Reef of the Month, February 2019
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Drum Roll Please
We are delighted to announce our February 2019 Reef of the Month belongs to our forum member, sever10, from Poland. Sever10 has a beautiful reef which you will see below. He has an interesting build thread, which we highly recommend reading, also. We have all of his tank information below, some spectacular photos of his reef, and his answers to some of our questions.
Enjoy.
Display Tank, front view.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Display Tank, with sump shown.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Close-up photo of sump.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
System Profile Questions:
Display tank: 900 liters
Glass or Acrylic: Glass
Stand: Aluminum construction
Sump: + 250 liters
Refugium:? Inside the sump few kinds of algae
Grow-out tank: No
Protein skimmer: Aquaforest AF 250+
Carbon/phosphate filtration: Reactor AF 150 x 2.
1. AF Carbon+ AF Phospate Minus and AF ZeoMix ,
2. AF Life Bio Fil 7liters
Return pump: Aquabee 8000 24V
Water circulation: 2x Tunze 6105
Lighting (display): AF Hybrid T5 10x54W + Led 9x10W
Lighting (refugium): small 15W led light
Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing: Aquaforest Component 123+ dosing with KhLab core 7 Pacific Sun
Kalkwasser reactor: No
Auto top-off: Pacific Sun
Heating/cooling: 2 heaters 300W
System control: Profilux 2
Water Circulation and Flow Summary and Objectives: 2 x tune 6105 (old school)
Trachyphyllia, a type of large polyp stony coral.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Water Parameters:
* Temp: 25
* pH: 7,9-8,2
* Specific gravity: 35 ppt
* NO3: 4-5
* Ca: 410-430
* Alk: 7,7- 8
* Mg: 1300- 1350
* PO4: 0,02-0,04
* Ammonia and nitrites: 0
Goniopora, sometimes called a "flower pot" coral.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Lighting Summary and Objectives:
Photoperiod
* Display tank: from 7 am till noon led lights only. At noon 4x T5 starts and 4 more T5’s start at 2 pm
- 7 am – 12 pm – led lights only
- 12 pm – 5.30 pm – 4x T5
- 2 pm – 7 pm – 4x T5
- 7 pm – 10 pm – blue leds
* Refugium: 15W leds 10 pm – 7 am for algae and pH stabilization
Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives: Standard and generally what I have…
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives: I’m happy with my current parameters and hoping to keep I the way they are
Scarus quoyi. Or Scarus parrotfish.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Genicanthus bellus.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Tank Inhabitants—Fish: (Please List)
1. Acanthurus leucosternon
2. Acanthurus mauliceps
3. Acanthurus strigosus
4. Zebrasoma xanthurum
5. Zebrasoma flavescens
6. Labroides
7. 2x Nemateleotris magnifica
8. Hexatenia
9. 2x ocelaris
10. Chrisyptera taupou
11. Pseudanthias bartlettorum
12. Paracanthurus hepatus
13. Genicanthus bellus
14. Splendidus synchiropus
15. Namateleoris decora
16. 2x Pterapogon kauderni
17. Pseudocheillnus hexataenia
18. Scarus quoyi
19. Centropyge loricula
Acanthurus mauliceps
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Paracanthurus hepatus
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Other Invertebrates:
1. Linckia Laevigata
2. 2x Astropecten polyacanthus
3. 2x L. Debelius shrimp
4. 2x L. amboinensis shrimp
5. 2x L.Wundermanni
Interior Close-up.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Another interior close-up using different lighting.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Centropyge loricula
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Tank Inhabitants— Corals: (Option to List)
1. Mix of SPS, LPS, and soft coral.
Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?
Diving was my great passion years before I got into the reefing hobby. It allowed me to see amazing aquatic life up close and aroused a desire to have my own part of the ocean at home.
How long have you been doing this?
I've been doing this for 20 years.
How did you start?
I bought a used, functioning aquarium. It was much cheaper than creating my own set, but after a time I realized that corals were not doing as great as I'd wanted. I started improvements, slowly changing into better equipment. All the time I looked for knowledge, reading, getting to know more people from the hobby and day by day I was becoming more aware of what I'm doing with my tank.
When did you start this current (featured) tank?
I created the featured tank 6 years ago, but about 3 years later lack of time made me change it to something less demanding.
Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?
Nature of course! As I said, my passion for aquatic life stared with diving. Guess the beauty of the ocean will never cease to amaze me. As for inspiring reefers, I guess, I value my business partner Damian the most. For his amazing knowledge about corals and a strong will to share it even with less experienced reefers.
Any good or bad surprises?
I've mistaken Component 2+ bottle with AF Perfect Water, so basically I've changed my water 20 litres of KH solution... It was a disaster ending up with 40 dKH in my tank. After a few water changes everything came back to normal, but such a sudden KH raise was a shock for some corals.
What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?
I'm happy with my current equipment, and I am not going to change it any time soon. I just want to keep the tank the way it is – healthy and thriving. As I said, lack of time is the thing that holds me back, so I have to stick to some less demanding corals. Though, I must admit, I'd really love to have some rare species of corals and surely one day my tank will get some new, exotic inhabitants.
Any advice for others and especially beginners?
Only patience and consequence can keep you going in this hobby! There's no one formula for a perfect tank, so you should never forget that all the fun is in constant reefing (with all ups and downs of your tank) not in reaching excellence.
Final Thoughts?
Passion is the key! Without a great feeling for diving and corals and without a strong desire to "keep some ocean at home" all the obstacles and my own mistakes would have made me quit the hobby a long time ago. Fortunately, I'm the one with the passion and a strong desire to share it with others.
Another view of DT.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
Another view of DT.
All photos are courtesy of @sever10, ©2019, All Rights Reserved.
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We encourage all our readers to join the Reef2Reef forum. It’s easy to register, free, and reefkeeping is much easier and more fun in a community of fellow aquarists. We pride ourselves on a warm and family-friendly forum where everyone is welcome. You will also find lots of contests and giveaways with our sponsors.
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Reef2Reef thanks @sever10 for sharing his tank with us, answering detailed questions, and allowing us to use his beautiful photos in order to make Reef of the Month a regular feature.
