About Me
My name is Richard and I have been an avid aquarist for over 30 years. My journey began, like many others, with the introduction of two goldfish and a small aquarium. I was hooked!
Over the first 15 years, I kept everything from Koi Ponds, Turtles, Tropical Freshwater, Tropical Planted and eventually found my life in a position where I could dedicate the time and resources to move into a Saltwater Aquarium.
I have spent time working as an Aquarium Maintenence Technician for Aquatic Escapes in Vancouver, Canada. Installing, maintaining and troubleshooting aquariums of all sizes and types. This part of my career gave me a great insight into what works and what doesn’t with saltwater systems and how a few simple tweaks can make a huge difference.
My interest in electronics also gave me an opportunity to design and build an aquarium controller. This was at the time when aquarium controllers were in their infancy within the hobby and I wanted to automate as much as I could with my reef.
You can find me on the following Awesome Saltwater Forums:
Reef Central = Vancouver Reefr
Nano-Reef = Vancouver Reefer
CanReef = Vancouver Reefer
My aim with this site is to pass on as much information in an easy-to-find, easy-to-understand way so that I can hopefully make your entry to the world of saltwater aquariums as smooth as possible.
To help you even further please be sure to subscribe to our Social Media Channels:
Thanks,
My Reef
Behind The Scenes
DIY Aquarium Controller
Aquatroller Features:
- Heater Control
- Chiller Control
- Ph Reading
- Temperature Reading of Tank, Sump, QT & Ambient
- Flood Detection
- 4 Head Dosing Pumps
- Alarms for all Parameters
- Web-Based Interface
- Text & Email Alerts
- LED Control With Sunrise/Sunset
- Moon Mode
- Fuge Light Control
- QT Light Control
- Frag Tank Light Control
- Automatic Top Off
- Automatic Salt Mix
- Automatic Water Change
- Return Pump Control
- Skimmer Full Sensor & Drain Control
Full System Stats
Equipment:
| EQUIPMENT | BRAND & MODEL |
| Aquarium | 75 Gallon Aqueon 48″ x 18″ x 21″ Drilled with Custom Overflow |
| Stand | Black Aqueon to Match Aquarium Customised Shelving |
| Canopy | DIY to be LowPprofile, Houses LED Array and Cooling Fans |
| Sump | Marineland 20 Gallon Long Drilled, DIY Bubble Trap, Refugium, Dry Rock Rubble |
| Frag Tank | Marineland 10 Gallon Modified to 8″ Tall |
| QT Tank | Marineland 10 Gallon – Offline ready to go – Aquaclear 20 Filter |
| Display Tank Lighting | DIY 3W LED Array with 2x ATI T5 Coral+ & 2x ATI T5 Blue+ Linked into Aquatroller |
| Frag Tank Lighting | PAR 38 LED Fixture Linked to Aquatroller |
| Refugium Lighting | Plant Grow+ LED Fixture Linked to Aquatroller |
| Protein Skimmer | Reef Octopus NWB150 Linked to Aquatroller |
| Heaters | 2x Eheim Jager 200W Linked to Aquatroller |
| Chiller | Aqua Euro 1/10HP Linked to Aquatroller |
| Return Pump | Reeflo Dart Linked to Aquatroller |
| Wave Makers | 2x Tunze Turbelle Stream 6105 – Display Tank 1x Tunze Nano Stream 6040 – Frag Tank |
| Reactors | Two Little Fishes Kalk Reactor modified to run Biopellets Bulk Reef Supply Twin Reactor running Carbon |
| RO/DI Filter | Bulk Reef Supply 3 Stage 75 GPD with TDS Meter, 5 Micron Sediment, 10 Micron Carbon, RO Membrane & DI Resin. Custom Shut off linked to Aquatroller |
| Auto Top-Off | DIY Linked to Aquatroller |
| Auto Water Changer | DIY Linked to Aquatroller |
| Auto Salt Mixer | DIY Linked to Aquatroller |
| Dosing Pumps | 4x DIY 22ml/min Linked to Aquatroller |
| Aquarium Controller | DIY Aquatroller |
Consumables:
| CONSUMABLE | BRAND & PRODUCT |
| Salt | Instant Ocean Reef Crystals |
| Calcium Supplement | Reef Crest Calcium Mix Part A |
| Alkalinity Supplement | Reef Crest Alkalinity Mix Part B |
| Magnesium Supplement | Reef Crest Magnesium Mix Part C |
| Mechanical Filtration | Filter Floss in Bubble Trap & Filter Socks on Main Display Drain |
| Biopellets | Vertex Biopellet |
| Carbon | Premium Activated Carbon |
| Foods | Nori – Grocery Store New Life Spectrum – Small Pellets Omega One Marine Flakes Kent Garlic Extreme Liquid Concentrate DIY Frozen Seafood Mix Bulk Reef Supply Reef Chilli Polyp Lab Reef Roids |
| Testing | Salifert |
| QT Medication | Hikari Prazipro Seachem Cupramine Kordon Methelyen Blue Mardel Maracyn Two |
| Coral Dip | Two Little Fishes ReVive Coral Cleaner |