Overview

When I moved to San Francisco for a new job, I decided it would be a smart decision to put my reefing habit on hold. SF is expensive, and I also did not want to try and move my old 75g reef cross-country. So for about a year I waited.

Eventually I could no longer resist, and decided in May of 2008 to start up a new tank. You would never guess from looking at my tank now, but at first I was thinking about building a nano-cube. I decided against that so that I could keep a sump and have quality filtration. And that 60 cube became a 90 cube, which became a 135 cube...

This tank has been a lesson of patience for me. My old 75g was purchased via craigslist, and I had it in my house the day after deciding to start a tank. With this setup, I waited 3 months for my tank after ordering and 4 months for my lights.

The Tank

The tank is a custom built A.G.E. 135 gallon aquarium. I ordered it in June of 2008, and after a long wait it was finally delivered in September of 2008. It comes with the A.G.E. standard PVC bottom and has beveled starphire glass and black silicone. The overflow is drilled for a 1" return and 1.5" drain.

The stand is made of powder-coated steel, also custom built by A.G.E. It comes with adjustable feet to ensure a level top.

Lighting

My lighting system consists of an ATI Powermodule 10x39w unit. My bulb combination is:

• 3x 39W 12000K Aquablue Special T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI
• 3x 39W Blue Plus T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI
• 2x 39W True Actinic 03 T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI
• 1x 39W Fiji Purple T5 HO Fluorescent by Korallen Zucht
• 1x 39W Pro Color T5 HO Fluorescent by ATI

I decided to go with T5 lighting on this tank due the inspiration I received from viewing amazing European SPS tanks.

Heating & Cooling

Heating is provided by 2 150w Visi-Therm Stealth Heaters. They are controlled via my Profilux.

Currently I have no active cooling methods since my T5 lighting does not add considerable heat to the tank. Also, living in San Francisco has the benefit of very cool average temperatures. I don't even have air conditioning in my apartment. :]

Filtration

For my protein skimmer I chose to go with an ATI Bubble Master 200. I was a big fan of their use of a knife gate valve to adjust head level rather than using bulky plumbing.

I also use a Bulk Reef Supply Dual Reactor to run activated carbon and GFO.

Circulation

My return pump is a Quiet One 3000. I chose a relatively low flow pump to avoid added heat to the system and since I feel there is no need to have 1000+ GPH going through your sump.

In the tank, I keep Tunze Stream 2 6105 and Korallia 4 powerheads to help move water.  The Korallia is temporary while I save up for the second 6105.

Maintenance, Feeding and Supplementation

The beating heart of my tank is a Profilux Plus II Ex controller. It is also the reason I chose to create this site. :] It controls all aspects of my tank, including automatic top off. I also plan for it to automate my water changing process.

For supplementation I utilize the Bulk Reef Supply "Two-Part" system, which increases Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium while increasing pH. The solutions are automatically added to my tank daily by my GHL Profilux 4-way doser, which is also controlled by the Profilux controller.

I originally planned to use the "Balling light" method which is similar but contains slightly different ingredients.  I changed my mind due to the lack of well written guides on its implementation.

Fish

• 3x Lyretail anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)

Corals

SPS Corals

• 1x ORA Hyacinth Birdsnest (Seriatopora hystrix)
• 1x ORA Borealis (Acropora sp.)
• 1x ORA Brett's Purple Rim cap (Montipora capricornis)
• 1x ORA Jeremy's Green monti (Montipora digitata)
• 1x Acropora millepora
• Various other Acropora sp.

Invertebrates

Cleanup Crew

• 50x Astrea snails
• 20x Nassarius snails
• 20x Cerith snails
• 20x Scarlet reef hermit crabs
• 10x Dwarf Blue Leg hermit crabs
• 2x Peppermint shrimp