Some pics of CUNAReefer's SPS Tank

[Clearwater]

What a collection! Nice pieces

 

[MattL22]

Do u think bio pellets would give u enough filtration to make this work in a 40 breeder??

 

[creefer]

Beautiful collection you have.

Your tank makes me want to remove all my sand and provide a "mattress" for my Radiant Wrasse!!

 

[CUNAReefer]

What a collection! Nice pieces

Thank you, Clearwater! I was very fortunate to have access to the corals that are now in my tank.

Do u think bio pellets would give u enough filtration to make this work in a 40 breeder??

Hi Matt, In the spirit of full disclosure, I do not have any experience with bio pellets. With that said, there is not a doubt in my mind that this would work in a 40 breeder. You are still targeting an ULNS, but are accomplishing it in a different way. ZEO is a great (but expensive) method to use, but you can accomplish the same results with bio pellets. I have seen this done in some of my friends tanks. With the continuous dosing of my carbon source, ZEO Start 3, I have a constant food source for the bacteria to consume and assimilate phosphate and nitrate. I do need to be very careful not to let my nitrates and phosphates drop to zero for more than a couple of days. Otherwise, I have issues with polyps starting to retract and tissue recession starting at the base. I can also tell you that with this type of system feeding does become more important as the natural food source exists on a much smaller scale.

If you think about my approach at the very highest level, I still accomplish the same goals of a traditional aquarium, but I go about it in a different way. I still have biological and mechanical filtration. I still have a food source (Coral Vitalizer, Oyster Feast, Amino Acids). I still have a clean up crew (Snails and Crabs). I still have a fish population. I've just found ways to avoid the use of LR and Sand. If I were to start a new tank, I would go with man made rock and no sand. I would use a small piece of well inspected LR and begin adding a bacterial additive. You can minimize the impact to natural reefs and you can avoid the introduction of certin pests (fire worms, aiptasia, etc.). I dont have to worry about a sand bed crash, detritus accumulation in an area I cannot access, or the need for extra power heads for low flow areas due to rock piles.

Beautiful collection you have.

Your tank makes me want to remove all my sand and provide a "mattress" for my Radiant Wrasse!!

My wrasse LOVES his sand bed. He was doing his happy wrasse dance for me yesterday. He spills sand onto the bare bottom, but I just scrape it into a corner with an algae scraper. Then I remove it with a brine shrimp net. Once his sand bed gets low, I refill it with fresh sand.

 

[revsgirl]

Very nice!!

 

[revhtree]

Very unique and beautiful pieces!

 

[CUNAReefer]

Thank you Mr & Mrs Rev

 

[Reef Breeders]

Great system, I love the variety!

 

[CUNAReefer]

Great system, I love the variety!

Thanks Anenomekeeper! I like the looks of your stand in your Avatar. Mine looks very similar. I love being able to dive in (no pun intended) and start tinkering with all the bells and whistles.

James

 

[CUNAReefer]

I was taking some actinic shots this afternoon. The growth has really picked up. My GEO 6x24 Calcium Reactor is not able to keep up with the calcium demand so I have to dose Calcium Chloride at a rate of .75ml every 20 minutes. The no live rock and no sand method seems to be working well for me. Hope you enjoy the pics.

Some side shots

Season’s Greetings vs. Lucid Props Blueberry Sneeze

Orange Setosa

Red Dragon

$500 Efflo

ORA Hawkins Echinata

CUNAReefers Purple On Purple Stag

Rainbow Acro

Blueberry Acro

ORA Blue Voodoo

ORA Purple Plasma

Pink Branching Milli

Rainbow Acro 2

Ultimate Stag

ORA Red Planet

 

[CUNAReefer]

CUNAReefers Lakers Acro

CUNAReefers Nuclear Sunshine Tort

This coral has a white to green base, blue tips, and is just starting to develop pink polyps. The pink is only on a couple polyps and is very hard to get on camera. Its only at the base of the polyp right now.

Sold to me as Pink and Blue Abrotanoides

ORA Boreallis

ORA Bellina

Blue Branching Milli

PC Strawberry Fields

Purple Nana

CUNAReefers Ausie Gold

ORA Ice Tort

Sold to me as Blue Lightening from Hugo (SniperSPS)

PC Blue Thunder

Tri Color

 

[SeahorseKeeper]

The corals are looking awesome!!!!

 

[skinz78]

Nice shooting!

 

[Bry]

Nice pics! Your system looks to be working great for you.

 

[CUNAReefer]

Thanks for the kind comments! The hardest part is just sitting back and letting it grow... with some regularly scheduled maintenance of course. There are some other new pics on page three just incase everyone didn't see them. Again, thank you for the kind comments.

Warmest Regards,
James

 

[CUNAReefer]

I changed my bulbs this week. I went from 4 ATI Blue Plus, 2 ATI Actinic, and 2 ATI Aquablue to 3 ATI Aquablue, 3, Giesemann Midday, and 2 ATI Actinic. When I took the pics below, I no longer needed the custom white balance used for my super blue lighting. I set the white balance to fluorescent. Some of the pics were made darker with the use of a custom setting. Some of the original pics were too light due to the color of the new light. The new light is more of a yellow/green/white look. The spectrum may not be as aesthetically pleasing to the eye, but I really like the “natural” look it provides to my unnatural looking tank. At 19” above the water line and 9” below the water, I am getting a PAR level of 420 at the very center of the tank. Directly under the ends of the fixture, my PAR is 250 at the same depth of 9”.
My current parameters are the following:
.5 Nitrate
.04 phosphate
440 Ca
9.10 Alk
350 Potassium (Time to start dosing again)

 

[CUNAReefer]

 

[creefer]

Looks great, James!!

 

[J&O'sdad]

James if you ever come back to the Madison area let me know. I would love to buy some frags from you. Everything looks great.

 

[KoleTang]

Wow. What a collection.