metrokat December 2012

Congratulations to metrokat for being selected for our December Reef Profile! Her 34 gallon nano reef with display refugium has incredible biodiversity, home to countless species of coral, fish, invertebrates, and macro algae. Below is the profile she has written for us sharing her experiences in the hobby and her aquarium's progress over the past year. Check it out and share your comments and questions in metrokat's featured reef profile discussion.

Tank Specs

Display: Red Sea Max 130D 24" X 20" X 23.8" 34GLighting: Stock T5's supplemented with 2 Ecoxotic Panorama PROs & 1 stunner strip, Marineland accent LEDSump: Custom Sump 17" X 20" X 16" with Mag 5 and LifeReef OverflowPowerheads: Vortech MP10 X2Bioreactor: Phosban 150 running BRS ROX Carbon and BRS GFODosing: BRS Peristaltic pumps for Alkalinity and CalciumSkimmer: SCA301ATO: JBJ with a custom acrylic reservoirHeater: Eheim Jager

Left Side View

Right Side ViewDisplay Refugium

Maintenance Routine

Weekly water change of about 10% with Red Sea Coral Pro and RO/DI water. Test for Alkalinity, Calcium, Phosphate, Nitrate, and Magnesium every 10-15 days unless something is out of line. Dose 2-part with auto dosers. Clean out the filter sock every 3-4 days. Scrape off unwanted algae as needed. Monthly dose of Coral Amino, Aquavitro Fuel, Pottassion, MicroBacter7. I also have a little stick I beat the inhabitants with when they get out of line.

Feeding

I feed something different every day. The foods I rotate between are Reef Nutrition ROE, Dr G's Gut loaded mysis, Caviar Max, Oyster Magnifique and Copepod Max, AlgaGen's Phycopure,

Greenwater and Coral Smoothie, Reef Cleaners Filter Feeder Formula, Golden Pearls, New Life Spectrum pellets, Omega One algae wafers, Hikari rotifers, Masago from the Japanese supermarket, and spirulina flakes. Occasionally I add a drop of fish oil, selcon, lugols and garlic. I am currently also culturing phytoplankton and have plans for BBS.

Display Refugium

My sump/display refugium is my most important upgrade. It has allowed me to keep my macro algae, grow live foods, and have an expensive night light all rolled into one. My cat likes to sump-watch with me so it also provides an outlet for quality time with him.

The refugium holds my display macros, soft corals like mushrooms, polyps, leathers, and also has a good amount of xenia for nutrient export. It runs on an opposite light cycle from the display and the dosers dump their chemicals into here.

Corals

I have multiple species of all kinds of corals in the tank and fuge. Hobbyists will say you cannot mix softies, LPS with SPS, but I have a little bit of everything, including macros, and they do well together. I have over 80 different corals and invertebrates, too many to list in detail, but this is a short overview.

SPS Coral

ORA Green Birdsnest

Pink BirdsnestBird of Paradise

• Birdsnests• Montiporas• Digitata• Millepora• Acroporas

LPS Coral

Rainbow Acanthastrea

Austalian DuncanJason Fox Evil Eye Acan Echinata

• Acan Lords• Acan Echinatas• Leptastreas• Duncan• Brain coral• Favias• Blastos

Soft Coral

Zoanthid Garden

Sinularia LeatherGreen Yumas

• Zoanthids• Palys• Leathers• Mushrooms

Invertebrates

ORA Squamosa Clam

Caribbean Porcelain CrabLettuce Nudibranch

• Clams• Crabs• Snails• Shrimps• Starfish

Fish

Yasha Goby

Mandarin GobyWheelers Shrimp Goby

• Charlie, Yasha Goby• Draco, Male Mandarin• Ruby & Max, Clownfish pair• Hunch & Finny, Neon Goby pair• Geowge, Midas Blenny• Grumpy Glen, Wheelers Shrimp Goby• Gnocchi, Bangaii Cardinal

Macro Algae

• Sargassum• Red Titan• Blue Ochtodes• Halimeda• Halymenia• Red Grape• Chaeto• Caulerpa Serrulata• Flame Algae

History

I disguised myself as Santa and set up this tank on Christmas 2011, it was difficult to hide it under my tree for very long. I only had experience with freshwater aquariums until a friend of mine asked me to help him pick out a tank two years ago. While shopping we saw the BioCube and the reef bug hit us both, a few months later I had my own BC14. I quickly realized that it was too small, and I upgraded to this tank within six months.

December 2011

May 2012October 2012

I put a lot of thought into building and defining the aquascape. Researching corals and fish became an obsession. Most Red Sea Max owners don't get a sump for their tank, but I knew early on that long term success with what I had planned depended on having the additional volume and space for reactors and a skimmer.

A tank with just coral and cute fish was not enough for me, I needed display macros. My uncured live rock came with abundant halimeda which immediately gave the tank a natural look. With each re-do of the rock scape and coral placement, the tank evolved into something that I could look at with pleasure, instead of something that needed fixing.

Over time I learned not to freak out over every little thing with my aquarium. I can laugh at myself now thinking about the sleepless night when I installed my overflow. My family loves my tank and are indulgent of the many hours I spend on it. My brother is the international "Tank Sitter" who

himself evolved from watching a BioCube and reporting daily, to knowing which wire belongs to the Mag5 in the event of a sump overflow.

Nobody ever told me that an added expense in this hobby is a good camera. For a while I was taking pictures daily and have managed to capture many progression shots of my corals to see growth, disease, and color changes.

After hurricane Sandy killed some of my livestock, I feel I am better prepared for the next power outage. It was heartbreaking to see my Mandarin lose color and fade right before my eyes while I was holding him in my hand, but by some miracle he survived. I'm not sure if it is normal to be this emotionally attached to a fish.

I am still finding new things in the tank, like my Frilly Limpet which has been with me for over 6 months now. Each day I get to look upon the tank is another day it mesmerizes me.

Inspirations & Goals

I am inspired by color and texture. It amazes me that nature has such beautiful animals. Being able to keep a little piece of reef in my home feels like a blessing. Oddly enough, I am not a beach person and have only gone snorkeling for a half second in Acapulco. I am deeply curious about every tank I see on the forum and they each fuel my imagination.

I have 3 goals for this tank: total water stability is one. Second, to keep my hands out of the tank. Third, to find a way to hide the wires from all the equipment around the tank!

Future Plans

I plan to enjoy this tank grow out and hopefully learn how to frag polyps successfully. I am toying with the idea of a frag tank and I still have the retired 2G pico staring at me...

Advice For New Hobbyists

Read. Research. Slow down. Don't use tap water. Welcome unsolicited advice.

Frag swaps are ripe grounds for impulse buys. After my first one, which resulted in a tank upgrade within 2 weeks, I learned to pre-buy before swap day to prevent impulse purchases, and by visiting Jason Fox at the very end. This hobby is both an addiction and an investment. I maintain a spreadsheet of all my purchases and sales to keep on track. While I have never had a budget for the hobby, it helps to look at my spreadsheet the next time a de$igner zoanthid is posted somewhere.

Thoughts On Designer Corals

I totally get them, in fact I have them. They are most certainly in the same must-have category as Channel, Louboutins, and Bottega Veneta. I'm rolling my eyes at myself!

Tips & Tricks

Two words: Uncured rock. It can be scary because of the unknown hitch hikers, but uncured rock is simply stunning. It comes straight from the sea with life on it. It gives you a mature reef look in just a few months.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Christopher Marks for considering me as a TOTM winner. I love this site, it is a wealth of information and fun. Thank you to all the members that contribute to my thread and indulge my love of hot shoes.

I wanted to also mention people that I admire: Rehype for his patience and knowledge of the hobby and willingness to share. MedRed for the level of detail he shows in his tank. I want to spend like a rock star like ZephNYC, I admire him for his tireless search for a cure of PM disease, and for getting me hooked on to clams. JediMasterBen is cool in his single minded determination to beat ICK and aspiring for LED world domination. LongPig is the sweetest man for getting a tug boat toy for his Octopus and for being my forum boyfriend. KGoldy for being my first friend on NR, and IRL, and for having a little bit of everything and then adding a little bit more of everything to his tank. I miss Newman, who knew every little thing about every little thing in his little thing. I learned how to do a water change and about gluing frags from StevieT, and I wish I could keep a pico alive like Brandon429. I want to build amazing little things with the finesse that NanoTopia shows, I want to know everything there is to know about RO/DI like AZDesertRat, and I want to be detail oriented and minimalistic all at the same time like Nano Sapiens.

These folks and others inspire me every day. This hobby has enriched my life in ways I cannot express.

- Kat

Marine Depot, Supersizeme, rick12 and 23 others like this

2 Comments

ReelknottyFeb 13 2014 06:09 PM

Beautiful... Congratulations

MarieHSep 26 2014 04:43 AM

Congrats, beautiful tank!

Quote

I have 3 goals for this tank: total water stability is one. Second, to keep my hands out of the tank. Third, to find a way to hide the wires from all the equipment around the tank!

me too... enjoy more, fiddle less

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Current Issue Tank of the Month

Volume 9, Issue 7

Tank of the Month

This Article Features Photo Zoom

Krzysztof Kudraszow's (kshow) Reef Aquarium

Introduction

I am not going to be original here, but I have to say that this prize is a great surprise for me. Like others, I

initially created the tank for myself. Every step I made brings great satisfaction to me. However, I also

found that I like to share my hobby with others. I usually place my tank on online forums because I want to

get some feeback (notes, tips, etc). I’m always curious to hear what people think about it. It’s even better

when you find that people appreciate what you do! I have to admit that having my aquarium as the Tank

of the Month is a huge privilege.

My name is Krzysztof Kudraszow. I’m from Białystok, Poland where, unfortunately, having a marine

aquarium is quite an exotic hobby. I got into the hobby after my first visit in Egypt in 2003. Before that

time I didn’t realize that it was possible to have a piece of that beauty in one’s home. Fortunately, I found

some information about how it is possible! I decided no matter what, I was going to have a reef tank.

Though I now know it is a difficult and expensive hobby.

Before getting my first aquarium set up, I decided to wait until I got my new apartment. During that time

my goal was to gather some knowledge on how to keep marine organisms. I found most of my information

from mainly Polish forums and, of course, Reefcentral. I made a trip one day to go see Andrzej

Niewiarowski’s aquarium. This was the first time I had actually ever seen a reef tank and I have to add it

was probably the most beautiful aquarium in Poland. It made a huge impression on me and I also now had

an outline to follow for a functional reef tank.

In 2007, I managed to start up my first tank. It was a 300 liter cube (79 US gallons) located in a wall of my

place. It was my first attempt keeping live rock, soft corals, fish, and somethings incredible! I found myself

in front of the glass staring at it for many hours, not mattering if it was day or night. Every time I found

myself staring, I happened upon a beautiful finding or something coming out from my own piece of coral

reef that I didn't know was there.

I played around with a few filtration methods, checked out some devices, and worked with the lighting. I

was already waiting until I could bring my new knowledge into play with a new tank.

A new stage of my journey came with the advent of the most beautiful thing in my life, the birth of my

son. I had to make room for my newborn so I was forced to move my tank to the main room. I took

advantage of this situation and decided to enlarge my aquarium to 500 liters (132 US gallons).

Current Tank

In my previous aquarium I used ceramic rock and my own PCV tube for aquascaping. This time I chose a

construction methodology that gives the viewer an impression of depth while providing lots of space for

placing SPS corals. In the current tank I forewent PVC tubes all together and decided to go with a lighter

rock while using less of it. This allowed me to give the tank a sense of depth and create a lot of room for

SPS corals, while at the same time giving the fish and the inverts a lot of nooks.

While moving to the larger aquarium, I decided to change the skimmer, circulation pumps, and lighting.

The most important change was the filtration method. Around that time a new product appeared on a

market, NP Reducing Bio Pellets. After my first visit at Krzysztof Tryc I knew that I had to use this method

with my new tank.

During the move it took about 2 months to tear down my old tank and put up my new one. For those two

months I had a friend of mine, Rafal Omieljaniuk, keep my corals. I would like to formally thank him for his

kindness as all of my livestock was kept in good hands. Some livestock from my old tank did quite well

during the move and to my surprise in the course of those two months it grew and had some nice colors

appear. So from the beginning of my new tank it looked nice.

System Profile

• Display tank: 130 gallons / 500 liter (122 x 72 x 58 h)

• Sump:44 gallons 110 x 40 x 40 cm .

• Skimmer: Royal Exclusive Bubble King mini 180

• Lighting:ATI Powermodule 8 x 54 W

• Circulation: Return- Deltec HLP 4040 Tunze 6105 x 2, Nano Wavebox

• Controllor: Profilux

• Dosing Cotroller: Profilux

• Media Reactor: BioPellets and RowaPhos

Lighting

The size of my tank depended on the type of lighting I had available. I’ve always claimed that the best

solution for both the corals and me was HQI. I chose this lighting for my old cube tank (250W Reeflux 12k

+ Lumenarc). However, with my new aquarium I went with an alternative, the T5 bulb. I chose T5s after

weighing the economic and aesthetic benefits/losses and also with eliminating the large amount of

evaporation I get with my old HQI setup from heat. Fortunately, it turned out to be great idea and better

than I expected. The reef is quite colorful and catches everybody’s eye. I found that the colors of corals

were more important than the shimmering light. The corals felt that way too as everything started to

become brighter. The large selection of bulbs to pick from allowed me to get the right combination of

color to my eyes.

I feel that I only made one mistake with this lighting choice, an 8x54W. In the future I will replace it with

10 x 54W ATI Powermodule. The reason is not because of the actually difference in power from the extra

bulbs but the ability to better light my tank. Currently, the corals at the front are shaded, resulting in

slower growth as well as the corals towards the back. I believe this upgrade will solve that issue.

I’ve tested only ATI and Korallen Zucht bulbs. My current configuration, starting at the front, is:

Lighting from Front to Back:

54W ATI Blue Plus

54W ATI Purple

54W ATI Blue Plus

54W ATI Aquablue Special

54W ATI Purple

54W ATI Blue Plus

54W ATI Aquablue Special

54W ATI Blue Plus

Filtration

I didn’t want my filtration to be complicated or too time-consuming with upkeep so I bet on simplicity. The

main filtration is the live rock of about 60 kg, the live sand (Nature's Ocean - Bio-Activ Live Aragonite about

40 kg), and a skimmer (Bubble King mini 180). The water filtration is assisted with a fluidized bed filter

containing Bio Pellets (aboout 800 ml). If the phosphates go up above 0.04ppm I use an additional flow

filter with Rowa Phos to help bring the levels back down. In addition, once a month I refill a bag with

200mL of Ehein lub KZ carbon. This amount of filtration works well together giving me the desirable effects

I want.

Water Parameters:

Specific gravity: 1.026

Calcium: 410 ppm

Alkalinity: 6.9 dKH

Magnesium: 1200 ppm

Temperature: 25 - 26° C

Phoshates: <0.04 ppm

Nitrates: undetectable

Water Movement

I believe that this was the most difficult issue in my tank to resolve. It took a lot of time until I found the

best location for my flow pumps. I use the Tunze pumps due to my belief that the Tunze have a lower

incidence of failure. If they do stop working the service on them is fast and in my opinion the best. I

started with Tunze Turbelle Stream 6105 controlled with Profilux but after few months I ended up adding

a Nano Wavebox. My tank is also supported by a Deltec HLP 4040 main pump.

Maintenance, Feeding & Supplement

Most of aquarists would concur that regular water change is key in this hobby. I try to do one every two

weeks, roughly 10-15% of the total water volume with Aquarium Systems Instant Ocean salt. During these

changes I do other maintenance like cleaning the cup of skimmer and refilling new carbon once a month.

I use the Balling method. Sometimes I add KZ amino acids (2-3 drops per week). My fish are fed 2-3 times a

day with a blend of artemia, mysis, lobster, crab eggs, and Spirulina-Algae. The tang fish also eat nori from

time to time.

As for coral feeding I have to admit that they weren’t fed for a long time, but when I started I notice some

difference in growth or colors. When I feed it is mainly Reef Pearls and Reef Booster.

Livestock

My tank is filled with about 35 fish. I like to keep many of the same species so that they will swim in a

group, such as my Pseudoanthias and Apogons. Unfortunately, I can’t feed the tank inhabitants often so I

chose Pseudanthias squamipinnis and Zoramia leptacanthus for easier upkeeping. My tank includes:

Fish:

Zebrasoma flavescens

Paracanthurus hepatus

Naso elegans

Ctenochaetus binotatus

Amphiprion ocellaris x 2

Pseudanthias squamipinnis x 3

Zoramia leptacanthus x 17

Genicanthus bellus

Anampses meleagrides

Halichoeres chrystus

Labroides dimidiatus

dragonet

My coral collection contains about 30 SPS (acropora, seriatopora, and montipora). There are 10 LPS

species (catalapylia, cynarina, and goniopora). My favorite coral is Seriatopora caliendrum and Pavona

decussatus (cactus coral).

Acknowledgements

I want to thank Reefkeeping magazine for giving me the chance of showing off my tank. Lots of thanks to

Krzysztof Tryc, Andrzej Niewiarowski, Rafał Omieljaniuk, and Łukasz Kur. These are great people that are

knowledgeable and passionate. I can always count on them. Last but not least, I’m grateful for everything

my wife has allowed me to do. Without her help I wouldn’t have this tank.

Feel free to comment or ask questions about my tank in the Tank of the Month thread on Reef Central.

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