R2R Reef of the Month Spotlight: Mark's Rimless NPS Paradise - May 2017

[ReeferMaddness843]

Completely blown away every time I see this tank. Beautiful! Great work!!

 

[OctoTech]

This is truly an amazing tank! Love it! Great job!!

 

[shred5]

Nice looking tank..
Questions on feeding?
Most people I have read about or have known with NPS tanks have some form of 24 hours a day feeding like using dosing pumps and screw type feeders. They sometimes have a fridge hooked up to keep the food fresh..
Dendros, sun corals and some gorgonia are different and do not need allot but other nps corals like chili, carnation and some gorgonia that need feeding almost 24 hours a day or will starve over time? Any plans on adding 24 hour feeding and what you would do? Any ideas on addressing that a few seem to mainly feed on bacteria too?
I have been going back and forth several times on a smaller NPS tank my self for the challenge but feeding requirements are so heavy it is hard to do and maybe to much time for me.

Nutrient exporting is really hard to with that amount of food.
Siporax is a great idea. I was thinking a large fuge to help with nutrients and also allot of extra food gravity fed. i was thinking bags of matrix and zeolites for nutrient export and increasing bacteria for food.

 

[mort]

From Reef Builders:
Have you ever wondered why you’ve (most likely) never seen aRhizotrochus typus available for sale at your LFS? The obvious reason is that their suppliers probably don’t have them because this coral species is simply not legal to collect, harvest or import into CITES participating countries, including the USA Go ahead, see if you can find any exportation quotas for ANY Rhizotrochusspecies, don’t worry, we’ll wait. “But Jake, I see them for sale all over the net” you’ll say and the reason that is is because once the illicit coral has cleared customs and entered the country, there are no laws governing the ownership and resale of this species; all of the regulation takes place on the front end of importation and once they are in the animals are free and clear. We’ve tried to inform some other blogs of the black market nature of these corals but our comments just get deleted and there seems to be a general distaste for even bringing up the legality of Rhizotrochus in the US aquarium trade. Since there are no CITES permits for the importation of Rhizotrochus into the US, Rhizos are intentionally shipped with paperwork for either Euphyllia or Catalyphyllia, Torch and Elegance corals, since these species can look very similar when their tissues are withdrawn. You know what that’s called? Smuggling. The only exception to the CITES permitting quota process is the country of Australia where exporters are alloted collection quotas based on tonnage. However, Rhizotrochus typus does not even occur in Australia so any vendor trying to pass off Aussie Rhizos is outright lying or misinformed.

I have a rhizo that was captive bred/raised which makes them legal. It came from Germany and I only know of a handful that have been available in the last decade (however we had a dodgy character who brought in a few illegal ones and other species, he spent a while in prison for the trouble).


M&m congrats on the tank. I saw the write up on a recent totm win on a English forum. Nice that such a tank is getting worldwide praise.

 

[TonapahNorth]

impressive and worthy of ROTM for sure. You make it sound so simple. That's part of the beauty of your tank. Nice work.

 

[aquavista99]

Simply amazing! Photography, coral and fish selection. Speechless. Enjoyed it all.

 

[Victoria M]

I loved reading about your beautiful tank. Inspiring.

 

[nitro]

Incredible tank, I could look at it all day...

 

[ngoodermuth]

Congratulations, well deserved!

 

[doodledreads]

Stunning.

 

[Cary]

Beautiful! Congrats on ROTM. I love Chalk Bass. IMO they are very under appreciated.

 

[BluewaterLa]

Nice work with that tank from beginning to end.
The whole system, hardware, and theme are well thought out and planned. This is extraordinary tank featuring some niche corals thT need a certain environment to thrive and you sir have done a fantabulous job !
I'm impressed not only with your set up but the need to be different is something I admire. I wish you many more years of success with this tank and sit in awe at the stunning selection of healthy life thriving within your ecosystem.
It's easy to see that you did your research to provide the proper environment and food sources for such under appreciated deep dwellers.
Congratulations on the recognition of your reef.
Good luck and happy reefing
BluewaterLa /Mike

 

[mtraylor]

This is a wonderful aquarium. Congratulations!

 

[SamsReef]

Absolutely love this tank and the concept of NPS tank. Imagine the things you don't have to worry about (at least not that much) - cleaning algae from glass every couple of days, cyano, all that hair algae, lots of dosing, constantly checking alkalinity, constantly shuttling between LEDs and T5, insane amount of flow, being paranoid about all those Acro pests...OMG

Sam

 

[sebastiaan1985]

Congrats! Well deserved TOTM and nice change from the SPS-tanks.
Really nice to see something completely different and all seems thriving!

 

[MatsReef]

Beautiful tank!

 

[Reefinometry]

Nothing better than building a tank like this that stands out from the rest. I see so many people trying to achieve the same looking tanks and yours is the most unique and I think that's what makes it so great.

 

[Bob Bennett]

No, there is no chiller, tank is located in my basement, ambient temperature stays constant throughout a year there around 70 F.

I am lucky to live in Chicago, honestly within 30 min. drive I have at least 10 really good stores that have great selection of livestock and coral. Most sun corals fist sized colony I can get for anywhere from $30-$50. All livestock is bought locally , no online purchases. If I want something different, couple of LFS can get me almost anything I require, of course for the right price

answer to all the question I thought of wile drooling, she's a beauty!

 

[Raymond Gathright]

From Reef Builders:
Have you ever wondered why you’ve (most likely) never seen aRhizotrochus typus available for sale at your LFS? The obvious reason is that their suppliers probably don’t have them because this coral species is simply not legal to collect, harvest or import into CITES participating countries, including the USA Go ahead, see if you can find any exportation quotas for ANY Rhizotrochusspecies, don’t worry, we’ll wait. “But Jake, I see them for sale all over the net” you’ll say and the reason that is is because once the illicit coral has cleared customs and entered the country, there are no laws governing the ownership and resale of this species; all of the regulation takes place on the front end of importation and once they are in the animals are free and clear. We’ve tried to inform some other blogs of the black market nature of these corals but our comments just get deleted and there seems to be a general distaste for even bringing up the legality of Rhizotrochus in the US aquarium trade. Since there are no CITES permits for the importation of Rhizotrochus into the US, Rhizos are intentionally shipped with paperwork for either Euphyllia or Catalyphyllia, Torch and Elegance corals, since these species can look very similar when their tissues are withdrawn. You know what that’s called? Smuggling. The only exception to the CITES permitting quota process is the country of Australia where exporters are alloted collection quotas based on tonnage. However, Rhizotrochus typus does not even occur in Australia so any vendor trying to pass off Aussie Rhizos is outright lying or misinformed.

Thanks for the information. Had you not said anything about this type of coral, I would have never known, or known what to watch out for. Kudos... Raymond

 

[Raymond Gathright]

Mark, all I can say is wow... That's an absolutely beautiful aquarium, and you truly deserve the honor. I have thought about getting a sun coral... or two... I just don't know where I would put one. I have the room, but I thought I had everything planned out. That was until I saw this beautiful aquarium. I may have to give tings a re-tink ;-) By the way, I love the actenic... My favorite time to watch my reef (beginning though it is) is at the transition from daytime to night. I just love the blues...
Congratulations again! Raymond