February CTARS Tank of the Month

Munchie1976 · Feb 15, 2014

February 2014 CTARS Tank of the Month Winner

Karl Stefanczyk - KrazyKarl

Patrick is going to be a tough act to follow for CTOTM, but I'm truly honored to have been chosen as February's winner. My name is Karl Stefanczyk and my reefing career started around 3.5 years ago. Like many reefers, I had kept freshwater aquariums as long as I can remember. I think I might have gone through every possible freshwater setup (amazonian community and aggressive, brackish, african, fancy goldfish) prior to turning to salt. Freshwater no longer captivated me as it once had and the mystical world of sea dwelling creatures filled that void. The relationships between fish/coral/inverts became a fascination.

In my opinion, my reef is still in its adolescent phase. I still have (and am constantly adding/removing) frags in the system as I continue to "paint" the rocks with the beauty of coral form and color. As much as I am in love with SPS, I cant imagine maintaining a reef without the variation of all sorts of coral. Colors, shapes, and requirements of all the diverse coral families is what drives my addiction.

In the reefing world, time and consistence are your best friends. It took several month, if not almost a full year, for my current system to be capable of sustaining the most delicate of coral life. Once I was able to stabilize my parameters and maintenance routine I felt confident enough to attempt keeping truly rare specimens. My last hurdle is to keep my hands out of the aquarium. I believe that I am finally content with my collection and plan on doing minimal (theres always room for one more coral right?) addition and removal in the future.

Thank you's: CTARS for the award, 'Pecan2Phat' for the inspiration, 'Useful_Idiot' for introducing me to LED's and Vortech's, 'frankyrivera' for allowing others to see my reef through beautiful photos, 'mylifeismyown' for always helping me spend money, and my better half for dealing with the constant tinkering and never ending spending.

System Summary

Cadlights 100G Artisan (48x24x20)
3 Ecotech Radion Gen1's
2 Ecotech MP40W
1 Ecotech MP10W
Apex Jr. w/EB8+EB4

40 Breeder Sump (Fuge/Return/Skimmer Setup)
Filter Sock
Cheato
SWC 160 Cone Skimmer
Eheim Jager 250W
Eheim 1260 Return Pump
Avast Marine ATO
BRS Reactor (Emergency Only)
2 BRS 1.1ml Pumps dosing ESV B-Ionic

Livestock

Purple Tang
Yellow Belly Hippo Tang
Mystery Wrasse
Leopard Wrasse
Midas Blenny
Male Lyretail Anthias
ORA Clownfish

SPS

ORA Pearlberry
ORA Red Planet
ORA Green Slimer
ORA Oregon Tort
ORA Cali Tort
ORA Yellow Fuzzy
ORA Hawkins
ORA Hyacinth Birdsnest
ORA Green Birdsnest
Rommel Watermelon
Aquaholic Dragonskin
Tyree Purple Monster
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Tyree Icefire
Vivid Rainbow Delight
WWC Tierra Del Fuego
RMF Jared's Mille
RMF Tri Color Prostrata
RMF Acid Trip Mille
RMF Orchid
JF Rouge Mille
Reefbum Yellow Tort
Palmer's Blue Mille
Pro Corals Rainbow
GARF Bonsai
FF Red Robin
Planet Earth Hoeksemai
OG Hoeksemai
Strawberry Shortcake
Pacman
Red Dragon
PC Sunset Mille
PC Purple Acro
Yellow Carolina
Bubblegum Mille
Raspberry Nasuta
Swanny Prostrata
Forrest Fire Digitata
Orange Digitata
Setosa
3 Wild Unnamed Acro's

LPS

Bicolor (Green/Purple) Frogspawn
Gold Torch
Pot of Gold Favia
Mayan Sun Favia
JF Anti Venom Favia
JF Roller Coaster Favia
JF Jack-O-Lantern Leptoseris
Meng Mummy Eye Chalice
Tyree Superman Chalice
JF My Miami Chalice
Cherry Corals Hot Spot Plate
Dendros

Z+P's

Daisy Dukes
Purple People Eaters
24kt
Pink Zippers
Rastas
Fruitloops
Goblins Fire
Sunny D's
Bloodshots
Laser Lemons
Purple + Red Hornets
Bam Bam's

Inverts

Dr. Mac Ultra Maxima
Scarlet Hermits
Trochus Snails
Cerith Snails
Tiger + Fighting Conch

Water Parameters

Alk 9-10
Ca 440
Mg 1300
Sg 1.026
No3 0
Po4 .03-.05

Congratulations!

This month's winner won a gift certificate from our sponsor,
Affordable Aquatics!!

See January's Winner Here