setup. I could never understand the benefits of this type of device (given the high cost) until I installed it and saw how many other timers and power strips and other gadgets I was able to remove to simplify my setup. Being able to receive email alerts about the status of the system was also a nice feature and being able to control any outlet or setting of the system remotely via my Smartphone was incredible!
Flow - I am a firm believer in providing lots of flow for SPS corals. In addition to the flow provided by my return pump, I initially added 2 Tunze 6100 series pumps. As corals grew out more, I added an additional Tunze 6205 pump. As I am writing this, I am awaiting shipment of an additional Tunze 6201 pump. The pumps are all controlled by the Apex with a program that provides chaotic random flow.
Lighting ? I started out with 3 Lumenarc mini reflectors with Reeflux 10K bulbs and Coralvue 250W dimmable ballasts as suggested by a friend who has a great looking tank. I later retrofitted 3 T5?s with an Icecap 660 ballast to add some additional supplementation. The colors provided by this setup was a good balance of white and blue and provided for excellent growth. I was later attracted to the look and results people were having with Radium bulbs. I had great growth from my current bulbs, but I wanted to see if I could get any further enhancement to the colors with a higher kelvin bulb. A few months back I decided to make the switch and I replaced my ballasts and decided to buy the Radium bulbs. Unfortunately, this was at the time that Radiums were no longer available due to the export ban. So?..I spent lots of time researching an alternate bulb and came up with the Aquaconnect 14K. Of course, now the Radiums are available again?.so I will probably be switching again on my next bulb change. I have been happy with the Aquaconnects, but the pricing and limited availability is a negative. Another change that I made recently is to replace my T5?s with VHO?s. While I am sure that the 3 T5?s were providing more PAR than the 2 VHO?s, the pop in colors that I get from the VHO?s is much more pleasing to my eyes. Now I can?t wait for the MH?s to go off at night so I can see the amazing fluorescence that is shown by the VHO?s. Lighting schedule: Actinics ? 13 hours, Halides ? 7 hours
Dosing ? I experimented with Vodka and Vinegar dosing for a year or so. This helped me to get my Nitrate and Phosphate down to undetectable levels and helped to improve the coloration of my corals. However, I found that while all of the corals were growing I was unable to reach the level of deep coloration that I was seeking. Some corals appeared paler than I wanted?.especially any purple acropora. So, my new challenge was to master keeping a purple colored acro. I attributed this to fact that my nutrients were too low. I eventually stopped the carbon dosing and started to feed more heavily. This has helped in my quest for better coloration and I have been able to maintain a deeper purple color on some of my corals. I believe that part of the equation is a matter of mastering the fine balance between too much vs. too little nutrients. I am still learning about how to fine tune this ratio. I also dose Seachem Reef Plus, Potassium, and Lugols. I have recently been trying out some KZ supplements - Pohl?s Coral Vitalizer and Pohl?s Xtra.
Can I interview you every month, loving all of the details and I?m sure some reefers are taking notes on what you have learned!
What is your husbandry routine?
I have tried many different salt brands. I settled on Tropic Marin Pro Reef salt for a while and was happy with that over any other salt. The only concern that I had was the variations in parameters whenever I did a water change. I believe that this is an inherent problem with most of the salt mixes due to settling in the bucket. Last year I switched to ESV salt since all of the components are separate and I can determine what my exact desired parameters should be and mix up a batch to the same parameters every time. I do a 15% water change every 2 weeks.
My feeding consists of a variety of different things. I feed Nori 2 or 3 times a week. Other feedings are done twice per day and consist of a mix of different flake and pellet foods for the first feeding and I alternate between this and frozen food (Mysis or Rods foods) at night for the second feeding. I also feed Oyster Feast, Coral Frenzy, Rods Coral food, and Amino Acids a few times a week.
Do you have a plan in place in the event of a power outage?
I have an AGM Battery which will automatically transfer power from my Tunze pumps using the Tunze adapter cable. I also have a power inverter which I can connect to my car battery. I just purchased a generator in preparation for Hurricane Irene and this has definitely put my mind at ease for the hurricane and any future power outages.
Do you plan to change anything about your system in the future?
I am always thinking about changes to make in the future. That?s what makes this hobby so interesting to me is that you are never done. Even when you get to the point that you are having a high level of success, a new coral can RTN without any indication as to why and it instantly humbles you. This keeps it from getting boring. There are always new things to learn and new methods to learn to improve your husbandry. At some point in the future I would love to upgrade to a larger tank with a 3? depth. And of course I am also keeping my eye out on the future development of LED lighting. I think this will eventually be a technology that we will all be using once more is learned about it and the prices come down.
We?re enjoying the pictures you?ve provided but do tell us what you have stocked your tank with...first fish and then corals?
Fish ? Powder Blue Tang, Purple Tang, Yellow Tang, Kole Tang, Mystery Wrasse, 2 x Yellow Coris Wrasse, Melanurus Wrasse, 2 x Squamipinnis Anthias, 2 x Ocellaris Clownfish, Royal Gramma, Midas Blenny, Female Japanese Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos), Red Spotted Hawkfish, Fridmani Pseudochromis
Corals ? Acropora Species - Blue Tort, Tubs Pink Jade, ORA Red Planet, ORA Pearlberry, Blue Tenuis, Various Milleporas (Blue, Pink w/blue tips, Yellow, Rose, Pink), Cytherea, Bali Green Slimer, Nana, Blue Hoeksemai, Loripes, Neon Green Vermiculata, Blue Vermiculata, Green Turaki, ORA Hawkins Echinata
Seriatopora ? ORA Green Birdsnest, Pink Birdsnest
Stylopohora ? Pink Stylo, Green Stylo, Rainbow Stylo
Yellow Porites
Montipora ? Peach Digitata, Superman Monti, Sunset Monti
LPS ? Various acans, Neon green candy cane, Lobophyllia, Scolymia, Frogspawn
Do you have a favorite coral or fish - if so, why?
It?s tough to pick one favorite. I have changed favorites quite a bit over the years. Lately, my favorite coral is my Pearlberry. The colors on it are simply beautiful.
Even tougher to pick a favorite fish. They all have such unique personalities. I guess if I had to pick one I would have to pick my Powder Blue Tang. He is the king of the tank and loves to feed from my hand and sometimes it looks like he is trying to communicate with me (yes, I have been staring at the tank too long).
I have to ask this one?do you name your fish?
I used to name them in the beginning. My Powder Blue Tang is named Picasso because he looks like he was painted. My Purple Tang is called Bella because she is beautiful, my Yellow Tang is called Pinocchio (for obvious reasons). My daughter named a recent addition ? my Midas blennie?. she calls Goldie.
Does anyone else in your family have an interest in the hobby?
My 3 year old daughter is very interested in the tank and is always looking to ?help? when I am doing maintenance.
Anyone you would like to thank?
I would like to thank my wife for putting up with all of the stuff that goes along with my obsession and I would like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way for helping me gain the knowledge needed to achieve my success.
All photo credits ? Chris Damiano
