April 2011 Tank of the Month
 

This month we are featuring the beautiful 250-gallon SPS reef of Amir Spivak (damura).

http://www.reefkeeping.com/joomla/im...r11/fts_md.jpg

More details can be found here.

Congratulations, Amir!

Also check out Reefkeeping Blog!

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<center><font color="#FFFFFF" size="-1">If you'd like to nominate a tank
for Tank of the Month, click <a href="http://reefcentral.com/forums/newthread.php?s=&action=newthread&forumid=189" target="_blank"><font color="#FFFFFF">here</font></a>
or use the button to the right.</font></center>
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WOW, very nice tank, congrads!

Absolutely amazing! Well deserved!

Nice ! congrats, very nice growth patterns on the SPS !

Beautiful tank. Congratulations.

Congratulations Amir, you have a beautiful tank and it is well deserved.

OMG, a dream comes true.
Well done Spivak!!!

Gil.

Congrats on TOTM...

Interested in the DSB research you've done. Would you be able to summarize or point me in the direction of good info you found?

I've had DSB in the past, but since I moved my tank have been running it with a shallow-ish sandbed. Right now, I'm planning my future upgrade, and have yet to decide whether a DSB will be included.

Thanks, and again, congrats!

-Chad

I truly appreciate when TOTM owners describe their struggles, and how they overcame. It gives us who read optimism that one day we can get where they are. This is a hobbby that can be so challenging sometimes, and I feel more optimistic after reading Amir's article. So congrats on the tank!

holy SH##
probably the most amazing tank in israel is now shown here on TOTM.
amir is one of the most dedicated men in the reefkeeping comunity in israel and the results are shown all over this thread. well done spibaaaaaaaaak
:celeb3:

Thanks everyone for the complements, it is really a great honor to show you all my tank,

Regarding the DSB Chad, I was working like you for years with shallow bottom, having about one inch of gravel. After I saw Iwan Lasser's tank I investigated DSB a lot and decided to give it a try, I then bought sacs of Nature's Ocean Samoa pink grain zero:
http://www.naturesocean.com/reefsand/
They have a grain size small enough to create anaerobic regions 4 inches below the surface. The recommendation is to go even further with the grain size, using smaller grains but I really didn't want to deal with this because of my Tunze wave pumps that would have move the sand around.
What you absolutely must do is get rid of all kinds of sand dwelling sea stars and other burrowing animals, the sand must not move too much. Fauna will inhabit it very quickly, from worms to small snails, and of course billions of bacteria.
Since the surface of the sand is so huge, it is hosted by huge amounts of bacteria that can neutralize all kinds of nutrient picks caused by things like sudden death of animals.
What this sand is also doing is balancing your dKh and as a consequence your pH. The acidic environment existing below the surface dissolves the sand therefore adding more alkalinity and Calcium into the water. I really recommend DSB.

Great write up

Hey congratulations Amir, I've spent a bunch of time down down in Sinai, and am curious if you've taken any frags or livestock from there, or from the Mediterranean Sea. Beautiful tank!

Amir
congrats!! you are a true example of dedication and perfectionism, I think that thanks to you and a handful of other experienced and devoted reefers did this great hobby develop so nicely in our small (and great) country.

As stated above your writeup is excellent and inspirational, I would recommend it to every beginner.
GREAT JOB,KEEP IT UP!!!

That's fantastic!! The amount of dedication required to keep a tank like that is inspiring!!

Amir. Congratulation!
You truly deserved this honor.

Hi Ari,

The Sinai Peninsula is part of Egypt, and they have very strict laws to enforce nature conservation.
Regarding the Mediterranean sea, it is not a tropical sea so there are almost no creatures suitable for a reef aquarium. People do take out cleaner crews from the Mediterranean like Turbo snails and conches.
It is true though that in the recent decades there are more and more Red Sea endemic creatures found in the Mediterranean sea due to Lessepsian(Lessepes was the french engineer who developed the canal) migration through the Suez Canal, fish like stone fish, and many kinds of Jelly fishes are among the popular ones.

Congratulation
 

Amir, Congratulation. AMAZING GROWING ACROPORA !

You've done a great job resulting in a beautiful aquarium. I enjoyed your well thought out and written write up very much as well.

Congratulations Amir. Your tank is just amazing!

Really like the right side of the tank.

Amir, congratulations! Great tank. In your article you stated that you use a chiller. What is the HP of your chiller?

Congratulations Amir. Your tank is just amazing!

Amir congratulations. You are one of the serious and most devoted enthusiast in the Israeli reefers community. You deserved a TOTM long ago.
May this TOTM be a leading route to many devoted Israeli reefers.

Hi tmc,

I guess I forgot to mention this in the article. I use 1 HP DIY Chiller. In the summer i elevate the tank temperature to 81 F so that the chiller will work as little as possible, i also use 3 different fans to promote evaporation and heat dissipation.