Juwel Rio240 continued, Some general info....
I prefer a closed top tank, this is why I went with the 240L Juwel Rio series, looks neat and has a lid. This means that I do have some issues with heat during summer months but I solve this by running a chiller by Hailea, during summertime I run the temperature at 25-26ºC.
During winter months I do not have issues with fluctuating temperatures, I cover the tank with a blanket during evenings and I heat the tank with a 200W Juwel heater, when autumn starts I acclimate the inhabitants to a temperature of 23.5-24.5ºC over a few weeks. Little fluctuation and very little electricity use.
Evaporation is down to a minimum, I usually add one liter of RO once a week.
I do not believe in expensive equipment and spending too much on equipment for my reef, I do believe that it needs to be clean, parameters stable, fish and inverts happy, easy to maintain and enjoy. I get very attached to my live stock and its really hard to let go of my animals.
Reef Supplements:
I have been a successful freshwater aquarist for almost 25 years, I have been using Seachem products most of the time so you can think of me as a loyal supporter, so when I started marine about three years ago, I tried some Red sea, Orca labs and Brightwell aquatics products, in the end I decided to stick to Seachem. I am not saying its the best but it works for me.
Fish Feeding:
Mostly Ocean Nutrition Mysis or Artemia every two days with some Red Plankton once a week, additionally I feed some some seaweed from Omega once every week or two.
Coral feeding:
Supplementing Strontium and Iodine added once a week.
Supplementing Seachem Reef Plus and/or Seachem Reef trace every other week.
Ocean Nutrition Micro Plankton or Red Plankton once a week, sun coral feeding every two to three days with Artemia. I use a plastic coke bottle to cover the Sun coral and then feed it by squirting some food on the polyp tentacles.
Clean up crew:
I have one striped long spine urchin and one tuxedo urchin, I keep them to keep the algae under control as well as the coraline control.
Two hermits also have a home here.
Filters:
Boyu 800l/h canister with Seachem Matrix and spunges driving Hailea HC130 Chiller.
Juwel Bioflow with Seachem Matrix, Bioflow Juwel media and Biopad changed weekly. I also use some Seachem Seagel to keep Phosphates and unwanted toxins under control.
Lighting:
2 x Zetlight Lancia 1047 on controller - 10 Hours/day max 40% white / 100% Blue
2 x 39w ATI T5 (Blue plus and Coral Plus) - 4 Hours at Lancia midday setting on a timer.
Maintenance:
Weekly front panel cleaning.
Weekly Juwel Skimmer cleaning.
Weekly replacement of Bioflow Biopad.
Two weekly 10-15% water change.
Trimming the Sinularia Leather aka "the tree" if required.
Salt:
I use only Seachem vibrant sea salt, this seems to do well at the moment.
I found that using this salt with the current bio-load of my reef, I need to raise the alkalinity every week or so, alkalinity normally tests at about 7.0-7.5, I raise the alkalinity to about 8.0. pH seems to be stable at around 8.1.
Weekly testing / before water changes:
I use Red sea test kits for most of my testing requirements. I use a electronic pH meter and refractometer for salinity.
ALK - 7.5 - 8.0dKH
Mg ~ 1350
Ca ~ 430
Salinity ~ 1.024 - 1.025
Temp ~ 25-26ºC
Nitrates ~ 25ppm
Phosphates ~ 0.2ppm
pH ~ 8.0 - 8.2
Coral and anemones
Different types of Mushrooms, I love shrooms. I have green, striped, brown/green hairy, brown/blue tip hairy, some blue and some brown.
Frogspawn
Hammer frag
Sinularia leather
Toadstool leather
Green/orange BTA
Green/pink tip BTA
RBTA
Sebae anemone (sand)
brown beaded anemone
Candycane 16 heads
Elegance corals
Yellow Sun coral
Orange Fungia plate
Brown/green fungia plate
Some pulsating Xenia
Some pink creeping Xenia
Red monti frag
Fish:
1 x Scopas tang
2 x Anthias
2 x Pajama cardinals
1 x Pink spotted goby
2 x Chromis - Had 6 but I also had a 35cm Long tentacle...you get the picture.
1 x Yellowtail damsel
2 x Oscellaris clowns