Congratulations to community member Eddy Putra and his 29 gallon nano reef for being selected for our July Reef Profile. Look closely, this SPS dominant nano reef from Bali is teeming with marine life! Below is the aquarium profile Eddy has written for us sharing his experiences in the hobby and this aquarium's journey over the past year and a half! See what he's been up to and share your comments and questions in the comments section below. Be sure to follow his aquarium journal for additional photos, history, and information about this beautiful reef tank.
Tank Specs
Display: Custom Tank, 75cm L x 35cm W x 35cm H, 24 gallons (92 liters)
Lighting: 2x Ai Hydra 26 HD
Chiller: Resun CL 280
Circulation: Atman 105 pump, 2x Jebao RW4
Sump: Custom 50cm L x 30cm W x 25cm H, holding about 5 gallons.
Skimmer: Custom with Ab2000i pump
Filter Media: Seachem Matrix 2L
Top Off: Custom ATO
Dosing: Jebao DP4
Established December 10, 2016
Maintenance Routine
Daily:
- Dosing Bakteri with BacProf
- Dosing Carbon with vinegar
- Dosing Iodine, Strontium, Potassium, Booster X
- Dosing Aquaforest Amino Mix 1 drop per day. Aquaforest build and Aquaforest Energy 1 drop per 2 days
- Feed the fish 2x per day with pellets
Weekly:
- Water change 10% with D-D H2Ocean natural salt mix
- Change filter sock
- Cleaner the glass
- Feeding the coral with Reef Roids by Polyplab
- Check parameter Ca, Mg, Kh, Pottasium, Salinity
Monthly:
- Test parameter NO3 (Nitrate) and PO4 (Phosphate)
- Clean chiller
- Clean lighting
- Clean wavemaker
- Clean return pump
Fish
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Frostbite Clownfish
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Sailfin Tang, Desjardini (Zebrasoma desjardini)
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Blue/Green Reef Chromis (Chromis viridis)
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Naoko's Fairy Wrasse
Soft Coral
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Various Zoanthids: Sunflower, Bam Bam, Rasta, Red Candy Apple, Captain America palys, King Midas, Water Melon, LA Lakers
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Xenia
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Ricordea & Mushrooms
LPS Coral
- Red and Orange Goniopora
- Green Alveopora
- Brain Coral
- Blastomussa
- Acan Lord
- Acan Echinata
SPS Coral
- Green Montipora Corals
- Birdnest Coral
- Pokerstart Montipora
- Rainbow Montipora
- Red Dragon Acropora
- Pikachu Acropora
- Bali Slimmer
- Bali Tricolor
- Red Millepora
- Yellow Tenuis Acropora
- Green with blue tips Tenuis Acropora
- Green Sariatopora
- And still many more acropora that I do not know how to name.
Invertebrates
- Clams
- Astrea Turbo Snail
- Sand Sifting Sea Star
History
I've always had a fish tank of some sort since I was a kid, but they had always been freshwater. I've dabbled in planted, shrimps, discus and cichlids over the years. My most recent venture has been rearing koi with me building a new pond in the garden. I started planning a saltwater aquarium ever since I traveled to a seawater aquarium shop and became very interested in marine fish. Before this tank was started, I had tried some other marine aquariums and had many failures because I did not know enough about how to maintain the water. After many years of learning I can finally build an aquarium like you see today.
I feel my tank matured after running a full year. I've slowly added more equipment as I saw fit. The dosing pump has really helped by taking over the tedious chore of manual dosing. The other significant upgrade has been replacing the DIY lights with the AI Hydra 26HD. I've noticed a significant improvement in my SPS coloration ever since the LED upgrade.
I am very happy to have my tank now because I can really enjoy its beauty all the time. Unfortunately I can only see my reef only twice a week because I have to go to school outside the city, but I hope this tank keeps going well.
Goals
I first built this tank just to be able to keep clownfish because they are my favorite fish since childhood. When I began this tank I tried to add soft and LPS corals, but since I joined the community I have read a lot about SPS coral. I started to be very interested in them, and I started updating my current tank with an SPS dominated plan.
Disasters
A few months ago I had a problem when I was traveling away for a month without anyone looking after my aquarium. The problem I faced was a dry sump because the ATO did not work, and the dosing pump didn't not work because the sump was dry, the lights turned off because the plugs were off. This problem lasted for 3 days and the people who were at home did not know it. Therefore I lost some of my SPS frags because of broken water parameters. After that I worked to correct the parameters and insert some new SPS to replace the ones that had died because of the problem.
Advice To New Hobbyists
Read as much as you can, browse as many threads as you can, ask as many questions as possible, make friends, trade corals. Just like many other hobbies, reefkeeping is a community, it's joined together by a very unique fascination with the reefs. Don't hesitate to post on new threads, interact with your community members, it's more enjoyable – I guarantee it! On a completely unrelated note, I also recommend holding off on equipment purchases until you're confident that what you bought is the best you could get. Nothing is more frustrating that spending money on something you didn't need.
Thoughts On...
Dosing
With my tank being SPS dominant, I find it is important that water parameters are kept in check and stable. This is done so by testing on a regular basis. One important piece of equipment I utilize is a 2-part automated dosing system for Alkalinity & Calcium, which is programmed to dose a set amount every hour. I feel this piece of equipment is almost a must for any serious SPS enthusiast.
Aquaculture
There was a while where I ran an aquaculture system, and I found it very rewarding. If you have the chance to trade corals with hobbyists DO IT! It's cheaper buying and trading from hobbyists, and doing so (on a big enough scale) will help limit the demand on harvesting from the oceans. I do feel strongly that aquaculture and reefkeeping should go hand in hand, we should each own up to the responsibility of limiting the reliance on wild-harvested corals. Although it may not have a drastic impact, the positives from aquaculture are there.
Acknowledgements
I want to take the time to thank all of you here. Thank you Christopher Marks for the honour of being featured together with so many beautiful tanks that have always been an inspiration to me. Thank you all for your kind words in this great forum. I would like to thank my local reefing group, Indonesian Reefers, for your invaluable advice, and colleagues in this forum who are always encouraging each other and me. Thank you so much Nano-Reef.com, this place is truly amazing, and no matter how big my future tank may be, I'll always be a Nano-Reef guy.
Best regards from Bali,
Eddy Putra
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