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My reef tank is a 120 gallon All-Glass tank that is 48" long, 24" high and 24" wide. I call it my 120 gallon cube. This tank has been up and running since the summer of 1995. I chose this size because of the depth that it provides. It is really an ideal size for a reef tank.
 

I use Power Compacts on my reef tank. I have a complete ABS hood with 4 96W bulbs for a total of 20000+ lumens. I currently use 2 7100K blue bulbs and 2 6700K white bulb. This lighting system was chosen for its high output, low power consumption, and bulb life. These bulbs last a whooping 14 months!!! My Power Compacts were manufactured by CustomSeaLife.

I purchased my lighting system in October of 1996 and replace the bulbs in December of 1997. The bulbs will be replaced for a 2nd time in a month or so. I have nothing but good things to say about my lighting system. I don't have to worry about excessive heat generation and evaporation that comes with VHOs or Metal Halides. I also don't have to replace the bulbs every six months to keep them at maximum efficiency. Replacing the bulbs every six months can be a real financial burden.
 

I have approximately 90 lbs. of Fiji rock and a few pieces with encrusting coral on them that have grown quite large. An initial piece of encrusting coral was the size of a dime when it was first introduced in my tank. Now two years later, it takes up enough space to cover a credit card. Fiji rock is a must for the modern reef tank. I also have about 30 lbs. of Florida rock. Florida rock has the most diverse life on it that I have ever seen. The only drawback to Florida rock is that it takes a very long time to cure!!! I also have some Tonga branch rock which has very pretty paisley colors like green, yellow and red, Bali red "Dinosaur" rock that looks like small boulders and has interesting life form growing on them, Australian live rock, and Marshall Islands live rock. I usually have room to add a special piece of rock here and there. Overall, I think Fiji should be used as the main source of live rock supplemented by choice pieces of other types of rock. I will be ordering some aquacultured live rock in the near future and will report on it soon. There are also tiny critters in the tank that are stowaways from the live rock that do a good job of assisting with filtration as well.

I have a wet/dry (trickle) filter with the bio media removed (not needed) and an 800 micron bag attached to the pre-filter drain to the sump as a mechanical filter. I have an ETS style protein skimmer that stand about 7 feet tall to provide for on of the most efficient methods of cleaning your tank and making sure your water stays pristine, Protein Skimming. This simmer is rated for tanks up to 300 gallons, so I have plenty of room for error and the ability to add more fish and corals as long as I can find room. I also have a CPR Bak-Pak protein skimmer handing on the back of my tank for extra protection. It hardly ever generates any foam, but it is good to have in case of an emergency.

Protein Skimming is the most important piece of equipment that you can purchase for your tank. It should be rated for at least 2-3 times your tank capacity. This will allow you to make a few errors and still be able to recover.
 

I use only Reverse Osmosis/ Dionized water in all of my tanks. This is a must to maximize your reef success rate and eliminate numerous problems. I have a three-stage filter that produces approximately 25 gallons of RO/DI water per day. I have a Otto 2000 and a Hagen 402 powerhead facing each other behind all of my live rock to provide movement through the rock as well as the bottom half. I have an Otto 1700 (left to right flow) power head (with internal filter) going against 2 Otto 800 (right to left flow and back to front flow) powerheads to provide good surface agitation. It is important to have good surface agitation for maximum oxygen exchange and efficient protein skimming.
 

Look Ma, no sand!!! I stopped using sand almost two years ago because it created too many problems for me. I tried 7 different species of cucumbers, a few pairs of gobies and they just could not keep the sand sifted enough. Detritus buildup and sand are inseparable!!! I would get all kinds of nasty stuff growing on the sand and decided to remove all of it. This was the best thing that I could have ever done. I have my powerheads configured in such a way that the detritus builds up in a certain area and I can siphon it out when it gets too bad. I think sand is good for the short term and bad in the long term. Besides, if you do not use a plenum system, then sand is just for aesthetic purposes. I happen to have metallic green star polyps covering the bottom of my tank and they look much better than sand to me. I do not believe that sand is an essential part of a reef system unless you have a plenum set up!!! The sand is doing great in my fish-only tank with some cucumbers, crabs, sea urchins, serpent stars and other non reef safe creature that sift through the sand efficiently. My gobies are still alive without sand!!!
 

I feed my sun polyps frozen cubes (marine cuisine or brine shrimp) two to three times a week. I alternate with frozen krill that I pulverize between my finger as I hover above them. They can ingest some very large pieces. I noticed that almost every coral that I have eats one thing or another. Corals that I feed once every two weeks or so are: rock anemones, mushrooms (all), trumpet and candycane corals, brain corals, pineapple corals, and a few more. They automatically get some scraps when the sun polyps get fed. I know many hobbyists who refuse to feed their corals, but I found out over time that a feeding now and then is beneficial!!! My fish always gorge themselves when I feed the sun polyps and corals so I limit them to a pinch or two of flake food once or twice a day.
 

My additives are quite simple. I use the SeaChem product line. I use Reef Calcium, Reef Plus, Reef Complete, and Reef Iodide twice a week. I also dose my tank with 4 to 8 ounces of B-Ionic every other day to maintain a good calcium level. I am not a big fan of testing for this and testing for that. Frequent testing is really meant for a newly set-up tank to make sure it becomes stable. I use my corals, xenias, and protein skimmers as a health-o-meter for my reef tank. I test for calcium once or twice a month (maybe) and that's it!!! The only elements that have been scientifically verified that a reef tank needs are calcium, strontium, and iodide!!!
 

I will try to list most of my corals by common name. I have 1 brown Galaxia coral, 3 maxima clams, 2 Encrusting Gorgonian rocks, Mushrooms (Blue, Green, Purple, Brown & Tan Stripe), Ricordia Polyps (Green, Orange and Brown), 1 Green Pagoda Stone, ! Green Galaxia, 4 Acropora Fragments (tank raised), Polyps (Green Star, White Star, Clove, Yellow), Button Polyps (Orange, Green, Green with Orange centers, Brown & Tan, Green & Tan), 1 Clump of Yellow Sun Polyps, 2 clumps of Orange Sun Polyps, 1 clump of Black Sun Polyps, 1 clump of Sun Polyps (half orange and half yellow), 4 rocks covered entirely with Blue Encrusting Sponge, 6 Green Hairy mushrooms, 1 Finger Leather, 3 Toadstool Leathers, 1 Pink & Green Fungia , 1 White Feather Duster clump, 1 Red Feather Duster Clump, 1 Purple Sea Rod, 1 Bubble Coral, 1 Pearl Bubble Coral, 4 Green Brain Corals, 1 Brown Porites Coral with Christmas Tree Worms, 1 Green Porites Coral with Christmas Tree Worms, 1 Pink & White Flower Anemone, 1 Pineapple Coral, 1 Brown Porites Coral, 1 Green Porites Coral, 1 Blue Ridge Coral, 1 Green Hydnophora Coral, 1 Green Frogspawn, 1 Torch Coral, 1 Trumpet Coral, 1 Green Candy Cane Coral, 1 Neon Green Tree Coral, 3 Encrusting Hard Corals, Silver Tip Xenias, and a few more.
 

I have a Yellow Coris Wrasse, 1 Six-Line Wrasse, 1 Yellow Tang, 1 White Tail Damsel, 4 Yellow Tail Damsels, 1 Pajama Cardinal, 1 Purple Dottyback, 1 Red Flamehawk, 1 Blue-Head Wrasse, 1 Diamond Goby, and 2 Percula Clowns.
 

I have about 75 Astrea snails in my tank, 2 unidentified species of snails, several starfish (stowaways from the live rock) that scavenge for food when the lights go out. I also have a few nudibranchs that are seldom seen, 1 Arrow Crab and 1 Pistol Shrimp that I can't seem to catch. I do not think there is such a thing as a reef-safe crab except for an arrow crab!!! There are just crabs that are less aggressive than others and over time, they will eat anything that smells like a good meal (how about a coral or clam today???).
 

I am currently using Instant Ocean. I am convinced that the higher priced brands are just that, higher priced and do not offer any significant advantages. Just get a salt that has been proven to be consistent from batch to batch. I do a 50-60% water change every five or six weeks. With the type of Protein Skimmer that I use, water changes are less frequent than the normal 2-3 week water change period.
 

BOOKS: The most important book that I have read is Martin Moe's The Marine Aquarium Handbook. This book gives you a day-by-day, month-to-month overview of how to establish a successful saltwater tank. I also have Paul Humann's three volume Reef set, Peter Wilkens marine invertebrate set, Dr. Burgess Atlas, Tetra Press (Marine Aquarium), A practical Guide to Corals for the Reef Aquarium, The Reef Aquarium and about twenty or thirty more.

CD's: Quantum Leap (Reef Collection, Coral Collection and Fish Collection), Coral Reef (Arnowitz Studios), Ocean Reefs (Ace Entertainment), Ocean Life (Vol. 1 and Vol. 4), and of course my CD, The Digital Reef (International Aquatic Research). I also have about 5 or 6 marine videos as well.

ESSENTIAL TOOLS:

Turkey baster from the dollar store and a toothbrush!!!