Tell us about yourself:

My name is Mike Crossley, I am a 29 year old single guy living here in the great northwest in the small town of Issaquah.

My main job is a Level 3 Storage Area Network Engineer for Siemens IT Solutions and Services on the Washington Mutual (Now JPMC) account. Basically for those not computer savvy I am one of a small group of engineers who handle all of the data storage at WAMU.

As many know my Screen name MC Lighting Concepts this was from my previous company that I owned selling LED Emergency lighting for police, fire and general safety. I closed the business down last year due to the economy not supporting budgets in the government agencies and small businesses not being able to afford the jump to LED technology.

I am now expanding my partnership with Creative CAD Designs a small company that my friend and business partner provides Computer Drafting services. We are now expanding this company to provide CNC services in the aquarium and hobby industries to build some unique and custom parts.

In my spare time I enjoy the wonderful and rewardi8ng hobby of Reef keeping along with other hobbies like Dodge Cummins diesel trucks, computers, my 2 Bassett Hounds, traveling and tinkering with electronics just to name a few :) .

How did you get involved in the saltwater hobby?

I have been into the aquarium hobby since I was 10 years old. I started out with a 7 gallon hex and moved up from there to a 60 gallon show tank with all freshwater since I was told Saltwater was to complicated. At the age of 13 I built a large concrete Koi pond that I kept running for over 10 years even after I left home until my grandparents moved; it survived the big Northridge quake as well as many other smaller ones and was quite sucessful. When I moved away from home I had to give up aquariums for quite some time but in December 2006 I decided I needed the calming nature of a aquarium back in my life. I had an offer to trade some work for a tank setup and I jumped on it; so here we are over 2 years later and as many things that make me wonder why I chose this hobby at the end of the day I sit down and enjoy my piece of the ocean.

Tell us about your tank

The big equipment picture...

My Saltwater system consists of 3 tanks and 2 sumps. My main display tank is a AGA Reef-Ready 180 Gallon along with a AGA 26 Gallon Bow front and a 90 Gallon secondary display. All 3 of the tanks are common to 2 sumps one being a 55 gallon converted acrylic tank and the other a modified 30 gallon sump.

The Sumps...

Both sumps are tied together with dual 1.5" PVC lines. Each sump has its own skimmer a Octopus NW 200 Recirc fed by a line off the main circulation pump manifold and a Octopus NW 150 Recirc that is gravity fed from one of the 180's overflows. Each sump is located under the 90 gallon and 180 gallon tanks and all plumbing is hidden under a custom built window seat.

The Pumps...

All water is pulled from the 55 gallon sump via a Reeflo Barracuda that feeds a large manifold. The manifold has a ball valve for each feed including a 3/4" line to the 26 gallon, a 1" to the 4 line-loc jets in the 90, 2 - 1" feeds for the line loc jets in the 180, and a feed for the chiller that leads to the Octopus NW200. The manifold was designed to have an extra output and can be extended as I have considered a second barracuda to increase overall flow and pressure on the outputs..

I have a small closed loop that has 3 outlets on the bottom of the 180 that are fed by a Quiet One 6000 pulling water from the bottom of the overflows.

Lighting...

I have an assortment of lighting on my tanks; the 180 gallon has 2 fixtures suspended above it including a Hamilton Protostar with a center 400 Watt DE running a Hamilton 14k and outer 250 Watt DE'™s running Reeflux 12k's. The fixture also has 4 - 96 Watt CF actinics. The second fixture is a modified Currents Orbit Companct florescent fixture that I have added high power LED lighting to including Red for total nocturnal viewing, white and of course blue for making the fluorescents "pop"

The 90 Gallon tank has 2 - 175 Watt Metal Halides with 10k bulbs as well as 2 T-5 Actinics. The 26 Gallon has a Current Sunpod 150 HQI with factory bulb that I must say I am most pleased with.

All lighting is on timers for sunrise and sunset simulation and I run my cycle later in the evenings for my enjoyment as well as the ability to control the heat in the house.

Temperature Control...

With as much lighting and other heat generating equipment it has not been to much of a problem keeping the tanks at a constant temperature. During the summer months I do have a ESU 1/2HP Chiller that rarely runs and during winter months the chiller's heater output runs two All Glass 300 Watt heaters. I rent a townhouse without A/C but I have a large Multipurpose A/C Dehumidifier Air purifier that runs in the Dehumidifier mode during winter months and changes over to A/C during the summer to keep the main floor around 75.

Water...

All of my water is made with a Purely H20 Optima Professional RO DI system that has full auto shutoff and the auto fill is located in the 55 gallon sump. The system also has a digital TDS meter so I know when it is time to change cartridges.

For water changes I have multiple Rubber Made Brute trash cans that I mix the salt water in with powerhead and heater then is pumped into the 30 gallon sump to maximize the mixing time with old tank water to reduce the shock of parameter changes in the system.

It's all about having power...

As many have read in my posts I have a substantial power system running my tanks... I am a firm believer in if you are in this hobby to support life you better be able to provide life support.

At the heart of the power system is a Xantrex SW4024 Pure Sine wave Grid-interactive power inverter that is fed by 4 - Concorde Sun Xtender - 4D AGM batteries providing about 8 hours of run-time at normal system load. The inverter is fed by a 30 Amp dedicated breaker and feeds a 60 Amp Sub Panel. From the Subpanel are 2 - Dedicated 20 Amp circuits; one is a single outlet for the tanks circulation pump and the other feeds 4 GFI outlets that powers closed loop pump and skimmers. The inverter also feeds other circuits in the house via a 6 circuit transfer switch so I can selectively run things in long term outages.

You may be asking how a 30 amp circuit can feed a 60 Amp panel? One of the cool things that this inverter does is supplement high power demands that my townhouse's main cannot support. The inverter will actually pull the extra power from the batteries during high demand and recharge them when power levels drop. This allows me to use more power than I have available in the townhome.

Along with the inverter protected circuits is 2 more dedicated 20 Amp circuits all feeding GFI outlets for lighting, chiller and heaters; almost everything has its own GFI to prevent accidental trips causing power loss to other equipment that is not faulted.

In the event of power failure I have 2 generators for different situations. For early morning and late evening I run my Honda EU1000 this only supplies 8 amps of power but because of the inverters ability to subsidize the input I can sustain the loads and still get some power back into the batteries with very little noise. During the day when noise is not as much of an issue I run a propane 5KW that can support full loads including lighting and re-charge the batteries for another round of support throughout the night with no noise. All of my power systems can also be recharged with solar, wind and my truck or van if needed.

And its all for the life in the tank....

Unfortunately I lost so much in last summer's move but I still have some of my favorite inhabitants in the tanks. The 180 gallon tank is home to:

• Mated pair of True Perc clowns
• Mated pair of Clarkie Clowns
• Hippo Tang
• Fox Face Rabbit
• Brown Mimic Tang
• Sail fin Tang
• School of Green Chromis
• 22" FAT Snowflake Moray Eel
• Yellow Tang
• Ritteri/Magnificent Anemone
• LTA Anemone
• Orange Linkia Starfish
• Several Serpent Stars

The 90 Gallon is home to:

• Picasso Trigger
• Mated Pair Gold Stripe Maroon Clowns
• Emperor angelfish
• Blue Ribbon Moray Eel
• Flag fin Angel
• Yellow Tail Blue Damsel
• Green Bubble Tip Anemone

The 26 Gallon tank is home to:

• Mated Pair False Percs
• 6 Line Wrasse
• Dragon Goby
• Coral Banded Shrimp

As for corals in my systems I lost all but a few the 26 gallon houses a finger leather, toadstool , Candy cane as well as some other mushrooms and small pieces. The 180 has several Frogspawn and Hammerheads that I generously received after my losses. Xenia for some reason became prominent after the move and has remained. At this point in time I have not had the funds to replenish all of the softies that I lost in the move but hopefully someday will be able to do so.

How did you become involved with Reef Frontiers?

When I moved up from California I searched for clubs and forums I was told by the local pet store that Reef Frontiers was the place to go. I have to say that out of all of the forums and clubs that I belong to Reef Frontiers and PSAS have been THE BEST! I have met more people that I am happy to say I call friends there is nothing like the community that we have here.

What is your reef keeping philosophy?

Although I do not possess the knowledge that so many from Reef Frontiers do I keep in mind that my tanks are my pets and my responsibility. I try my hardest to make my inhabitants happy and provide them a safe and comfortable environment.

I think that compared to most I have a more hands off approach on my systems I do not do frequent water changes but do test regularly for anything that I feel warrants the need for one. I have found that after stopping weekly water changes my system is more stable and soft coral growth increased dramatically this has been my policy for the past year with great success. Other than for scraping glass I try not to disturb the inhabitants more than necessary.

As I said earlier I am supporting life and therefore I must provide life support in every way from good quality foods to keeping a close eye out for something that does not belong. In the 2 years of reef keeping I am happy to report that most of my losses were from moves that were out of my control and not from neglect or ignorance. If you are going to provide a slice of the ocean in your living room please make sure that you are well informed on how to do so and the effort it takes.