PNY's 216 liter Reef Cube

Pny · 06/04/2014, 12:51 AM

I've been in the marine aquarium hobby for about six years, started with a very large tank that was converted from a fresh water planted tank. During these years I've been mostly keeping fish (FOWLR) and a few hardy coral species, always struggling with the more advanced corals such as sps for various reasons. I got this tank to be able to try out more advanced reefing in a smaller tank. Here's a presentation of my progress so far. (Before reading, please note that english is not my native language)

Description
The aquarium, a White cabinet with a reef cube, 60x60x60 cm, is designed to be a mixed reef, as a supplement to my larger FOWLR tank that I already have. The aquarium is running on a modern version of the Berlin method, ie filtering is handled by live rock and an efficient skimmer, combined with more modern methods of phosphate absorption and dosage of carbon source. The aquarium was bought second hand and was started in December 2013 and is in operation today June 2014).

System Profile
The aquarium equipment consists mostly of quiet quality products; return pump and skimmer from German Royal Exclusiv, and stream pumps and ATO from Tunze. The aquarium is illuminated with LED ramp from Ecotech.

The aquarium has a DIY sump (50x50x40 cm) below the aquarium. It has 4 sections. One large section for the skimmer, reactors and possible future technology, a little section with a filter pad for mechanical filtration and a compartment for the return pump. The fourth section is separated from the others for ATO osmosis water.

The ATO section holds water for about 1-1.5 weeks between refills. The water is filtered by a five stage reverse osmosis unit that produces water for both my tanks. The RO has a booster pump and is capable of generating 400 gpd. The Water quality is measured with an inline TDS meter on the RO.

The lighting consists of a first generation Ecotech radion XR30w LED. The ramp is 130 W and has five individually controllable colors (white, royal blue 442 nm, blue 468 nm, green 520 nm, hyper red 660 nm). The light is ramped up with blue lights first and then turns into a more white light. In the evening light is faded down to a blue light before the lights finally go out.

A DIY STC-1000 temperature controller regulates the temperature by controlling the heater. The temperature controller provides redundancy to thermostat in the heater and thus provides protection against accidental overheating of the aquarium at any fault in the heater.

A 3 channel master and 4 channel slave dosing pump is used for supplementation. The balling method is used to provide the aquarium with calcium, magnesium, alk and trace elements. Three channels on the Kamoer dosing pump is used for the Balling salts and a fourth channel is used for carbon dosing. The carbon source (vinegar and sugar) keeps the nitrate and phosphate levels low.

Two DIY upflow reactors with phosphate absorption media helps keeping the phosphate levels low.

Equipment list
Lighting: Ecotech radion XR30W LED (130W)
Skimmer: Bubble King Mini 180
Return pump: Red Dragon Mini 2500
Flow: Tunze Nano Stream 6025
Flow: Tunze Nano Stream 6045
Flow: Hydor Koralia
Filters: 2x DIY 1.5 liter upflow reactors
Dosing: Kamoer KSP-F03 3 chn master + 4 chn slave
ATO: Tunze osmolator 3155
Temp Control: DIY STC-1000
Heater: Hydor 200W
Cooling / Ventilation: DIY PC fan
RO: 5 stage 400 gpd Reverse Osmosis

Cabinet and Construction
The cabinet is built in 22mm MDF and reinforced with stainless steel details. The bench is screwed, glued and painted white. The lower part of the cabinet holds a sump with all the filter equipment, and is internally sound proofed. The upper part, which is also soundproof hides the lightning and minimizes light scatter outside the aquarium. The equipment has been carefully selected to minimize noise. Fans are provided in both top and bottom for ventilation. The goal is a system that is very quiet and provides minimal light scattering outside the aquarium.

The aquarium is drilled with 3 holes, two pipes down and one pipe up. The overflow is a Herbie type overflow made of 25 mm PVC. The return pump is spec'd for about 2850 l/h and pumps about 2500 l/h with the back pressure. I have put I piece of silicone tubing between the return pump and pipe assembly to prevent vibrations being transmitted from the pump to the tubes.

The aquarium contains about 20 kg of live rock. Reef ceramics covers the background and hides the overflow. The bottom substrate is coral gravel in size 3-5 mm.

Livestock
The live stock is still very light since the tank was started just 6 months ago, and I still struggle to keep the water parameters where I want them to be... The fish are fed daily with a varied diet of flakes, pellets and frozen food. The corals are fed once a week with Reef Pearls and various frozen food.

Fish
Red Stripe Angel, Centropyge eibli
Copperband butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus

Corals
Euphyllia sp.
Green bubble coral
Pavona Cactus

Invertebrates
Assorted snails

Water Parameter Targets
I believe in slightly elevated Calcium and Magnesium levels to improve coral growth.

Salinity: 1.025 (Refractometer)
Temperature: 25.3 (STC-1000)
Calcium: 450 ppm (Salifert)
Alkalinity: 8.6 dKH (Salifert)
Magnesium: 1350 dKH (Salifert)
Nitrate: 1 ppm (Red Sea)
Phosphate: 0.08 ppm (Hanna)
Iodine: not tested
Potassium: not tested
Redox: not tested

Pictures

Tank.

Sump area.

Sump details.

Pny · 06/04/2014, 12:53 AM

Some more photos...

Copperband butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus

Red Stripe Angel, Centropyge eibli

Euphyllia sp.

Frags.

06/04/2014, 12:51 AM	#1
Pny Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Sweden Posts: 169	PNY's 216 liter Reef Cube I've been in the marine aquarium hobby for about six years, started with a very large tank that was converted from a fresh water planted tank. During these years I've been mostly keeping fish (FOWLR) and a few hardy coral species, always struggling with the more advanced corals such as sps for various reasons. I got this tank to be able to try out more advanced reefing in a smaller tank. Here's a presentation of my progress so far. (Before reading, please note that english is not my native language) Description The aquarium, a White cabinet with a reef cube, 60x60x60 cm, is designed to be a mixed reef, as a supplement to my larger FOWLR tank that I already have. The aquarium is running on a modern version of the Berlin method, ie filtering is handled by live rock and an efficient skimmer, combined with more modern methods of phosphate absorption and dosage of carbon source. The aquarium was bought second hand and was started in December 2013 and is in operation today June 2014). System Profile The aquarium equipment consists mostly of quiet quality products; return pump and skimmer from German Royal Exclusiv, and stream pumps and ATO from Tunze. The aquarium is illuminated with LED ramp from Ecotech. The aquarium has a DIY sump (50x50x40 cm) below the aquarium. It has 4 sections. One large section for the skimmer, reactors and possible future technology, a little section with a filter pad for mechanical filtration and a compartment for the return pump. The fourth section is separated from the others for ATO osmosis water. The ATO section holds water for about 1-1.5 weeks between refills. The water is filtered by a five stage reverse osmosis unit that produces water for both my tanks. The RO has a booster pump and is capable of generating 400 gpd. The Water quality is measured with an inline TDS meter on the RO. The lighting consists of a first generation Ecotech radion XR30w LED. The ramp is 130 W and has five individually controllable colors (white, royal blue 442 nm, blue 468 nm, green 520 nm, hyper red 660 nm). The light is ramped up with blue lights first and then turns into a more white light. In the evening light is faded down to a blue light before the lights finally go out. A DIY STC-1000 temperature controller regulates the temperature by controlling the heater. The temperature controller provides redundancy to thermostat in the heater and thus provides protection against accidental overheating of the aquarium at any fault in the heater. A 3 channel master and 4 channel slave dosing pump is used for supplementation. The balling method is used to provide the aquarium with calcium, magnesium, alk and trace elements. Three channels on the Kamoer dosing pump is used for the Balling salts and a fourth channel is used for carbon dosing. The carbon source (vinegar and sugar) keeps the nitrate and phosphate levels low. Two DIY upflow reactors with phosphate absorption media helps keeping the phosphate levels low. Equipment list Lighting: Ecotech radion XR30W LED (130W) Skimmer: Bubble King Mini 180 Return pump: Red Dragon Mini 2500 Flow: Tunze Nano Stream 6025 Flow: Tunze Nano Stream 6045 Flow: Hydor Koralia Filters: 2x DIY 1.5 liter upflow reactors Dosing: Kamoer KSP-F03 3 chn master + 4 chn slave ATO: Tunze osmolator 3155 Temp Control: DIY STC-1000 Heater: Hydor 200W Cooling / Ventilation: DIY PC fan RO: 5 stage 400 gpd Reverse Osmosis Cabinet and Construction The cabinet is built in 22mm MDF and reinforced with stainless steel details. The bench is screwed, glued and painted white. The lower part of the cabinet holds a sump with all the filter equipment, and is internally sound proofed. The upper part, which is also soundproof hides the lightning and minimizes light scatter outside the aquarium. The equipment has been carefully selected to minimize noise. Fans are provided in both top and bottom for ventilation. The goal is a system that is very quiet and provides minimal light scattering outside the aquarium. The aquarium is drilled with 3 holes, two pipes down and one pipe up. The overflow is a Herbie type overflow made of 25 mm PVC. The return pump is spec'd for about 2850 l/h and pumps about 2500 l/h with the back pressure. I have put I piece of silicone tubing between the return pump and pipe assembly to prevent vibrations being transmitted from the pump to the tubes. The aquarium contains about 20 kg of live rock. Reef ceramics covers the background and hides the overflow. The bottom substrate is coral gravel in size 3-5 mm. Livestock The live stock is still very light since the tank was started just 6 months ago, and I still struggle to keep the water parameters where I want them to be... The fish are fed daily with a varied diet of flakes, pellets and frozen food. The corals are fed once a week with Reef Pearls and various frozen food. Fish Red Stripe Angel, Centropyge eibli Copperband butterflyfish, Chelmon rostratus Corals Euphyllia sp. Green bubble coral Pavona Cactus Invertebrates Assorted snails Water Parameter Targets I believe in slightly elevated Calcium and Magnesium levels to improve coral growth. Salinity: 1.025 (Refractometer) Temperature: 25.3 (STC-1000) Calcium: 450 ppm (Salifert) Alkalinity: 8.6 dKH (Salifert) Magnesium: 1350 dKH (Salifert) Nitrate: 1 ppm (Red Sea) Phosphate: 0.08 ppm (Hanna) Iodine: not tested Potassium: not tested Redox: not tested Pictures Tank. Sump area. Sump details.