| I think the pics show the results pretty well. When I started this hobby I didn't know anything about it, not until I came across SRK on the net, then I purchased the book and it just made everything simpler and more understandable. The results are fantastic! |
| The hood is made of poplar, inside lined with 1/8" mirror Plexiglas, which helps boost the output of lamps and protects the wood as well. 3 exhaust fans, 1 on each side blowing in and 1 on top taking hot air out. |
| Believe it or not there are 4 anemones here on the right, clownfish is constantly moving back & forth between 3 of them, defending his territory. Other clownfish lives with hammer coral. |
| The hammer coral has also tripled in size. I have a hard coral that I received from G.A.R.F. that I can't identify but the growth on that is amazing. Before I installed eggcrate I had none of this happening in tank, rock was buried in sand not getting circulation, no true colors in corals or anemones, now I have no substrate at all and bottom covered in coralline algae. Everything just looks cleaner and healthier. |
| The club coral in center tank was only about 3" and was only 2 fingers and now is over 7" with over 20 fingers within less than a year! |
| Lighting consists of Icecap 660 ballast, 4-48" lamps, 2 actinics, 2actinic white and 1-40 watt 48" 20,000 K. I added the 20,000 to act as the dawn/dusk cycle and also to add a little blue to the color of the tank. With all the coralline the tank seemed a little too pink, it also makes all the colors a little more crisper. Lights and fans controlled by two timers, on 1pm/off 11pm. |
| Right side of the reef |
| Check out all the coraline! I never thought I would have to actually scrape it off the glass. |
| Sump and skimmer are 1/4 plexiglass; sump is divided into 3 separate compartments 1st. receives water from tank via overflow box and also holds skimmer pump (Rio 2100, 600gph) 2nd. holds filter material and receives return from skimmer, 3rd. holds heater and has outlets for return pump to tank (Little giant 800+ gph) water returns to tank through spray bar bottom back of tank. Skimmer is 48" tall, 7"square, 1/2" inlet 3/4 discharge holds 4 1"x3" DIY basswood airstones (SRK tip). |
| Water is filtered through Coralife 50 gpd. R.O. then D.I. filter. Evap. is aprox. 1-1 1/2 gpd. Which is replenished with a daily drip of kalkwasser. I found that a mixture of pickling lime (SRK tip) and a product called Reef Success Kalk is giving the tank layer upon layer of coralline algae. Other additives are strontium and iodine. Water change is 30gal about every 2 1/2 wks. There is no biological filter, the rock handles that, additional circulation is from 2 maxi-jet power heads. Everything in tank is thriving! |
| Yellow tang and massive coraline algae! |