When you walk into the lobby of Rescue Alert you can’t help but be drawn to the gorgeous aquarium that Richard and Jared have set up. The cabinetry surrounding the tank is beautiful and with the woodwork stretching to the ceiling, the aquarium seems to fill the entire room. The system is well thought out with a sump and large skimmer located beneath the aquarium and ballast and timers located above. An RO filter is also located in the stand. Part of the filtered water is plumbed to the sump, while another part is directed into another room of the building to prepare for water changes. Although all of the equipment was located within the stand, there was very little noise with the doors closed. Many of the corals growing in the aquarium have been acquired from other hobbyists. This aquarium is also home to a brackish puffer with a voracious appetite. It appears to enjoy being hand fed! Check out the WMAS message board to learn how Jared and Richard introduced the unique fish into their reef aquarium. http://www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=2330 Many thanks to Richard and Jared for taking the time to share their aquarium with us.

Jared Wood

I live in Sandy and work with Richard at Rescue Alert in South Jordan. Richard is the grand master architect of our aquarium at work and I am the water boy. I’ve had fresh water aquariums in the past but this is my first experience with a marine aquarium of any kind. I really enjoy the animals. I love to sit and watch the fish and crustacean behavior and to track the coral growth. I am the type of guy that can sit for several hours in front of the tank and watch the jaw fish adjust his house. I am also intrigued by microbiology so to me the aquarium is a huge ecosystem with thousands and millions of creatures, every one of them interesting. Someday soon I will have a reef at home. But I am thinking that it might end up being big sump with no tank. I also have had a blast with the discovery of this club. Besides being incredibly educational, you all make it a boat load of fun too.

Richard Loser

I live in Alpine, UT. Our tank is in the lobby of Rescue Alert in South Jordan, 10321 South Beckstead Lane (1600 West). I started my first freshwater aquarium (5 gallons) in California in 1968 as an eleven-year old. My first marine tank (29 gallons) came along about three years later. Have an AGA 80 gal, 110 gal, and 28 gal in storage. Similar interests include: family, outdoors, scuba, rafting, fishing, landscaping, and ponding (3 @160 gals, 500 gals with waterfall, 1,000 gals with waterfall, and currently building a 2,400 gal with an extensive 5’ waterfall). Pretty much if there is water involved then I like it. Why am I then living in a desert? Conundrum!

My last marine tank was taken down some 28 years ago so I had some extensive re-educating to do when I was tasked by the company President to design and maintain a large display tank in our new building. Currently I am the Sales& Marketing Director at Rescue Alert, a local company which designs, manufactures, monitors, and markets Personal Emergency Response Systems for the elderly (Help, I have fallen and I can’t get up!)

I found the WMAS on the web while searching for information on several hitchhiker marine organisms after this tank was well underway in the stocking phase. I certainly could have saved some effort, headache, and expense if I had only found this great society sooner!

We experienced some design and layout changes due to space constraints in the lobby that made our support equipment (pumps, sump, skimmer, RODI filter) quite cramped. I would opt for much more space in the future, so we could include a refugium. Also, the canopy only allows for access from one side, another very sore spot. The proximity to the West facing windows makes for a constant full crop of algae too. I would rethink several aspects on the design and placement of the tank, though we really had little choice. A larger service area allowing for a larger sump and easier access would be my primary change in retrospect.

As for lessons learned, Do all tinkering and hardware additions before the tank is even ready for cycling, in other words in the “freshwater testing phase.” Several hardware additions and remodels have resulted in catastrophes (drilled drain lines, broken skimmer tubes) due to limited access in working areas. These “events” would likely not have happened, or been much less traumatic if they occurred in an empty or un-stocked system. Finally, have the entire system balanced (as though that ever actually is accomplished) for some period of time- days or weeks before adding livestock. P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E is not only a virtue; it is also an aggravation eliminator and money saver.

My favorites are:
Any type of Alveopora that will live for more than a month or two, our beautiful Bicolor Anthias Pseudanthias bicolor, and Spotted Anemone Shrimp, Periclimenes.

SETUP

• The stand is a custom built cherry wood base and canopy that extends up to the ten foot high ceiling. We have 4” cooling fans in both ends of the base. The base is lined with white HDO board.

• 200 gal custom 30" H x 24" D x 66"L acrylic tank manufactured in Orem- (Aquatica),

• 240 lbs aragonite in 4” DSB-(Aquatica),

• Live rock: 290 lbs from the web- 140 lbs Tongan Kaelini, 150 lbs Tongan Branch (Jeff’s Exotic Fish),

• Lighting: by 2x140 W 60” Ice cap actinics, , 3x250 W MH, Blue Wave II w/Reef Optix II reflectors, Ushio 10K bulbs, 12 hour cycle starting at 7:45 am actinics on, 8:00 West MH on, 8:15 middle and East MH on. Reverses beginning at 7:15 pm.

• Circulation/filtration center overflow with 2x1.5” drains, through 100 micron Filter Bag, then into 3000
  gph AmpMaster Dolphin 3000 pushing an A.E. Technology #800 Down Draft Skimmer skimmer, then into a 27 gal sump-under a baffle-down through a foam block-under a baffle, and another 3000 gph AmpMaster Dolphin 3000 return pump, returned to the tank through 2 each 1” lines coming up through the well and down to spray tubes extended under the live rock from the well. Additional circulation in the tank is provided by 2x1200 gph MaxiJet powerheads set up for counter-clockwise laminar flow.

WATER PARAMETERS

• 80 F

• 1.021 SG

• 400 CA

• 3.72 ppm or 10.4 dKH Alkalinity

• 0 Ammonia

• 0 Nitrite

• less than 10 ppm Nitrate

• 0.02 ppm Iodine

• 0.03 ppm Iodate

• Dose daily @ 5:00 am with ESV B-Ionic Doser for Calcium and Alkalinity

• 10% RODI water change weekly using Kent Sea Salt Mix- mixed, aerated, heated 6 days before use

• Dose Iodine monthly
  

FEEDING

• I feed a mixture of various frozen foods two to three times per week

• Frozen Brine

• Frozen Baby Brine

• Frozen Cyclopeez

• Frozen WMAS food

• Frozen Marine Cuisine- Omnivore

• Frozen Marine Cuisine- Carnivore

• Automatically dispensed dry foods twice daily at dawn and dusk

• Red, Green, Purple algae flakes

• Golden Pearls

• Formula One Marine Pellet- small

• Formula Two Marine Pellet- medium
  

CORALS

• SPS

  • Yellow Porites, Purple Plating –Orange Plating -Brown Plating-Blue w/green Cup-Brown Branching Montipora, Light Green Hydnophora,

• LPS

  • Green Hammer, Yellow Palythoa, Green Pineapple, Silver/Green Alveapora, Candycane, Metallic Green Galaxia, Pipe Organ

• Softies

  • Metallic Green Star Polyps, Thin Bar-PomPom-Tree Xenia, Brown Tree?, Green Nephthia, Tan Sarcophyton.

CRUSTACEANS