Inky's 180 SPS Dominate Reef Systems

Introduction

Dave has been around the reef hobby for a long time now. Starting out just like most reef hobbyist, seeing a nice reef tank at the local fish store and trying to re-create that picture at home, “I saw this nice reef setup at the local pet store and want something like that.”

Over the years Dave has experienced his up and downs with his system through all the trends and must have reef-tech, but he remains fairly straightforward this is approach to reef keeping, “Go with what works.” Martin Moe’s book System and Invertebrates was a major influence in all the systems Dave setup.

Through the years Dave’s system has largely remained the same basic Berlin setup, of course his systems have become larger, equipment has been replace, but the overall basics of good lighting, good flow and great skimming have stayed.

About Dave (aka Inky)

Dave is a printer by day and a reef keeper on nights and weekends, thus his screen name ‘Inky’. For those that don’t know much about press printers, it is a very detailed and precise job, one mistake can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars, therefore a keen eye for detail and patience is key.

Dave also loves to dabble in working in all facets of reef keeping, from acrylic work to fragging to helping almost everyone setup their tank.

The Tank

180 us gallon Aquarium Master (Aquarium Warehouse). 75 us gallon sump, 75 us gallon Aquarium Master frag system.

The Flow

One of the first things you notice about Dave’s tank is the incredible polyp extension he has, especially on his Acropora millepora species. Dave states that flow is one of his top concerns when he was designing his system.

The flow pattern was planned from the start has basically remained the same throughout. It is a flow that turns water over from back to front, almost “rolling” water and suspending particles which eventually are processed out through the custom made and now famous “Inky Boxes”.

Another important aspect of Dave’s flow is it is not a stagnate flow; there are several devices which allow the flow to continually be random and reach all areas of the tank decreasing any dead spots.

Reeflo Dart for return to main system, chiller and frag tank. The 3,600 gallon per hour pump is lead to the main tank by a series of two 1” Sea Swirls, thus creating a random flow across the surface of the tank and increasing oxygen exchange. Custom outputs using PVC caps pained black give a very natural look without the big loc-line “arms” sticking out into the viewing area.

Reeflo Barracuda for closed loop running an Ocean Motions 4-way. The OM 4-way is returned to 1” bottom drilled returns in his main tank, pushing flow from the back to the front and ensuring the back of the reef is constantly getting flow.

Ocean Motions 4 Way	Reeflo Baracuda and Dart	Reeflo Baracuda and Dart	Tunze

Supplemental flow across the tank. For years Dave has run maxi-mods for flow across the tank, one mod in the front right corner and the other at the front left. This also created great random turbulence to the from of the tank as the waves crash with the returns. Dave has recently upgrade to two Tunze pumps.

Lighting System

Long gone are the days of compact flourcents for Dave. Dave lighting consists of three 400 watt metal halides. Currently he is running magnetic HQI Hamilton ballast. To gain depth he incorporates three Lumen Bright mini reflectors. Dave has used several different single ended bulbs over the years, most recently he has been using XM 20K but has just recently swapped out for the new Ushio 20K, “compared next to each other, the Ushio’s are much brighter and more intense than the XMs”, says Dave.

Dave still holds onto his ‘old school’ VHO bulbs for that extra ‘pop’. “Nothing beats the VHO UV Super Actinic bulbs”. These 6 foot bulbs are run off of an Ice Cap electronic 660 ballast and help simulate a dawn/ dusk effect.

Dave’s photoperiod consists of Halides on for 6 hours while the actinic run for 10 hours. Simple timers are used to control the lighting schedule. And Dave changes out his halides every 7 to 9 months to keep peak performance.

The Filtration System, Mechanical, Biological, Chemical

Heating and Cooling

For cooling Dave uses a ¼ HP Pacific Coast Chiller. He has made a nice modification to this chiller by venting hot air away from his fish room through some simple ducting work.

Tank Chemistry (Salt used, chemicals added)

Dave used the tried and true combination of a 50/50 mixture of Instant Ocean and Oceanic. This method uses the higher calcium of the Oceanic with the added benefits of the instant ocean.

Additives and Supplements
Dave does not add any additives or supplements other than weekly 55 gallon water changes. If you think about, Dave changes out approximately 30% of his water weekly, in a months time practically all the water has been changed. In a one year span, Dave changes over 2,860 gallons of water, that’s a lot of salt.

Aquascaping

Feeding

Dave loves to feed his tank, when I asked him how much? Dave said, “Well I used to do a couple cubes but now it is chucks from flat packs.” Dave feed multiple times with flake food, mysis shrimp and plenty of nori. Dave has some of the biggest fish around and I have had the pleasure of watching many of them grow up from a much smaller size. Dave had never taken an approach of “starving” his tank to reduce nutrients; it has always been heavy feeding with heavy skimming.

Maintenance

Frag Tank

A simple 75 gallon tank is used to house his many color frags. The system is very manageable and simple. A custom calfo-style overflow box, with a couple pumps gives Dave just about enough room when his main display tank starts to overfill.

Major Upgrades

DIY Projects
Of course Dave like to dabble in the fine art of acrylics, most famous for his custom overflow boxes termed, “Inky Boxes”. Over the last couple years Dave has really perfect the overflow boxes with only one or two actual connections, everything else he uses heat to bend the boxes. Additionally have as made some nice skimmer updates out of acrylic as well as some really nice top-down photo boxes.

Some of his other DIY projects include custom stand and canopy wood crafting, skimmer modifications, and his moveable light rack.

One of the really nice features on the frag tank is the moveable lighting system. What started out as a single metal halide evolved into a moving light rack equipped with a single halide and two VHO actinics.

Philosophy (Reefology) -

What Tanks or System Have You Been Influenced By?: "I havent really been influenced by certain tanks more by Martin Moe’s book System and Invertebrates book."

Tank Progressions

What Do You Know Now That You Didn’t Know Then

Favorite Aspect of Your Reef -

Specialty – what you focus on the most

Best Money Spent (Equipment)

Worst Money Spent (Equipment)

Most Important Aspect
Stability

If You Where To Do It All Over Again What Would You Do Different
Dave would love to setup a system the incorporated a three sided starphire tank that was partially in the wall.

Beginners Tips
Patience, do your research and stay with your needs.

Favorites (Coral and Fish)

ATL Lemonade	Naso Tang	Mystery Wrasse

Eye Candy