Despite the fact
that I have written about, in my editorials, various aspects
of my reef keeping experiences over the years, aquarists have
asked me to update my adventures in our hobby - see email below.
So, I decided to do the Featured Aquarium for the next two issues
of the Advanced Aquarist. In this issue I'll focus on
the animals I now have in my 10-foot reef tank, which with the
sump and refugium holds about 700-gallons of artificially made
seawater. In the next issue I'll focus on the equipment, water
motion, feeding, water changes, lighting, etc.
There are many magnificent
reef tanks kept by hobbyists and professionals today, many of
which are far more beautiful than mine. If I have any distinction,
it is in the length of time that some of my animals have been
with me. Although I had been keeping reef fish in fish only
tanks since the late nineteen sixties, I set up my first "modern"
reef tank in 1983. I say modern because in the early seventies
I had a 125-gallon invertebrate tank where I had modest success
with nonphotsynthetic invertebrates. In those days I didn't
even know what a photosynthetic invertebrate was. Keeping hermatypic
corals was thought impossible then - how the times have changed.
Just yesterday I trimmed out of my Acropora colonies
a bucketful of branches to be given to the LFS. As most of you
know, when the conditions are right Acropora grows like
a weed.
Hi Terry,
Another addict
here...
Have a 200g
reef which I intend to enter in the plethora of "Tank of the
Month" sweepstakes across the web... your publication first...
after I retire from the military and have time to submit a
winner! (still a few years out...)
Anyway... I
am sort of a contemporary (30 years in the hobby) and have
followed most of your published work thru out the years...
was wondering if you have a list of your current collection
of fish published anywhere? From what I can recall, I suspect
you have a 300g display tank (?) w/ other secondary fuges,
etc. integrated into the system.
I am a very
careful collector and go to great lengths to research every
specimen before the decision is made to add one or a pair
to my tanks. And, like you I have an affinity for Tangs.
So, was wondering
if you could share how many and what fish you have in your
system? I take your system to be one of the reference standards
out there. It is a sample of what can be done with the right
study, husbandry, dedication, etc. etc. you know what I mean.
I have many pictures that you have published so I am already
aware of many in your almost "one of a kind" collection...
just wanted to see what other specimens you have been able
to integrate into the whole.
If you are
otherwise too busy, or have reservations about this, I understand,
but you know what they say... "It does not hurt to ask".
Thank-you for
all your contributions to our favorite pastime!
Regards,
Joe Desouza
It seems logical
to start with my oldest animals and move forward in time from
there.
My first reef was
a 90-gallon tank (set up in 1983), illuminated by quartz security
lights, into which I added a pair of tomato clowns. One cantankerous
Amphiprion frenatus survives to this day, making it 21
plus years in captivity. During most of its years it has made
my Euphyllia ancora its home.
My Euphyllia ancora
has been with me for about 20-years, during which time it has
grown from a 3-inch fragment to an animal that has a diameter
of about 2-feet, in spite of the fact that I have broken off
sections for trade.
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In 1986 I set up
my second reef, a 150-gallon tank. During that year I added
several surgeonfish that survive to this day: Zebrasoma flavescens
and Zebrasoma desjardinii. They have been my guests for
18 plus years.
Sometime in the
late 1980s Joe Yaiullo, who had set up a 200-gallon reef tank
in the basement of the New York Public Aquarium gave me a 4
polyp colony of Blasstomussa merleti. I still have it
today. As an interesting side note the curators at the New York
Public Aquarium insisted that what Joe was doing in the basement
tank was impossible, that he was sneaking in new animals every
day to make his man made reef look good. How times have changed;
now most public aquaria have reef displays.
Sometime in the
early 1990s I set up my third reef, a 220-gallon tank. This
was to be the last reef tank I set up in Brooklyn, NY. The last
major innovation was to have all three tanks drain into a common
sump in the basement. At the end of 1998 I moved to Cape Cod,
where I set up the current 10-foot tank, to which I transferred
all the animals. In the 220, I raised a juvenile Pomacanthusnavarchus and Lienardella fasciata to maturity.
Both have been with me for better than 10-years. Also around
this time I added a Acanthurus leucosternon, and a Acanthurus
Achilles, one in the 220 and the other in the 150. When
I moved and they found themselves in the same 10-foot reef tank
they divided the tank up. The Achilles on the left and the leucosternon
on the right. About a year ago the Achilles jumped out, and
about a month ago I got a new Achilles. I made sure to get an
Achilles twice the size of the leucosternon, which was established.
It's only in the last few days that the Achilles is able to
hold its ground with the smaller fish. I have to confess that
Achilles are my favorite fish, but can be a problem to feed,
especially large specimens. However, they usually can be started
feeding with sheets of nori tied to a rock or the like. I have
also found that they will accept OSI marineflakes, and not other
flake food. I suspect it's because OSI has a very strong smell.
Unless you have a special reason for getting a mature fish get
a juvenile, like the one I had for 10-years. In general, juveniles
are more adaptable, but need to be fed more often.
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I collected this
Muricea sp with Julian Sprung and Peter Wilkens around
1994 while diving in the Bahamas. I'm not sure of its identification,
but it's in the Plexauridae family. It was also around this
time that Alf Nilsen came to the US and at a LFS insisted that
I buy a nondescript brown fragment. He was right; it grew into
this wonderfully emerald green encrusting Echinophyllia
sp. And around this time I added to my 220 a small Leptoseris
sp fragment. As you can see it has grown into beautiful plating
coral. It is content to be near the bottom of the tank, where
it receives relatively low light.
I don't remember
when I got a small fragment of green Stylophora sp -
it was some time in the mid 1990s. It grew quickly, but really
took off when given more room in my 10-foot tank. It now measures
30-inches across. The same is true for the Plerogyra sinuosa
pictured here with a Balistoides conspicillum and Pomacanthus
maculosus. The clown trigger has tripled in size since I
get at a MACNA over a year ago, and the maculosus was given
to me to save it by a LFS. It was in terrible shape, but several
months in my refugium where it had plenty to eat brought it
around, allowing me to transfer it to the display tank.
The tank is filled
with Acroporas that were given to me as fragments over
the years and grew into colonies. Here are pictures of some
of them. The green Acropora fragment came from Greg Schiemer's
beautiful reef tank.
The bottom of the
tank is covered with mushrooms, button polyps, Fungia
sp (babies of a mother colony that died), and Pavona
sp.
Without a wide angle
lens I found it difficult to photograph the whole tank, so here
it is in sections. There are more animals not shown here, and
next issue I'll include those.
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