One year on... ;)

Progress on the upgrade has been a lot slower than anticipated.  Original plans were turned down by the local authority requiring some fundamental redesigns.  Then my architect went bankrupt!  Anyway a year later and things are belatedly starting to come together, though I think it will be another year before the new tank is actually up and running.

The Hawaiian biotope display has been closed down and the stock transfered to holding tanks in the garage, ready for the development of a new larger display.  Unfortunately that will take some time as I first have to recruit an architect to design an extension for the aquarium, obtain planning permission from the local council, and then find a reputable builder.

The fish have been back in the system for a month now.  New additions are a Orangeband Surgeonfish and a Moorish Idol. 

The system is currently 'fish-less' while quarantine continues, but I should be able to start reintroducing stock by the end of December. 

Meanwhile I have confirmed my plans to upgrade to a much larger main biotope display.  Unfortunately, as part of that process, the system featured here will have to be stripped down and the stock relocated towards the end of April 2007.  Once the new system is up and running, I will publish details on a new website hawaiian-reef.com - TheReef.info site will continue to be maintained until then.

I have suffered from a run of technical problems over the past month.  First the Tunze Wavebox stopped working and then, much more seriously, one of the plugbars on the IKS Aquastar computer system failed.  Whilst the computer continued to monitor and control other parameters such as pH, and still measured the temperature correctly, the plugbar through which the heaters, Eco-cooler, and chiller were connected did not respond to any of the temperature control commands.  So I suddenly found myself without any heating or cooling. 

Temperatures dipped to around 23-23.5^oC and then climbed to well above 27^oC before I managed to set up an emergency work around.  Given I had been running my system at a steady 27^oC these were pretty significant fluctuations in temperature. 

Unsurprisingly the fish were stressed and this was quickly followed by an outbreak of Marine Velvet which escalated alarmingly.  This has required me to remove all of the fish from the system for treatment and quarantine.  The main system will now be left 'fishless' to lie fallow for 10 weeks to ensure any remaining parasites waste away before the stock is returned.

Surprisingly most of the corals were unaffected but the Acropora selago suffered some damage and may have to be removed.

This is the second near-catastrophic failure with the IKS system that I suffered in two years now, despite all of the equipment having been bought new.  I am very, very unimpressed.... 

I have consequently purchased a number of individual heater/cooler controllers by Aqua Medic, and all the heating and cooling functions are now going to be controlled through these separate controllers.  Dividing control between a number of separate controllers means that if any one of them does fail then I won't have lost all of my heating, or all of my cooling capacity. 

In time I will also switch over to a separate pH controller for the calcium reactor as well.  The IKS will then only be controlling the lighting and the peri-pump used for dosing phyto.

Over the last couple of weeks I have made some further additions to the stock, including a Lipstick Tang (Naso lituratus) and Goldrim Surgeonfish (Acanthurus nigricans).

I am very pleased with the coral growth that I am achieving.  One example of almost a years growth is in the photo gallery to the left.  You can find other growth photos in the Corals stock list page.

Meanwhile there have been some changes to the fish stocking.  I reluctantly ended up giving my Snowflake Eel away to another hobbyist as I am going to need to be able to leave the system unattended if necessary for a week or more at a time, because of work demands.  You can't use auto-feeders with a Snowflake and when hungry he's much more likely to go exploring (not a great idea with an open-topped tank).  But on the plus side, as you can probably see in the panorama photos, I am now the proud keeper of a lovely pair of Blue-Throat Triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus).

And I am still making new discoveries - like this small (about 1.5cm across) nocturnal rock-boring sea urchin  that must have hitchhiked in somehow.

It's all swings and roundabouts with this hobby. 

On the positive side the stocking is continuing.  I'm still waiting for the pair of Blue-Throat Triggerfish but I now have a lovely Achilles Tang to add to the Yellow and Chevron.  It took about a week for the Yellow and Achilles to get over their differences but they seem to have settled down now.

On the negative side something has been eating my Porites spp. corals .  Picture illustrates some of the damage.  I then found a grey Asterina shaped starfish (i.e. with one leg shorter than the others) about 1.5cm in size which I believed to be the culprit, but then it slipped off the tweezers and fell back into the rockwork.  Despite regular searches I still haven't managed to find it again...

Meanwhile my extension and upgrade plans have had to be put on hold for the moment due to pressure of work.  Hopefully I'll be able to get back on track in a month or two.

Not a lot new to report.  Restocking has been continuing with the addition of a number of Pennant Bannerfish in March, and a pair of Blue-Throat Triggerfish (Xanthichthys auromarginatus) are now on order. 

I have taken some new panoramic photos to show how the aquarium looks now - click the thumbnails on the left for medium or higher quality pictures.  The corals are growing well, particularly the Montipora florida which is becoming a monster.

My upgrade plans are still fluctuating.  It now seems more likely that I will go for a shorter, wider 'hole-in-the-wall' style aquarium housed in a building adjoining the new extension.  Dimensions would be 2.1m long x 1.8m wide x 0.9m high (roughly 7 x 6 x 3 feet) but at 3,400 litres (900 US gallons) would still provide a similar volume to my earlier plans.

Finally, I'd just like to say thank you to all the people that have contacted me directly or commented via forums since I set this site up ten months ago.  The positive feedback has been very encouraging and is much appreciated.  I think I've now had contacts from hobbyists from every continent!  It's nice to hear that people are actually finding this site useful and of interest - I did not want it to just be a vanity project.

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The aquarium is now one year old!

There have been some changes in equipment since the last update.  In the end I just couldn't wait for Christmas and have just added a third 400w halide over the centre of the aquarium.  I have also changed over the two Tunze Turbelle 2002 powerheads for a single, larger Turbelle 4002 pump - this provides nearly as much flow as before but obviously has less of a 'footprint' within the aquarium.

A further six SPS frags (Porites cylindrica, Montipora capitata and M. undata) have been added to the aquarium.  The Fungia spp. has been removed, as it is more suited to sheltered waters on the reef flats, rather than the reef bench/slope zone I am trying to model.  The non-indigenous Pavona cactus coral has also been removed to make way for one of the new Porites frags.  Overall, there are now only 10 species of coral in the aquarium.

The most obvious addition to the aquarium though is the small shoal of Pennant Bannerfish (Heniochus diphreutes).  I have been really pleased with the way they have settled in and the difference they make to the look of the aquarium.  Interestingly, within a week of adding these Bannerfish a few pest aiptasia anemones which I had spotted in the system and was about to treat with JoesJuice had disappeared.  Unfortunately, so have most of the Spirobranchus spp. worms from my encrusting Porites spp. rock.  Ces't la vie.

I have also made some changes to the clean-up crew.  The Zebra Hermit crabs (Clibanarius zebra), an inter-tidal species, have been switched for the more colourful Cone Shell or Halloween hermit crabs (Ciliopagurus strigatus) which are usually found at depths of 7m or more.

I have taken some new panoramic photos to show how the aquarium looks now - click the thumbnails on the left for medium or higher quality pictures.

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The last month has seen a few changes to the stocking.  I had to remove one of the Yellow Tangs as, despite the additional rockwork, there still did not seem to be enough places for all of the fish to rest up at night and this tang in particular seemed to be increasingly stressed.  I won't be adding any more fish requiring night-time shelter until there is more coral growth. 

Looking at the updated coral frag photos I'm pleased with the growth I am getting.  It is noticeable, however, that the Montipora undata frags higher up in in the very centre of the aquarium aren't colouring up so much as those either side, as they are not catching as much of the light from the halides placed on the left and right.  So I've decide that my next upgrade will be to add another 400w halide over the centre of the aquarium.  This is now on my Christmas wish list...

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13th August 2005

I have decided that I won't return the zoanthids that were in quarantine to the main aquarium - most of my collection of zoos are being sold or swopped with fellow hobbyists instead.  The main aquarium will now consist of hard corals only.

I have therefore acquired more SPS frags so the field of Porites cylindrica frags can be extended across the front of the aquarium where the zoanthids used to be.  I have also added more Montipora capitata, M. undata and M. mollis frags and in my clumsiness, managed to unintentionally frag a couple of the existing pieces of M. capitata and M. undata as well.  There are just another three or four frags to be acquired and I will then be fully stocked.  Hopefully I can then just sit back and watch the aquarium grow.  Click the thumbnails on the left for medium or higher quality panoramic photos of the aquarium as it looks now.

A couple of Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) were also introduced after a six hour acclimatisation.

I've also been having problems with the battery-powered electronic thermometer which I had been using as a back-up alarm.  This started giving false readings and was replaced with a new electronic thermometer, but again this gave false alarms (e.g. 32.2^oC at 4am in the morning).  It must be electrical interference of some kind, yet there is no new electrical equipment in the house or aquarium.  I am at a loss and have fallen back on the humble alcohol thermometer as my back-stop.

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27th July 2005

Added a pale creamy yellow Acropora selago frag, and more Montipora capitata, M. undata, and Porites cylindrica frags.  The large Pocillopora verrucosa frag was broken up into six smaller frags and repositioned to form a screen behind the A. selago.  The non-indigenous M. foliosa has been removed and fragged for trade with fellow hobbyists.

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18th July 2005

Discovered I had an infestation of zoanthus-eating nudibranches.  Removed all the zoanthids from the aquarium, gave them a freshwater dip with Lugol's iodine solution, scraped off eggs where I could see them, and then placed them in a separate aquarium.  I will wait to see if this all works before reintroducing any to the main display.

[For anyone interested, the recipe for the dip is 2 drops of Lugol's to 4 litres of fresh pH and temperature adjusted RO water.  Immerse zoo colony for 5 minutes, then swirl it vigorously to shake off any dead critters, then return to salt water.]

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17th June 2005

Finally installed the Deltec Eco-cooler, which works on the same evaporation principle as a cooling tower.  Much cheaper to run (just 88w) than a normal refrigerant chiller, but generates lots of moist air so unsuitable to run indoors.  I installed it in a shed in the garden, along with the back-up refrigerant chiller.  

I was only just in time - temperatures that weekend reached 32^oC.  Aquarium temperatures never moved more than 0.2^oC from the target 27^oC.

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12th June 2005

Added a surround to the top of the aquarium that will hold the two 55w power compact actinics.  It also cuts down the glare of the halides into the room and hides the feeders and other equipment on top of the aquarium.  I find less glare means my eyes are drawn more into the aquarium, rather than being distracted by what is around it. 

I had tried using an Arcadia T5 luminaire fitting in the centre of the aquarium, but it didn't give sufficient coverage to the ends of the aquarium, and of course it did nothing for the glare.

The power compact actinics have made a vast improvement in colouration of the zoo polyps. A dull brown suddenly becomes a deep red, whilst a pale cream transforms into a fluorescent orange...  Unfortunately the camera can't do this justice - they are much, much brighter than they appear in the photo.

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9th June 2005

Overnight the aquarium became incredibly cloudy.  It looked as if someone had tipped a couple of gallons of milk into it.  I assumed the caulerpa in the sump had gone sexual but it was so cloudy I really couldn't be sure.  I started running water though filter pads and carried out a number of partial water changes.  The photo was taken after 18 hours of heavy filtration.

When I could eventually see into the sump the caulerpa seemed to be intact.  The water cleared up completely after three days.  I now suspect it was a bacterial bloom.

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3rd June 2005

Finally got hold of a Montipora mollis frag - a little small but a nice purple with lavender.  This brings the number of Hawaiian indigenous SPS species in my system to the grand total of five! 

1st June 2005

Added a larger brown-polyped Pocillopora verrucosa with a pinkish skeleton which I hope will help form a backdrop to a brighter Acropora selago frag that I will be adding next month...

4th May 2005

In response to the IKS scare I have changed from six 300w Schengo titanium heaters controlled though the IKS Aquastar to four 400w Hydor Theo shatterproof heater/stats.  Their built-in thermostats have been set to turn off at 28^oC, acting as a back-up should the IKS ever freeze again in the 'on' position.

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30th April 2005

Installed a Tunze Wavebox which, by quickly filling and emptying a plastic chamber, creates an oscillating flow and wave motion in the aquarium.  Fitting it required me to change the position of the Schuran overflows, making a couple of new frags in the process!  But it has added a whole new dimension to the flow in the tank - you can actually see sediment being lifted off of the live-rock into the water.

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25th April 2005

Near disaster with the IKS Aquastar computer controller.  At some point during the night the IKS had a seizure - whatever happened to have been on at the time stayed on, regardless of the settings.  Unfortunately both the heaters and the water top-up had been on when the IKS froze.  So they continued to heat and pump through the night.  Early that morning I went to the garage to make a routine weekly water change and soon noticed that the sump was fuller than it should be and felt how warm the water was becoming.

Fortunately it had been a pretty cold night and the top-up is made with a peristaltic pump with a low-ish flow.  So the parameters never reached critical levels - but it was close.  Any other day of the week and I probably would not have been aware of what was going on until it was too late.  I am going to have to reassess my whole system and my current dependence on the IKS for running it.

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8th April 2005

I had been been concerned that my rockwork might be a little too open, with insufficient hiding places for the livestock to lay-up in at night, so I increased it slightly before today adding the Yellow Tangs. 

Yellow Tangs are the most popular Hawaiian fish and are an excellent herbivore for almost any aquarium.  I decided on a fairly large group because I wanted to minimise the chances of any one individual being continually picked on.  The Chevron Tang isn't sure what to make of this sudden influx...

Will need to keep an eye on nitrates until filtration catches up with the sudden increase in bio-load.

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7th April 2005

More frags added - this time a number of Montipora capitata and M. undata

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2nd April 2005

It seems that something has been eating away at the polyps near the base of the larger Porites frag. Found large numbers of small (2mm) white nudibranch type creatures underneath the frag which had been looking off colour.  Decided they might be the cause of the problem and spent two hours with a magnifying glass and tweezers removing them all.  Think I succeeded - I haven't noticed any more damage since then.

[Picture was taken through a Bresser Biolux microscope at 40x magnification.]

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1st April 2005

Added one beige and one bright pink Pocillopora damicornis frag.

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30th March 2005

Added a piece of brown-polyped encrusting Porites spp. worm rock and some more Zooanthus spp. frags.

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15th March 2005

There was a period of inactivity/stability due to work pressures but at last, the first SPS frags go in.  Added one larger yellow wild collected Porites cylindrica coral, along with a number of smaller farmed ones.  I had been looking for P. compressa but without any luck so far and so am using these - which have an identical cylindrical branching form to fill the space instead.

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7th January 2005

The aquarium went through the traditional hair algae phase and towards the end I boosted the clean-up crew with some Zebra hermit crabs, indigenous to Hawaii, which I had been waiting to come into stock.

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25th November 2004

Added a Snowflake Moray Eel - they may not be that active but they are interesting and amusing characters.  Seems happy enough with the pipe-work and rockwork layout.

24th November 2004

The old single pendant, with triple 150w 10k halide lamps and two 58w T8 actinics, has been replaced by two single 400w 14k halide lamp pendants.  This is a lot brighter, but consequently the light spill into the lounge is much more noticeable too.  Also I need to sort out how I am going to manage to include actinics in this new setup - am considering using an Arcadia over-tank T5 luminaire fitting (with 4x24w actinics) over the centre.

12th November 2004

The project really began back in July when I started the slow process of removing and selling off most of the old livestock and corals from my old set-up.  Then the live-rock and the in-tank Deep Sand Bed (DSB) were stripped out.  The old live-rock was cleaned off and placed into a cryptic zone (i.e. unlit) section in the 750 litre sump set-up in the garage.  A new DSB was established in a separate section of the garage sump where it will be easier to maintain.

Now in November, with a clean tank, I have run 32mm piping along the base towards the rear of the aquarium with multiple exits to form a secure tunnel network for the moray eel I plan to buy.  The pipe-work is held in place by the new rock structure made out of 'moonstone' an extremely hard but interestingly shaped and porous rock I had shipped from Germany.  I finished securing the rockwork in place with Milliput epoxy by the following weekend.