Congratulations to Rikk Baker, aka “Medicine Man” for being selected as our Winter 2009 “Featured Tank” in the SEAS! He has an amazing setup that truly exemplifies reefkeeping at its finest! I hope you enjoy reading about his setup as much as I enjoyed seeing it!
Tank Specs Tank Dimensions and Capacity 360 Gallon, Aquatic Systems Design Custom Acrylic Tank with Calfo Overflow (96"L x 36"D x 24"H). Total system volume is approximately 500 gallons net. Lighting Four 400 Watt Metal Halide lights with Lumenarc III reflectors, CoralVue Reeflux 12K bulbs and 400 Watt CoralVue Ballast. Frag Tank has two 175 Watt CoralVue Ballast and Reeflux 12K bulbs with Lumenarc III Reflectors. Other Equipment ReeFlo Orca 250 Protein Skimmer with custom extra large collection cup. AquaController II controls all light timing and monitors water parameters. AquaMedic SP 3000 dosing pump connected to Reef Fanatic Level Controller for fresh RO/DI water top-off. Soon to be replaced with a LiterMeter III for water changes, dosing of two part additives and water top-off. Cooling Teco TR20 1/3hp chiller is currently being used. It keeps the temperature in range but has to run constantly while the lights are on to keep up with the demand. This will be replaced with a larger chiller in the future. A 220 volt line has to be installed into the fish room for the future chiller as well. Circulation Sump return pump is PanWorld 200PS-MD70R External Water Pump (1750 gph). The display tank has two separate closed loop systems each with its own Oceans Motion 4-way. The floor closed loop is powered by a ReeFlo Hammerhead water pump (5800 gph) while the back wall closed loop has a Reeflo Dart water pump (3600 gph). The frag tank and chiller are both connected to a BlueLine 55 HD water pump (1100 gph).
Maintenance Routine Every two weeks a 50 gallon water change is performed and two ampoules of Prodibio Bio Digest are dosed to the tank. Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium requirements are meet by dosing 600cc of Alkalinity and 600cc of Calcium daily. This is divided into two 300cc doses of each per day to avoid any major fluctuations of parameters. Once a gallon of each is dosed into the tank, 20 ounces of Magnesium solution per Randy Holmes-Farley recipe (Reefcentral.com) are dosed to the tank. Each night Vodka is dosed as well (Keeps the Fish Happy). I test Alkalinity at least every week and Calcium every 2 weeks. Magnesium is tested once a month. I have also started testing Specific Gravity every week as well after having to dose such high amounts of Two Part Solution. Every other day I also fill my top-off reservoir with RO/DI water and 30ml of Seachem Reef Plus Concentrated Vitamin and Amino Acid Supplement which in turn is dosed with the top-off water. The skimmer cup is cleaned every 5 days and filter socks are changed every 2-3 days as needed.
Filtration System Filtration is accomplished from many different angles. The display tank has approximately 500 pounds of live rock and the sump holds an additional 100 pounds. The display tank is “bare bottom” so a remote deep sand bed has been used for additional filtration. The frag tank holds approximately 240 pounds of sand and has been divided into two sections. One section contains Chaeto macro algae while the other is used for coral frags. The macro algae is only harvested every three months, approximately, due to the low nutrient content of the system. One hundred micron filter socks are used on the drains from the display tank and help filter larger material before it enters into the sump. From there, raw overflow water is collected in a bucket and fed to the protein skimmer.
Feeding Routine Three half sheets of Nori dried seaweed are placed in feeding clips every morning. Every evening a mixture of frozen mysis shrimp, brine shrimp and cyclopeeze are feed to the tank. On Tuesday and Friday when the lights go out, I feed cyclopeeze, DT’s Oyster Eggs, Marine Snow and a small amount of DT’s Phytoplankton. I also feed Formula One and Two frozen and pellet food along with flake food occasionally. Just for a change.
Livestock
SPS Corals
Acropora Carolinian Acropora Cytherea Acropora Exuisita “Australian Invader” Acropora Robusta Acropora Stoddarti Apple Berry Montipora Palawenensis ATL Blueberry Staghorn Australian Delicate Staghorn ORA Blue Green Unknown Bottle Brush Acropora Blue Poccilopora Blue Tort ORA Cali Tort Chips Acropora ORA Deepwater Pavona Coral Fire Montipora GARF Purple Bonsai German Blue Polyp Acropora ORA Green Acropora Millipora Green Bali Slimer Acropora ORA Green Unknown Bottle Brush Acropora Hawkin’s Blue Enchinata ORA Hydnophora Sp. Hydnophora Sp. Branching Variety Leng Sy Montipora Capricornis Limited Edition Grafted Simplex Acropora Merulina Ampliata Miami Orchid Staghorn ORA Montipora Capricornis – Orange Montipora Daenae ORA Green Birds Nest	ORA Green Poccilopora ORA Neon Green Acropora ORA Scripp’s Green Staghorn Acropora ORA Supernatural Capricornis Orange Montiopora Digita Oregon Tort Original Incredible Hulk Acropora Original Superman Montipora Original Tyree Sunset Montipora Pearlberry Acropora ORA Pink Acropora Millipora Pink Stylophora Pocillopora Verrucusa Purple Bottle Brush Acropora Purple Montipora Digita Purple Plasma Acropora ORA Purple Stylophora Red Planet ORA Rose Acropora Millipora Stuber Staghorn ORA Stuber Staghorn ORA The Original Tyree Pink Lemonade Acropora The Original Tyree Purple Monster Tyree Limited Edition $500 Efflo Tyree Limited Edition Bali Tri Color Tyree Limited Edition Hawaiian Punch Tyree Limited Edition Montipora Undata True Undata Tyree Limited Edition Sky Blue Millipora Tyree Ultimate Blue Staghorn Acropora Yellow Stylophora
LPS Corals
Alien Eye Favia Aussie Acans Australian Duncans Australian Elegance Coral Favia Speciosa “Red & Green Favia Brain Coral” Mycedium Sp.” Green Eyed Cup Coral” Platygra Sp. “Maze Brain Coral” Prism Favia Red Blastomussa Wellsi Tyree Limited Edition Area 51 Enchinophyllia Tyree Limited Edition Red Watermelon Alien Eye Enchinophyllia UFO Micromussa
Softies
Green Ricordeas Green Zooanthids Purple Mushrooms
Fish & Motile Inverts
Acanthurus japonicus “Powder Brown Tang” Acanthurus leucosternon “Powder Blue Tang” Zebrasoma flavescens “Yellow Tang” Zebrasona desjardini “Desjardini Tang Red Sea” Acanthurus tennenti “Tennenti Tang” Amphiprion ocellaris “Ocellaris Clownfish” Amphiprion polymnus “Saddle Back Clownfish” Chromis cyanea “Blue Reef Chromis” (6) Cirrhilabrus jordani “Hawaiian Flame Wrasse” Cirrhilabrus solorensis “Clown Fairy Wrasse” Cleaner Shrimp (10) Ctenochaetus hawaiiensis “Chevron Tang” Gramma loreto “Royal Gramma” Halichoeres ornatissimus “Christmas Wrasse” Harlequin Serpent Starfish (2) Lamprometra palmata “Feather Starfish” Linckia laevigata “Blue Linkia Starfish” (3) Multiple Hermit Crabs and Snails Paracanthurus hepatus “Blue Hippo Tang” Pink Sea Cucumber Plectranthias inermis “Geometric Pygmy Hawkfish” Siganus Vulpinus “Foxface Rabbitfish” Zebrasoma xanthurum “Red Sea Purple Tang”
Tank History - when did you set it up, any major "renovations", etc? The design of the tank and stand started in November of 2007 and was finally completed in Late January of 2008. There was a one week delay in setup due to the size of the stand and getting it through the basement door. French doors had to be installed to allow enough clearance for the stand to be able to be brought into the basement. Needless to say, I was not very popular with my wife at that moment. Originally, both closed loop systems had Reeflo Dart pumps on them. They worked great but I felt there needed to be just a little more flow. After experimenting with two Tunze 6100’s, I decided to change the bottom closed loop pump to a Reeflo Hammerhead. The hammerhead pump provides 5800 gallons per hour compared to the Dart at 3600 gallons per hour. This was exactly what I was looking for in the tank. Within a few days the polyp extension and overall coloration improved. The fish had fun being launched across the tank as well!
Tank Inspiration & Goals I have had many different inspirations for this tank. Mostly, it has been a process of learning through past experiences and many mistakes. Dave Whitham (Aquaconnect), Kory Jackson (Mako 417) and “Fish” Wilson (Fish2) have all contributed ideas and helped with the aquascaping, setup and plumbing. Mike at reefspecialty.com also helped immensely with technical questions and equipment advice. I plan to add more coral to the system and continue propagation of many larger pieces. Any Regrets? I would have changed some of the locations of the closed loop outlets and had the overflow box external instead of internal. Otherwise, only having it larger! Future Plans I plan to add an automated dosing pump such as the Litermeter III or a Profilux dosing system. Recently an upgraded needle wheel became available for the Reeflo Orca 250 protein skimmer. I plan to purchase this as well. A larger chiller will also be purchased prior to summer after a 220 volt line is ran into fish room. When you have an SPS system of this size, it is difficult to stop upgrading. So I am sure many upgrades will continue in the future.
Give Us Your Opinion On: Lighting – I have tried different types of lighting and continue to return to metal halide every time. I really like the Coral Vue Reeflux 12K bulbs that I am using. They provide excellent growth but are not yellow. Skimmers – The bigger the better! I could not be happier with my current protein skimmer the Reeflo Orca 250. Dosing – The do it yourself two part solution by Randy Holmes-Farley has been working very well for me. It is much cheaper than buying commercial versions as well. Favorite Corals – I really like the limited edition corals put out by Steve Tyree. They are not the cheapest but always seem to have unique and beautiful coloration. Cleanup Crews – I like diversity. Having several different types of snails ensures that most, if not all types of algae are consumed. Hermit crabs are nice but only in limited numbers. They have a tendency to kill your snails for their shells. A serpent starfish is nice to have as well for they will consume the fish that dies under the rockwork, and can never be found. That being said, if they get too big, they will not stop at just dead fish so be careful. Peppermint shrimp are great for aiptasia but usually need to be purchased in numbers to be successful at complete eradication. Cleaner Shrimp are terrific for keeping your fish healthy. I try to have one per large fish in my system. This is not an exact science but some are more eager to clean fish than others. This helps to eliminate the deadbeat shrimp that will not work for food.
To the Reader: This aquarium is truly a site to behold that photography can’t begin to capture! It represents the kind of biotope we all strive for. Congratulations to MedicineMan for achieving such an amazing captive reef!