We absolutely love large corals, which Ratters Reef definitely had going for it. But beside the gigantic corals we also love the fact that the reef was so grown in. This is not one of those reef systems where the owner bought a bunch of colonies and put them on top of a pretty aquascape for an instant success, rather corals where given the time and space to grow into the aquascape.
Although there is nothing wrong with the first, allowing the corals to grow in it somehow added more character to the reef as a whole. The tank won TOTM at Ultimate Reef in September 2012 and was broken down last month. Before going offline, it one of those systems people outside the UK should know about.
[youtube]http://youtu.be/Hk8IbS61lFk[/youtube]
The main display measured 72 x 30 x 30 in. (around 183 x 76 x 76 cm) for a volume of around 218 gallons (1000 liters), along with a sump, frag tank, refugium and settle tank the total system volume came down to around 363 gals (1650 litres).
A Deltec TC3070 skimmer fed from a Eheim 5000, along with four inline pods with AquaPhos Xtra, and an Aqua Digital ozone generator controlled through the GHL controller served as filtration. Three Ecotech Vortech MP40’s, a Polario 7ML and a Tunze 6015 provided flow, while an ATI powermodule with eight 80 watt High Output T5 fluorescent bulbs illuminated the reef. A GHL Profilux PIII Ex controlled the whole system, while a Hailea 500 along with two GHL breeze 5 fans kept the tank cool. Calcium was met by a DaStaCo 2000 calcium reactor with Coarse Aquamedic Hydrocarbonate medium. A TMC 2x55w commercial UV unit kept harmful microbes at bay.
For more information on this spectacular reef, be sure to check out the TOTM article, and if you’re into reading build threads Ratters thread is definitely worth the read.
