Actually, despite the name the tank clearly has a few soft corals, too.

Tanks like this are cleverer than they look. They’re not just pleasing on the eye — keeping the decoration in the middle like that effectively doubles the territory, and keeps fish out of each other’s sight.

The drilled rock has been pinned together using plastic rods. A fair bit of effort, but worth it!

Further reading:

1. Fluval Edge aquarium offers style in a box
2. Creating a coral bommie reef tank in a small cube aquarium
3. Pink Skunk clownfish spawning video

Paul Brun's stunning aquarium sits among tropical plants, and is visible from four sides

Finally caught up with the December 2008 issue of Reefkeeping magazine, and I was glad I did. This month’s Tank of the Month is truly a stunner.

What’s particularly nice about this 400-gallon aquarium is that it’s the culmination of a childhood dream by its owner, Paul Brun. As a keen aquarist still waiting for my chance to build my dream tank, I really relate to his story of recapturing his childhood in a reef tank writ large:

Eventually, my mother granted me the wish of every sixteen year old and managed to give me a room of my own. A three seasons sunroom at the back of the house was converted to a four season bedroom for me and I was in heaven. I filled it with plants and two aquariums, one 75gal freshwater and one 30 gal marine. I loved it

As the years passed I kept a dream of creating an aquarium presented unlike any other I had seen, built in a room that would compliment its unique beauty. This “dream reef” was to be surrounded with tropical plants, flooded with natural sunlight, and sit as the centerpiece of a four season solarium.

Less poetically but more practically, the tank is visible from all four sides, thanks to a central overflow and returns that takes water to and from the equipment room in the basement.

There’s a couple of surprises down there, too, including back-up batteries and generator, and a Wavysea-branded top-up system that even mixes the salt for you (not sure I’d trust it myself!)

It’s well worth checking out this gorgeous mixed reef in full.

Further reading:

1. Soft coral tank shines in November’s Reefkeeping magazine
2. August 2008 issue of Reefkeeping Magazine, with DIY Wavebox tutorial
3. Reef Central Tank of the Month January 2008

This coldwater marine tank sees different seaweeds rise and fall with the seasons

Many European and North American reefers dream of being able to catch fish for our own aquariums. But how many have tried keeping the creatures to be found around our native shores?

Jon Olavs is one person who hasn’t forgotten the fun of dipping a net in a rock pool. His native marine tank features macro algae and other fish and animals that he collects off the coast of Norway:

I am located in Bergen on the west coast of Norway. The Gulf Stream, originating in the Gulf of Mexico, passes by the coast here after having crossed the North Atlantic. It brings warm water, changing the climate of this region from sub-Arctic to temperate. It also causes an upwelling that makes the ocean nutrient-rich. The result is a very fascinating underwater environment.

Jon documents his experiences in his coldwater marine blog in English. (Norwegian readers will find plenty more on fishkeeping in their own tongue, too).

Be warned if you’re inspired into doing the same. Large coldwater marine tanks don’t keep cheap:

• Tank: 1000-liters. Self-built composite with glass only in front.
• Sump: 100-liters
• Skimmer: Deltec APF600
• Light: 6×54W T5 tubes
• Chiller: AquaMedic Titan 1500, 375-watts
• Return pump: AquaMedic OR3500
• Six internal powerheads with wave motion
• Refugium: 100-liters
• DIY CO2 system
• Total price: 40,000 NOK (US$6,150)

Jon has since added even more technology, including an ozoniser. The big difficulty with native marine tanks though is keeping the water cool, as evidenced by the system’s 375-watt AquaMedic chiller.

There are plenty of cool creatures that make such an aquarium worthwhile, though. Below are a few of the hundreds of pics Jon has posted of his coldwater marine tank.

(For more, head over to his excellent native marine blog).

This pipefish hunts for microfauna among the 1000-liter tank's weed and rocks

There are numerous pretty coldwater goby species around the world

Plankton hunting equipment ready for action!

Love them or loathe them, hermit crabs have a place in coldwater ecosystems, too

Further reading:

1. Could coldwater aquariums be the next big thing in marine fishkeeping?
2. How many fish can you keep in your tank?
3. Stunning conservatory-housed Tank of the Month at Reefkeeping magazine

With nano reef tanks, small is ridiculously beautiful

Nano-Reef.com is the best site for small marine tank fans on the web. Besides its funky, friendly forums, the site picks a nano reef tank to showcase every month.

These nano reefs are always stunning examples of what can be done on a small-scale by committed aquarists. December’s winner, from member DeMartini, features gorgeous colours and a range of mushroom and ricordea corals after my own heart.

This lovely nano reef tank might only be 14-gallons, but size never stops a good nano reefer:

Eventually I removed the hood and upgraded the lighting to a 70w HQI SunPod, which made my corals pop and allowed me to keep a clam…YAY! About half a year ago I added a refugium to keep nitrates down; I drilled holes in an old 6-gallon eclipse and placed it on a little stand right above my main display.

There’s a few more tidbits on the tank and a whole lot more pictures of the tank in December’s Nano Reef Tank of the Month writeup.

Further reading:

1. Reef Central Tank of the Month January 2008
2. Creating a patch reef habitat in a nano aquarium
3. Stunning conservatory-housed Tank of the Month at Reefkeeping magazine

The new year is well underway, and here’s Stanley Genadek’s aquarium, Reef Central’s first Tank of the Month of 2008.

Like most Reef Central TOTMs, Stanley’s would double up as decent-sized swimming pool. The total water volume is 2,100 US gallons, with some 1,600 gallons of the wet stuff in the 15-foot long main tank.

The skimmer alone holds over 100 US gallons!

Needless to say, the tank is absolutely beautiful.

Stanley favors a skimmer-and-algae-refugium combo to keep this stunning system alive. Interestingly, he also maintains sponges in his refugium, similar to coral-keeping veteran Steve Tyree, although Stanley says the bolt-on tank’s main purpose is to produce pods and other live foods for the main tank.

The skimmer is the heart of this system, and Stanley speaks like a man in love. When his carpet anemone died, it saved his tank’s life:

When I came back seven days later the blue carpet was gone. I asked my wife if she had removed it and she admitted that she had forgotten to even look at it! Fearing the worst, I quickly went back to check my ORP level, which had climbed to a healthy 440. I looked over the tank and my dirt brown Acropora sp. coral was glowing purple, and all the other small-polyped stony corals colors had impressively improved. The skimmer was full of a thick sludge that could not be drained. I ended up having to literally scrape the collection cup because the sludge was so thick! I could not believe that the skimmer could remove a large, decomposing blue carpet anemone, increase my ORP and improve my water quality, all while I was out of town! It is by far the most outstanding piece of reefkeeping equipment I have ever owned.

How anybody can fail to look at a tank like this is utterly beyond me, but I guess not everyone in the world is a fish nut.

A final couple of points, which I hope don’t feel like I’m detracting from Stanley’s incredible achievement:

1. We need to invent nuclear fission fast – the skimmer alone on this monster tank is rated at 190w.
2. If a brilliant and dedicated aquarist like Stanley can lose an anemone, surely they should remain in the hands of specialists like Anthony Calfo until such people have nailed down a reliable propogation method? These animals are effectively immortal, remember. Personally I’d only buy a cultured bubble-tipped anemone at present. If you disagree, do say why (politely please!) in the comments below.

There’s some more lovely pics after the jump.

Harlequin filefish, Oxymonacanthus longirostris

Snowflake clownfish

There’s a nice mix of soft and hard corals in the tank. Check out the yellow leather coral at the bottom left of the bommie!

Every tank benefits from a keen helping hand

Want more? For dozens of high quality images plus tonnes of detail on this amazing system, check out the whole article over at Reef Central.

Further reading:

1. Why add a refugium to your reef tank?
2. Nano reef tanks to die for every month
3. Stunning conservatory-housed Tank of the Month at Reefkeeping magazine