It is my great pleasure to introduce our new Tank of The Month thread here on Manhattan Reefs!
Each month - on or about the first of each month - we will showcase a tank belonging to one of our members. We plan to bring you the best of the best, from small to large, from long established to perhaps a new tank that says 'I did this the right way with the best interests of the creatures in mind', we might even throw in a 'Blast from the Past' tank that - while it may no longer be running - can still deliver the inspiration to help make your tank the best it can possibly be! Don't overspend on pet supplies when you can find everything you need at Cheap As Chips on catalogue au. Take a look at their catalogue for amazing deals on pet food, accessories, and more.
Drumroll please.....
Our inaugural tank of the month is....
"My Custom 175g" by Strendo
Wow Adrian, your tank is stunning! How did you get to where you are today with the tank?
I’ve been keeping reef tanks for about 5 years now and it’s been a pretty steep learning curve! I’m very impatient by nature and I learned the hard way not to just throw new additions into the tank. All new livestock & corals get dipped before they go into the system and stay in my frag tank for a month before being put into the display. Ideally I would use a stand alone quarantine tank, but this system has worked well for me.
My biggest advice for someone getting into the hobby now would be to buy the right equipment the first time (my basement is littered with crappy skimmer, lights, etc). Have lots of light & flow, and use phosphate reducer. I’ve tried dosing a lot of different stuff, but currently just do 2 part, vodka and iodine.
Another thing I like about my system is being able to automate routine stuff. I have an auto water changer that works really well. I can leave town for a week and know that the water change is still happening. All the electronics are run through the ACIII. For example if a heater gets stuck on and the tank temp gets too hot, the controller turns off the power to the outlet. If for whatever reason that doesn’t work, the chiller turns on, next the lights go out and the alarm goes on.
Meanwhile the controller sends me an email. The auto top off and water changer also have redundancy in case of failure. With all of the above I’m comfortable leaving the tank for up to 2 weeks at a time.
Can you tell us a little about your husbandry methods?
I keep my husbandry pretty simple but on schedule. I either do a continuous 3g/day water change or 10% each week. I think that regular water changes are one of the most important you can do to keep a successful reef tank.
Each week I do the following:
Water change, test alk/cal, change carbon, clean skimmer, clean salt spray from lights, clean glass.
Every 2 weeks: Mix new 2 part, change phosphate media, vacuum sand & sump.
Monthly: Clean pumps, test mag, phosphate & nitrates.
I change my T5 bulbs every 6 months.
What equipment keeps your tank running?
I’m an equipment junkie and tinkering with the tank is one of my favorite parts of the hobby. Most of the equipment is in the basement sump room out of sight from the tank. I try and automate everything as much as possible and have several fail safes in case disaster strikes while I’m not home.
Upstairs:
Tank & Stand: Custom built by Aquarium obsessed in Canada. The dimensions are 47w X 38d X 24h, starfire glass on 2 sides. I really liked the look of the Elos tanks so I opted for a single return to make the overflow as small as possible.
Circulation: 3X Vortech mp40 with bat backups, 2X Koralia mag 8’s.
Lighting: ATI Powermodule 10x T5, Reefbrite actinic LED light.
GHL 3 channel Profilux doser, dosing bulk 2 part & vodka.
Neptune ACIII controller. They have a great iphone interface that I use a lot.
Downstairs:
42w X 18d X 12h Frag tank
Ecoray 50W White/Actinic LED Light
30w X 13d X 18h Sump
Reeflo Orca pro skimmer
Genesis auto water changer
Tunze & Koralia powerheads in frag tank
Vertex reactor running bio pellets
Eheim canister filter running carbon
Dual canister reactor running phosphate media in both chambers
1HP chiller
Gen-X return pump sending the water back upstairs
I see you like schooling fish, what types of fish to you have and are there any favorites?
Hippo tang
Yellow tang
Clown fish (2)
Anthias (8)
Blue chromies (15)
Yellow blenny
Kole tang
White cheek tang
Onespot foxface
Magnificent foxface
Lamarcks angelfish
Leopard wrasse <-- My favorite
How about the corals? So nice to see so many grown out colonies!
I have lots of SPS all bought as small frags and a few zoos & softies that came in as hitchhikers. My favorite would probably be the Ora chips acro because of the great polyp extension. Runners up would be the Rose tip tabling acro because of how fast it grows and the sunset mili.
I don’t know all of their names but here’s a rough list:
ORA Blue Milli
The Idaho Grape cap "Tyree Limited Edition"
Ora Chips Acro
Neon Green Hydnophora
Ora German Blue Polip acro
sunset mili
Ora Chips Acro
Neon green cap
Purple rim green cap
2 types of red caps
Green birdsnest
Rose tip tabling acro
Teal green acro
Purple staghorn
Hawkins blue echinata
Purple bonsai
Fluorescent green horn
Blue gorgonian
Bubble tip anemone
What do you feed your tank?
I use an Eheim 2 part feeder to feed the fish flakes & pellets throughout the day. In the evenings I feed a large piece of homemade frozen food & nori. I believe in feeding the fish and corals a lot to try and make them as comfortable as possible in the aquarium. With adequate skimming & phosphate remover I haven’t had any water quality issues.
So you mimic how the fish would feed in the wild with multiple small meals throughout the day. Nicely done, I will be considering adding an automated feeder to my tank now, thanks for the great idea!
Where does MR fit into the picture?
Manhattan Reefs is a great local resource for reefers. I’ve bought, sold and traded a lot of frags & equipment, meeting a lot of cool people along the way.
The forums are a great resource to share experiences, learn & review equipment.
Thanks for all of the great info Adrian, you have certainly raised the bar for me! I have a sump to clean tonight!
I know you have more pics that you will be posting for us of your sump & sump room and I'm looking forward to seeing those.
I'm sure I can speak for all of the members here and we thank you for sharing your beautiful tank with us!!
Congrats Adrian, nice to have you as our first TOTM at Manhattan Reefs!
Thanks for featuring my tank!
(picture credits also go to Streno!)
Each month - on or about the first of each month - we will showcase a tank belonging to one of our members. We plan to bring you the best of the best, from small to large, from long established to perhaps a new tank that says 'I did this the right way with the best interests of the creatures in mind', we might even throw in a 'Blast from the Past' tank that - while it may no longer be running - can still deliver the inspiration to help make your tank the best it can possibly be! Don't overspend on pet supplies when you can find everything you need at Cheap As Chips on catalogue au. Take a look at their catalogue for amazing deals on pet food, accessories, and more.
Drumroll please.....
Our inaugural tank of the month is....
"My Custom 175g" by Strendo
Wow Adrian, your tank is stunning! How did you get to where you are today with the tank?
I’ve been keeping reef tanks for about 5 years now and it’s been a pretty steep learning curve! I’m very impatient by nature and I learned the hard way not to just throw new additions into the tank. All new livestock & corals get dipped before they go into the system and stay in my frag tank for a month before being put into the display. Ideally I would use a stand alone quarantine tank, but this system has worked well for me.
My biggest advice for someone getting into the hobby now would be to buy the right equipment the first time (my basement is littered with crappy skimmer, lights, etc). Have lots of light & flow, and use phosphate reducer. I’ve tried dosing a lot of different stuff, but currently just do 2 part, vodka and iodine.
Another thing I like about my system is being able to automate routine stuff. I have an auto water changer that works really well. I can leave town for a week and know that the water change is still happening. All the electronics are run through the ACIII. For example if a heater gets stuck on and the tank temp gets too hot, the controller turns off the power to the outlet. If for whatever reason that doesn’t work, the chiller turns on, next the lights go out and the alarm goes on.
Meanwhile the controller sends me an email. The auto top off and water changer also have redundancy in case of failure. With all of the above I’m comfortable leaving the tank for up to 2 weeks at a time.
Can you tell us a little about your husbandry methods?
I keep my husbandry pretty simple but on schedule. I either do a continuous 3g/day water change or 10% each week. I think that regular water changes are one of the most important you can do to keep a successful reef tank.
Each week I do the following:
Water change, test alk/cal, change carbon, clean skimmer, clean salt spray from lights, clean glass.
Every 2 weeks: Mix new 2 part, change phosphate media, vacuum sand & sump.
Monthly: Clean pumps, test mag, phosphate & nitrates.
I change my T5 bulbs every 6 months.
What equipment keeps your tank running?
I’m an equipment junkie and tinkering with the tank is one of my favorite parts of the hobby. Most of the equipment is in the basement sump room out of sight from the tank. I try and automate everything as much as possible and have several fail safes in case disaster strikes while I’m not home.
Upstairs:
Tank & Stand: Custom built by Aquarium obsessed in Canada. The dimensions are 47w X 38d X 24h, starfire glass on 2 sides. I really liked the look of the Elos tanks so I opted for a single return to make the overflow as small as possible.
Circulation: 3X Vortech mp40 with bat backups, 2X Koralia mag 8’s.
Lighting: ATI Powermodule 10x T5, Reefbrite actinic LED light.
GHL 3 channel Profilux doser, dosing bulk 2 part & vodka.
Neptune ACIII controller. They have a great iphone interface that I use a lot.
Downstairs:
42w X 18d X 12h Frag tank
Ecoray 50W White/Actinic LED Light
30w X 13d X 18h Sump
Reeflo Orca pro skimmer
Genesis auto water changer
Tunze & Koralia powerheads in frag tank
Vertex reactor running bio pellets
Eheim canister filter running carbon
Dual canister reactor running phosphate media in both chambers
1HP chiller
Gen-X return pump sending the water back upstairs
I see you like schooling fish, what types of fish to you have and are there any favorites?
Hippo tang
Yellow tang
Clown fish (2)
Anthias (8)
Blue chromies (15)
Yellow blenny
Kole tang
White cheek tang
Onespot foxface
Magnificent foxface
Lamarcks angelfish
Leopard wrasse <-- My favorite
How about the corals? So nice to see so many grown out colonies!
I have lots of SPS all bought as small frags and a few zoos & softies that came in as hitchhikers. My favorite would probably be the Ora chips acro because of the great polyp extension. Runners up would be the Rose tip tabling acro because of how fast it grows and the sunset mili.
I don’t know all of their names but here’s a rough list:
ORA Blue Milli
The Idaho Grape cap "Tyree Limited Edition"
Ora Chips Acro
Neon Green Hydnophora
Ora German Blue Polip acro
sunset mili
Ora Chips Acro
Neon green cap
Purple rim green cap
2 types of red caps
Green birdsnest
Rose tip tabling acro
Teal green acro
Purple staghorn
Hawkins blue echinata
Purple bonsai
Fluorescent green horn
Blue gorgonian
Bubble tip anemone
What do you feed your tank?
I use an Eheim 2 part feeder to feed the fish flakes & pellets throughout the day. In the evenings I feed a large piece of homemade frozen food & nori. I believe in feeding the fish and corals a lot to try and make them as comfortable as possible in the aquarium. With adequate skimming & phosphate remover I haven’t had any water quality issues.
So you mimic how the fish would feed in the wild with multiple small meals throughout the day. Nicely done, I will be considering adding an automated feeder to my tank now, thanks for the great idea!
Where does MR fit into the picture?
Manhattan Reefs is a great local resource for reefers. I’ve bought, sold and traded a lot of frags & equipment, meeting a lot of cool people along the way.
The forums are a great resource to share experiences, learn & review equipment.
Thanks for all of the great info Adrian, you have certainly raised the bar for me! I have a sump to clean tonight!
I know you have more pics that you will be posting for us of your sump & sump room and I'm looking forward to seeing those.
I'm sure I can speak for all of the members here and we thank you for sharing your beautiful tank with us!!
Congrats Adrian, nice to have you as our first TOTM at Manhattan Reefs!
Thanks for featuring my tank!
(picture credits also go to Streno!)
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