July 2012
When I first set the tank up I put a 250w Geissmann halide over it. This was insanely bright and I started to get lots of hair algae and also struggled with temp fluctuations.
I also ran a Fluval 205 canister filter and Koralia blower. The next upgrade came as a sump which then allowed me to place all the unsightly equipment under the cabinet and upgrade the TMC skimmer to a Bubble Magus NAC7.
Next on the upgrades came an ATI power module 6 x 35w T5 light. This light was a quality upgrade and gave much better colour spread and better growth I found than the Geissmann. The next and probably my favourite piece of equipment was a Vortech MP10WES. This power head is top notch and I love it. Definitely a huge improvement over the single Koralia I had.
After this the tank had to be moved and underwent a minor re-scape. I started to focus more on harder corals then and after following the RC thread on the Eco Tech Radion light I decided I had to have one. I was the first person in Ireland to land one and have to say its another outstanding piece of equipment from Eco Tech. The colours from corals are phenomenal and the camera cant do it justice.
My Bubble Magus died on me so was stuck with a Deltec MCE 500 until that also decided to die on me. Im now running a Hydor Performer 700 external that seems to be doing a decent job. I then invested in a GHL Profilux 3 PAB kit and 4 pump doser. Im running the Red Sea Reef Care Program (liberally) with decent enough results.
I nearly had a complete crash a few weeks ago when my skimmer and top up died in the same week. My salinity and phosphates shot up and had a few corals partially bleach. Ive got it under control now using the profilux to top up and the new skimmer working. Ive got a fair bit of bubble algae but thats also starting to reduce now.
Ill keep the pics coming but I have a year and a half to try catch up on now.
Current live stock is
2x Gold Bar Maroon Clowns
1x Black Bar Chromis
2x Bangai Cardinals
1x Firefish
1x Neon Goby
1x Leopard Wrasse
1x Mandarin Fish
2x Peppermint Shrimp
1x Bullseye Pistol Shrimp (sumped)
1x Emerald Crab
Various snals
17/03/11
24/04/11
05/06/11
01/08/11
30/11/11
26/03/12
These were taken today. 08/07/12
