My 253 Gallon Tank - In Our Old People's Home

[MarkusII]

Hello,

this is my first posting on Reef Central and I thought it would be a good idea to say hello this way and to present my tank and my history in reef keeping and the history of my tanks.
I am from Austria and was born at the Lake Constance. Nevertheless my contacts with fishes or “seafood� was for the biggest part of my live only fishing and/or eating them.
Since more then two decades I live near Innsbruck, an even more mountainous region with almost no relation to fishes except some rivers and lakes with trouts and other species.

All started when my two boys wanted to keep fish. They where at the age of five at that time and therefore needed some “help�. My wife was of the opinion that each of them should have an own tank. So we set up two small freshwater tanks of about 14 gallon each. That was when I was caught by the “virus�. I also had seen the beautiful reef fish and corals at our local pet shop and started to search the internet. The next was that I bought some literature and started to study more deeply into the subject.
After about one year of theoretical preparation I started buying the first items for my own reef tank.
This I set up at the end of 2001. It was a 120x60x60cm (47x23x23 inch) 430 liter (114 gallons) tank. It developed quit well but after one year my neighbour came one day (we live in a 2 storey condominium) and asked if we had the washing machine running during night, which I negated. Finally we found out that it was the pumps which you could hardly(!) hear, when you pressed an ear to his sleeping rooms wall.
As he was constantly claiming the noise and I was not willing to invest in new pumps (as I did not want to spend a lot of money , not being sure that the outcome was better – with the outcome that I also would have to remove it for the sake of good neighbourhood relations), I had to consider to find a new home for my tank, as I did not want to sell it (and of course loose some money).
Adjacent to us there is the home of the aged of our village and in the entrance hall they had a freshwater tank which was not in the best shape.
I approached them and made the offer to donate them my tank if they would find a place for it. I also would continue to maintain it – the only thing they would have to do would be the financing of the ongoing costs…
After they paid a visit to my home they decided to remove the freshwater tank and to place my tank there but they insisted that it should remain in my ownership.
So on the 2nd of January 2003 I moved the tank the few meters to the neighbouring building. Since then it was a constant viewpoint for the aged living there as well as for the staff and visitors to the aged and the house. I frequently give introductions into the reef tank and the hobby for school classes and groups. Articles about the tank appeared in several newspapers and even in a German magazine (Datz).
But as it is with all tanks: over the years it became too small…..
But the same happened to one of my best reefkeeping friends. He had two blue powder tangs which had grown too big for his 960 liter/253 gallon tank (200x80x60cm – 78x31x23 inch). So he built up a 951 gallon tank and his old tank became available. I asked the administrator of the old people´s home if I could replace the existing tank by a larger one and he agreed. As I had been also looking after a 660 gallon tank in a hotel bar for about half a year (trying to develop it from a fish tank into a real reef tank) I had earned some money which I spent buying the friends entire “old� system.
So again this new tank belongs to me although his regular place is in the home of the aged.
At the beginning of April I drove to my friend (with the Mercedes minibus of the old people´s home) to pick up the tank and all other items.
After some adaptations of the stands covering I finally prepared the move of everything from the old tank to the big new one.
The move then took place on the 30th of April and was a success with no loss in fish, corals or other animals.
Since then it developed rapidly and is already in a good shape for such a “new� tank.
Here you can see the entrance hall plus the tank one day after setup:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006aula.jpg

And this is a close look up of the tank (shot taken June 17, 2007)
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006tank.jpg

It consists of a mix of soft and hard corals.

Fishes:
2 Zebrasoma veliferum
1 Pterapogon kauderni
1 Cirrhitychthys falco
12 Chromis viridis
2 Gramma loreto
2 Amphiprion occelaris
1 Chelmon rostratus
2 Centropyge bispinosa

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

some more pics you can find here:
http://www.aquabilderbuch.de/HDS/

Equipment:
Lighting: Gieseman 230 eco 3x250W HQI+4x9W blue, 2xT5 80W blue, 1xT8 36W blue

Waterflow:
ATK MP12065 (12000L/3170g) closed loop

Skimmer:
Aqua MedicTurboflotor 5000 Shorty with Eheim 1060 (Water) and Red Dragon Bubbleking 1000(air)

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and here is a short documentation of the "making of..."

The old tank:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Aqua_alt.jpg

As the new tank had to be in the same place as the old one, the move had to be done at one. Therefore we had to prepare the new tank the day before the move. The Stand and the tank was prepared on the right side of the old tank. I was lucky to have another colleague to help me.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_3.jpg

almost finished:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_4.jpg

The old tank still in place one day before the move; on the right the new tank allready assembled; last water exchange for next days move:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_5.jpg

The day of the move arrived. Georg and I draining the water from the old tank, thereafter removed all corals and stones from the tank into buckets and boxes:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Umbau_2.jpg

Then we moved the old tank away (although only about 26g of water and the fish remained in it for the time beeing, together with the stand it had some weight and we needed 4 people to remove to the left). Then we drilled holes for the new lamp:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_12.jpg

to be continued...

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

continuation:

four of my regular "Tank watchers" don´t want to miss what ´s going on. The administrator with the drill also seems to be very happy....:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_14.jpg

and then we moved the new tank to its location (was much easier on the wet wiped floor). You can see it - still empty - with the actinic lamp already on, my son passing by (we had several assistants and spectators this days - also some colleagues came to what what was going on and providing some helping hands). In the tanks floor you can see the outlets of the closed loop system:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_16.jpg

Now it was time to place the stones, sand and then fill up with the water and find a place for every coral:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Umbau4.jpg

And that is what it looks like - an overall view of my tank:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Aqua.jpg

The left side of the stand: the freswater-box and the ATK providing the waterflow of the closed loop system:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006k-closed_loop.jpg

And the right side with the skimmer:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Bild_37.jpg
There is a special gimmick with the sump. You may wonder what the long hoses are for: the sump is on a wooden plate with castors - this enables the sump to be pulled out of the stand for easier maintenance work.

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and here some time furter back, when I picked up the tank at my friends home.....

the dissasembling of the tank:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006bild2.jpg

The friend had called some "strong" guys to move the tank from its stand:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006bild4.jpg

Sump and freshwaterbox waiting to be loaded into the bus:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Technikbecken.jpg

the bus had just the right size to fit the whole tank, stand, sump and all the other technical equipment:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006bild5.jpg

finally all the parts of the new tank in the bus....
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006bild6.jpg

regards

Markus

[cloudjockey]

very impressive keep the pic coming.

[MarkusII]

Hello cloudjockey,

hey, working in the same business ;) .....

here is a pic from the "sump-drawer" - extended (made when assembling the tank).
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/160006Schublade.jpg

and the freshwater-box can be filled with a gardenhose (must see where I have the pic for a later posting) - you can see where the hose can be attached if you look at the picture of the box (in the left upper frontcorner there is the fitting)

As some of the staff of the house does the feeding of the fish and the daily necessary maintenance of the tank (with a checklist mounted in the stands electronic compartement - the appendix of the stand, if you look at the overall picture of the tank) and they are all non reefkeepers I do not keep corals or animals which are difficult or expensive. Thats why its mainly a mix of soft and hard corals.
I do the "heavy" maintenance - like waterchanges and looking after the corals.

regards

Markus

[NYCREEF69]

great tank build

[meschaefer]

thats a great story. you found a way to keep your tank, and put it some place where people really appreciate it (i presume).

-matt

[MarkusII]

Hello Matt,

thanks, yes indeed its a real attraction in the house.
I never thought that my tank would become something like a public aquarium...:)

@Nycreef69 - well your compliment goes to my friend who owned the tank before. We just completed the wooden parts of the stand covering and painted it white. And of course "filled him up".

regards

Markus

[costeroma]

lucky

[MarkusII]

Hello costeroma,

hey u must b rich

why? The tank still belongs to me although it is in the home for the aged, but indeed I even save money - because I have no maintenance costs as food and electricity or salt.... - as they pay for it.

regards

Markus

[tkeracer619]

Unless your born into it, luck has nothing to do with being rich...... :rolleyes:

Great work man, thats a really nice thing for you to do. Sweet tank and livestock.

You are much nicer than me, I would have just ran the washer in the night. Eventually they would have accepted the slight hum over the washer or moved. :lol:

[MarkusII]

Hello tkeracer619,

thanks.

about being nice: unfortunately the condos are own property and are built only a few years ago. So I guess neither the neighbour nor we would move out - even if we would have penetrated him with the washer and other things. And as we have to continue to live side by side as neighbours for most probably some years to come, I at least did not like the idea of having a steady war with him. But he has problems with many others as well and even it seems as he does not like himself - if I see his face. He is a Psychopath I guess.

Nevertheless his son started to lern the drumms and did some exercise in the afternoon. But this time I knocked him with his "own" weapons - I started to learn playing the tuba :D.
And: his son stopped some time ago, I am still playing....:rollface:

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and this is the other tank I take care of....: (and by which I earned the money for the 253g tank)

Its in a hotel at the lake "Achensee" in Tyrol/Austria
www.alpenrose.at
and it is situated in the "Rondo Bar" lobby.
It was built up in 2004 and had several ups and downs the last years with no specialist taking care of it.
It is an oval acrylic tank 2m long, up to 1,5m wide and 90cm high containing 2500 liters (660g).
I took it over about one year ago with no corals in (only fish - mainly such ones getting rather large...and some of them eating soft corals:eek2:). Only stones, low algae and really not a showpiece for the location and a though thing to get it to look somewhat like a real reef tank)
Within one year I got it to a considerable good shape finding out all the corals which where not on the menue of the two angelfishes Centropyge bicolor and Pomacanthus imperator and therefore would survive and grow in the tank(I went there every two or three weeks for the "heavy" maintenance as waterchanges...), but allways told the hotel owner, that we should replace the weak link of the technical equippment which in my eyes was the Schuran skimmer with his "self-cleaning" ability (which did not really work properly - you still had to screw off the top of the skimmer and clean it once every two or three weeks - taking about 45min - screw off, clean, screw on again) and the fact that the flotate was directly going to the canalization. On the other hand the automatic refill with freshwater was directly from the waterpipe with a toilett refill like "swimmer".
Once we had allready a bigger problem before last christmas, when a filterbag was wrongly mounted to the sump by the housekeeper and finally caused a water-overflow (about 158g) which was refilled by freshwater and causde the salinity to go down from 30 (we kept it a little lower for the fish-health and for salt saving) to 20 psu! But it was detected allready the next day and everything survived.
In spring they called me again and told the salinity was down again to 20 - when we found out that the skimmer seemed to have a working problem and went skimming to wet without any obvious reason why. Again no impact and salinity corrected.
Two weeks ago I was away a few days for vacation when they called me again and said the salinity went over night from 30 to 5 psu!!!!! They corrected again - but this time this was to much. All corals disintegrated within the next days and out of 36 fish 19 died.
This is what we had:
16 Chromis viridis (1 survived)
1 Chrysiptera talboti (survived)
1 Paar Amphiprion occelaris (survived)
1 Amphiprion frenatus (survived)
1 Labroides dimidiatus (survived)
1 Siganus unimaculatus (survived)
1 Zebrasoma xanthurum (survived)
1 Zebrasoma veliferum
1 Paracanthurus hepatus
2 Naso vlamingii (survived)
7 Zebrasoma flavescens (4 survived)
1 Acanthurus leucosternon (survived)
1 Centropyge bicolor
1 Pomacanthus imperator (survived)
1 Chelmon rostratus (survived)
Now that it really had an impact the skimmer and the freshwater refill can be rebuilt by me....
And I can start at the beginning again with the corals.
I will install a second sump before the other one where I will place an internal skimmer (so it is not a problem if he is running crazy and skimming to wet) and an extra Tank from where a pump will refill only small amounts of freshwater regulated by a computer and secured by a time limit as well.

Here is a picture how it looked like before the crash - just at the beginning of July:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006Maurach280607bilderbuch.jpg
you cannot see all corals it had in the tank as some (especially mushrooms) where not yet so big (colonies)

best regards

Markus

(I hope you can understand my "austrian" english - as I am no native speaker)

[MarkusII]

Hello,

some time since I presented my tank. Since then the corals have grown and I added a few new fishes (in bold) to the tank.
Thats the present content:
1 Zebrasoma veliferum http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/519/160006veliferum.jpg
10 Chromis viridis
5 Pseudanthias squamipinis
1 Pterapogon kauderni
1 Cirrhitychthys falco
2 Gramma loreto
2 Amphiprion occelaris
1 Chelmon rostratus http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/519/160006chelmon.jpg
2 Centropyge bispinosa
2 Valenciennea puellaris http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/519/160006grundeln2.jpg
1 Pterosynchiropus splendidus
1 Labroides dimidiatus
other anmials:
2 Stenopus Hispidus
1 Echinometra viridis
2 Archaster angulatus
1 Ophiarachna incrassata

Gorgonians are one of my favorites:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/516/1600063_gorgonien_klein.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/516/160006gorgonie_klein.jpg
a partial shot of the center of my tank - and yes another gorgonia. Although it looks like a soft coral tank I have stony corals (LPS ans SPS) as well. But I do concentrate on gorgonians, soft corals and zooanthids and mushrooms - especially colourfull ones or those looking rather strange in structure
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006querschnitt_klein.jpg
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/160006deep_blue_klein.jpg
and finally a picture of the whole tank as it looked one month ago (no newer pic on the PC)
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/160006aktuell.jpg

best regards

Markus

[pipper]

VERY COOL!!!! AWSOME!

keep 'em coming please

[FIJI Reefing]

yes please that one tank is great not just from the beautiful corals but that it is entertainment for some of the people

[MarkusII]

Hi Fiji and Pipper,

thanks;
I really want to show that its not always only the "candy-colour" stony corals who make a beautiful tank - but there are other species as well.....
And in a mixed Aquarium there is a lot more movement - its less static than a pure stony coral tank.

but nevertheless as I wrote I also have stony corals as well:
makro picture of my Blastomussa merletti
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/511/160006makro.jpg
of the Pavona cactus
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/511/160006makropavona.jpg
Plerogyra sinuosa
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/511/160006Blasenkoralle.jpg

and look how many visitors my tank attracts (of course this is a joke - these where visitors of my anual aquaristic symposium I organise every year...)
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006besucher.jpg

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

took a new pic of the tank yesterday when the lamps where going on - so its a sunrise :D picture....
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1537.jpg

best regards

Markus

[thor32766]

wow looks awesome!! your hard work really paid off!~~

[MarkusII]

Hello,

thanks - yes I am satisfied how good it is running

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

just made a few new pics
overall picture
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/galerie/bilder/bild-2034.jpg
Full tank shot
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1539.jpg
left part of the tank
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1540.jpg
middle part
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1541.jpg

regards

Markus

[tkeracer619]

Looks great!

[melev]

Very interesting thread. I always like seeing different equipment used overseas. The viewing room is really spacious and makes you feel welcome to sit back and enjoy the reef.

[fishstick41]

nice tank =]

[eyebedam]

Very nice.

[Fish.Nemo]

the tang looks nice!

photo when the tang rise his wing, the picture will looks nicer!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

photo when the tang rise his wing, the picture will looks nicer!

here he is: :D
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/160006k-veliferum_flossen.jpg

regards

Markus

[Fish.Nemo]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11564587#post11564587 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MarkusII
Hello,



here he is: :D
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/160006k-veliferum_flossen.jpg

regards

Markus

beautiful! perfect tang!

[Jova]

Markus: the tank looks very nice, but I think I'm almost more impressed by your house:)

[MarkusII]

Hello Jova,

thanks....;) :)

Well you have not seen pics of the garden.... - even more impressive.
Although it is a beautifull house and perfectly run with a lot of offers for the aged people I hope that it takes a long time till I might have to live there. I prefer to stay at my own smaller house.;)
But space for the size of the tank does not matter - it even could be bigger (except from the costs for a larger tank)

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and some new pics of the hotel tank, which I take care of....

front view:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006k-Alpenrose9.jpg

back side:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/160006k-Alpenrose5.jpg

regards

Markus

[ThaNgBOm321]

that is AWESOME!!!

the incentive and act of donating all the equipment,time and work is AWESOME!! (even though they want you to keep it under your ownership... but to even offer it is incredible...) YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

that is one awesome tank... do you do anything to keep the water chemistry in check?? i only read that you have a skimmer... ( actually i only skimmed most of it..)

[MarkusII]

Hello Tha.... (wow - thats awesome too - what a nick :D)

thanks

apart from the skimmer I do regular water changes....

regards

Markus

[capn_hylinur]

thanks for sending me the link to this awesome sight.
Its wonderful to see the dedication and time you have given to enrich the lives of senior citizens.

[MarkusII]

Hello capn,

thanks for the compliment....
As you have seen in your thread (http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1401603&perpage=25&pagenumber=10) I am not only trying to please senior citizens with the reef keeping hobby but also to try to get young people interested in it....
...to eventually raise the numbers of reefers in tomorrow.

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

update of the stock of my tank:

fish:
1 Zebrasoma veliferum
1 Cirrhitychthys falco
5 Chromis viridis
2 Gramma loreto
2 Amphiprion occelaris
1 Chelmon rostratus
2 Centropyge bispinosa
2 Valenciennea puellaris
2 Pterosynchiropus splendidus
7 Pseudanthias squamipinis
1 Labroides dimidiatus
2 Biochoeres chrysus
1 Acreichthys tomentosus

corals:
specialised in various soft corals, gorgonians, zooanthids, mushrooms and large polyp stone corals

others:
30-40 hermit crabs
2 Stenopus hispidus
1 Echinometra viridis
1 Salmacis sphaeroides
1 Ophiarachna incrassata
2 Archaster angulatus
3 Entacmea quadricolor rot
1 Neopetrolisthes maculatus
several sorts of snails

regards

Markus

[xXReefXx]

very nice!!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

just an actual shot of my tank:
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1726.jpg

regards

Markus

[Lowredranger]

Awesome looking tank, all the various corals makes the tank look so real. I like all the tanks that everyone posts on here but this just looks like you replicated a spot right on the reef with all the different species.

[gary faulkner]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13933872#post13933872 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Lowredranger
Awesome looking tank, all the various corals makes the tank look so real. I like all the tanks that everyone posts on here but this just looks like you replicated a spot right on the reef with all the different species.

My thoughts exactly.

[MarkusII]

Hello,

thanks, unfortunately the lighting is a little too blue at the moment (I have 3 14000K 250W MH and 4 80W T5 blue - next change of the MH I will go back to 10000K again) - to watch it is not so bad, bad taking pics, they get slightly to blue and the colours of the corals do not come out naturally.
Due to the co-maintenance of the tank by people not involved in our hobby I cannot keep acroporas and most of the SPS corals.
Only the harder gorgonians, soft corals and LPS are possible - but as I like them more thats not a disadvantage and there are colourfull species as well. And it brings more movement into the tank than only SPS which are very "static". And all the people watching the tank prefer the motion in the tank as well.
I keep 14 different gorgonians.

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and an actual front full tank shot with 4x 80W T5 and 4x9W blue lights on.....

http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1727.jpg

regards

Markus

[jmking33]

Markus,
This is an awesome thread! Both of your tanks look awesome! I agree with the other members, its very cool to see other ideas on setup etc and equipment in other countries. Thanks for all the pictures. Again, it looks great!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

thanks;
But the tank in the hotel needs some more corals and those allready in to grow a bit more bigger before it is really good...

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and by the way, this is a full tank shot including the stand....
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1728.jpg

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

Stock update:

added
one Pseudathias squamipini to the allready existing group of seven
and a pair of Sphaeramia nematoptera - I like those, look interesting with their dots and the black stripe

and one of the Entacmeas quadricolor has split, so actually three normal size and one small one.

and added two gorgonians as well - one of them a purple Pseudopterogorgia sp

regards

Markus

[MeuserReef]

Truly Beautiful tank Markus. I hope to be able to get across the pond one day to see some of the amazing tanks that Europe has to offer (yours included).

Well done, and thanks for the link you posted in the stand thread!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

thanks, welcome
- also any time in Europe :-)

regards

Markus

[spleify]

Very nice work!!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

@ spleify - thanks

In two days it is 6 years that my first tank moved to the old people´s home - and who knows the story knows that it was not because of reasons of age :D ;)
Although the actual tank is a doubling in the water volume from my first tank and was acomplished end of April 2007.

Here are two actual pictures of the lobby area of the house with my tank (pics where taken in the evening of DEC30)

http://members.aon.at/meerwasser-aquaristik-service/Aula1.jpg

http://members.aon.at/meerwasser-aquaristik-service/Aula2.jpg

regards

Markus

[cphelps]

How did you get your pictures to come out so clear?

[MarkusII]

Hello,

nothing special - I have a Nicon Coolpics P5100 and try to take the best pictures and treaten them with some programs to get them in a size that fits the internet pages....

regards

Markus

[marcus.breaux]

beautiful tank and fish

[conorwynne]

Top stuff, and how nice of you to bring joy to the lives of the elderly.

[MarkusII]

Hello,

here a short "excursion":D:

I have set up a tank together with a school class in eastern Austria (in a small village called Felixdorf) in mid October.
(Thought to do something again with/for some younger people :D ;) - except the tank introductions/explanations I give for classes and groups)

The setup/tank description:
100cmx40cmx40cm – 160Liter - 42G
Miracle Mud Hang on filter (Eco System 60)
1x Maxijet 1000 with Eco Systems Eco Mod
1x JBL Profi flow 1000
light: 2x55W Dulux 10K/actinic
16kg live rock, 6kg dead rocks, 6,5kg sand und 1,3kg livesand
The tank and the lamp was a donation from another hobbiest; the Miracle mud hang on was a kind donation of http://www.amagmbh.com/ Ecosystem Europa
The stand was allready available at the school

All the kids and the teacher taking care of the tank have not been involved in the hobby before.
I am assisting them in the care of the tank (as good as this is possible with a distance of 233 miles great circular...:D ) by mail and via the austrian forum.

The intention is to set up a tank with only corals and animals from captive propagation - so only animals from our reef tanks (except of course for the rocks and the sand as well as the hermit crabs - which where not available in our area) - and if possible free of charge (as a donation to the project).

So far we have the following coral stocking:
a Sinularia sp. - (brassica oder flexibilis)
a green Sinularia sp.
a Capnella sp.
a Sarcophyton sp. (ehrenbergi or tenuispiculatum)
a colonie of green Zoanthus sp.
a colonie yellow Parazoanthus sp.
a few green Disocosoma sp
a few blue Discosoma sp.
Erythropodium caribaeorum
a Muricea sp. or Rumphella sp.
two flat Montiporas
a Montipora digitata
a Pavona deccusata
a Caulastrea furcata
a Pocillopora damicornis

all is doing well so far.
The next to follow are tank risen wurdemanni shrimps eating aiptasia (they have allready been promised, just need to be picked up at Vienna - which is a 35 miles car ride one way to the north).
Then we would like to add an Entacmea quadricolor and a pair of A. ocellaris and a pair of Pterapogon cauderni.

Some pics:
the set up:
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/attachment.php?attachmentid=7465
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/attachment.php?attachmentid=7466
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/attachment.php?attachmentid=7395
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/attachment.php?attachmentid=7452
and a picture how it actually looks (some of the corals are hidden or not very well visible as still small)
http://www.riffaquaristik.at/attachment.php?attachmentid=8438

regards

Markus

[conorwynne]

Jeez, your an absolute saint!
First the old folks home, now a kids school.

Well done man, very impressed with you!

[MarkusII]

Hello,

oh no, for that you need more....

but who knows ;) :D - I am ready for anything new and any new "infamous actions":crazy1: :rolleyes:

I just want to make our hobby more popular and eventually raise some new interests (the teacher is allready infected by "the virus":D )

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

nature is wonderfull and full of surprises....

As you know I do not keep SPS in my tank any more as with all the other people taking care of my tank, my frequent absence due to duty travels and the fish stock and good feeding it would be too difficult to keep them alive for longer times. Now and then one of those I had in the tank got white and died before I could do anything and the others taking care of the tank only can clean the windows, the skimmer and feed the fish and report any bigger anomalies they recognize.

Therefore I have specialized on gorgonians, soft corals and LPS mainly.

But a few days ago I was doing bigger maintenance in the tank (cleaning the closed loop intake plumbing and other). By this occasion I found a small 2-3cm "small" colony of Pocillopora damicornis.
The strange thing is that I never had one of this kind in the tank and that the rock, where it grew on was allready in the old tank (before I set up my current 253G tank) - so it most probably cannot have grown out of this but must more or less be a polyp which came in with any other kind of coral I moved in in past times and must have moved over and settled at the place where I found it now.
Hope she will be growing and living for a long time.....

Our hobby is good for any surprises any day - thats what I like it for as well....

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

once more an "excursion" to the school tank:
after getting the first two aiptasia eating shrimps at the beinning of February, on Saturday it was time to add the first fishes. We got a captivity bred pair of Amphiprion ocellaris and an entacmea quadricolor anemone (donation from a store who breads their own ocellaris and the anemone from a fllow reefer!!!).
But it was not until today morning that the class saw them- you can imagine what a rumor in the class and school this caused today - "the first fishes are in the tank" - what an excitement!

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

made a trip to Lisbon about 1 week ago and visited a friend as well and did some "aquaristic sightseeing" (:wavehand: Ricardo) , did some "coral exchanges" with Portugal :D as well as an excursion to the atlantic beach to watch some tidal animals as well as to collect some.
Here are some pictures what I brought back home - but they do not go into my big tank, they stay in a 15g Nano.

Actinia equina in red, green/blue and red with dots (I also have some reds which seem to have small yellow stripes - but actually no picture yet).
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1782.jpg
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1781.jpg
http://www.meerwasserforum.com/galerie/bilder/bild-1780.jpg

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

and by the way a small video I took at the Oceanario in Lisbon from the big 1.4 Million Gallon Tank (100x100x20 feet):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SWei1uUTL8

and there is with the smaller Vasco da Gama Aquarium also the oldest Aquarium in the world - founded in 1898

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

a small correction:
The Vasco da Gama Aquarium ist the second oldest existing; Napoli in Italy was founded in 1872....

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello,

some short videos of feeding my fish with fruits, algae...

watch my "fatty" ;-) :-)

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<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JVSLe-ErhrY?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JVSLe-ErhrY?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/7BVJ2GCPpwM?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/7BVJ2GCPpwM?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

<object style="height: 390px; width: 640px"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqHZtyaFGZk?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/oqHZtyaFGZk?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object>

Do you feed your fish with fruits, vegetables, salad.....?

regards

Markus

[dave.m]

Do you feed your fish with fruits, vegetables, salad.....?
Terrestrial fruits and vegetables have a cellulose structure that is unnatural for marine fish. Several authors recommend that you boil terrestrial vegetables so that they are easier for marine fish to digest. For natural nutrition you should stay with marine algae.

Dave.M

[gary faulkner]

Markus,

Where can I get one of these feeders?

Thanks

[MarkusII]

Hello Dave,

yes I admit that these are not the natural things our fish get in the sea; but alkso our feeding in the tank is only a small part of what they get in nature (and all our frozen food is alive in the sea).
So a bigger variation and vitamines are not so wrong - and these other things keep them bussy as well. If I see all the fish of those feeding not only frozen food and flakes and dry algae, it can´t be so wrong (and yes of course I feed vegetables mostly cooked) -and it is not regularly - but now and then.

regards

Markus

[MarkusII]

Hello Gary,

I can ship also to US - but I guess it is cheaper to do a centralized buying (so if you find some more interested) to save shipping cost.

regards

Markus

[caliking]

Thats so cool.. I never knew fish ate bananas.

[MarkusII]

Hello,

oh yes and they like it very much, as well as a lot of other fruits and vegetables, lettuce and so on.
And try and put the banana (or peppers) in the tank fixed to a stone and look what the hermits are doing.
Therefore I also use the foodholder for feeding so the fish get the fruity vitamines ;)

regards

Markus

[derdudeberlin]

Hello Markus,

any updates? What about the hotel tank? Is it filled up with corals actually?

By the way, do you have a link for the feeding tool you´ve shown in your movies?

Best wishes from Berlin
Arne

[MarkusII]

Hello Arne,

the tank is doing well
I enclose a picture from an article in a local newspaper which was published after the 9th int. Reefers meeting organised by me showing the most recent status.
http://reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=2185&pictureid=36716
The hotel tank is doing well as well but stil has some space for corals

I send you a PN with the details on the feeding tool

regards

Markus