Tank Of The Month APRIL 2008

JEFF CAMPBELL/JJFly

Of LA MESA,CA



Hello to everyone at SoCaliReefs.com. JJFly here (Jeff Campbell) a nickname given to me by my uncle “Goober” when I was 12. Yes, we have funny nicknames in our family. No, there is no reason or story behind my nickname. I’ve been keeping saltwater aquariums for a little over 5yrs now and started into SPS in the last two years. I started with a humble 37gal Tall, then went to a 90gal. Eventually, I had a 90gal and a 60gal. Then, I scrapped both for my current 270gal (setup in Dec06). Not being able to keep myself to just one tank I setup a 60gal “Anemone” tank with a family group of clownfish. That 60gal turned into a 120gal softie/leather tank. This is where I am today. Pretty happy with both tanks and where they are heading. I enjoy the challenge of keeping exotic species. My Larvatus Butterfly gets fresh frags of SPS regularly. Most wouldn’t imagine breaking off pieces of their prize coral as food but some fish are worth it.

The 270gal (6’L x 3’D x 2’H) with an oak stand and canopy I personally built. I have built several stand/canopy setups and the more I do it the more I learn. The aquarium is ¾” think acrylic and built by SoCalCreations, now out of business, which is a real shame because their tank quality is not bested by anything I’ve seen to date. I built my canopy with an open top to vent the heat so cooling with my lighting is accomplished by 4 simple computer fans and a temperature controller.

 

 

I run IceCap ballasts for everything. I believe paying for quality is the only way to go. I use 3 x 175W ballasts to drive Iwasaki’s 15K “PPFD” buster bulbs in Reef Optix I pendants. I supplement with 4 x 160W VHO actinic bulbs. It is an ideal color combined with very impressive growth. At one time I had 250W Metal Halides but the color and growth were not doing it for me. I’m awaiting the release of the LumenMax Elite series pendants, as the final upgrade of my tank.

I have a different way than most for circulation. I feed the tank with a GenX4100. Once the water is in I have (2) Tunze 6200 and (2) 6100s, pushing water around in an alternating circular flow patterns. To remove any dead spots on the back wall I push a pair of Maxi-Jets with the Sure-Grip mod kits. Water movement is controlled with a Tunze 7095.

Less is easier… I have the best skimmer I can afford, an ATI Bubblemaster 250. I swear by it. LOVE IT! I have used at least a dozen other skimmers in my experience and even built some 5 gallon water bottle recirc modded skimmers that rivaled an ASM G5 for quality and gunk removal. The ATI BM250 leaves them all in the dust. I utilize a filter sock for large particulate, change every three days to prevent nitrate build up. Phosphate extraction is completed with a 40gal refugium of fine sand, several small pieces of live rock, and macro algae. Calcium is covered with a Geo618, what a great reactor (made in the USA too).

Maintenance:
Not much… Clean the skimmer cup as required and wipe down the tank every couple days. Once every-other week the acrylic in the area by the sand gets scraped down to remove stubborn algae build up. (Do not use a magnet in that area or you pick up sand granules, the scratches will make you cry) I use Oceanic Salt with RO water. Water changes? No, not really. I think I’ve “changed” 60 gallons since the tank was setup.  

 (Fish and Inverts):

INVERTS

2 scarlet shrimp
harlequin shrimp
An army of hermit crabs and emerald crabs for hair algae; six fighting conchs, four sea cucumbers, and a dozen nassarius snails for sand bed cleaning.
HUGE Heteractis Crispa anemone (18”)
A beautiful Cryptodendrum adhaesivum (Pizza Anemone).

FISH

4 Clarkii Clownfish, a dominate male/female pair and two sub-adults.
Euxiphipops navarchus (Majestic Angel)
Flame Hawkfish
Three Centropyge argi aka Cherub Angels (a male and two females)
Starry Blenny
Randall Goby
Six Line Wrasse
Yellow Coris Wrasse
Two Orchid Dottybacks
Purple Tang and finally
Bristletooth Tomini Tang (Fire Fin or Lazer Tang).cularly useful for the butterflies)


FEEDING

The fish are fed every other day. (PE Mysis, mini-Mysis, Enriched Brine Shrimp mix) The corals get fed when I remember (once a week’ish, maybe) Rotifers and Cyclopeez. I’ve heard they get a lot of food from the light, must be true because they’re still growing. Also, there is a lot of life in the water column when the lights go out!


CORALS

You tell me… I don’t know. A LOT, that’s a start. My prized pieces are: Neon green Candy Cane that is 150-200 heads minimum, Massive Montipora Hirisuta, Pink Birdsnest, and an ever growing Montipora Capricornis. There are others, Rainbow Monti, Sunset Monti, Superman Monti… Monti Digitata in every color known in the trade… Blue Snowflake polyps (trying to catch my breath), Orange Yumas, several Blastomusa Merletti colonies, a couple Acan Lord Colonies… Xmas tree rock. There is more, just look at the pics and tell me what I missed.

Some pictures

BONUS!!! 120 GALLON  

Click the image to enlarge

First and foremost, thank you to my wife of nearly 13yrs for supporting my addiction. You cannot have something like this and a happy marriage if you spouse doesn’t support you. I’m fortunate to have both. Thank you to my daughter, who fills water jugs with RO water daily as part of her chores but to help out daddy. I want to pass on a huge thanks to Brad (Shamen1) who started me on in this hobby by giving me a 37gal tank that was collecting dust in his garage. I cannot thank David M enough. If you are looking for top quality and David isn’t on your list for fish or Live Rock you are really missing out. Additionally, David helped my wife to keep everything alive while I was called to Iraq for duty. THANK YOU, David! Finally, a special thanks to Nick. I was trying to get Tank of the Month on another forum and couldn’t even get the time of day… not even a second nomination. Nick emailed me and said SoCaliReefs would love to feature my setup. I really appreciate the opportunity to show everyone what I have been able to accomplish in a very short time (just over 16 months now). MANY of my corals started as frags from local reefers like you. What you see is what is possible with a little patience and good equipment. My cheesy little camera doesn’t do it justice though. I really appreciate Nick taking the time to come over and take some AWESOME photos.