First and for most I would like to thank the folks at Socali Reefs for such a great honor. I would also like to thank everyone who has helped me along the way to get to the point were i am at. You know who you are and I thank you so much. I started in this hobby about 4 years ago when my girlfriend took me into a local fish store called Pet Town. We were there to get some discus fish for our freshwater tank. When I laid my eyes on the owners display reef tank, I was shocked and amazed on how good his tank looked. I first started with a 10 gal tank and soon got to the point where it was full. From there I upgraded my tank to a 40g and from that a 60g. It had been a long road with many ups and downs. I encountered a lot of issues from redbugs, acropora eating flat worms to total tank melt downs, but thanks to these folks that helped me I have stuck around long enough and I am now honor to be selected to be Tank Of The Month and kick off another great year..

Main System
This tank has been up since Jan 1, 2006 and was set up new years day.
The tank is a custom tank that I ordered from Coral Oasis in Irvine thanks to Ben who was so helpful in having my tank ordered like I wanted.
The tank is a 90g glass that is 99.9% sps with a few lps and softies.

Tank Dims: 34.5l x 24w x 25h=89.6g
Sump: 32l x 20w x 16h=44g but 22g of water Total water volume: ~112g
Stand: 36" tall

Lighting
TANK LIGHTING The tank is lit using two 20k Radium SE bulbs inside two Luminarc Minis running on a dual SLS Galaxy ballast.
The lights are on from 2 p.m. and off at 10:30 p.m.. I have found that this bulbs offer the best growth and help on coloring up my sps.

Cooling and heating is accomplished by using a 1/10th JBJ chiller most of the time. During the summer I also employ two 7" clip on fans to help control heat.
Heater is a 150w eheim heater. Temperature is controlled using an Aqua Controller Jr. set at 78-79deg.

Circulation
Circulation in the tank in done by using an Eheim 1260 used as a return pump which is split to feed the chiller. Its also split to two 3/4" return bulk heads in the tank. Further circulation is accomplished by using two Tunze 6100 controlled by a 7095 multi control. The pumps are run at a 30-80% for 6 seconds at a time and are switched every 30 min from left to right. Fresh water top off are done using a Tunze osmolator which replaced at least 5g a week.

Filtration
Water filtration is accomplished by using 90lbs of marshal island rock, 2" sand bed and an ATI Bubble Master 250 skimmer set to skim wet. I also use Rowaphos to help control PO4 and in occasions use carbon. I have found that in ordered to maintain the best quality of water one most employ a skimmer that is rated at least twice the size of the total water volume. Although I am running at least 5x total water volume this seems to work for me. Water changes are done by taking 20g from the tank and is replaced with sea water using Scripps water (natural sea water) every two weeks.

Maintenance
Water Parameters:
Ph= 8.0-8.25
Nitrates - 0
Nitrites - 0
Ammonia=0 (API test kit) test bi monthly or when possible Calcium= 450ppm (salifert test kit) test weekly and adjust using Kent Turbo
Cal Alk= 9.5-10dkh (Elos test kit) test weekly and adjust using Seachem Reef Builder
Mag= 1400 (salifert test kit) test monthly and adjust using Randy's mag sup. (Mag Chloride and Mag Sulfate)

Salinity= 1.023 (refractometer)

Temp 78-79deg (ACjr) PO4= 0.002-0.003 (Hanna colorimeter) test bi weekly

Supplements and Additives. Calcium and Alk are kept in balanced using a Schuran Denitrator that was converted to a calcium reactor. This had kept my sps nice and happy but its just about max out. The reactor will be replaced with a new once in a few month. As far as additives go, I do use them since I keep my tank extremely low in nutrients I have found to help in getting the best out of my sps. I use Fuana Marins Ultra min and Ultra bak. I am in the process of starting to use Prodibio this month. Other Equipment: Aqua controller Jr and DC8 & DC4 used to control lighting,temp and power heads as well as ph in CA reactor. Hanna Colorimeter used to check PO4  

Well this is my tank and hope you all have enjoyed. Once again I would like to tank the folks of Socalireefs for the great honor. If any one has any questions or would like to visit me. Just drop my and email at mchava1@aol.com. Thanks you. Mario Chavarria

- Mario