A league apart

 ( featured in Issue 5 Ultramarine magazine )

Nick Jones’s amazing reef.

There are some tanks that grab your attention through nothing more than the health of the stock, whilst others grab you for the attention to detail, there are even systems that grab you in relation to the sheer scale of the operation, but rarely does a system tick all those boxes and more.

4 years ago, Nick Jones set out on a quest to build himself a reef tank with the help of a few fellow hobbyists and a well known aquarium builder. What transpired after that is nothing short of spectacular in many peoples eyes. And whilst some may consider this the upper end of the Reef tank market, there are still a great many details and practices thrown into this system that are equally as attainable on a smaller scale. The system sits in its own air conditioned room giving that classic hole in the wall look that’s become so popular over the years. The tank itself sits on a block pillar and RSJ stand which is essential for this kind of volume, and is plumbed exceedingly neatly to the rest of the system with everything spread around the perimeter of the room. This leaves plenty of space to work on the tank without tripping over equipment all the time. All of the reactors and skimmer sit inside a very wide sump tank that runs a fairly shallow water level, which means that the risks of leaks or fails are minimised, not that it always works that way. There is also access from the front via removable panels in the surrounding wall and an ingenious ‘pull out’ step arrangement that sits under the tank making access over the top of the tank as easy and painless as possible.  Nick is quite unassuming as far as his reef keeping knowledge goes. He doesn’t preach what’s right or wrong unless it’s been experienced and witnessed with his own system. And he doesn’t shout about how a system should or shouldn’t be designed. That’s not to say he doesn’t have an opinion, because Nick is in the often unfortunate position that many successful reef keepers face where people attempt to emulate what’s been done on this system. Some have succeeded, some have failed. The main reason for this, is quite simply that you can’t cut corners with large tanks and expect the best results. So if you’re going to copy someone, do it right, and do it right the first time, or go a different route altogether. Trying to get top notch results using half the kit at half the price means you’re onto a looser from the start most of the time, unless you’ve got the experience and expertise to work round those issues. So bare this in mind if you’re planning that monster reef you’ve always dreamed of.

( Good feeding means big fish. The Acanthurus coeruleus, is the size of a small dinner plate )

Everybody’s favourite when viewing this tank is ‘Rel’ the long horned cowfish. At 9” he’s a big lad, and not shy with it. His usual pastime when not patrolling up and down, is to dispatch the many moths and bugs that find their way into the tank attracted by the powerful lights whenever Nick has the fish room door open at night. With its stunning Acropora's, generous mix of LPS corals, clams, that huge Sarcophyton that spans a good three feet, and the stunning collection of fish which includes regularly spawning purple tuka Anthia’s, anybody who sees this system immediately comments not only on the tank, but also on the layout and logical way the system is designed. From the circulation system, to the water change system, and the arrangement of the kit in there that keeps things ticking over as it should. Everything is at hand and manageable, with nothing tucked away in awkward to reach corners. Pumps are accessible for regular maintenance, and water changes are semi automated with just a flick of a valve to flush out a set amount of water down the ‘in room’ drain, and another twist of another valve to run the new pre-mixed water in. But make no mistakes, this isn’t just a nice arrangement of tanks and plumbing. There is some serious consideration gone into making sure everything is up to the job at hand with regards to maintaining what is in effect a very very large volume of water, and an equally impressive collection of stock. From the 7ft long refugium crammed with macro algae, to the Deltec AP1004 skimmer, and the 4 x sequence 15,000lph circulation pumps, to the two 10,000lph return pumps that also feed various other stages of the system beyond the main tank, to the four Diamond luminarc reflectors housing 400w lamps. The whole system oozes not just quality, but careful planning as well. Topped off with an IKS computer running it all, and you can see why Nick is so passionate about not cutting corners if you want to go into the big tank market. That’s not to say you don’t get problems, and Nick is equally aware of the hassles of running a big system.

( A veritable thicket of coral growth that many would aspire to)

When it goes wrong ‘as all systems do from time to time’ it can go wrong big style. When a pipe pops off on this volume of water, you don’t just loose a few gallons, you loose hundreds as Nick will attest to during a frantic 4.00am session some time ago when the tank had drained to nearly halfway, and he was faced with a need for around 200gallons of water and a whole stack of lovingly grown corals left high and dry for a considerable time. In the end, it boiled down to one simple choice. Use what water he had prepared, and make the rest up with tap water. The saving grace in all of this, was undoubtedly the rest of the filtration system that minimised the impact to more acceptable levels, as that huge refugium and skimmer pulled out a vast majority of the impurities dumped into the system via the need to use tap water as a last resort.

That’s not to say everything was hunky dory. Nick still lost a good portion of the upper branches on his obscenely large Acropora’s, and also had bouts of infection with the fish as well. Looking at the system now, you wouldn’t believe anything had happened, but its testament to Nick’s experience and the design of the system, that things have bounced back so spectacularly. So make no mistake. Running a big system isn’t always a walk in the park, and when things do go wrong, it can cost not only money to get it sorted, but also time, sweat and tears. Nick is equally philosophical about his maintenance. ‘When you get into the big tank market using big pumps and other kit, you cant expect it all to just sit there and run forever like a lot of hobby kit. You have to maintain it, and that costs. Annually stripping 6 high output pumps and replacing bearings or seals costs both time and money as does replacing worn out needle wheels or calcium reactor pumps. If you fail to factor those costs and that time into the running of your reef, the problems will mount up leaving you and the tank suffering.

One key feature of Nick’s system is the ingenious way he has come up with a design to generate wave surge across the reef. The system is laid out as a ‘back reef’ biotope, rather than a leading reef slope. In effect this means that wave action is generated from behind the main rock structure to flow upwards hitting a 45deg angled baffle at the top back face of the tank and then run over the top towards the front in a barrel roll motion, then down towards the base where it curls back on itself towards and under the reef structure. The amount of flow varies dependant on the number of pumps running at any given time, but the amount of flow generated when all four of the 15,000lph pumps kick in is quite dramatic to say the least.

Nick is very happy with the system as it stands although he is targeting the far left hand end which he feels is in need of a bit of thinning out. It’s so overgrown that there is the very real danger that some of the corals there may die back from the constant inter species aggression unless some action is taken. The use of ozone is also one area that Nick has often expressed concern about, as he now feels that the system is showing signs of addiction whereby a reduction in its use, tends to show up as a decline in the health of the system within a relatively short time frame. A few other experienced keepers also agree with this possibility, so it may be one area of ozone use that requires further investigation.

So as you can see. Although big systems may look appealing initially, and offer a wide scope of choice as far as mixing stock and growth potential goes, there are some serious issues you have to consider before taking the plunge. Not only the costs of both the initial outlay, and the ongoing maintenance, but also time and experience. Nick is very eager to lay praise at the doorstep of Kevin Douglas, a good friend and no stranger to the big tank world, for all his assistance in getting this system to where it is today, along with other members of the ‘Marine Get Together Group’, a club which Nick participates in, on a regular basis. One thing becomes clear in all of this, in that to run a system such as this, takes time, dedication, a good degree of patience and experience, not to mention willing friends who are happy to pick up the phone at 4.00am to lend a hand.

But if your willing to go that extra mile, understand and except what your taking on as Nick obviously does, then the results can be spectacular to say the least.


So with that I’ll just say a really big thanks to Nick for allowing us to pry into the inner workings of his stunning system, little more than just a few hours before he was due to set off on Holiday, and leave you all to soak up the images of what many consider, one the UK’s ‘best’ private reeftanks.…
 

Tank Details

Owner: Nick Jones.

Location: Sandhurst Berkshire

Tank age: 3 yrs

Tank Specifications

Tank Dimensions: 8’ x 3’x 2.5’ (97.5”L x 36” W x 30” H)

Sump 3’x 2.5’x 1’ (36” L x 30” W x 12” H)

Refugium.  7’x 2’ x 1.5’ (84” L x 20” W x 18” H)

 System volume. 500gall

 Equipment Details

 Skimmer:  Deltec AP1004

Lights – 4x 400W 14K Coralvue Metal Halides running a sunrise sunset cycle 10.5 hours total

Lights – 4 x 54w T5 Actinic’s 13 hour duration

Circulation: 4 x 15,000lph sequences 2 on constant 2 on pulse cycle

Heaters: 4 x 300W titanium heaters

Chiller/Cooler: Deltec Eco cooler plus air con unit.

Nitrate Reactor: None

Calcium Reactor: H&S

Kalkstirrer: Aquamedic 5000 (all top up runs through this)

Control System: IKS

RO Unit: 100 gallon/day with DI resin

Water changes: 75gallons every 6 weeks.

Carbon: run every two weeks.

Ozone:  run for 6hours at 200mg/l through skimmer

 Parameters:

 SG: 1.024

Temp 27-28deg

pH: 7.9 – 8.1

Amm: 0.0 ppm

No2: 0.0 ppm

N03 3-5 ppm

Po4 0.015ppm

Ca : 450ppm

DkH : 11.0

Mg: 1300ppm

( Everything up to the task required of it, and everything in its place....the sign of a well planned and run system)

( Again, everything up to the job at hand, from the 7ft Refugium, to the 4 x 400W lamps in diamond reflectors)

 Stock:

 Corals: These are the families covered in Nick’s system, although there are several differing varieties or species of each in several cases.

 Echinophyllia, Nemenzophyllia, Pectinia, Merulina, Hydnophora, Parvona, Psammocora, Millipora Catalaphyllia, Heliopora, Stylophora, Seriatopora, Pocillopora, Acropora’s (unknown), Montipora, Euphyllia,

Fish:

 Acanthurus coeruleus, Acanthurus pyroferus, Zebrasoma flavescens, Pomacanthus imperator, Diacanthus pygoplites, Centropyge loriculus, Pomacentrus cyanea, Pseudochromis fridmani, Amphiprion frenatus, Chromis viridis, Pseudanthias randalli ,Pseudanthias tuka , Amphiprion percula, Synchoiropus splendidus, Neocirrhitus armatus, Halichoeres iridis, Elacatinus oceanops, Ecsenius midas, Ecsenius stigmatura, Lactoria cornuta.

 This isn’t an extensive list, as there were a couple of unidentified fish present at the time of writing.

Inverts:

various clams, serpent stars, abalone, shrimps, hermits, snails.