Editor's Note:
Clicking on any image in this article will take you to different
photo galleries of all of the images (and more!) featured in
this article. Galleries are fish,
coral,
and equipment.
I originally started
in the reef hobby about 15 years ago. Over the years, I, like
most reefkeepers, have had various size tanks. I have had a
1500 liter (400 gallon) sps dominated tank, a 200 liter (50
gallon) tank, and have now settled on my current 700 liter system
(185 gallon). This is my best tank.
I am a moderator
of a forum in Israel that deals with all aspects of aquaria
and ponds, including freshwater and ponds. You can view my webpage
and the forums at
http://www.dag.co.il .
The tank is glass,
set up in-wall, for optimal viewing. The current tank was started
in August 2003. The tank is 120 x 70 x 80cm. The sump is 60
x 40 x 60cm (40 gallons) and used to be used as an algal scrubber
with Caulerpa and mangroves, although that has recently
been removed. The return pumps are (2) Aqua medic 3500 and a
Quiet One.
I run a DIY, HSA
1000-style skimmer with a Beckett injector. The skimmer is 138cm
(54 in) in height and runs beautifully.
This tank is driven
by 2 Tunze pumps on a multicontroller as a wavemaking device.
Lighting is (2)
250 watt Metal Halides running 10000K Coralvue bulbs run on
electronic ballasts. I use Spiderlight reflectors to increase
the output of the halides. I also have (2) T8 36 watt actinics
as supplement. The lighting schedule is actinics on for 14 hours
(11am-1am) and the halides on for 9 hours (3pm-12am).
The maintenance
schedule on the tank includes a 50 liter water change with Instant
Ocean monthly using RO water.
