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This is my first reef aquarium, set up in April 1999.  It marked the beginning of what has to be the most  demanding, yet rewarding hobby I can imagine, and has become a significant part of my life.  The experience from 20 years of keeping fresh and marine fish doesn't comprise 10 percent of the information I am still learning after less than two years of grooming and sharing my reef with other enthusiasts like those on this board.

System: The tank is an AGA 120 gallon RR, measuring 4'x2'x2'.  I designed and built the furniture through the compilation of designs from fellow hobbyists, adding my .02 along the way.  There is a 20 gal AGA sump kept about 1/2 full, which doubles as a macro algae refugium. 

Livestock:  Twelve fish, and more than 60 varieties of lps, sps, and soft coral reside in my reef.  Additionally, a Rose E. Quad. anemone, feather dusters, T. Derasa Clam, SLF crab, 2 Pacific Cleaner Shrimp, Tuxedo Urchin, Linkia and serpent starfish, and of course a clean up crew of snails and hermits call this place home.
See my Inhabitants page for more details. 

Circulation:  A Mag12 pumps about 500gph from the sump to the tank via two returns fitted with a combination of straight and flared fittings.  Additional current is provided by 2 MJ900 located within the overflows and plumbed into the display.  To guarentee water movement behind the rockwork, a RIO2500 is hidden at the top center of the tank and feeds a T Bar running down and across the entire bottom length.  Cumulatively, there is approximately 1200 gals per hour total turnover.

Filtration:  About 200# of Fiji Live Rock provides the biological filtration, and maybe 75# of aragonite sand (50# LS, 25# HD) give the critters something to dig through.  I usually run filter floss under the drain bar in the sump, mostly to reduce bubbles by breaking the fall of the water. It is changed weekly.  I run carbon about 75% of the time.  Skimming is accomplished via a Berlin Classic powered by a RIO3100.  Nitrates have been near zero even with the heavy load thanks to 4 types of macro algae growing in the sump.

Lighting:  A pair of 175w 10kK Ushio metal halide lamps on Advance Ballasts (9 hours) and VHO actinic (11 hours) provide lighting to the display, and a 13w PC to the sump/refuge.  A red 9watt PC lamp provides enough illumination for late night viewing.  Water temperature is regulated  to within a few degrees of 81F using an Omega temp controller which cycles two 3" canopy fans (as well as a sump fan in the summer) or the Ebo 200w Heater as required.  In the winter, the temp doesn't vary by more than 0.5 deg F.

Additives and feeding:  To my amazement, I have remained faithful to 5 gal water changes virtually every week using IO or Reef Crystals.  About a gallon of water evaporates daily and is replenished with RODI, (sometimes saturated with Aragamite).  Daily additions of 70 ml of B-ionic maintain a minimum 400ppm Ca and 8dKH Alk.  Reef Builder is used to balance out the two if necessary (I find it unnecessary and to push these values to the upper limits of saturation).  I occasionally use either live phytoplankton, or Cryopaste.  The herbivores get seaweed every morning in the form of dried or live from the sump (usually gone in an hour) and I alternated a variety of flake or frozen (Selcon added) every night.  Bi-weekly invert  target feedings consist of thawed shrimp marinated in Selcon, administered via a DIY pipette.