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Hello everyone, I’m excited, and it’s a great honor for me that Reef2Reef chose my reef tank as Reef of the Month! My name is Yanir, I'm 40 years old, married to my lovely wife and have 2 daughters. I've been reefing since 2007. I started with a softies and LPS tank, and a few years ago, I saw an astonishing SPS dominant tank during a visit to a good friend of mine. At the other hobbyist's home, I was amazed by the colors of SPS, diversity, and overall look of the tank. Since then I have been "bitten" by the SPS bug, and decided that I would build a thriving SPS tank, as much as I can. I had a tank 4 years ago of mostly SPS, but it crashed due to several mistakes that I made with lighting and chemistry. I decided to build a new tank, paying much better attention to details, to avoid the mistakes that I've made. I'm a huge believer that corals can adapt and thrive in a closed system (reef tank) if we just give them the appropriate conditions. My current tank is almost 2 years old. It was built by Max, who is well-known in my country as a true professional in building custom-made high-quality tanks. I filled the tank with water in September 2022 and finished the cycle in November 2022. The first corals were introduced to the tank in December 2022. When building the current tank, I applied some guiding principles that I learned over the years:
1. Install good RODI system (that is extremely important).
2. Use a powerful skimmer that can handle a tank that is 3 times bigger than my tank
3. Provide a lot of random flow.
4. Use a powerful lighting fixture with the right spectrum.
5. Use Indonesian rocks. I have found these are the best for biological filtration and thriving micro-fauna
6. Add only frags, after a dip and inspection, to avoid any pests.
7. Handle problems (like algae) with natural solutions like in nature and try to avoid using chemicals as solutions. Every pest/algae has a natural predator.
System Profile:
- Display tank: Main tank "rimless" tank with eurobrace at the upper frame.
it's 140 cm long , 70 cm wide, 55 cm high (55" x 27" x 22"). 500 liters (roughly 132 gallons) in volume. it's mostly SPS. - Small tank: 70 cm long , 50 cm wide , 35 cm high (27" x 20" x 14"), only LPS tank ,105 liters (roughly 28 gallons) in volume.
- Both tanks are connected to the same sump.
- Glass or acrylic: glass
- Stand: stand made of iron, with anti-rust painting, covered in woodSump: it's 4 chamber sump , 200 cm long , 55 cm wide , 50 cm high (79" x 22" x 20").
- Grow-out tank: no
- Protein skimmer: Alex Loga 300 model, custom made.
- Carbon/phosphate filtration: active carbon in TLF reactor.
- Return pump: Royal exclusive red dragon pump 9,000 l/h
- Water circulation: 4 Ecotech MP40's , 2 Jaebo MW30
- Lighting (display) : ATI power module , 10×54W of T5 bulbs .
- Lighting (smaller tank) : Radion XR30 Gen 5 , blue model.
- Lighting (Refugium) doesn't have Refugium.
- Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing equipment: GHL dosing pump
- Auto top-off: Tunze osmolator
- Heating/cooling: To cool the tank I'm using 1 HP modified AC engine (very popular in my country, it's really hot in here) . for heating I'm using 2 scheago 300w thermostat.
- System control: GHL Profilux 4 with pH, Redox , temperature and salinity probes. I also have KH director for monitoring dkh levels.
Water Circulation and Flow Summary and Objectives:
In nature, corals grow in an environment where there are strong and changing currents. This is exactly what I defined as an important goal in the tank. That's why I chose the MP40 pumps. I read excellent reviews about them. At the same time, I had to add 2 more pumps to provide more flow, due to the size of the corals. I believe that random and strong flow are a basic and necessary condition for success in growing corals, especially SPS corals. I run all the pumps at 100% power and different patterns during the lightning cycle.
Water Parameters:
- Temperature: 24.5 to 25.0 Celsius (76-77 F)
- pH:7.9 to 8.1
- Specific gravity: 1.025 to 1.026
- NO3: 2 ppm
- Ca: 420 to 440
- Alk: 7.0 to 7.5 dkh
- Mg:1275 to 1320
- PO4: 0.02 to 0.07
- Ammonia and nitrites:0
What salt mix do you use?
Red Sea salt, blue bucket. I chose this salt because it's popular and available in my country, and I have good results with this salt.
What kind of rock did you start with?
Dry Indonesian rocks.
What is your substrate?
ATI aragonite sand.
Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:
I'm making DIY the "big 3" from calcium Chloride, sodium carbonate and Magnesium Chloride. I'm doing my best to buy the cleanest materials that I can (sometimes there are problems with dirty materials at the chemical factory). I'm also dosing Seachem Kalkwasser at night to keep pH levels above 7.9
What and how do you dose for the big 3 (alk/cal/mag)?
As I mentioned above, I'm dosing liquid solutions that I mix alone. I bought a GEO calcium reactor that should arrive to my home in the next week and I will connect it.
The amounts of solution that I'm dosing every day including Kalkwasser are huge, and that's why I'm moving to a calcium-reactor.
Are you dosing anything else for your reef health (carbon dosing, aminos, etc.)?
I'm dosing 5 to 8 ml daily of Tropic Marin bacto balance. I found out that it is great source of carbon for corals as well as a food source, and it's doing a good job at keeping po4 and no3 levels in check. I'm also dosing red sea colors trace elements, 2 to 3 ml daily. I'm not feeding the corals with any coral food, only the fish.
Lighting Summary and Objectives
Well, that has been an issue for me. At first, I installed DIY MH with 4 T5 bulbs. I didn't like it because the reflectors and ballasts were not made for the reef industry but for agriculture uses, and the spectrum was not good for a reef. Then, I bought an ATI powermodule hybrid, but the LEDs in this fixture were much too powerful.
Finally one year ago I bought an ATI power module 10×54W with only T5 bulbs. I'm very happy with the results and think that T5 lights are very good to grow corals, especially SPS.
Bulb combinations:
- 4 blue plus
- 2 coral plus
- 2 KZ coral light (full spectrum bulbs)
- 1 actinic
- 1 KZ Fiji purple
For the LPS tank, I chose Radion XR30 Blue, running it at 30% intensity, LPS schedule.
Photoperiod:
Display tank: 2 blue plus bulbs for 12 hours. 8 bulbs for 8 hours.
LPS tank: 8 hours
Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:
I believe that corals should get natural sea water parameters, as close as possible. That's why I'm trying to keep the water very clean. The water from both tanks flow to Red Sea Reef Mat. From there they go to the TLF reactor with active carbon, skimmer and return pump. I'm trying to keep simple but powerful filtration. I believe that clean water and good parameter range with stability are crucial to corals and other tank inhabitants.
What is your export strategy?
I'm feeding my fish 3 to 4 times daily, and in turn they provide, in my opinion, an excellent nutrition source for the corals. Dosing a carbon source to the system on a daily basis, together with a strong protein skimmer, helps to control the nitrate and phosphate levels and in addition to feed the corals in an indirect way. This method works for me in an efficient and effective way.
What is your maintenance routine?
- Daily - feed the fish, dosing bacto balance and Red Sea trace elements, monitor dkh results (automated by GHL)
- Weekly - 10% water change, fill top-off container, check skimmer cup , test for no3, po4 and calcium
- Other - every 6 months I clean all pumps.
Tank Inhabitants - Fish:
- 1 hippo tang
- 3 clown fish
- 17 blue chromis
- 1 convict tang
- 1 Blue powder
- 1 chelate tang
Tank Inhabitants - Coral:
Main tank:
- Bali slimer staghorn
- Blue Staghorn
- Blue tip Acropora
- Purple Acropora
- Yellow tip Acropora
- Gomezi Acropora
- Oregon tort Acropora
- Red planet Acropora
- Vivid confetti Acropora
- Purple bonsai Acropora
- Purple Milka Stylophora
- Rainbow Stylophora
- Pink Stylophora
- Yellow/green Stylophora
- Forest fire Digitata
- Orange Montipora
- Pink Setosa
- Ora Hawkins Echinata
- Red dragon Echinata
- 4 Torch Euphyllia
- Favia
- Red Gonipora
LPS tank :
- Elegant
- Rainbow Lobophyllia
- Red Cynarina
- green/Yellow Cynarina
- Green Gonipora
- rainbow Acan
- red Acan
- Bubble
- Gold torch Euphyllia
Other Invertebrates:
- 30 Turbo snails
I feed the fish 3 times per day , don't feed the corals
How did you decide what to keep in your tank?
As I mentioned, I was very impressed to see full SPS dominant tank ,and decided that I want my tank to look like that
Any stocking regrets?
Yes , I regret adding digitata coral to the tank - it's like a pest.
Any fish, invert, or coral you will NEVER keep?
like I said...never again digitata
What do you love most about the hobby?
Seeing the growth and coloration from 1" frag to full size colony!
How long have you been doing this?
since 2007
Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?
A friend of mine
Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?
Seeing beautiful SPS tanks around the world fascinates me and gives me motivation to always improve the overall look of my tank.
If you could have any tank, what size would it be and why?
Well, I think I would be 300 long, 150 wide, 70 cm high (118" x 59" x 27")
Favorite fish?
Powder blue tang
Favorite coral?
Purple Milka Stylophora
Favorite invert?
Turbo snails and lysmata shrimps
How do you typically get over setbacks?
In this case, I'm trying to isolate the cause to the problem and then handle it with my knowledge and also read about the potential problem and solution in web forums (especially R2R!).
Have you faced any major challenges with this particular tank, and if so, how did you overcome?
Yes, I had problems with accuracy of pH probe on GHL Profilux. Due to a wrong reading, I took some actions that actually caused the pH to drop, instead of rising. I fixed it with simple calibration of the probe, with 7.0 and 10.0 calibration solutions. The second challenge that I had, was spikes at PO4 and bleaching of 3 frags... that issue was fixed with stability in all parameters, including po4.
What's the best thing you ever bought for your tank?
Definitely ATI power module 10 bulbs fixture. This fixture is a PAR beast.
What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?
I'm thinking about upgrading to a bigger tank. I'm running out of space due to coral growth rate
Any special tips for success or advice you'd like to share with other reefers?
Give the corals good stability, stick with the foundation of reef keeping, read before you take action, keep it simple, and do everything you can to avoid pests. Once they enter the tank, it's very hard/impossible to get rid of them.
Final Thoughts:
I want to thank to my wife for her support, as well as a good friend of mine who helped me with fine tuning the reef tank.
Happy reefing everyone!!
