The Perfect Basement is…

A Reef Lover's Perfect Basement

What could be more wonderful than to have a huge unfinished basement mostly all to yourself to put your workings of your reef tank in? I could think of a few things, but they would not last as long, nor could you have other people look at it and enjoy your set up.  I took my second visit to Keith Berkelhamer’s reef tank a couple of weeks ago and really had time to enjoy his set up under the tank. As envious as I was of his tank, I was equally as envious of his roomy basement. There was plenty of room to work and there was no trouble getting at any piece of equipment. 

Coral Propagation Tank

After his initial set up he still had plenty of room to later add a coral propagation tank. Keith tied it into the main tank with added plumbing, so it is not a quarantine tank. He  uses a 20K Metal Halide Pendant light for the coral propagation tank. 

Kalkreactor

Keith Berkelhamer uses both a Calcium Reactor and a Precision Marine Kalkreactor to top off his water. Keith  does not dose anything as the two reactors take care of all the Calcium, Magnesium, Alkaline and other trace elements that his SPS corals need. He replaces the Kalk about every three weeks in the Kalkreactor. In his Calcium Reactor, Keith uses the larger size Aragonite as it is less likely to clog the reactor.  Over time, these reactors not only save money, but make the tank much easier to maintain and keep it running much more efficiently. The levels of the elements stay constant which the corals really like, thus helping their growth.  

LiterMeter 3To control the top off in the sump, a Liter Meter 3 is used to regulate the top off with Kalkwasser. Fresh water is mixed in the Kalkreactor and then added to the sump to take care of evaporated water. This combined with the Calcium Reactor running with C02 is all that is need to keep Keith's tank filled with the correct amount of minerals that his tank needs to help his corals stay healthy. A Running Success

The Spawning of a Bubble Tip

Spawning Bubble Tip Anemone

One night I noticed that the demo tank from The Reef Aquarium DVD, A Set Up and Maintenance Guide had very cloudy water. Upon looking further, I saw that one of the Bubble Tip Anemones was spawning, sending out a milky white substance into the tank water. It almost looked like it was smoking. I quickly checked

Spawning Bubble Tip

the parameters of the water: Ph, Nitrite, Nitrate, Amonia,

Phosphate and dkh. Everything was in a good range. The Nitrite and Amonia were each zero, Nitrate was one, Ph was 8.3, dkh was 8 and Phospahte was zero.  The fish were swimming around happily and there seemed to be no ill effects other than the cloudy water.

The demo tank from The Reef Aquarium DVD, A Set Up & Maintenance Guide is a large tank, 210 gallons with a 35 gallon sump. This is a perfect example why sometimes it is easier to keep a large tank than a small tank. When an amemome spawns,

clowdy water from spawning

it uses a lot of oxygen in the water. I have heard stories of the fish being killed in a small tank because of lack of oxygen. If you have a small tank, I recommend an immediate water change. However, in our large tank, we could easily handle the spawning just by the size of the tank. Also, we run ozone into the tank, thus increasing the oxygen in the tank.

spawning

After the spawning the Bubble Tip Anemone was noticeably smaller and a little shriveled. However, the next day he was at full size and the tank looked fine. Also by then, the protein skimmer had pulled out all the milkiness from the water.

Our experience at the New Jersey 2008 Frag Swap

Frag Swap 2008

The concept of a frag swap is fantastic. Members and guests exchange information and hear experts speak about corals and coral propagation. Reefers can take corals that they have grown in their own tanks and trade them. These exchanges not only help the hobbyist, but also are very green for the environment as wild corals are not removed from their environment.

Looking forward to Frag Swap 2008 in Secaucus, New Jersey, my oldest son and I packed up a Styrofoam container with 7 beautiful Australian Acathastrea frags and went to see what we could get. When we arrived, we found the entrance well manned and well organized.

Frag Swap corals for sale

When we first got in we were asked by a fellow reefer “what do you got?” We opened up our container and started showing our corals to each other. Then, two workers helping to organize the swap came up to us.

“You really shouldn’t do that here,” said the people working at the Swap.

“Well, where is the trading area?” I asked.

“There is none” replied the man in purple.

“Isn’t this a frag swap?” I asked. The worker replied, “All these vendors paid $200 a table, and they are selling corals, so we really don’t want the other people competing right in front of them.”

Trying to be on my best behavior in front of my older son, I calmly pointed out that if this was the case the event should be called a ”Frag Buy” instead of a Frag Swap. Also we paid $30 to get in the door, and although it was not $200, it should afford us some rights to do what the event advertises.

Drawing for prizes

This encounter did not hinder us from trading. We were able to get some beautiful Acroproa, pink Stylophora and green Favia. What we found really interesting, is that most of the trading we did was with people who had the booths!

The action on the floor

The speaker that we heard had some very interesting points about breading corals being a more efficient way to propogate corals than fragging. The raffle was a great concept, with many chances to win many useful products. Even the lunch was good: it was next door so you didn’t have to waist time leaving the hotel.

corals and clams

All in all, it was a great show and we look forward to going back next year. However, I hope the New Jersey Reefers Society adheres to their charter stated in their pamphlet of “To provide a forum for sharing resources and information among local aquarium enthusiasts”  instead of being turned by the all mighty dollar.