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.
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
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
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
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.
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.
Photosynthetic Gorgs. They grow quite fast. Started from about 2" frags and now they are 6-7" with multiple branches
Yellow cloves. These started from a frag of about 5 polyps
Supersun - it is usually semi-open during daytime but fully open at night time.
Acanthophyllia feeding
Assorted Brains
Acan Echinata
Bubble Coral - I remember getting this as a white/brown bubble coral. It turned luminous green.
Chalice
Plates and Acan
A scolymia a friend gave me
Blastos
Hammer and Golden Torch
Gonioporas
Acan
My tank is full of assorted LPS
Some frags
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.
Coral Pics Continued:
Invertebrates:
Blue Maxima Clam
Red Blood Shimp
Nassarius Snails
Turbo Snails
Blue Maxima
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.
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.
Green Staghorn, 3 months
All my zoas started from this
These are the cynarinas (above pictures) when I just got them.
The current 90 gallon
I had a giant anemone; gave it away when it got too big and stung the nearby corals
My 67 gallon a few years ago and my 90 gallon before I changed it yet again
Member Tank Thread: Jourdy's 90 Gallon Mixed Reef
This is my 90-gallon tank.
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
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
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
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.
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.
Photosynthetic Gorgs. They grow quite fast. Started from about 2" frags and now they are 6-7" with multiple branches
Yellow cloves. These started from a frag of about 5 polyps
Supersun - it is usually semi-open during daytime but fully open at night time.
Acanthophyllia feeding
Assorted Brains
Acan Echinata
Bubble Coral - I remember getting this as a white/brown bubble coral. It turned luminous green.
Chalice
Plates and Acan
A scolymia a friend gave me
Blastos
Hammer and Golden Torch
Gonioporas
Acan
My tank is full of assorted LPS
Some frags
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.
Coral Pics Continued:
Invertebrates:
Blue Maxima Clam
Red Blood Shimp
Nassarius Snails
Turbo Snails
Blue Maxima
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.
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.
Green Staghorn, 3 months
All my zoas started from this
These are the cynarinas (above pictures) when I just got them.
The current 90 gallon
I had a giant anemone; gave it away when it got too big and stung the nearby corals
My 67 gallon a few years ago and my 90 gallon before I changed it yet again
I still love and research seahorses.
