July 2014 R2R Tank Spotlight: jourdy

SeahorseKeeper

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Hello to everyone! I’m Jourdan Sy from Manila, Philippines.

Member Tank Thread:
Jourdy's 90 Gallon Mixed Reef

This is my 90-gallon tank.
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Background:

For as long as I could remember, it was a yearly tradition for my family to go to the beach. As an avid fisherman, my dad would sometimes take me with him on his trips when I was a little kid. Once, he reeled in an orange fish; it was small and it had white stripes running down along the body. There was something peculiar about this fish - it stood out among the throngs of ubiquitous gray/silver fish.


Fast forward to year 2001. I saw this fish again in a pet store. Wiggling as it swims, it piqued my interest even more. At this point in time, the allure of keeping these colorful reef fishes is prominent as there have been more and more pet stores displaying them; however there is a stigma due to the difficulty in keeping them. Unfazed, I brought home a tank and a few fishes that very same day.


It was a mistake and a stupid decision. I’m sure everyone knows how that turned out. In 2004, I joined ReefCentral after a long hiatus. I learned lots of stuff, got ideas from other reefers – and proceeded to plan for my tank. This time, I was armed with knowledge derived from the internet, but there was a massive problem… equipment were not available here in the Philippines. For a long time, I had primitive equipment - my filtration was an overhead filter sharing the space with an incandescent bulb.


Everything changed for the better when I joined a local forum in 2007. I discovered a seller of reef equipment by way of importing from the USA. I started planning carefully, and made slow but progressive strides in setting up a nano tank with HO T5 in 2008. I was still a student back then, and had no funds to pour into my tank so it took me about a year to buy the necessary equipment needed for my dual nano tank. In January 2010, I joined ReefCentral’s nTOTM contest, which I surprisingly won. The itch to upgrade was overwhelming after that. I upgraded to a 35 gallon, then a 55 gallon, then a 67 gallon tank, my current 90 gallon tank, and already a bigger tank planned for next year. It is human nature to always want to improve, and I have a feeling I’ll forever be upgrading tanks throughout my life. Let’s pray for my fiancée’s sanity!

Tank and Husbandry:
My current display tank is a zoas/LPS-dominated custom 90-gallon all glass aquarium with the dimensions of 48 x 24” x 18”. My stand is custom made by a friend and me. It’s nothing special – basically just something to place my tank on with no regards to aesthetics. After all, I was more concerned about what’s inside the tank. I’m on a different mindset now though – if given the chance, I would definitely choose to make the stand/sump/piping more organized. It is too late to fix that on my current tank – but I will not repeat the same mistakes on my next upgrade next year.

A friend helped me with the stand
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Aside from the display tank, I have a 24” x 24” x 10” frag tank housing many of my corals. My husbandry will sound a bit strange to some – but what I personally do is I interchange the corals from my display tank and frag tank; depending on what I feel like putting in and out of the DT. This is the reason why my tank will always periodically look different and it gives me something to do since my hands are always itchy.

The frag tank
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My sump has 3 chambers – one for the overflow, one for the skimmer, and the last for the return pump and miscellaneous equipment.

Display tank equipment:

· 2 EcoTech Radion XR30w with TIR lens
· Reef Octopus XP2000
· 2 EcoTech MP40w synced on Short Pulse Mode
· Reactors: JNS Omega Biopellet Reactor
· Chiller: TECO TR20
· Return Pump: Rio HF20

Frag tank equipment:

· Ecotech Radion XR30w gen 1
· Return Pump: Rio HF12

The Radions are a great investment in my opinion. They do the job and they are pleasant to look at. The color spectrum is very broad, it allows a great range of color combinations. In fact, my pictures will always look slightly different, depending on what time I took the pictures. From 6pm-11pm alone, the spectrum changes from blue to deep blue with decrements in red/violet hues. I feel this is somewhat important because it allows you to see your livestock in a multitude of spectrum. I have gotten so many "Is that photoshopped?" questions throughout the past years that I have lost count. I think it speaks volumes about the light fixture - that it makes your livestock more luminous than ever.


The biopellet reactor. It looks like a hamster wheel
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What I like most about my tank is how low maintenance it is. I leave my tank for weeks at a time since I am rarely at home. I have delegated work to my sister who is assigned to feed the fishes whenever I’m away. I do not dose anything in the tank, not even Alk/Cal. I perform water changes about once every three weeks. Currently I am using Salinity by Aquavitro, but before that I used Red Sea Coral Pro before stocks ran out and Reef Crystals prior to that. Basically, I use any salt I can get my hands on. I keep mostly LPS and zoas, since they are the sturdy ones that thrive even when neglected. I have very few SPS given to me by my friends - and those are wild-caught so they are more prone to changing colors.

Livestock

Fish:
Picasso Clownfish pair
Flame Angel
Yellow Tang
Purple Tang
Blue Tang
Mandarin Dragonet
Blotchy Anthias
Mystery Wrasse
2 Tank bred Yellow Assessors
2 Tank bred Orchid Dottybacks
3 Bartlett’s Anthias


The clowns lay eggs every 2 weeks or so. I like all the fishes except for the mystery wrasse. It was given to me by a friend when it was about an inch but now has grown into a 3 inch terror. I feed them New Era soft pellets, New Life Spectrum Pellets, and Otohime pellets alternately.


The blotchy anthias is probably my favorite fish in there because it has quite a personality. It's not scared of anything, and when you stare at it, it will stop in its tracks, face your direction and stare at you right back! The other fishes are all always out until they see the camera. For some reason, they have no problem with me feeding them in close proximity but when they see the camera they dart off like they've seen a predator.

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Corals:

Assorted Zoas

Yellow Cloves
Photosynthetic Gorgonians
Acans
Hammer
Bubble
Torch
Goniopora
Cyphastrea
Scolymias
Chalices
Favia
Blastomussa
Brains
Cynarinas
Plate Corals
Duncan
Supersun
Rhizotrochus
Assorted SPS

Assorted zoas. Too many to take individual pictures of.
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Photosynthetic Gorgs. They grow quite fast. Started from about 2" frags and now they are 6-7" with multiple branches
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Yellow cloves. These started from a frag of about 5 polyps
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Supersun - it is usually semi-open during daytime but fully open at night time.
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Acanthophyllia feeding
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Assorted Brains
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Acan Echinata
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Bubble Coral - I remember getting this as a white/brown bubble coral. It turned luminous green.
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Chalice
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Plates and Acan
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A scolymia a friend gave me
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Blastos
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Hammer and Golden Torch
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Gonioporas
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Acan
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My tank is full of assorted LPS
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Some frags
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I have no idea what kind of SPS these are, so.. just pictures!
I have only a few SPS (mostly wild caught and given by friends) and they are nothing spectacular compared to most other reefers.
I am actually amazed that they live in my low-maintenance tank.

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Coral Pics Continued:

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Invertebrates:

Blue Maxima Clam
Red Blood Shimp
Nassarius Snails
Turbo Snails

Blue Maxima
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I am not fond of this guy. It makes photography much harder because it constantly steps on all of my corals in search of food.
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Progression Pictures:

Pardon me for I have only a few. Most of my old pictures have been lost forever when Multiply shut down and I lost my photobucket password.

Chalice. 6 months.
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Green Staghorn, 3 months
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All my zoas started from this
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These are the cynarinas (above pictures) when I just got them.
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The current 90 gallon
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I had a giant anemone; gave it away when it got too big and stung the nearby corals
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My 67 gallon a few years ago and my 90 gallon before I changed it yet again
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SeahorseKeeper

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Conclusion:

Once again I would like to say my thanks for letting me showcase my simple tank. I would just like to say that while a lot of people serve as great inspiration (Chingchai; Sonny to name a few), I find it best to refrain from copying other people's setup exactly to the brim. In the short 13 years experience I have had in reefing, I noticed that every system is different, all with different quirks and personalities.


The only advice I could give to people entering the hobby is to take it slow; assimilate your tank's strengths and weaknesses and go from there. Be sensitive to your livestock; they will show you if they are happy or unhappy. The aim here is not just for corals to survive... but rather for them to thrive. Always aim for the best water parameters and your inhabitants will reward you with growth and color!


Lastly, I would like to thank ReefPhilippines and its people for helping me develop my tank over the years. There might be some really stupid people on there :xd: but lots of great people as well. Some of the closest friends who have helped me grow as a person, I have met through that website.
 
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SeahorseKeeper

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Congrats Jourdy!! Your tank is absolutely stunning!!
 

revhtree

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My favorite tank! WOW thanks for sharing and well deserved!!!
 

tupes

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That's a beautiful tank you have there. Keep up the great work.
 

hatfielj

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I've been in this hobby for nearly 10 years now and this is hands down the nicest reef tank I've ever seen. The colors and the variety and the overall health is just phenomenal. Amazing!!!
 

Gabe

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Jourdy - so amazing. It's one thing to chase zoa frags, but to see those beautiful colonies all complementing each other really awesome!
 

TUSI

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Congrats Jourdy, amazing looking tank, colors look incredible and the sps corals look better than most sps keepers with high maintenance. Great job
 

revhtree

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Slow weekend due to the holiday! Can we get some love!?!
 

clowndude

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Truly amazing tank. I must say your tank has inspired me. May I ask if yoy feed your corals at all? Also how do you like the biopellet reactor? What kind of pellets are you running in it?
 

Spiderguardnano

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this tank is super awesome

i really want to know what his light schedule is

or if anyone can point me in the direction of the lighting schedule
 

snwmnky007

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Conclusion:

Once again I would like to say my thanks for letting me showcase my simple tank.

Jourdy I would love to just have your frag tank as a display. Thank you for sharing. This is one of the best tanks and pics I've seen ever. Great zoas colonies!

And your modesty!!! Top notch
 
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