To answer a few questions i so rudely missed (my appologies)
Josh:
Amazing! Can you post some more specs about the tank? Lighting, supplements, maintenance?
Lighting consists of 2 x 400w 10k SE BLV's set into mini luminarcs that run a 9 hour cycle and there are two banks of 54w actinics (one front, one rear) running ATI true actinic t5's that run for 11 hours with a 1 hour overlap either side of the halides.
Although this isnt a huge amount of light compared to many systems in relation to total watts/sqm of surface area at only 396w/sqm its only 24" water depth, so the overal par values are still quite good throughout the tank. Plus i'm a big believer in heavy feeding which imo negates older thinking that placed light intensity above the need for actually feeding corals. I think nowadays its widely accepted that with good feeding there is far less need for such intense lighting than we used to believe.
With regards to suppliments, basically i dont use any addatives beyond the odd batch of raw chemicals to solve occasional minor chemical imbalances with regards to Ca,Mg,Alk, with everything else supplied via the calcium reactor media.
Testing is done weekly with regards to main core element levels, whilst the free nutrient load is tested monthly.
Maintanance consists of the following.
1: Clean skimmer cup and riser every 3 or 4 days on everage with a full reactor body cleaning once per month.
2: Po4 reactor media swapped completely every 3 months with one third new media added halfway through.
3: Carbon is changed every 14-21 days at the least.
4: Change T5's every 8 - 12 months.
5: Change halides every 14 months.
6: A One quarter slice of the DSB is replaced every 12 months, and the intank shallow sand bed is topped up every 12 months.
7: The tank gets all internal panels cleaned and scraped off once every month with the weir comb cleaned at the same time.
8: WD40 is sprayed onto the exposed parts of the sequence pump shafts monthly to prevent salt/damp corrosion.
9: All 5 sequences are stripped annualy with any seal kits required replaced at that time (one kit so far over 2 years constant use)
10: Any detritus that settles out in the main overflow tank is cleard out every couple of weeks.
andf thats about it as far as maintanance goes. in fact on a daily or weekly basis i do fairly little.
feeding is on the heavy side with about 5 or six blocks of frozen foods spread over several feeds throughout the day, with pellet and nori fed ontop of that and frozen rotifers and red plankton fed to the corals at night. additionaly i feed the dsb critters a mussel or two over two weeks ontop of what waste they get from the main tank.
Jhale:
It looks like you built the rock work before the tank was finished?
now that is different
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Hi Jonathan, yes, i did it this way becouse it allowed me to work within the footprint of the base without the hinderence of having to work 'within the tank' once its sides were on. the rocks were removed for curing once hardned and whilst the sides were fitted, then re-installed later on prior to filling with water. all in all it was a very easy way of doing things.
regards
Simon.
