Tell us about yourself: 

While I have lived in various places throughout my life, I identify myself as a Seattlite. My family is from the Sea-Tac area, and that is where I was born; however, in 1977, the airport bought our house because the newly developed jet airplanes were disrupting the TV antennae signals so badly during take-off that all the residents were complaining. The airport paid the residents to move. We took our money and moved over to the Methow Valley in Eastern Washington where my mom had family. It was there that I developed a love for the outdoors and an appreciation for the environment. I lived in the sticks of Twisp until I was a junior in high school, and then I made my way back to Sea-Tac where my dad lived. I graduated from Tyee High School in 1988 and became a cook for the next nine years. I spent part of that time in Alaska as head chef on a large fish processing ship. During the off-season, I would work part time as a carpenter here in Seattle (it runs in the family). In 1999, I met the woman who was to become my wife and moved to California to be with her.

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

My reef keeping hobby had been developing for 18 years prior to its materialization. My first foray into the aquariast world was back in 1988. I was a nineteen year old cook just starting out on my own and I wanted a pet. My roommate and I had 18 parakeets, and we were looking for some entertainment that was a little less maintenance, so I decided to get a fish tank – a 20 gallon freshwater system that rapidly became too small for the two Oscars I had put in it. I upgraded to a 55 gallon tank which kept the Oscars happy, but I decided I needed a second tank when I stumbled across a great deal through a coworker. He was selling his 70 gallon, fully stocked African Cichlid tank and I couldn’t pass it up. I bought it, brought it home, and have kept two running tanks ever since. The hobby has been such a passion for me that when I went to work in Alaska, I missed it so much I got the tattoo that you see on my Avatar (a small saltwater tank “inside” my leg). I chose a saltwater tank for the tattoo, because I always found them to be more interesting and exciting than freshwater tanks, but up until two years ago, I wasn’t financially stable enough to stock and maintain one. Once I made the decision to move into reef keeping, I became an addict and have had “fish on the brain syndrome” ever since.

Tell us about your tank 

I got my first saltwater tank in 2005. It was a 30 gallon DIY acrylic tank that is now my refugium. My display tank now is a standard AGA reef-ready 120 built into the wall between my laundry room and living room. My sump is a small 25 gallon Eshopps that I’ve modified as much as possible to help with micro-bubbles. I have a large closed-loop system holding an amazing 10 gallons of water, giving me a total of 170 gallons. My skimmer is an ASM G-3 with a Sedra 5000. I have done every modification I know possible to the skimmer (recirculation, venturi, meshwheel) and am currently researching larger ones that will accommodate my future dream tank. For circulation, I have a Mag 1800 return pump and a sequence Barracuda for my closed-loop, accompanied by an Ocean Motions Super Squirt. Between the two pumps, I would guess I have approximately 5000 GPH of flow, giving me roughly 40X turnover in the display. For calcium supplementation, I have a DYI kalk mixer and a DIY duel-chamber calcium reactor. My system is equipped with an ATO and is plumbed directly into the house for easy water changes. For lighting, I have two Lumenarc s powered by Ice Cap 250’s. I am currently running Reeflux 10k’s and supplement that lighting with an Ice Cap 440 that I currently have running three 48 inch URI actinic VHO’s. For heating, I have two 250 watt Ebo-Jagers and for cooling, I run a single 7 inch fan on the top of the tank. I have recently added an AC Junior for better control of the temperature in an attempt to save electricity. I like the other options that it has as well.

There are approximately 180 pounds of live rock in the tank, most of which are large pieces which makes it easy to form large open caves and to keep most of the rock work off the bottom of the tank. I have about ten fish and have 65 corals ranging in size from small frags to softball-sized colonies. The corals consist of a few softies and LPS, but the majority of them are SPS. I don’t use hermit crabs with a cleaner crew; I currently only have Nassarius Snails for my two-inch deep sand bed and Trochus Snails for algae control. I feed my tank twice a day: Nori in the morning (when I remember), and at night I feed a homemade blender mix consisting of clams, prawns, Mysis shrimp, Cyclopeze, and rotifiers.

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers? 

I became involved with Reef Frontiers in 2006 when I was searching for a local avenue to sell my corals, because the local fish stores aren’t always ready to take my frags when I’m ready to get rid of them. I have since discovered that frag trading is far more rewarding than selling. In the last year or so, Reef Frontiers has become my favorite forum, and I visit it daily. I find the advice on the forum to be useful and well-founded.

What is your reef keeping philosophy? 

I believe that feeding the tank the most natural food possible, keeping my hands out of the tank, skimming wet, and frequent water changes are the best way to keep my reef healthy. Careful neglect is the best way to maintain a reef. Quit messing with things that are working – I have such a hard time doing that.

What is your dream tank? 

As stated earlier, I’m planning a larger tank. In the next couple of years, I will likely customize a bare-bones AGA 180 to fit in the wall with two viewable sides. I expect it will be quite a while before I’m sure where I want to drill 8 to 10 holes to accommodate a closed-loop system and the overflows. I currently have a second system in my garage that I will incorporate into my “dream system”: the 65 gallon garage display will become the new refugium; the forty breeder will stay the same; and I hope to find a 100 gallon tank of some sort to use as a sump. The new display tank will have three MH 250’s supplemented with two six-foot actinic VHO’s. I will likely use the same closed-loop pump I have now and want to use an external return pump in the future.

Do you have any advice for others? 

My advice to anyone reading this is to be diligent about quarantining any new additions to your tank. I don’t worry too much about ich with my fish, but in the last two years, I’ve had some bouts with coral pests: redbugs, monti-eating nudibranchs, and, more recently, acro-eating flatworms. Had I quarantined, I might have spared myself some stressful moments. My corals are still recovering from the AEFW plague.