Reef Tank with 8 years old Copperband Butterfly 

Thank you very much. I agree that there is often a lot of unused potential in building and growing a reef.

That was a really large one. My angel is far from that size even though he has been there for many years. The first year in my tank he was picking sps more and more. I relocated him in to a 150 liter for 3 months and then put him back in the display tank. He has never picked on any coral since. Thanks for sharing your experience on this fish.

@@KonradKvanli strange how fish behaviour can change. Well done for sticking with that fish, what a pay off!

Thanks. Usually, in the process of making every coral happy one tend to forget the aquascaping bit.

Thank you!

Thanks. I think the fresh raw whole blue mussels play a big role in keeping him healthy for so long. It was not easy getting him to eat the first 2 weeks.

Do you mean you have a live mussel in your tank? Love copperbank too but can't never keep it long

@@vincentliu3765 Yes, and the mussel is only opened.

Thanks for asking. This tank need new development so I made some changes in corals and aquascape. It takes time before I'm happy with it.

Thank you. The sump is quite simple with only 2 overflow/baffles, no filtersocks, an ordinary skimmer (bubble magus curve 7), a year old zeolith and a small amount of carbon.

I guess so 😄. I don´t know how old they can get in captivity.

The CBB was put in this tank 4th of april 2014 but moved to a larger tank of mine after a couple of years. Now it´s back again.

Thanks! I don´t directly feed the corals. I feed the fish and that is the main input of nutrients in the system. I then try to make the tank convert this nutrients into something sps corals can eat. That will mainly be bacteria but also some other microorganisms as long as these food partikles are small enough (10 - 100 micron). I use iodine and amino acids infrequently and dose some live microalgae (rhodomonas sp.)

@@KonradKvanli Thanks for answering! Do you use commercial bacteria or organic carbon to reduce nutrients? What levels of no3 and po4 do you like?

@@Alejandrojuarez84 I use zeobak very randomly and have not used any organic carbon last 2 years. The corals themselves seem to secrete some organic molecules or sugar that keep up with the demand. If just a few corals, and/or the nutrient input is large, I dose a small amount vinegar. But only if there are some excess of phosfate and nitrate. I like po4 at 0,02 and no3 at 1 ppm.

Thanks! That is a very good question because there have never been a problem with high nitrate in any of my tanks since 2009. I don´t have a nitrate reaktor or other remedies for reducing nitrate and often find nitrate close to or at zero. 13 years ago I made some very porous DIY rocks of portland cement and white sand from our beaches here. Most of these man made rocks are still in use and I believe they contribute a lot with keeping nitrate low. There are of course also sand and other rocks helping with this process.

Thanks

Are you using zeolit?

@@marjonakvarium2063 I got a small amount of it in a reactor. Rarely change it so I´m not sure about the effect. But I shake the stones now and then to make mulm and open the flow through.

There are no filters of any kind that remove particles so I guess animals and microscopic organisms does the trick.

This tank is 380 liter.

Mostly mussels, raw or boiled shrimp but also similar raw seafood. I think it´s important to get the fish to eat as early as possible, and that opened raw blue mussel in the shell should be fixed and available most of the day in a place where bristleworms and snails can´t get it. A quarantine tank will be perfect the first few weeks.

380 liter

Nothing much beside home made two-part. Keeping an eye on nutrient balance and adding some nitrate when zero. Keeping ph up and doing 20% water change every month.

@@KonradKvanli thanks 👍

What’s your thoughts on nitrate and phosphate levels ? Do you have a ratio / level you like to keep them at ?

@@cairnsreefer4658 I like to keep phosphate at 0.02 ppm and nitrate at 1 ppm but most often po4 read zero and then I dose nitrate to make sure No3 are above zero. I also try to feed more to raise both when they are to low.