Tank of the Month - February 2009 - Keith Hellyar

[MaidstoneMarine]

It's interesting that in a recent post someone referenced TOTM as being easy to achieve! Every Tank of the Month winner will scoff at comments like that and perhaps this months winner more than most.

We're all faced with issues from time to time when it comes to our tanks and this tank has to be an inspiration to us all. Only seven months ago this featured tank suffered an unbearable pH crash which caused a near wipeout for all SPS as well as other livestock casualties. It's a sign of a dedicated reef keeper to be able to pick themselves up, get the tank back online and be awarded the UR.com TOTM honour for a second time.

I'm pleased to introduce this tank to you as it continues to regrow and flourish. Congratulations to Keith Hellyar who is the February 2009 TOTM winner.


Keith Hellyar February
http://www.ultimatereef.com/TOTM/2009_february/
http://www.ultimatereef.com/TOTM/2009_february/images/topImage.jpg (http://www.ultimatereef.com/TOTM/2009_february/)


Thanks and congratulations to Keith for sharing his tank with us. If you have any questions or comments then please post them in this thread.

[Jethro]

Congrats Keith, well done!!:D

[beesnees]

well done awesome looking tank

[webby0954]

congrats smashing tank

[narthur]

Stunning tank one of my fav's to be honest. Looks very good indeed. Congrats keith.

[guysturg]

Congrats, well deserved!!

[Kevin Douglas]

Excellent choice. This guy always keeps a really nice tank. And the fact that he is a really nice guy is a bonus.

[marcopolored]

Gorgeous tank, well done!

[jobr]

Excellent choice. This guy always keeps a really nice tank. And the fact that he is a really nice guy is a bonus.

You can't argue with that.

Congratulations Keith well deserved and lovely to see it flourishing once more, those issues would have been the end of quite a few, credit to you sir.

[alexmac123]

well done mate

[jon h]

Lovely looking tank and well deserved Keith,i admire the determenination to pick up and start again after a wipe out like u had,i don't think i would have been able to do that after all the dedication that goes into the TOTM winners systems.

[andyseatrout]

Congratulations Keith,

I look forward to seeing it in the flesh some time!

[Acropora]

Fantastic tank well done, superb write up too and great photos Sarah.

I noticed you had trouble with your tank as a conseqence of not completing the cleaning process of your skimmer.

I wondered whether you have ever thought of creating a sleeve or shroud, to prevent algae building up in the first place.

Some reefers use black tape, which I would not recommend as it prevents you periodically have a look to see what happening inside.

Butyl rubber (pond liner) and a series of zip ties around the top is a good idea.

Just a thought.

Anyway, great tank.

Regards

Martin Lakin

[mike022380]

well done keith :applause:

[Manta]

Well done Keith, great corals but love the fish population.

[disco_dave]

Excellent Keith and well deserved TOTM, great write up too :applause:

[xstream]

Well done Keith, you tank always impresses. you are an inspiration to us all.

[keith hellyar]

Stunning tank one of my fav's to be honest. Looks very good indeed. Congrats keith.

Narthur

Thanks for the kind comment. And just think, my SPS journey started when you gave me an old skimmer body which I converted to a calcium reactor.

Keith

[keith hellyar]

Excellent choice. This guy always keeps a really nice tank. And the fact that he is a really nice guy is a bonus.


Kev

Thanks. I love you too :wub:.

Keith

[keith hellyar]

Lovely looking tank and well deserved Keith,i admire the determenination to pick up and start again after a wipe out like u had,i don't think i would have been able to do that after all the dedication that goes into the TOTM winners systems.

Thank you. The tank is an integral part of out kitchen diner. If I'd decided to close it down I would have faced a big DIY job restoring the area that it occupies. I figured that starting again was the least painful option lol.

Keith

[zimreef]

Superb tank Keith! Well done (again) :)!

John

[keith hellyar]

Fantastic tank well done, superb write up too and great photos Sarah.

I noticed you had trouble with your tank as a conseqence of not completing the cleaning process of your skimmer.

I wondered whether you have ever thought of creating a sleeve or shroud, to prevent algae building up in the first place.

Some reefers use black tape, which I would not recommend as it prevents you periodically have a look to see what happening inside.

Butyl rubber (pond liner) and a series of zip ties around the top is a good idea.

Just a thought.

Anyway, great tank.

Regards

Martin Lakin


Martin

Thanks for your compliments. Much appreciated.

Yes, I learned the hard way. After the cleaning /crash, I covered the skimmer body in black bin liners which has been successful in keeping the algaes at bay. I've recently gone one stage further, and replaced the bin liners with 25mm dense foam insulation. So hopefully it will now continue to prevent algae build up and minimise heat loss aswell.

Keith

[Silverreef]

Hi Keith,

Congratulations on tank of the Month, really well deserved after your crash and your ability to get it back to what it was before.:applause:

Regards

Steve

[muzzy]

well done keith :)

I see many similarities between your tank and my own, in terms of lack of computers, relying mainly on timers and simple monitors etc.

Sometimes I think many people needlessly overcomplicate their tanks :whistling: and think spending £1k on a computer will give them a better tank :rolleyes:

anyway, great stuff:worship:

[andy j]

Congratulations Kieth :thumbsup:

[furface]

Really nice tank Keith, Amazing what you have acheived after the ph crash. Looks absolutely gorgeous. Well done you :)

[dan-the-man]

:wub: Stunning tank and a lovely write up :thumbsup:

[AllanGuy]

Congrats on tank of the month, it is well deserved.Thankyou for the help you have given me and the rest of the club. I hope your tank and this write up inspires people to stick with their tanks and the hobby in general thru the trials that come with it.

:thanks:

Allan

[Bry]

Thats well deserved Keith, the tank is looking very very nice now, I am lucky in able to see this tank on a regular basis, and it always inspires.

Congrats mate, but you kept it quiet, you didnt mention a thing on Friday!

atb, and keep up the good work with the tank, and our club smc, with which you are also doing a great job.

[newreefman]

congratulations keith a very nice tank and what a recovery :)

[Lost Boys]

Well Done Keith, very nice indeed. :applause:

[Peculiar_Clown]

Congrats Keith, well deserved and a great recovery

[Miles]

Stunning :)

[big bubba]

what can i say? a well deserved award to a true gent of the hobby (and in general).
well done mate.

[SCOOB]

very nice indeed!

how can you ever tire of that view?

[jez]

Hi
Nice tank Keith

all the best

Jez

[dnarra]

tank looks great, congratulations:thumbsup:

[keith hellyar]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. It makes me feel warm inside lol

Keith

[Marc Foord]

congrats keith.

echo what everyone else said, true gent of the hobby :):wave:

keep up the excellent work. :worship:

[willjay]

A fantastic reef tank, what an amazing room divider. Very well deserved.

Will:applause::thumbsup::worship:

[dxmarinefish]

Nice one Keith, superb tank. keep it up.

[trish_the_fish]

amazing reef tank, looking good. well done

[Cav]

Stunning tank Keith. The wife loves it as that is the type of tank she would like me to have (viewed from the 3 angles seperating a room), she really likes your Rosy Wrasse too. Just wish I had the money to do something similar:o The fact that you have got it looking so good even after your pH crash is a credit to you.

[keith hellyar]

Thanks guys.

Cav, yes i like the room divider orientation. Its almost like having two tanks because both sides can look so different. In fact, some of the fish have never ventured to the "other side". I have a pair of commons that host a euphylia. On the other side of the tank is a large RBTA which theyve never seen.

Keith

[zoe4eva]

love your tank,:worship: and the fact that you have kept the upkeep simple makes me feel like its a tank within my (the average reefer) grasps. I would love a tank this big but always thought all the gadgets would drive me mad. easy is the best way to go, and i also like to judge by the tanks reactions on what to do, like changing rowaphos.
Lovely, just LOVELY!:wub:

[keith hellyar]

love your tank,:worship: and the fact that you have kept the upkeep simple makes me feel like its a tank within my (the average reefer) grasps. I would love a tank this big but always thought all the gadgets would drive me mad. easy is the best way to go, and i also like to judge by the tanks reactions on what to do, like changing rowaphos.
Lovely, just LOVELY!:wub:

Praise indeed. Thank you. I like to keep it simple because I'm tight lol. Seriously. I tend to look for DIY solutions for most things.

Keith

[Cav]

Hey Keith, any chance of a frag of each one of your monti digis:)

[keith hellyar]

Hey Keith, any chance of a frag of each one of your monti digis:)

You are welcome. When are you going to collect them :hysterical:

Keith

[Cav]

You are welcome. When are you going to collect them :hysterical:

Keith

Lol, I'll send my dog with a carry case and some heat packs:)

[Jonesii]

Wicked Keith, I didn't realise you had a new tank I only saw the last one and that was donkey's years ago - I will have to come to come with Kev one day to see it.

[keith hellyar]

Wicked Keith, I didn't realise you had a new tank I only saw the last one and that was donkey's years ago - I will have to come to come with Kev one day to see it.

Nick

You will both be very welcome. Perhaps you could accompany Kev to one of our meets sometime and call in on the way. But of course you are welcome anytime.

Keith

[SPS Hoover]

Looking good Keith shame about issues you had supect it would have looked completely different today with out them and even better.

[scottishreefer]

Congratulations Keith :applause: Stunning Tank :worship:

[abyss]

well done keith

deffinately a tank worthy of tank of the month, knowing all the effort that goes into this and the fact, that this is a tank for many to aspire to

rupert

[Billz84]

Amazing!

[jagz]

wow:worship::worship: awesome tank bud

jagz

[nasotang]

Congratulations keith! :)

[kevlo]

wkd tank... wkd guy well done mate

[lee wild]

well deserved an amazing tank:thumbsup:

[Djmixmaster]

outstanding :worship:

[Phil]

Keith - great credit to you - your dedication continues to show with this stunning tank

Congratulations

One more tank, then you can get a hatrick of tank of the months

Phil

[keith hellyar]

Thanks everyone.

Phil - great to hear from you. I didnt know you still looked in on UR. Does that signal that you are being tempted back to the anguish of reefkeeping?

Keith

[fozzauk]

Fantastic looking tank, been following your thread for a while and glad to see you have TOTM, greatly deserved!

[djskeptic]

what a good exmple of reef keeping, well done :)

[tuan]

Great stuff Keith. Picking yourself up from the floor and starting again is a huge challenge indeed! Very well done!

[billt the fish]

This is absoloutly brill good stuff :applause:

[rick0775]

well done** :)

[mareefer]

Very beautiful tank i must say what a triumph !

[keith hellyar]

Thank you. Comments much appreciated.

Keith

[marknmouse]

very nice setup and what an achievement

[keith hellyar]

Thanks for the comments

Latest images.

Keith



http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2009Q3/sideaaaa.jpg



http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2009Q3/endc.jpg



http://www.ultimatereef.net/uploader/2009Q3/enddd.jpg