| THE MAIN TANK | |
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The main tank is a 29-gallon all glass aquarium, with an Amiracle siphon overflow. This tank was started in 1996. However, most of the live rock and some of the corals were from a previous aquarium that were salvaged from a 60-gallon tank destroyed during the 1994 Northridge, CA earthquake. The survivors (the oldest being a colony of zoanthid polyps which I've had since the late 80's) were established in another 60-gallon tank, but the tank never really looked good again until everything was eventually moved to this 29-gallon. |
|
 January, 2000 |
Two MaxiJet pumps on a Sandpoint wavemaker provide most of the water movement in the tank. The water return from the sump is piped below the live rock structure, shooting out through a small cave towards the front of the tank. When the wavemaker is on "feed" mode, the MaxiJets stay on while the main pump is turned off. |
| Temperature control and protein skimming is done in the sump, which is a 10 gallon tank sitting below the level of the main tank. Water drains from the main tank to the sump through a hang-on Amiracle skimmer box. |
 December, 2000 |
 April, 2001 |
Regular maintainance consists of topping up the tank with RO filtered water mixed with pickling lime and white vinegar (about a teaspoon vinegar per gallon of fresh water, with a tablespoon of lime added around once a week). The cover glass is washed clean once a week. A 5 gallon water change is done every few weeks (if I feel like it) and the lights are changed about twice a year. |
| The Reef Tank Diary is a log of what goes on starting July, 1999. It can be read at https://kensreef.tripod.com/reefdiary.htm |
 April, 2002 |
|
THE
NEW TANK SYSTEM
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In February, 2004 the reef was overgrown to the point where there was barely enough room to scrape the front glass clean. The 29-gallon reef was moved into a new 50-gallon tank. |
