Reeflections:
Incredibly Simple By: Iwan Lässer
First, I would like to thank the Reefland community and Reef Hobbyist Online for honoring my system. Since I was a little boy I was fascinated by the life found on coral reefs. I have always observed aquatic life whenever I had the opportunity. To increase my ability to view aquatic life, I began to care for fresh water aquaria. Later in life I learned to dive and was able to experience the beauty of the oceans very closely.
Because Switzerland isn’t really located by the sea, I have tried to fetch the sea and bring it to Switzerland with my reef aquarium. From that grew my first step towards a saltwater aquarium.
– Tank Size:
220 Gallon Aquarium
Pure T5!!
2×54 Watt ATI Aquablue Special
2×54 Watt ATI Blue Plus
4×80 Watt ATI Aquablue Special
4×80 Watt ATI Blue Plus
For a total of 856 Watts. The lamps are changed every 6-8 months.
– Water Changes:
10% weekly changes with Reverse Osmosis water.
– Technical Equipment:
Skimmer: 1 Aquamedic Turbofloater, 1 no-name product (self-made) (Yes, I use 2 skimmers)
Flow pumps: Tunze Streams
Ozone: None
UV: None
Calcium reactor (Korallin)
Balling method
The consumption of calcium is about 40 mg/liters daily
– Filtration:
I prefer to limit the amount of technical solutions and focus on biological filtration methods:
Live rock
DSB (100% Livesand)
– Current Water Parameters:
Temperature: 78 degrees F +/- 1.0
Salinity: 35ppt
pH: low 7.90 high 8.3
No3: undetectable
No2: undetectable
NH4: undetectable
Po4: undetectable
Si3 : undetectable
Ca: 420ppm
Alk: 7-9 DKH
Mg: 1300ppm
Redox: 400-450
Daily:
Phytoplankto (DT’s)
ZEOstart2 (Korallenzucht)
Amino acids (Korallenzucht)
Coral Vitalizer (Korallenzucht)
Potassium (Korallenzucht)
Trace elements (element mix/strontium mix/iodine mix of QFI)
Weekly:
Amino acids/vitamins (Prodibio)
Bi-Weekly:
Bacteria (Prodibio)
Bacteria food (Prodibio)
– Corals:
99% of the corals in this tank are SPS and LPS corals, 54 in all. Most of the corals in the tank started as frags, many from local reefers. When I first started in the hobby I have cared for soft corals. As time passed, however, I have replaced these with stoney corals. When I first started with stoney corals I was a little sceptical; I doubted whether I was able to keep stoney corals successfully. My passion was soon clear: Stoney corals in all colors and forms. I love their growth forms and the variety of their colors.
– Fish:
I try to reconstruct a natural coral-reef in my small tank. So of course fish and invertebrates are also included. My fish population:
2 Zebrasoma flavescens
1 Zebrasoma veliferum
20 Pseudanthias squamipinnis
11 Chromis virdis
3 Amphiprion ocellaris
2 Oxycirrhites typus
2 Synchiropus splendidus
2 Labroides dimidiatus
1 Salarias fasciatus
1 Gobiodon okinawae
2 Gobiodon histrio
– Inverts:
30 Hermit crabs
5 Tridacna squamosa
4 Mesipilia globulus
8 Lysmata amboinensis
2 Stenopus hispidus
In my opinion the most important ingredients for successfully keeping sensitive sea animals are:
Committ the time, much time and watch the animals closely.
Changes to the system must always be done slowly. Fast changes usually have negative impacts.
Carry out five measures after each change as two changes are parallel!
Don’t overlook the fact that most of the available animals and decorations (LR) are taken from the oceans.
As a diver in tropical waters I enjoy swimming in untouched coral-reefs, full of great and small life. The ability to do this in an incomparable system is very important to me.
As a diver there is an unwritten law: “Grasp nothing, do not carry anything forward… Except photos and memories.” The thought to put animals from this singular habitat into an artificial biotope seems grotesque.
The uniqueness of the habitat “coral reef” is dependent on every resident. Every organism is a small, important part in the success of this wonderful world.
It is necessary to understand and be conscience of these.
If possible, I always give after-cultivations and coral fragments the advantage.
My topmost aim is keeping corals and fishes and not have to replace them. Unfortunately, there are reef keepers who replace the fishes and corals once in a while. Simply, unsuitable conditions and a lack of experience/interests are the reasons for it. I personally disassociate myself with those that do not care. The preservation of the natural coral-reefs isn’t only a thing for the governments, everybody can and should make their own contributions.
You can learn more about my reef on my home page: www.hausriff.ch