Tank of the Month - April 2007

Skipper · 04/05/2007, 03:39 PM

This month we are featuring Louis Tsai's (louist) beautiful nanoreef aquarium:

More details can be found here or by clicking on the picture above.

Congratulations, Louis!

If you'd like to nominate a tank
for Tank of the Month, click here
or use the button to the right.

***************************

rbaker · 04/05/2007, 07:28 PM

Congratulations Louis!

Awesome tank!

cutnup · 04/05/2007, 07:31 PM

is this the first nano to win? congratulations!

AVALover5498 · 04/05/2007, 07:33 PM

Very nice tank louis! Congratulations!

-Chris-

Inflames · 04/05/2007, 07:35 PM

Ive never seen this tank on nano-reef.com. Does louist visit us over there?

Respect the nano

Brewen · 04/05/2007, 07:39 PM

Congratulations Louis! Great looking tank, bigger is not always better.

HolyScoly · 04/05/2007, 07:44 PM

congrats very nice nano.

saltyfishy123 · 04/05/2007, 07:44 PM

Sweet tank Louis!!!

hgbarwick · 04/05/2007, 07:56 PM

Your nano tank is an inspiration to all of us nano reefers!

pbukow · 04/05/2007, 07:56 PM

Amazing nano, love the way the 20K light looks on your corals. Nice lookin blenny too

JMC1 · 04/05/2007, 07:58 PM

Congrats! Great looking nano.

csb · 04/05/2007, 08:16 PM

Awesome nano... my 5.5g looks like crap and is always full of algae... even with almost 0 feeding and weekly RO-DI water changes. Heh...

Very nice and congrats on TOTM. Love seeing something different on there!

erniemo · 04/05/2007, 08:19 PM

The best nano I have ever seen-not an easy task.

CHEERS!

Razzagas · 04/05/2007, 08:29 PM

Great Tank!
I have a couple of questions though...
1) do you collect your natural sea water directly from the ocean? If so, do you worry about pollutants?
2) did the overflow come with the tank, or did you drill the tank yourself?

Thanks! Great JOB!

mr9iron · 04/05/2007, 08:31 PM

That is a spectactular nano. Congratulations!

DrMilhouse · 04/05/2007, 08:48 PM

WOW! Simply WOW.

That's beautiful! Great job on that!

BONDQ · 04/05/2007, 09:07 PM

Very, very nice.

Great work!

Cyclone123 · 04/05/2007, 09:11 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Inflames
Ive never seen this tank on nano-reef.com. Does louist visit us over there?

Respect the nano

Yeah his tank is over there and this isnt the only nano to win. I think a 20 gallon won it also.

GO NANO REEFERS

awsome job louis.

reefkoi · 04/05/2007, 09:12 PM

Great looking tank, the photography is top notch!

uhuru · 04/05/2007, 09:20 PM

Truly bad ***.

cartoonbear · 04/05/2007, 09:27 PM

Really did deserve the TOTM title, truly an awesome tank.

louist · 04/05/2007, 09:44 PM

Thanks everyone for your kind words! I am very honored to have my little tank considered for TOTM! I guess this stemmed from the little monthly competition we run in the nano-reef forum here on RC. Skipper gave us his support and here we are!

To answer the two questions raised by Razzagas:
1) I buy the NSW from a reputable LFS here in Sydney. They supply a lot of the NSW for the reefers in Sydney. Our coastal water is pretty decent if you pump it at appropriate places at appropriate times. Most of the reefers in Sydney use NSW.
2) No, I drilled the tank and plumbed it myself. This tank used to be filtered by a AquaClear 70 HOB filter that was modified into a HOB refugium. Later, I wished to increase the stability of the tank & remove some of the clutter and I decided to revamp the tank.

The upgrade involved drilled 2x 20mm (3/4") holes for the bulkheads and plumbing that into the big blue tub you see. The blue tub is sold as a trash bin, a little like Rubbermaid you guys get. The plumbing parts are called "irrigation fittings" here in Australia, and everything screw together with BSP threads (NPT in the US). During the upgrade, I suffered the loss of ~4 colonies of Acropora and ~6 beautiful frags of "SPS". This was later attributed to the high pH of freshly mixed IO (even after 24hours) since the extra volume of the refugium was much greater than the display tank. My fault really, should have taken it slow. I was reading Steve Weast's thread about his tank crash, and when he said he mixed the salt and pump it into the tank, i thought "oh no!".... may all his corals RIP.

Another lesson I learned was not to drill with your fish still in the tank! My mandarin was scared 1/2 to death and refused to move or eat for a week

I later weaned her back onto frozen food and she's now happy as before!

Here's a FTS that wasn't in the article:

aquarius77 · 04/05/2007, 10:03 PM

Absolute perfection!

Beautiful tank, Congrats!

RevHtree · 04/05/2007, 10:10 PM

Great tank Louis! BRAVO!

AS11423 · 04/05/2007, 10:11 PM

Great job. Truly deserving TOTM.

04/05/2007, 07:28 PM	#2
rbaker Reef Central Admin Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 32,642 Blog Entries: 4	Congratulations Louis! Awesome tank! __________________ Ryan A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. -- George Bernard Shaw

04/05/2007, 07:35 PM	#5
Inflames Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Norcal Posts: 595	Ive never seen this tank on nano-reef.com. Does louist visit us over there? Respect the nano Last edited by Inflames; 04/05/2007 at 07:50 PM.

04/05/2007, 07:44 PM	#8
saltyfishy123 WYSIWYG Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Connecticut Posts: 1,395	Sweet tank Louis!!! __________________ 135 Custom Aquarium -2x 250 watt hamilton bulbs 14k -Sunlight supply Dual 250 ballast -Euro-Reef RS-135 -Red Sea 100 Ozonizer -2x Tunze 6060's Current Tank Info: 135 Custom Softie/LPS reef

04/05/2007, 07:56 PM	#10
pbukow Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Charlotte, NC Posts: 453	Amazing nano, love the way the 20K light looks on your corals. Nice lookin blenny too __________________ What do you mean I have to change the water? PBITAWA Every Day

04/05/2007, 07:58 PM	#11
JMC1 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: North Carolina Posts: 26	Congrats! Great looking nano. __________________ Jim Current Tank Info: 30 gal cube , 4" DSB, 130W 50/50 PC, XP2 for circulation and carbon, 3 X MJ600 with wave maker, 1W blue lunar light, SeaCrap 100 skimmer, Approx 60 lbs mixed Kaelini and Fiji LR

04/05/2007, 07:31 PM	#3
cutnup Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Vero Beach Florida Posts: 674	is this the first nano to win? congratulations!

04/05/2007, 07:33 PM	#4
AVALover5498 Zoa Freak Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Sioux City, IA Posts: 752	Very nice tank louis! Congratulations! -Chris-

04/05/2007, 07:39 PM	#6
Brewen Premium Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Santa Maria,CA Posts: 1,618	Congratulations Louis! Great looking tank, bigger is not always better.

04/05/2007, 07:44 PM	#7
HolyScoly Moved On Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: miami Posts: 155	congrats very nice nano.

04/05/2007, 07:56 PM	#9
hgbarwick Registered Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: Plant City, Florida Posts: 1,390	Your nano tank is an inspiration to all of us nano reefers!

04/05/2007, 08:16 PM	#12
csb Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: New Hampshire Posts: 541	Awesome nano... my 5.5g looks like crap and is always full of algae... even with almost 0 feeding and weekly RO-DI water changes. Heh... Very nice and congrats on TOTM. Love seeing something different on there! __________________ Winter ski bum, summer reef bum. Tank pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/snojrnl Current Tank Info: 30g mixed reef

04/05/2007, 08:19 PM	#13
erniemo Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 54	The best nano I have ever seen-not an easy task. CHEERS!

04/05/2007, 08:29 PM	#14
Razzagas Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 653	Great Tank! I have a couple of questions though... 1) do you collect your natural sea water directly from the ocean? If so, do you worry about pollutants? 2) did the overflow come with the tank, or did you drill the tank yourself? Thanks! Great JOB!

04/05/2007, 08:31 PM	#15
mr9iron 15& Over Club Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Missouri Posts: 2,552 Blog Entries: 1	That is a spectactular nano. Congratulations! __________________ Vince ______________________________ Current Tank Info: Frag tank at the moment, planning another

04/05/2007, 08:48 PM	#16
DrMilhouse Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Centennial/Englewood Posts: 1,441	WOW! Simply WOW. That's beautiful! Great job on that! __________________ tryin' to quit. Current Tank Info: 125AGA, 55g split for 1/2 fuge and 1/2 sump, 100lbs LR, 4-6in DSB in sump and display

04/05/2007, 09:07 PM	#17
BONDQ Premium Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: So CA Posts: 621	Very, very nice. Great work!

04/05/2007, 09:12 PM	#19
reefkoi Premium Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Colorado Posts: 3,983	Great looking tank, the photography is top notch! __________________ 1Kw bulb club Current Tank Info: A 600gal. on Zeovit & a 240gal.

04/05/2007, 09:20 PM	#20
uhuru Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Columbus Posts: 2,949	Truly bad ***. __________________ August 2011 TOTM

04/05/2007, 09:27 PM	#21
cartoonbear Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: SoCal Posts: 386	Really did deserve the TOTM title, truly an awesome tank. __________________ Click on the red house to see my 50 gallon softy tank being built Current Tank Info: 125g Reef w/ T5 HOs, 50Gallon being built!

04/05/2007, 09:44 PM	#22
louist Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 761	Thanks everyone for your kind words! I am very honored to have my little tank considered for TOTM! I guess this stemmed from the little monthly competition we run in the nano-reef forum here on RC. Skipper gave us his support and here we are! To answer the two questions raised by Razzagas: 1) I buy the NSW from a reputable LFS here in Sydney. They supply a lot of the NSW for the reefers in Sydney. Our coastal water is pretty decent if you pump it at appropriate places at appropriate times. Most of the reefers in Sydney use NSW. 2) No, I drilled the tank and plumbed it myself. This tank used to be filtered by a AquaClear 70 HOB filter that was modified into a HOB refugium. Later, I wished to increase the stability of the tank & remove some of the clutter and I decided to revamp the tank. The upgrade involved drilled 2x 20mm (3/4") holes for the bulkheads and plumbing that into the big blue tub you see. The blue tub is sold as a trash bin, a little like Rubbermaid you guys get. The plumbing parts are called "irrigation fittings" here in Australia, and everything screw together with BSP threads (NPT in the US). During the upgrade, I suffered the loss of ~4 colonies of Acropora and ~6 beautiful frags of "SPS". This was later attributed to the high pH of freshly mixed IO (even after 24hours) since the extra volume of the refugium was much greater than the display tank. My fault really, should have taken it slow. I was reading Steve Weast's thread about his tank crash, and when he said he mixed the salt and pump it into the tank, i thought "oh no!".... may all his corals RIP. Another lesson I learned was not to drill with your fish still in the tank! My mandarin was scared 1/2 to death and refused to move or eat for a week I later weaned her back onto frozen food and she's now happy as before! Here's a FTS that wasn't in the article: __________________ Louis Tsai- http://www.zengalleria.com http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20070149 - Louis' Pico Come Back (LED mixed reef) http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/totm/index.php - ReefKeeping 2007 April Tank of the Month Last edited by louist; 04/05/2007 at 09:54 PM.

04/05/2007, 10:03 PM	#23
aquarius77 Moved On Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Highland, Il Posts: 2,198	Absolute perfection! Beautiful tank, Congrats!

04/05/2007, 10:10 PM	#24
RevHtree Registered Member. Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Chattanooga, Tn. Posts: 2,742	Great tank Louis! BRAVO!

04/05/2007, 10:11 PM	#25
AS11423 Moved On Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Queens, NY Posts: 250	Great job. Truly deserving TOTM.