R2R Reef of the Month: Fadi's 180-gallon SPS Reef - April 2018

Daniel@R2R · Apr 3, 2018

Name: Fadi Abu Tahoun
R2R Username: @fabutahoun

Build Thread: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/fadis-reef-180-gallons-sps-dominated-tank.268341/

Introduction:

My Name is Fadi Abu Tahoun. I am from Jordan and currently live in Riyadh - Saudi Arabia. My thanks to Reef2Reef for featuring my tank as Reef of the Month spotlight. Keeping a reef here in this part of world is not an easy task. All of my equipment is bought and shipped from the USA to Saudi Arabia, and for live stock I have had to travel and drive more than a thousand miles to nearby countries like Bahrain and Dubai to get some coral frags and fish (until recently since I started helping a local fish store to order live stock from Indonesia and the Philippians so I can get my wish list).

I am in love in Acropora corals and Angelfish, and I always wanted to make a reef tank that has them all.

System Profile:

Display tank: 180 Gallons 72" X 24" X 24"
Glass or Acrylic: Tempered glass
Stand: Steel Stand
Sump: 40"L X 20"W X 18"H
Protein skimmer: Super Reef Octopus SRO 3000 In-Sump Protein Skimmer
Carbon/phosphate filtration: two TLF Phosban Reactor 150 (one for carbon, the other for GFO)
Return pump: Jebao DC - 12000 with manifold to feed media reactors
Water circulation: 2 Apex WAV
Lighting (display): 3 Radion XR30 Pro
Lighting (refugium): Kessil H380 Halo II LED Algae Grow Light
Calcium/alkalinity/magnesium dosing: Jebao Auto Dosing Pump DP-4
Auto top-off: Apex ATK
Heating/cooling: two ehim 300 heaters , and room AC
System control: Apex Classic Controller with WMX to control the radions, PMK for PAR monitoring , FMM for leak detection, and optical sensors
Other details: Dosing Acropower and Fauna Marin color elements.

Water Circulation and Flow Summary and Objectives:

I am trying to achieve the maximum flow from my WAV pumps with random flow profiles changing throughout the day, starting at 10% at early morning to 80-100% at regular hours.

Water Parameters:

Temp: 77 -78 f
pH: 8.1 - 8.3
Specific gravity: 1.026
NO3: 0.2 - 2.5
Ca: 420 - 460
Alk: 9.0 - 9.5
Mg: 1300 - 1350
PO4: 0 - 0.02
Ammonia and nitrites: 0

Lighting Summary and Objectives:

I have used the Apex PMK to measure tank par values at the start of the tank I am targeting values from 200 PAR at the bottom of the Tank to 450 PAR at the max tip of my corals. My program have 4 main color settings, sunrise , white light to boost growth, Ecotech Coral Lab AB+ at the main viewing time, then deep blue to give the colors an extra boost.

Photoperiod:

Display tank: 12 total hours, it starts with all blue sunrise for 1 hour, then 12K , 14K, followed by a mimic of Ecotech Coral Lab AB+ program, ended by few hours of sundown with deep blue only.
Refugium: On for 24 hours

Filtration and Water Quality Summary and Objectives:

I have a Heavy Bioload and feed my Angels a lot to keep them away from my corals. My main nutrition export method is via a relatively large refugium with the strong Kessil LED and a strong skimmer. Also I perform weekly 10% water change and small addition of Brightwell Microbacter7 and Fritz Monster 460.

Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Summary and Objectives:

I dose Calcium and Alkalinity via an Auto doser. For Magnesium, I only test once a month and correct values accordingly. I use Bulk reef Supply Additives and baking Soda for Dosing.

Tank Inhabitants—Fish:

1. Emperor Angelfish(Pomacanthus imperator) From Juvenile To Young Adult

2. Coral Beauty Angelfish(Centropyge bispinosa) From The Philippines

3. Another Coral Beauty Angelfish(Centropyge bispinosa) From The Indonesia

4. Rusty Angelfish(Centropyge ferrugata)

5. Lamarck's Angelfish(Genicanthus lamarck)

6. Watanabei Angelfish(Genicanthus watanabei)

7. Swallowtail Angelfish (Genicanthus melanospilos)

8. Masked Swallowtail Angelfish(Genicanthus semifasciatus)

9. 3 X Dispar Anthias (Pseudanthias dispar)

10. Pair of Female Black Ice Ocellaris Clownfish, (Amphiprion ocellaris ) and Male Platinum Percula Clownfish, (Amphiprion percula)

11. Another lonely Female Black Ice Ocellaris Clownfish, (Amphiprion ocellaris )

12. Wheeler's Shrimp Goby (Amblyeleotris wheeleri)

13. Diamond Watchman Goby (Valenciennea puellaris)

14. Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)

15. Purple Tang (Zebrasoma xanthurum)

16. Melanurus Wrasse (Halichoeres melanurus)

17. Carpenter's Flasher Wrasse(Paracheilinus carpenteri)

18. Blue Flasher Wrasse(Paracheilinus cyaneus)

19. Green Mandarin(Synchiropus splendidus)

20. Ornate leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon ornate)

21. Lubbock's Fairy Wrasse(Cirrhilabrus lubbocki)

22. Blotched Anthias(Odontanthias borbonius)

23. Black Cap Jawfish (Opistognathus randalli)

24. Purple Firefish (Nemateleotris decora)

Other Invertebrates:
1. Red Sea Maxima Clam Multicolored (Tridacna maxima)

2. Red Sea Marbled Linckia Star

3. 2 X Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis)

4 . 2 X Fire Shrimp (Lysmata debelius)

5 . Banded Boxer Shrimp (Stenopus hispidus)

6. Infinite Number of Snails that keep breeding :

7. Astraea Turbo Snail (Astraea tecta)

8. Banded Trochus Snail (Trochus sp.)

9. Nassarius Snail (Nassarius distortus)

10. Bumble Bee Snail (Engina sp.)

11. Nerite Snail (Nerita sp.)

12. Turban Snail (Tectus fenestratus)

13. Bubble Tip Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor)

Tank Inhabitants— Corals:

Acropora Lokani
Acropora Efflo
Acropora Florida
Stawberry Shortcake
Bali Green Slimer
Bali Tri Color
Blue Flowers Montipora
Blue Matrix
Boston Bean Digi
Chilli Pepper Monti
Chocolate Mint Chip Monti
Forest Fire Digi
German blue Digi
Green Cactus Pavona
Green Cap
Green Pocillopora
Grinch Reverse Sunset Montipora
Appleberry Monti
Rainbow Monti
Red Hot Setosa
Gomizi
Yellow Tips Acro
Meteor Shower Cyphastrea
Miyagi tort
Pacman Acro
Confusa Montipora
Green Bounce Mushroom
ORA Green Bird's Nest
ORA Red Planet
Pink Lemonade
Purple Red Sea Monster
Rainbow Short Cake Acro
Red Cap
Golden Millepora
Acropora Lorips
Sanjay Milka Stylo
Millepora acro
Pink Shortcake Acro
Superman Montipora
Purple valida
GREEN LIGHT MONTI HIRSUTA
Tenuis
Multiple goniopora (red, Green , Green Purple tips, Purple)
Blastomussa
Some Soft Coral
Gorgonian

Fish and Coral Feeding:

3-4 Times a day with pellets and my DIY Food mix and other dry food, for full details check this article

https://www.reef2reef.com/ams/feeding-fish-and-corals.422/

Who was responsible for getting you into the hobby?

Since I was a little kid, my father started a freshwater aquarium, then I kept starting new aquariums in our basement until I started my first marine tank in 2005.

How long have you been doing this?

13 Years

Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?

Nowadays, I love that all of my family are gathering around the tank and getting involved in reef-keeping. My kids just love it!!!

What are your future plans for improvement/upgrade of the tank?

I'm thinking about getting a Calcium reactor, and an extra Radion LED.

Daniel@R2R · Apr 3, 2018

Thanks @fabutahoun for allowing us to feature your amazing reef as our #ROTM! We appreciate you sharing your build with us and all of your great contributions to our community here at R2R!

Why-Me · Apr 3, 2018

Absolutely beautiful reef!! Great job, love the selection of fish and corals, they all look happy. Keep up the great work, and good job encouraging the family to join in the fun as well.

Epic Aquaculture · Apr 3, 2018

Wow, beautiful tank! Congratulations on the honor!!!

Ruben's Reef · Apr 3, 2018

!!! Amazing reef tank !!! Congratulations !!!

Hammer100 · Apr 3, 2018

I one day hope my 180 will be as pretty as yours!

amnesiac · Apr 3, 2018

Wow, very VERY nice!!!! I'm amazed at how many not "reef safe" fish you have. Coincidently, I'm in the process of stocking a new tank and really wanted a few angelfish, but reconsidered after reading so much about them munching corals. What has your experience been with them??? Also, have you had any issues with your anemone wandering around and stinging up your SPS??? Thanks, and again, @fabutahoun your tank is AMAZING!!!!

fabutahoun · Apr 3, 2018

Thanks @mdbannister and Reef2Reef for choosing my Tank as ROTM, it is a great Honor, I never imagined to achieve this in this short time. Another Thanks for the reef2reef community and all the nice and helpful guys out there . I learned a lot of useful information Reading many Threads and Articles, and following Tank Build Threads.

And Thanks Everybody for kind words !!

fabutahoun · Apr 3, 2018

amnesiac said:
Wow, very VERY nice!!!! I'm amazed at how many not "reef safe" fish you have. Coincidently, I'm in the process of stocking a new tank and really wanted a few angelfish, but reconsidered after reading so much about them munching corals. What has your experience been with them??? Also, have you had any issues with your anemone wandering around and stinging up your SPS??? Thanks, and again, @mdbannister your tank is AMAZING!!!!

Yes I Have many fish that they are considered not reef safe. I Think The most important factor is heavy feeding to keep the fish well fed and not to go after corals, another thing I got the emperor as small as I can get, it was a small Juve when I first got it, another factor is to stay away from some fleshy LPS (acan,brain, etc..) and Zoas, I have few nips on my sps here and there but in general it is not harmful, I Only wish that I have more polyp extension

jsker · Apr 3, 2018

Great tank, congratulation on the achievement

HolisticBear · Apr 3, 2018

Beautiful tank, love this reef. Excellent photography too

Why-Me · Apr 3, 2018

I'm new to the hobby but recently had a seasoned reefer tell me having multiple (more than 1) coral eating fishes, there's a chance they will both spend more time chasing each other away from the coral they'd like to eat and not actually getting to eat any of it in the process. Also yes making sure they're fed and not hungry for coral should keep them from eating it.