Congratulations to Stoney Waters for being selected for our July Reef Profile! His 40 gallon nano reef is a masterfully designed custom aquarium. Below he has written a profile of his aquarium's progress over the past two years, and shares his experiences in the hobby. Check it out and share your comments and questions in Stoney Water's featured reef profile thread.
I would like to say how honored I am to be featured in this months reef profile. I feel truly humbled to be in the same company as the great tanks that came before. I would also like to issue a special thanks to Chris and Nano-Reef for giving me this opportunity. I am certain that this tank would never come to be what it is today, if not for all the wonderful people and wealth of information this site has to offer.
Tank Specs
Display: AGA 40 gallon breeder 36" L x 18" W x 16" H
Lighting: Custom built pendant on sliding track system. 2 x 150w Reeflux MH, fan cooled. T-5 actinics. Led moonlighting
DIY System Controller: Automates and controls all aspects of the system. Lighting, circulation, heating, top offs.
Stand: Custom built wood
Sump: AGA 20L. Chambered and baffled with refugium.
Filtration: Aqua C Remora Pro skimmer. Custom built kalk reactor.
Equipment: 250w Visitherm heater. DIY ATO. DIY semi automatic water change system.
Circulation: Main: Quiet One 4000HH through two drilled returns with Hydor flo's. Closed loop: Mag 7 through two drilled returns.
Established October 2007
Parameters
Temp: 78-80 degrees
Specific Gravity: 1.026
PH: 8.2
CA: 400 ppm
ALK: 10 dkh
Maintenance
I try to keep my maintenance routine simple and on schedule. I clean the glass daily and perform a 5 gallon water change weekly. I use filter socks so I switch them out when they become clogged, usually every five to seven days. Specific parameters are tested at the time of water changes. Top offs are performed via an ATO.
Feeding
Fish are fed soft pellets daily and corals and inverts are fed a soupy mixture of DT's, cyclops, brine, and Prime reef every two or three days.
SPS & LPS
• Green and pink birdsnest
• Yellow turbinaria
• Neon green merulina
• Red and blue digitata montiporas
• Green and red cap montiporas
• Encrusting montipora
• Lime green trumpet coral
• Pink tipped elegance
• Favite
• Frogspawn
• Stoney's hammer
• Sun coral
• Red goniopora
• Green alvepora
• Neon centered blastomussa
• Green duncan
Soft Corals & Coralimorphs
• Green star polyps
• Blue clove polyps
• Various colonies of zoanthids
• Green and pink palythoas
• Many varieties of mushrooms and ricordea yummas
• Green toad stool
• Kenya tree
Fish
• Royal Gramma
• Stubby Percula Clownfish
• Tail Spot Blenny
• Starry Blenny
• Yellowhead Jawfish
Invertebrates
• Coco Worm
• Blood Red Fire Shrimp
• Snails: Astrea, Trochus, Nassarius, Cerith, Bumble Bee
• Hermit crabs: Mexican red legs, Electric blue, Scarlet
• Serpent Starfish
• Red Starfish
• Crocea Clam
History
As I remember the thought process of this tank began in the fall of 2005. After finishing my 12g Nano-Cube and becoming quite bored, I began contemplating an upgrade. I wanted a system that was not too large, but also not so small that I might lose interest after a short time. Not long after I stumbled across a 40 g breeder at a LFS and realized this was the perfect tank. The dimensions were right, it could be drilled, and it fit perfectly in my vision of the ultimate small reef aquarium. Over the next twelve months I went over in my mind a thousand different scenarios of how this system should be built. It wasn't until I ran across a $20 halogen shop light at Lowes that everything clicked and fell into place. I brought the light home and began transforming it into a metal halide pendant. It was about this time that I started my thread "The Stoney Waters Experience" where the rest of the story is well documented. By October of '07 most of the system was complete and salt water was added. After a lengthy cycle, corals were added and the evolution began and continues to this day.
Words Of Wisdom
Measure twice cut once.
Advice To New Reefers
• Be patient, think things through thoroughly before acting or adding anything.
• Research, read, search, Google. Do whatever it takes to gain as much info as possible.
• Don't ever be intimidated. Everyone was a noob at one time.
Acknowledgments
Once again, I thank Christopher Marks for giving me this opportunity to showcase my tank. This site he maintains is hands down the best source of information, insight, and wisdom on the internet. Special thanks to all the NR members, the knowledge they provide is endless. I'd also like to thank my wife for not putting her foot through the tank, and to my kids for keeping the questions coming. They make it all worth while.
Thanks to all,
@stoney waters
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