Well done to Pete aka Chippypah for winning the TOTM for June 2011. Its a brief one from Pete due to the massive work load he has on atm with the reactors. However I'm sure Pete will be more than happy to answer any questions.
Well it came as a complete surprise, when I was informed that I had been voted tank of the month.
I have been keeping marines for 38 years on and off, and have always tried to do the best I can
This is a true honour and thank you very much, as there are some really stunning tanks out there.
My bit of the ocean is 7 x 3 x 2 ½ foot tank and sump is 6 x 2 ½ x 2 ½ foot, so a fair bit of salt water 1600lt. It has two closed loop systems each with a sequence 10000, there is also an ocean motion, this is run by a sequence 1500 and the return pump is a sequence 1500. There are 3 mp40 es pumps in the tank also, so there is a lot of movement.
The sump is fed by two 50mm pipes, one is a durso and the bottom feed is a stand pipe. These feed directly to a filter sock, which is in the first chamber. The second chamber has a Deltec skimmer, and then feeds into the third chamber. In that chamber is yes you guessed it Chippypah reactors, one has bio pearls in it and the second has carbon in it. There is room in there also for me to test out some of my designs, and the final chamber is the return. There is a calcium reactor and de gassing chamber, this sits just outside of the sump.
I run UV and Ozone and have done for many years, and have never had a problem. Lighting is 3 250 watt metal halides; there is also 8 t5’s and the moon light. This is all controlled by the GHL Profilux, and it also controllers the redox and calcium reactor.
Stock wise is mainly LPS as I just love them, and they give a really nice movement in the current.
Fish are a vampire tang I did have a powder blue, but he took to ripping bits off the corals so had to go. There is a fox face and various wrasses and wreck fish, everything must get on with each other as we like a peaceful tank.
The parameters of the water are very stable, and are maintained with the addition of trace elements again controlled by the GHL. Like everybody that wants to keep marines there are always problems, yes I to had a bad outbreak of cyno that has taken a long time to get on top of.
This may come as a surprise, but in all the years of keeping marines I have never done a water change. This is something that works for me, and always has but the key is knowing what to look for and when.
Cheers
Pete
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** June 2011 TOTM **
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well done on winning this you deserve it 
for the very kind words, Chris I would do the water changes but there is a hole in my bucket 
