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Reef Pumpkin Carver
Hello my fellow hobbyists. My name is Chris and I'm from New York. I've spent many years on the forums, became great friends and peers with a ton of you guys. I would like to thank you, R2R, and the team, for giving me the opportunity to be awarded the ROTM!
System Profile:
Water Circulation and Flow Summary and Objectives:
My plan definitely is to adjust flow over time. I’m a huge water circulation guy as I find it to be very important for the corals. I've always snuck a few pumps in as corals have grown out!
Water Parameters:
What salt mix do you use?
I use Instant Ccean Reef Crystals. I've tried nearly every mainstream brand of salt mix. Every time I came back to Reef Crystals, I've noticed a huge improvement, so it's a salt I will stick with for life.
What kind of rock did you start with?
I did start with dry cured rock. I did struggle a bit in the beginning from the system being too sterile, so I did swap most of the rock out for the Haitian stuff. That changed everything for me. My latest system I had setup was a 300-gallon Reef Savvy. I imported Jakarta live rock and cured it completely with the use of sea urchins and starfish. I was able to get the rock barren of any sponges or any potential hitchhikers. From using live rock, I was able to achieve a thriving reef tank almost immediately, and going forward on any new systems I will be using completely cured and cleaned live rock.
What is your substrate?
I use CaribSea Fiji pink sand in my displays. I absolutely love the look of it, but it's not viable in a shallow reef.
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:
I do not live with my system. I moved from the location right before I had kids. I did not have it in me to break it down. Although it's 10 minutes away from me, I needed a way to design my system to buy some time before troubleshooting issues.
What and how do you dose for the big 3 (alk/cal/mag)?
I distribute the load of coral skeleton chemicals between kalk, a calcium reactor, and two part. My system uses close to 3.2 dkh daily. Whether it's coral growth or some precipitation, it's still a nightmare scenario to run into. Although I'm super obliged to keep risk of equipment, anything complicated to that matter, down to a minimum. If I had solely relied on one piece of equipment to run alkalinity/calcium, and let's say it were to fail, my system is done for. At least with the three, if one were to fail, I would have a 2–3-day period to troubleshoot before things took a turn for the worst.
Are you dosing anything else for your reef health (carbon dosing, aminos, etc.)?
At this very moment I am trying the Fauna Marin A and K
Prior to that I have not tried or dosed anything other than a bit of DIY potassium supplement.
Lighting Summary and Objectives:
Photoperiod:
Reef Brites come on at 8:45 am. T5 blue channel kicks on at 11:00 am. Whites kick on at 1:00 pm. My tank lighting runs full blast for 5.5 hours. Blues go down at 7:30 pm and Reef Brites stay on till 8:45 pm.
Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:
What is your export strategy?
The amount of food you feed is what contributes to the amount of waste. Stock your fish properly to your skimmer and maintenance, and you should not run into issues, even after 8 years.
What is your maintenance routine?
I do a 25 to 30 percent water change every Sunday. If I'm not home that Sunday, I do it the day I get home. I have done this for 8 years now, and it has made it very easy to do. The tank has been a huge success with this way of reefing.
I clean my pumps and frag racks every two months. If I let them go, they die down in efficiency, which definitely is not a good thing.
Tank Inhabitants - Fish:
Maculiceps tang
Mauritius gem tang
Purple tang
(1) candy basslet
(1) swissguard basslet
Rhomboid fairy wrasse
(2) chaoti wrasse
(3) spotted mandarins
(4) black storm clownfish
(2) six line wrasse
Other Invertebrates:
Conches
Trochus
Bumblebee snails
Baby tuxedo urchins
Emerald crabs
Hermit crabs
Tank Inhabitants— Corals:
I probably have over 400-500 different pieces somehow packed in that system.
I do have multiple strains of Acropora
Montipora
Favites
Favia
Acans
Blastos
Echinophora
Oxypora
Diptastea
Leptospirosis
Discosoma
Saint Thomas
Rhodactis
Solomon and Pacific Ricordea
Anacropora
Euphyllia hammers and torches
Tons of Gonipora
Alve
Bernardo and other short tentacle species
Zoanthis
Palys
Micromussa
Bowerbankies
How did you decide what to keep in your tank?
Through failures, I kinda have figured out what fish I want without any issues.
Any stocking regrets?
I do not have any stocking regrets.
Any fish, invert, or coral you will NEVER keep?
I wouldn't keep any of the non-reef safe Inverts.
What do you love most about the hobby?
It is definitely the community and passion. It is such an awesome hobby! I have met incredible people and made it a career as well.
How long have you been doing this?
I've been in the hobby since 2009. My town was like ground zero for Hurricane Sandy which swept me out for a while, but I came back into it with passion!
Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?
There was a local pet shop that was close by when I was growing up. I used to go in every Sunday. They had a shark system they would feed around noon time, and the fascinating corals just roped me into it.
Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?
I find inspiration in the reef aquarium hobby primarily from its passionate community. What amazes me is how enthusiasts come together, sharing knowledge and innovations, often without governmental or large-scale assistance. We collectively figure out the fundamentals, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in creating and sustaining these intricate ecosystems. We owe it all to each and every one of us to keep this hobby thriving! And the knowledge advancing!
If you could have any tank, what size would it be and why?
If I could have any tank, I would go with like a 2500 12-foot length. Have seen this style before and it would be nearly perfect for what I would want to do.
Favorite fish?
Conspicuous angelfish! Absolute legend.
Favorite coral?
Acropora. LOL
Favorite invert?
Sea urchins!
How do you typically get over setbacks?
I don't want to jinx the setbacks, but let's just say knocking on wood may be the reason!
Have you faced any major challenges with this particular tank, and if so, how did you overcome?
Only real challenge I face now is the overgrowth of Montipora. Through the years, Montipora has just showed up all through my system. It's nearly impossible for me to get it all out without causing instability so. Might as well just use it to mount pieces to.
What's the best thing you ever bought for your tank?
A skimmer neck cleaner - it has to be one of the greatest purchases I've ever made. It lowered my algae levels, phosphate, nitrate, and importantly lowered the amount of time I spend on it.
What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?
Future plan is to run a 8 foot by 4 foot frag system in place of the deep blue system. Just need a few weeks free time to monitor everything which hopefully I'll get this summer!
Final Thoughts:
Thank you guys so much! Hope you guys enjoy the thread and the eye candy! Happy reefing!
System Profile:
- Display tank: RedSea 450 Reefer Series. It is actually the second unit that ever came to America.
- Glass or Acrylic: Glass
- Stand: Black RedSea Reefer stand
- Sump: Glass RedSea Reef sump
- Other tank: I have an 80-gallon deep blue rimless plumbed in as well.
- Protein skimmer: Bubble King 200 mini
- Carbon/phosphate filtration: I only use a small bit of carbon.
- Return pump: Vectra L2 and Jecod 15,000 return pump
- Water circulation: (2) mp40s, (2) Nero 5s, and (2) Nero Orbits total between the two systems.
- Lighting (display & other tank): ATI Dimmable Sunpower 6 bulb t5 with Reef Brite Strips
- Lighting (refugium): N/A. No refugium; not too fond of them.
- Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing equipment: I use three means of coral skeleton goodies. I run ESV two-part, calcium reactor and kalkwasser
- Auto top-off: Gravity fed is the best way to go
- Heating/cooling: I use a few underpowered heaters and fans linked to Apex.
- System control: My Neptune Apex and bare hands run my system.
My plan definitely is to adjust flow over time. I’m a huge water circulation guy as I find it to be very important for the corals. I've always snuck a few pumps in as corals have grown out!
Water Parameters:
- Temp: Temperature for 8 years now has hovered around 78. Only ever get swings out of 1° on the hotter days.
- pH: pH on my Apex runs from 8.1 to 8.65. When I got the opportunity to use some very credible equipment, my pH ran from 7.9 to 8.4 daily.
- Specific gravity: It is spot on 35 ppt. I have three devices of testing salinity.
- NO3: 5 to 10 ppm nitrate
- Ca: Calcium usually around 430 to 450
- Alk: Alkalinity runs low 6.7 to 7 dkh
- Mg: Magnesium is generally always spot on since my salinity is taken care of correctly: 1320
- PO4: Test once or twice a week. The level has always been around .05 to .1
What salt mix do you use?
I use Instant Ccean Reef Crystals. I've tried nearly every mainstream brand of salt mix. Every time I came back to Reef Crystals, I've noticed a huge improvement, so it's a salt I will stick with for life.
What kind of rock did you start with?
I did start with dry cured rock. I did struggle a bit in the beginning from the system being too sterile, so I did swap most of the rock out for the Haitian stuff. That changed everything for me. My latest system I had setup was a 300-gallon Reef Savvy. I imported Jakarta live rock and cured it completely with the use of sea urchins and starfish. I was able to get the rock barren of any sponges or any potential hitchhikers. From using live rock, I was able to achieve a thriving reef tank almost immediately, and going forward on any new systems I will be using completely cured and cleaned live rock.
What is your substrate?
I use CaribSea Fiji pink sand in my displays. I absolutely love the look of it, but it's not viable in a shallow reef.
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:
I do not live with my system. I moved from the location right before I had kids. I did not have it in me to break it down. Although it's 10 minutes away from me, I needed a way to design my system to buy some time before troubleshooting issues.
What and how do you dose for the big 3 (alk/cal/mag)?
I distribute the load of coral skeleton chemicals between kalk, a calcium reactor, and two part. My system uses close to 3.2 dkh daily. Whether it's coral growth or some precipitation, it's still a nightmare scenario to run into. Although I'm super obliged to keep risk of equipment, anything complicated to that matter, down to a minimum. If I had solely relied on one piece of equipment to run alkalinity/calcium, and let's say it were to fail, my system is done for. At least with the three, if one were to fail, I would have a 2–3-day period to troubleshoot before things took a turn for the worst.
Are you dosing anything else for your reef health (carbon dosing, aminos, etc.)?
At this very moment I am trying the Fauna Marin A and K
Prior to that I have not tried or dosed anything other than a bit of DIY potassium supplement.
Lighting Summary and Objectives:
Photoperiod:
Reef Brites come on at 8:45 am. T5 blue channel kicks on at 11:00 am. Whites kick on at 1:00 pm. My tank lighting runs full blast for 5.5 hours. Blues go down at 7:30 pm and Reef Brites stay on till 8:45 pm.
What is your export strategy?
The amount of food you feed is what contributes to the amount of waste. Stock your fish properly to your skimmer and maintenance, and you should not run into issues, even after 8 years.
What is your maintenance routine?
I do a 25 to 30 percent water change every Sunday. If I'm not home that Sunday, I do it the day I get home. I have done this for 8 years now, and it has made it very easy to do. The tank has been a huge success with this way of reefing.
I clean my pumps and frag racks every two months. If I let them go, they die down in efficiency, which definitely is not a good thing.
Tank Inhabitants - Fish:
Maculiceps tang
Mauritius gem tang
Purple tang
(1) candy basslet
(1) swissguard basslet
Rhomboid fairy wrasse
(2) chaoti wrasse
(3) spotted mandarins
(4) black storm clownfish
(2) six line wrasse
Other Invertebrates:
Conches
Trochus
Bumblebee snails
Baby tuxedo urchins
Emerald crabs
Hermit crabs
Tank Inhabitants— Corals:
I probably have over 400-500 different pieces somehow packed in that system.
I do have multiple strains of Acropora
Montipora
Favites
Favia
Acans
Blastos
Echinophora
Oxypora
Diptastea
Leptospirosis
Discosoma
Saint Thomas
Rhodactis
Solomon and Pacific Ricordea
Anacropora
Euphyllia hammers and torches
Tons of Gonipora
Alve
Bernardo and other short tentacle species
Zoanthis
Palys
Micromussa
Bowerbankies
How did you decide what to keep in your tank?
Through failures, I kinda have figured out what fish I want without any issues.
Any stocking regrets?
I do not have any stocking regrets.
Any fish, invert, or coral you will NEVER keep?
I wouldn't keep any of the non-reef safe Inverts.
What do you love most about the hobby?
It is definitely the community and passion. It is such an awesome hobby! I have met incredible people and made it a career as well.
How long have you been doing this?
I've been in the hobby since 2009. My town was like ground zero for Hurricane Sandy which swept me out for a while, but I came back into it with passion!
Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?
There was a local pet shop that was close by when I was growing up. I used to go in every Sunday. They had a shark system they would feed around noon time, and the fascinating corals just roped me into it.
Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?
I find inspiration in the reef aquarium hobby primarily from its passionate community. What amazes me is how enthusiasts come together, sharing knowledge and innovations, often without governmental or large-scale assistance. We collectively figure out the fundamentals, pushing the boundaries of what's possible in creating and sustaining these intricate ecosystems. We owe it all to each and every one of us to keep this hobby thriving! And the knowledge advancing!
If you could have any tank, what size would it be and why?
If I could have any tank, I would go with like a 2500 12-foot length. Have seen this style before and it would be nearly perfect for what I would want to do.
Favorite fish?
Conspicuous angelfish! Absolute legend.
Favorite coral?
Acropora. LOL
Favorite invert?
Sea urchins!
How do you typically get over setbacks?
I don't want to jinx the setbacks, but let's just say knocking on wood may be the reason!
Have you faced any major challenges with this particular tank, and if so, how did you overcome?
Only real challenge I face now is the overgrowth of Montipora. Through the years, Montipora has just showed up all through my system. It's nearly impossible for me to get it all out without causing instability so. Might as well just use it to mount pieces to.
What's the best thing you ever bought for your tank?
A skimmer neck cleaner - it has to be one of the greatest purchases I've ever made. It lowered my algae levels, phosphate, nitrate, and importantly lowered the amount of time I spend on it.
What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?
Future plan is to run a 8 foot by 4 foot frag system in place of the deep blue system. Just need a few weeks free time to monitor everything which hopefully I'll get this summer!
Final Thoughts:
Thank you guys so much! Hope you guys enjoy the thread and the eye candy! Happy reefing!
Last edited by a moderator:
