Tank of the Month - April '05

[Skipper]

Due to popular demand that we keep the Tank of the Month feature intact ( :p ), this month we are featuring Steve Schafer's (sschafer) beautiful reef aquarium:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-04/totm/images/RChomepage.jpg (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-04/totm/index.htm)

More details can be found here (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-04/totm/index.htm) or by clicking on the picture above.

Congratulations, Steve!

[BRUCEG]

THANKS SKIPPER LOOKS VERY NICE.THANKS!!!

[marinelife]

awww man now I have something to read, thanks alot skipper for messing me up!!!

[mujtba]

i thought they removed TOTM?

[dc]

:thumbsup: Great as usual!:D

[mike4271]

Nice to see it back.

We have had The Incredibles

How about a special forum, The Gullibles:rolleyes:

[mhurley]

Congrats Steve! Great looking system.

[nbd13]

Quick question i have a 180 SPS reef and have about 5 different fairy wrasses, labouti, lineatus, flame, rhomboid, and orangeback. I plan on adding maybe 1 more,

my question to you is, how do those tangs get along with the wrasses? i have heard people actually quite a bit of people say that there tangs haev killed thier expensive wrasses? Some people even said they co-existed for awhile then one day the tang just started chasing the fish which lead to disease then death. i was acutally thinking of getting that desjardinii salfin like you have.

what are your thoughts on this?

also how big is that harlquin tusk with smaller fish? i was thinking about getting one, but decided not to because of my small clown fish?

thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, and what a GREAT tank!

what size tank are you going for in your upgrade?

thanks!

Nick

[Shouse94]

always a good read:rollface:

[Shouse94]

bump

[Dolfan0925]

lol, Shouse94 you waited a whole 19 minutes for that bump, Great lookin tank and bump

[Skipper]

No need to bump a stickied thread. :D

[FATDUBS]

very nice that is the same size of my new tank hope i can get it to look that good one day

[Carl_in_Florida]

Great looking tank. Congrats!

Carl

[downset]

I love having this tank down the street from me :p

Great job Steve

[Entropy]

Nice! Everytime I see a AGA 120 I kick myself for buying the 90g. :D

[chessmanmark]

What an honor to be tank of the month. Hard work equals success. Thanks for the tour. Quick question, you wrote -

"Initially, I included a 2" to 3" deep sandbed consisting entirely of Southdown play sand. What a mistake that was! I have been trying to get rid of all that sand for quite some time now. While it may have served a purpose for the first year or so, all it has done lately is cause lots of headaches. I've found that the Southdown sand kills the edges on many of my Echinophyllia and significantly retards their growth. "

I have only heard encouraging comments about using Southdown sand. Actually, this is the first negative feedback I have read. Can you give us more details about the problem as you see it?

[Gawain1974]

Wow...once again...beautiful tank! I feel the same way about fish in my reef as you do. Kudos!

[gaels]

yes, another beauty :)

gael

[Gerard Alba]

Fantastic reef Steve.

[onefin]

Just beautiful!!!!!!!

[Nuhtty]

FINALLY someone who isnt afraid to put fish in a reef tank!

Of course...a 100 gallon fuge can help keep the water clean with messy tangs!

Great looking tank. Congrats on TOTM.

[CPT. MURPHY]

Congrats on TOTM steve! :)

[Mekong]

Wow a harly tusk in a reef!

[banditfl]

Awsome tank. I always look froward to the tank of the Month. I always like the deeper tanks (front to back).

[alphaferret]

ok so i know the reef shop and carribean forest- what other shops are in that rochester cny area! i am in syr.-also congrats on totm - good to see an upstate reefer take hold for a month- also was there ever any other upstatye folks w/ the totm- just curious

[alphaferret]

alos i need direction to the reef shop -everyone says itis hard to find- cny area

[JustOneMoreTank]

I figured that the removal of TOTM was only an April Fools joke. Your tank looks wonderful. I also enjoy seeing fish in a reef system.
Great Job!

[Gary Majchrzak]

Congrats, Steve. :strooper:

[Julio]

CONGRATS! love the pair of lined wrasse

[CaveManNOhio]

Very nice tank. Hope my tank turns out half as nice.
CaveManNOhio
:smokin:

[ItsMee]

Thats an amazing system man.......Photography (never would have guessed that from looking at my pictures)... - Those are great pictures too. Were those pictures "touched up" or edited in any way before posted?

Also, I was going to ask you all sorts of questions about what salt you use, what your return pump is for the 13 ft trip from the basement, and if you prefer wet or dry skimming....but I thought of one question that I would like to ask you instead because I think I can learn more from your answer than any or all of those questions, and that is: How do you get your wife to put up with your obsession?

[Skipper]

Originally posted by ItsMee
Thats an amazing system man.... - Those are great pictures too. Were those pictures "touched up" or edited in any way before posted?

I usually re-size and sharpen the pictures for the article. They are also web-optimized for file size.

[melev]

Skipper, I don't believe I've ever mentioned this before: You do a great job with the layout of the TOTM page each month. Well done! :thumbsup:

Steve, your tank looks great, and seems to have plenty of open space the way the rockwork has been arranged. I too agree with you about aquarium stands being higher, so you can stand in front of the tank and enjoy it without having to bend over all the time to see things.

[Avi]

Tank of the Month...what a great thread...and this one's very fine. I see that there's a lot of putting in and removing of fish. I have a 120 also and I'm trying to get a Striatus Tang that's relentlessly harrassing my wrasses out to no avail. How do you catch a fish like a wayward tang in a reef that's got a lot of rock and corals on it? I know you've done it plenty of times. Thanks.

[sschafer]

Hi all! Thanks for all the comments. Skipper, thanks for bestowing such an honor upon me and great job publishing the article.

-Steve

[sschafer]

Hi Nick,

I have never had my tangs go after any of my wrasses. The mustard tang is on the more agressive side, but doesn't pay any mind to the wrasses. Consider the eight-lined flasher. I had a beautiful male a while back. Unfortunately it died a few months ago. I believe this was either from old age or internal parasites as it ate very well, but continued to get thinner towards the end. Unfortunately you never can tell how old a mature adult is.

As for the Harlequin Tusk . . . He has been a model citizen. My Possum wrasse is only a couple of inches and hasn't been eaten yet. I feed rather heavily so who knows what would happen if I didn't feed the tank for a few days. However, the Tusk has grabbed a couple of feeder fish from me as I was trying to feed the Rhinopias. These were mollies and small damsels. This was most likely due to a feeding response from me opening the top. There have been two small damsels in the tank for a few months (the Rhinopias never could catch them) and neither was eaten. I don't think I would add any small fish after the Tusk is in the tank unless they were put into a translucent isolation container first.

I'm planning on a 6'x3'x3' tank at the moment. That may change, but I have limited room in the foyer with regards to tank length. Darn windows . . .

-Steve


Originally posted by nbd13
Quick question i have a 180 SPS reef and have about 5 different fairy wrasses, labouti, lineatus, flame, rhomboid, and orangeback. I plan on adding maybe 1 more,

my question to you is, how do those tangs get along with the wrasses? i have heard people actually quite a bit of people say that there tangs haev killed thier expensive wrasses? Some people even said they co-existed for awhile then one day the tang just started chasing the fish which lead to disease then death. i was acutally thinking of getting that desjardinii salfin like you have.

what are your thoughts on this?

also how big is that harlquin tusk with smaller fish? i was thinking about getting one, but decided not to because of my small clown fish?

thanks for taking the time to answer my questions, and what a GREAT tank!

what size tank are you going for in your upgrade?

thanks!

Nick

[sschafer]

Everytime I see a 180 I think the same thing! :D

-Steve

Originally posted by Entropy
Nice! Everytime I see a AGA 120 I kick myself for buying the 90g. :D

[sschafer]

I hate the stuff. It blows around very easily in a high flow tank. If it gets on any LPS and you don't notice it rather quickly it will "eat a hole" right through the tissue. It kills the edges on my Echinophyllia that sit on the sandbed. I would use it again in a Fish Only tank, but never again in a Reef. My leopard wrasse likes it though.

-Steve

Originally posted by chessmanmark

I have only heard encouraging comments about using Southdown sand. Actually, this is the first negative feedback I have read. Can you give us more details about the problem as you see it?

[nbd13]

Thanks for the great response! Be sure to document your new tank!

thanks!

Nick

[philfish]

What a great tank Steve. I am just setting up a 84"x24"x27" and everyone tells me I can't possibly put a Blue Ring in there. I had one years ago, but in my Fish Only tank, and he was a fantastic fish. You have made me wonder again whether to risk it!

Well done, and congrats. Don't forget, you are internationally famous now, as we read this all over the world

PS Nice Bulldog, I breed them!! Got four at the moment.

[Avi]

So, no one can help me catch that darn Stiatus Tang?

[Skipper]

Avi: please start a new thread about that. It's a bit off-topic here in a thread discussing the Tank of the Month.

Thanks

[Flatlander]

Congrats on your selection as TOTM. A very beautiful tank. :D

[rthom]

Beautiful tank. You have obviously done a great job camouflaging the wavebox. I assume it is behind the rock work but where?

Russ

[RocketSeason]

I have a question. are you using carbon because of your high bioload? Or do you not fully trust your liverock to keep it clean? why have I heard so much negitive thoughts on carbon?

I have a canister that I usually run with about half a load of carbon, but lately I have been taken it out, then deciding to put it back, take it out, put it back. I can't decide whether I need it or not.

[surfjeepzx]

Very nice tank! and thanks mods for bringing it back. Although some people can find anything to complian about I enjoy seeing nicely established tanks. Whether they have softies, LPS, SPS, or some other combo. It's all about the diversity that each reef tank offers to the community for everyones benefit.

[biohazard]

Lookin stellar Steve!

Congrats!

Kenny.

[Taniaza1]

Amazing tank Steve. It was a pleasure reading this month. And beautiful pics by the way, not a photographer... sheesh!
Well done and good luck on the new tank. Since your tank has been TOTM, maybe your wife will let you upgrade the location of the next tank??? =)

[Skipper]

Originally posted by surfjeepzx
...and thanks mods for bringing it back. It never left. It was all an April Fools joke, surfjeepzx.

[sschafer]

Rochester has The Reef Shoppe, Caribbean Forest, and Marine Oasis. The three shops in Buffalo are Pets Plus, The Fish Place, and Saltwater Paradise. The three stores in Rochester compliment each other well.

-Steve

Originally posted by alphaferret
ok so i know the reef shop and carribean forest- what other shops are in that rochester cny area! i am in syr.-also congrats on totm - good to see an upstate reefer take hold for a month- also was there ever any other upstatye folks w/ the totm- just curious

[sschafer]

Thanks. The only things I really did with the pictures is mess around with the white balance on the camera. Some of the photos were taken with my Canon G3 and the others were taken with a Nikon D70 that I borrowed from my brother. As for my wife . . . My ten month old son has a playgroup every Saturday an we host every few weeks. His little friends love the tank, and so do their parents. I think that helps a little. :D

-Steve

Originally posted by ItsMee
Thats an amazing system man.... - Those are great pictures too. Were those pictures "touched up" or edited in any way before posted?

Also, I was going to ask you all sorts of questions about what salt you use, what your return pump is for the 13 ft trip from the basement, and if you prefer wet or dry skimming....but I thought of one question that I would like to ask you instead because I think I can learn more from your answer than any or all of those questions, and that is: How do you get your wife to put up with your obsession?

[sschafer]

I have found two methods to be best. If the tang likes Nori just dangle some a few inches into the tank and scoop the tang up while it is eating. Otherwise, catch him while he is semi-lucid. Wait about an hour or two after the lights go out at night an catch him then. I've tried fish traps before, what a waste. If I wanted to catch snails or my leopard wrasse they would work great . . .

-Steve

Originally posted by Avi
Tank of the Month...what a great thread...and this one's very fine. I see that there's a lot of putting in and removing of fish. I have a 120 also and I'm trying to get a Striatus Tang that's relentlessly harrassing my wrasses out to no avail. How do you catch a fish like a wayward tang in a reef that's got a lot of rock and corals on it? I know you've done it plenty of times. Thanks.

[Devil Man]

ok what type of wrasse is that, that is sppoted in balck and is blue, that is the, most beautiful fish i have ever seen, could you please tell me which one it is, it looks pretty small too? thanks

[Avi]

Hey listen, I'm really sorry about the post about catching the Stiatus, but it was really becoming a danger to some fish in my tank...BUT...I caught it today and back to the fish store it goes.....The way I caught it was to leave a net in the tank for like two weeks already, and each day I put food in it. The problem was that all the other fish in the reef got used to it, but the one I was trying to catch would seem like it knew that it was the one I wanted to snag. Today, it did go into the net to take food, though, and I got it. What a relief.

Now I can get back to admiring that great reef of yours, Steve....Congrats!

[sschafer]

That is my Leopard Wrasse (Macropharyngodon meleagris). Regardless of everything else in my tank, that is the first thing everyone notices and the one thing everyone seems to want. She is around 4.5" to 5". I've raised that fish since it was about 2". They don't tend to ship very well, but we have one store here that seems to have a good supplier.

-Steve

Originally posted by Devil Man
ok what type of wrasse is that, that is sppoted in balck and is blue, that is the, most beautiful fish i have ever seen, could you please tell me which one it is, it looks pretty small too? thanks

[MarksReef]

Congrats, Steve :thumbsup:

[Devil Man]

wow a leapord wrasse....:bigeyes: what is the damage on one of those fish, i cant get over that fish, i already made it my wallpaper on my computer.... i must have him. is he agressive at all? hope he is.

[TippyToeX]

Congratulations! :thumbsup:

That is a beautiful collection of fish & coral!

[Skipper]

Here's an article on Leopard wrasses:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-07/hcs3/index.htm

[ReeferMac]

'Grat's Steve... now start planning how to move those windows! :D

- Mac

[sschafer]

Hahahahaha . . . don't joke . . . I've thought about it!

-Steve

Originally posted by ReeferMac
'Grat's Steve... now start planning how to move those windows! :D

- Mac

[tplummer]

...

[deansreef]

awesome tank, any better pics of the wavebox?

[Devil Man]

oh thank you sooo much for that skipper.

[FunkieReefJunkie]

Bloody gorgeous tank! The choice of fish are daring. I love it.

[RocketSeason]

sorry, but I gotta ask again.

Can you go into a little more detail on why you run Carbon in your system? Is it preventitive, or do you feel that you can never have to much filtration?

I have been trying to decide whether or not I like carbon in my system.
I have it in, I pull it out, put it back, pull it out, etc.

[bigfishman]

Nice tank!

[desling]

its a beauty !!

[ericandchrissy]

Very Nice Steve, Congratulations!

[lowem]

Beautiful tank....keep it up!

[Radicaljbr]

Great tank!!!

[GregM779]

Gorgeous tank, I love wrasses also, I have a leopard and dragon in my reef now. I lost my Linetus about 3 weeks ago when I left the lid off of the tank, one of my favorite fish. I love the harlequin tusk. The rocks look very natural and the corals seem to have grown together as they would in nature.

[movedonman]

CONGRADULATIONS! Very nice tank!

[Project Reef]

Cool collection of really neat fish and corals, Congrats Steve! Looking forward to your new tank as well!

[Wolfgang]

Greetings:
In your Opinion, which bulbs did a better job at keeping the Blue Acro colors? The Hamiltons or the AB's?
I have a 120 gal tank as well, and find it difficult to maintain any Blues, I buy them Blue, but they don't stay that way!!!
I have tried XM 20 K, Sunaquatic 14K's, Radiums 250W SE bulbs.
With URI Actinic whites, Actinics, and Corallife 10K VHO's in all combinations!
I was ready to switch to a Won Brothers 250W DE hood!
Thanks!
-Wolfgang

On the Quest for BLUE!!!!!!!

[rjwilson37]

I just love your choice of colorful fish and agree with you about sometimes taking a chance with a fish you want in your tank. I think it is great that you have found a way to make it work with a fish that is not 100% reef safe. IMO, it is not irresponsible reef keeping to bend the envelope a little to make things work, if indeed they are working. In your case it seems to be working wonderfully and I aplaud you.

Congrats on a well deserved TOTM.

[rjwilson37]

Originally posted by Skipper
It never left. It was all an April Fools joke, surfjeepzx.
Taking the TOTM off for the April Fools joke was not very nice at all to us RC addicts.:eek2: :lol: :eek1:

[Reefy]

Great looking tank.....Well Done! Awsome fish choices. Very interesting.

By the way, nice layout on the TOTM page!

[topmav1]

WOW!

[blstravler]

Very Nice tank well deserving of the TOTM!!!

I also have just moved to the hamilton 14k's (from XM 20k's) and agree some of my corals are not as colorful as they used to be but others have colored up very nicely. I will say that it is nice to have the tank not looks so blue any more (XM 20k's where very blue) I do have the 400 watt bulbs and I know you are thinking about them if you have any questions PM any time.

I have the same size tank and also have a large fish population with a big refugium and am glad to see that I am not the only one with success the, buy the way the Jewel tang is very, very nice.

I have one question, how far off the water are your MH bulbs? I ask b/c many of your corals are growing, very well near the bottom of the tank. I do have some in the lower areas of my tank but I think they might not be getting enough light so I am wondering if my bulbs are to far off the water?

TIA and again, great tank.

Keith

[InsaneClownFish]

Beautiful Reef.

[sschafer]

I really think carbon cleans the water up nicely. I can see a big difference in water clarity when I use carbon.

-Steve

Originally posted by RocketSeason
sorry, but I gotta ask again.

Can you go into a little more detail on why you run Carbon in your system? Is it preventitive, or do you feel that you can never have to much filtration?

I have been trying to decide whether or not I like carbon in my system.
I have it in, I pull it out, put it back, pull it out, etc.

[sschafer]

Hi Wolfgang,

It's really hard to judge colors without having the bulbs running next to each other. I believe I had better blues with the AB bulbs. I think I'm getting more vivid reds with the Hamilton bulbs. Lighting has always been an enigma for me.

-Steve

Originally posted by Wolfgang
Greetings:
In your Opinion, which bulbs did a better job at keeping the Blue Acro colors? The Hamiltons or the AB's?
I have a 120 gal tank as well, and find it difficult to maintain any Blues, I buy them Blue, but they don't stay that way!!!
I have tried XM 20 K, Sunaquatic 14K's, Radiums 250W SE bulbs.
With URI Actinic whites, Actinics, and Corallife 10K VHO's in all combinations!
I was ready to switch to a Won Brothers 250W DE hood!
Thanks!
-Wolfgang

On the Quest for BLUE!!!!!!!

[sschafer]

Thanks Keith,

Yup, that Jewel tang is a great fish. He's got personality too! As for the MH lights . . . they are approximately 8" above the water. I do not have any kind of glass/acrylic between them and the water. I don't think I would go much closer then that since a couple of my fish splash.

-Steve

Originally posted by blstravler
buy the way the Jewel tang is very, very nice.

I have one question, how far off the water are your MH bulbs? I ask b/c many of your corals are growing, very well near the bottom of the tank. I do have some in the lower areas of my tank but I think they might not be getting enough light so I am wondering if my bulbs are to far off the water?

TIA and again, great tank.

Keith

[sschafer]

Thanks again all for the nice comments.

-Steve

[oraclenick]

I agree that having fish is just as important as having the corals! Wish I had gotten a larger tank than my 55 :(
Hoping to migrate to a 120 in the near future if I can convince the wife.

[TheBimbo]

What a pretty tank... I will be showing the hubby tomorrow... Congrats on the wonderful honor of Tank Of The Month!!!



<a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZNxdm414BKUS' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_1_114.gif' alt='Clapping' border=0></a> TheBimbo <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008_ZNxdm414BKUS' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/4/4_1_114.gif' alt='Clapping' border=0></a>

[poknsnok]

sschafer

ever have any problems with nuisance algea?? you have the nicest tank. im battling dictyota and i could use some advice

[aquaria_rn]

SSchaffer, That is an incredible accomplishment. I have been running my reef for 1.5 years. ( Struggling to be exact). I have spent much money mostly replacing corals. Approxamitely, 4-6K the first year( impulse buying) and about 2k this year. Learning the hard way. I now noticed that the tank looks , seems to be okay when left alone. IE; moving corals around .Because i was purchasing too many to soon. Frequent H20 changes, which let to too fast decrease of SG, causing some problems with leathers as well as polyps closing and the dying. I keep checking parameters and can't seem to keep my Ca++ over 200-30O. Im now using Reef complete and Reef Ca+ made by seachem. Last checked it was 280. Had an algae problem slowly going away Phos was high +5, did water changes watching SG and it is now trace. Anyway, I can wait until I too can have a tank that is worthy of praise by RC, look forward of seeing more of tank.

Fellow reefer!!

[zoocrazy]

BEAUTIFUL TANK!!!!!:D

[sschafer]

I have an issue with Bryopsis now and then. Entirely my fault. I introduced it on a colony and never did anything to remove it originally. What a horrible mistake. Never ever knowingly put anything with Bryopsis in your tank. When I moved a number of years ago I went from a 54g corner tank to the 120g tank I have now. For a little while after the new tank was setup I had this very odd algae issue. This was before I have all the fish in the tank. I'm not sure what kind of algae it was, but it was a dark brown, had very small fibers, and was impossible to remove. Scrubbing the rocks with a metal brush did almost nothing to it. Eventually it just went away. I've never had to deal with Dictyota so I'm not familiar with any specific ways to combat it.

-Steve

Originally posted by poknsnok
sschafer

ever have any problems with nuisance algea?? you have the nicest tank. im battling dictyota and i could use some advice

[POMPANO]

Very nice set up !!!!!

[MikeG]

Nice job!

Question though. What are you going to do with those wrasses once you go BB? I'm asking because i plan on doing the same, but also have a leopard who sleeps in the sandbed. Thanks

[sschafer]

Thanks. Well, none of the other wrasses sleep in the sand. With the leopard . . . I really want to keep her so I'm trying to work something out. I have a 35 pound rock that is hollow. I was thinking of placing an inch or two of sand in the rock (like a bowl) and building rock work around it so you don't see any of the sand. That's my idea at the moment. I'll let you know if I think of anything better.

-Steve

Originally posted by MikeG
Nice job!

Question though. What are you going to do with those wrasses once you go BB? I'm asking because i plan on doing the same, but also have a leopard who sleeps in the sandbed. Thanks

[MikeG]

I Hope you figure something out for the both of us! The only thing i could come up with is somesort of sand box in the back of the tank. My real consern is that the wrasse will have trouble finding it, and hurt itself on the sanstone bottom (I was going to place tiles on the bottom instead of that bright white plastic.) Lol

[SRA4031]

Nice Tank Steve. Do have a question, Why do you want the pistol shrimp to be eaten?

[Gen21]

Hi everybody...

sschafer... great, awesome, beautiful and excellent tank!!!! :eek: :eek2: :D

Could you show some pics from your lighting distribution please?¿ I want to see it... because I seen in "tank of the mont" that your Acros have a beautiful colors!!! and I seen that you only have 2 MH´s Hamilton 14K and VHO´s...

Really is amazing...

Greetings from Mexico

[Just Jim]

I don't know if this thread is too old to be looked at, but I'm trying to find out any info I can on mustard/jewel tangs. I've been trying to get one for a while, and was hoping I could get pointed in the right direction. Any additional information would also be appreciated. Oh yeah, the tank looks great!:D

[melev]

Goldenboy,

[welcome]

[Just Jim]

I'd like answers on the questions about mustard/jewel tangs. I didn't see any info about that...

[Just Jim]

I'd like answers on the questions about mustard/jewel tangs. I didn't see any info about that...

[danoreef]

Hello Steve, Your tank looks awesome. I live on staten island but I go camping with the family all summer in upstate NY I am wondering if you could tell me where the reef society is that you spoke of in your tank of the month article?