Tank 01
Ryan Reeves' 1000-gallon SPS reef
1000
Gallons
SPS dominant
Style
60
Months Old
10ft x 5ft x ~32"
A five-year-old 1000-gallon SPS-dominant reef (10ft x 5ft x ~32") built for large, vibrant coral colonies with a deliberately low fish load used mainly to fertilize the corals. It runs low nutrients (nitrate ~5, phosphate near zero), a GEO calcium reactor operated without probes, Radion Gen 4 lighting, and heavy flow from redundant Abyss pumps and four Maxspect Gyres.
Lighting
EcoTech Marine Radion Gen 4 $999.99in stockSkimmer
Return Pump
Flow
Dosing
calcium reactor
Filtration
berlin
Water Changes
Relies on frequent water changes ('water polishing') for nutrient control
Feeding
Fish kept largely as a 'fertilizer concept' to feed corals; low fish load (~10 fish)
Husbandry & Practices
8
- Low fish load (~10 fish) used mainly as fertilizer to feed the SPS corals
- No GFO, no bio pellets, no carbon dosing — nutrient control via live rock and water changes
- Nitrates kept around 4-6 ppm, phosphate undetectable to 0.2 ppm
- GEO calcium reactor does bulk of calcium/alk supplementation; alk target ~8.5 dKH
- Spaces coral frags deliberately to grow into full colonies and preserve negative space
- Manually spot-doses calcium chloride and baking soda when reactor lags
- Runs Radion Gen 4 on AB+ preset, ~8hr photoperiod with blue-tail evening
- Maximizes flow: dual Abyss return pumps for redundancy plus four perpendicular Maxspect Gyres creating a whirlpool
Target Parameters
Alk
8.5dKH
Ca
440ppm
NO₃
4-6 ppm (targets ~5)
PO₄
undetectable to 0.2 ppm
Corals
6
Acropora (many large SPS colonies)Acropora astera (large 'ectoplasm' acropora)25-year-old Pavonadecade-plus Superman Montipora boulderEuphylliaAnacropora
Fish
3
Sailfin tang (8-10 inch)Vlamingii tang (~8 inch)damsels
