Saltcorner
By Bob Goemans
By Bob Goemans
Dear Bob,
I have been following you since your first article in Marine Fish Monthly. I have kept reef tanks since the trays were popular before DLS, protein skimmers, etc. I have gone through the progression of changes that took place in the hobby and lost count how many different wet/dry's, skimmers, and lighting changes I have undergone since 1986. I recently broke down a large SPS tank. I currently have a 10 and 20 gallon nano tanks with soft corals. Life is much more sane now not having to worry about calcium reactors, chillers (air-conditioning works just fine), and many different chemicals (as much anyway). Just do a 20% water change each week. I find myself enjoying things again. With the softies I just tell people "wavy is good!"
I want to set up a 40 gallon shallow tank. I do miss Montipora capricornis (my favorite coral of all time) along with zoos, Ricordia, Xenia, yumas, nepthea, african tree, green sea mat, crocea clams and perhaps some Blastomussa (undecided at this time). The tank is 36 inches long, 18 inches front to back and 18 inches high. No sump and all filtration will be HOT types.
Here is my set up plan and let me know what you think:
1) Live sand bed with no plenum - I would like to have a 1 - 2 inch layer of really fine sand. Since it is a shallow tank I didn't want a deep sand bed to dominate the space.
2) Filtration with refugium and Miracle Mud only. Similar to Ly Seng's commercial units. No skimmer. I figure it is easy to harvest Caulerpa and feed the tank. 24/7 lighting. If I have to use a skimmer (I'm really leaning against it) I was thinking about the new Coralife needle wheel Super Skimmer.
3) Lighting will be provided by six or eight 39 watt T5 bulbs. Many of my friends and stores have had a great deal of success with them. They run so much cooler than MH and appear brighter than VHO. This will allow me to just use my regular air-conditioning on hot summer days rather than adding a chiller. I figure this will allow me to keep a Montipora capricornis in the middle of my tank and still have it able to grow (along with the clams). I would use SeaChem products for top off with purified water. Still no need for a calcium reactor. If necessary I would use a two-part mixture. I've also wanted to try Ly Seng's method for quite some time. I never did it before since it worked against the plenum. Without a plenum, I thought it would be satisfactory. What is your opinion on this set up? What would you tweak, eliminate, add, etc.
Wilson Nacario
Hi Wilson,
Thanks for your letter and we go back a far way! My Salt Corner column in Marine Fish Monthly went 187 straight months without an interruption! Unfortunately the magazine shut down due to the Editor's poor health.
I can certainly understand your position where very large tanks are concerned. In fact, have a similar feeling about them as past health problems have caused me to steer clear of trying to maintain very large systems. Yet we both have a desire to keep our fingers wet so to speak, so we look towards smaller, simpler systems to keep our aquarium desires fulfilled. Whoever said you get better with age, really lied when they said that!
And we have both tried almost everything out there at this stage in life and from what you say in your letter, we both seem to have almost the same goals and think alike when it comes to aquarium products and various invertebrates. In fact, just put a Montipora capricornis in my aquarium last week!
As for the shallow sandbed in the main tank, one to two inches is what I would recommend for most aquariums, yet would recommend a course sand grain, i.e., about 5 mm. Very fine sand is either easily disturbed by animals or water currents, or does not provide the same useful microbial benefits as does the larger grained sand. Finer sand simply has a greater production of ammonium in its lower areas. I should also note that I've just seen a quite interesting set up that I think may have some very good long term benefits for some types of reef systems.
Try to picture this: In an empty tank, a wall of plastic material, such as what is used to edge lawns, is cemented to the bottom about four inches in from the surrounding panels. Its height could be whatever the hobbyist wants the look of the sandbed to be. In this case, the aquarium was a 150 gallon glass tank and the owner used this black grass edging material at a height of five inches (12.5 cm). He placed this plastic wall all around the inside bottom of the aquarium and bent the material so it conformed to the rectangular shape of the tank. He then marked the place where the material would rest on the bottom of the tank by using narrow masking tape and removed the plastic barrier. He then placed a bead of silicone along the bottom where the barrier would sit, and then placed the bottom edge of the barrier into that bead. A day later after it dried in place, he placed small, 4 inches high by about 6 inches long plastic triangular-shaped angles as supports every six inches along the inside of the barrier and siliconed those in place. He now had a sturdy wall that was filled with sand only on the front facing sides of the aquarium. Keep in mind this was an aquarium that would be seen from all four sides. A couple of days later he then placed all his live rock into the center bare bottom area and filled the tank. Why this way? Because he wanted long-term full control over accumulating detritus! In other words, did not want detritus accumulation in a sandbed where it was impossible to vacuum or reach, i.e., under a mountain of live rock. And, by directing jets of water into this empty bottom area, he would stir up any accumulating detritus in this area and allow some to flow to his mechanical filters, or be used as a foodstuff by his future corals. Where this goes in the future will be interesting to follow, but I think it has great value as a way to still see a sandbed of some depth, yet maintain a more healthy environment by reducing the accumulation of detritus in the long-term. Anyway, just thought you might be interested in this novel idea.
As for the HOT refugium filled with Ly Seng's Miracle Mud product, that's also a method that has gained some popularity over the past few years. Such an environment may even proved to be more interesting than the main show tank! In fact, I have seen Ly's original shop and his tanks along with some others that have utilized his mud method since that time and the various crustaceans, etc. living in them were quite interesting. And if the right forms of Caulerpa is used, e.g., C. prolifera and/or C. mexicana, which are the two best to feed herbivorous animals, then the benefits of such a tank increase, as not only are some of the bulk water's nutrients used up, the product produced is also useable. Yet, in my opinion water changes must continue as growths of Caulerpa can product toxins that may limit some coral growth. If only nutrient reduction is the goal with the refugium, then you might want to think about using the algae "Chaetomorpha," a fast grower, yet not suitable as a foodstuff. These algae can be seen by visiting my website.
And I would highly recommend using a skimmer, as it's really the most useful tool we aquarists have! Not only will it remove some nutrients before they become more problematic, it will also help oxygenate the bulk water, making for a healthier environment for "all" its inhabitants. And if you do, and use the new Coralife product, would like some feedback on it.
As for lighting, I keep seeing and hearing many great comments about the T-5's, especially from those in the U.K. And with about 6 watts per gallon you won't have any problems with your selection of stony corals or clams! As for your calcium and buffer parameters, don't delay the use of a two-part additive, as these additives are a simply way to control these important water parameters without the fuss and expense of a calcium reactor. Waiting until there is a deficiency would not be a good way to begin the system.
I hope this helps, and please keep me posted.
Bob
Hi Bob,
Thanks for your reply. I consider you one of the true hobbyists out there that lead by example, not for personal gain. You are a credit to this hobby and one of the earlier pioneers that has made a positive impact on reef keeping. It is good to have someone involved in reef-keeping as long as myself. It has been surrealistic in some ways watching the growth of this hobby over the years. I am amazed at the stages I have gone through (as you have undergone yourself) to keep up with the Joneses. I am taking your advice on my 40 and will go with a skimmer. I'm currently bidding on a Coralife Superskimmer on Ebay. We'll see how it goes.
What I find amazing is the rising price of coral. In 1986 it seemed all you could get was Ricordea and zooanthids. Now (depending on what part of the country you live in) they have surpassed the price of many SPS. The funny thing is I know a wholesaler and he insists the price of supposed "rare" color zoos are no more in price to purchase or ship than their less colored relatives. Ricordia cost more for one polyp than the multiple polyp heads I purchased back in the old days. I know moratoriums have been placed on various animals over time but I really feel people are getting gouged. I know one pet shop that had 3 blue zoos on a tiny rock and was asking $175 for it. It cost just as much as a purple rimmed efflorencens! This is another reason I have reverted back to "simple." My concern is beginning reefers will likely get driven out of the hobby and this will be a thing for only the rich and famous. Even at wholesale prices, I'm paying as much if not more than just 3 - 5 years ago. Oh well so much for the cost of progress. Keep up the good work and I'll keep you posted on my simple project!
Wilson Nacario
Hi Wilson,
Thanks for the follow up letter and kind remarks and you are so right about some of the costs associated with reef keeping. A few weeks ago visited a local store looking for a nice piece of Christmas Tree worm rock and the owner had a specimen of Ricordea florida with 8 healthy polyps. He wanted forty dollars "per polyp" for the specimen! Utterly ridiculous and said so! Yet in another local shop, purchased a small rock containing about 35 Zoanthus of which 12 were blue at a cost of 55 dollars. Even that was a little pricey in my opinion. I will however say the selection of animals is far better than a few years ago, yet so are the prices. But I'd rather spend some of my causal monies on this hobby and enjoy life, than not experience such a great hobby.
Enjoy, and keep me posted.
Cheers
Bob
