swannyson7
Moderator/Acro Aficianado
Excellence Award
Reef Of The Month
Photo of the Month
CTARS Member
Moderator Emeritus
REEF SPOTLIGHT - January 2013
The Reef Aquarium of:
Shaun Monahan A.K.A. "Shauno"
Introduction
My name is Shaun Monahan and was born and raised in Tucson AZ. As a kid, my mother would take my family down to camp at the beach on the Sea Of Cortez, Mexico. I have an older brother, John and the two of us would snorkel and search the tide pools to catch our own fish and inverts. We had a 60gal saltwater tank and it was stocked with Cortez animals. This was the start of the “reef obsessionâ€
I moved to Portland Oregon in 1996. In ‘96 I worked for Upscales in Tualtin, OR. In ‘97 I opened my own reef shop “Wavesâ€. Then, in 2002 I lunched â€Ecorals†the online side of Waves. My website was comprised completely of WYSIWYG corals/inverts/fish and LR. My store also provided maintenance, setups and tank moves.
A bit of history: In late 1997, I was regularly importing sps corals from the Pacific, focusing on Bali, as this is where most of the “new†corals were coming from. I had a brown piece of coral that I saved in housed in the 150 display that developed into the most blue coral I had ever seen - The Oregon Tort.
I was fortunate and was able to do many reef tanks of former Portland Trailblazer basketball players and many other local Portland celebrities. I gave a shot to a kid that wanted to work for me who showed great interest and initiative, Phil Scheller. Phil is now a Senior Aquarist at the Long Beach Aquarium and has done amazing display’s exhibits, including the very beautiful and popular non-photosynthetic coral display!(Link here: Reef Addicts - Spotlight on Non-Photosynthetic Coral Tank at The Aquarium of the Pacific. Long Beach, CA ) Go Phil!!!
I sold my store in 2005 to pursue other interests and to have time for my growing family.
In 2010 started a small reef tank to enjoy this hobby once again. Soon after, I took a job with Sunlight Supply as their West Coast Sales Manager and was able to visit stores all over the West Coast.
I now work for Golden Basket (Ebay) /Java West wholesale. My job is to propagate SPS corals, manage system water quality and develop new husbandry techniques. I also work for the new Portland Aquarium (PortlandAquarium.net) and my role there is to do whatever is necessary to finish their displays and facilitate the opening this new Aquarium expected this December 2012.
System Profile
Display tank: 34g Solano (18"x18"x18").
Glass or Acrylic: Glass.
Stand: Custom, 40" tall maple stand, stained in dark expresso.
Sump: Standard 10g AGA tank. I have customized this Solano by drilling it to utilize the back system as an overflow and added a sump to increase the overall system volume.
Protein Skimmer: Deltec MCE600 HOB.
Carbon/phosphate filtration: I run 1c of carbon passively, in a nylon bag in my sump. No GFO used...
Return Pump: Marineland 600gph submersible.
Water circulation: Hydor Koralia 6 and a Koralia Nano on an Ocean Pulse timer.
Lighting: AquaIlluminations Sol Blue.
Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing: AquaMaxx Nano calcium reactor with CarribSea ARM (course grade).
Auto top-off: Manual top off.
RO/DI: Hydro-Logic Evolution 1000GPD. No need for water storage as I make RO on demand!
Heating: 250w Ebo Jager heater.
Cooling: None.
System control: None.
Water Parameters
*Salinity: 1.026 via Milwaukee refractometer.
*Ammonia: 0 via Salifert.
*Nitrate: 0 via Salifert.
*Nitrite: 0 via Salifert.
*Phosphate: 0.01-0.02 via Salifert.
*Calcium: 420-430 via Salifert.
*Alkilinity: 10-11 dKH via Salifert.
*Magnesium: 1400 via Salifert.
Lighting Summary & Objectives
Originally, I used a DE 150w 20K, then changed to a 250w 20K Radium, and finally switched to an AI Sol Blue. I have had this LED on since February and love it. I run it at 100% on all 3 channels (white/blue/royal blue) and the color looks 14-16K. The photo period begins at 8am with a 50mins ramp-up to 100%, and then begins to ramp-down at 10pm for 50mins. I use the lunar feature and have 3% royal blue and 1% white - this is great for night viewing.
Lighting Photoperiod
8:00 AM: Sol Lunar Feature OFF
8:00 AM: AI Sol BlueRAMP UP
8:50 AM: AI Sol Blue ON 100%
10:00 PM: AI Sol Blue RAMP DOWN
10:50 PM: AI Sol Blue OFF
10:50 PM: Sol Lunar Feature ON
Last edited by a moderator:
