Tony Vargas' The World's Most Successful Reef Aquariums

Tony Vargas' enthusiasm for our hobby is infectious. Tony loves big aquariums - real big aquariums. I've been going small for years, but after his recent talk at BAYMAC, I wanted to go large and push the boundaries. That's what Tony is all about, showing what is possible with a little bit of planning and a lot of guts. Not only with large tanks, but the inhabitants. Forget all the rules you hear over and over on the boards. Things you can and cannot do. There are people out there proving it all wrong and Tony knows them. It was a theme of his talk and a theme in his new book out later this year - The Coral Reef Aquarium. I can't wait for his book. It includes 5 tank builds from start to finish in detail and exposes on 44 big - real big - aquariums from all around the world.

Tony Vargas' BAYMAC talk started by emphasizing planning and patience. He showed several examples of good well-planned filter rooms such as one that channeled spilled water away from electrical lines and devices and into drains. This even included an alarm on the floor that notified the owner when a spill occurred. Tony contrasted this setup with one that had high pressure pumps near open fuse boxes. Yikes. Patience was also emphasized with mentions of some European aquarists waiting six months before adding anything more than rock. You have to admire that.

Tony even covered how to plan your aquarium with your spouse. Tony has a few tanks in his house and was eye'ing an open corner in the dining room. Now the dining room was designed down to the curtains by his wife, so he knew he had to tread carefully. He broached the idea and she asked for suggestions. He said 'How about a little reef tank?' This didn't go over well - she mentioned he had tanks all over the house already! He didn't push. He let it simmer. A few days later she said he could put an aquarium there. "Bam! It's how you play the game!" You gotta love Tony. I can't recall much about his other tanks because that story was hilarious. I can tell you that Tony has 3 flame wrasses in that 25 gallon dining room reef tank. And they spawned. He has it on video and showed it to us.

After Tony's tour of his own tanks he began to highlight some of the big tanks he has seen around the world. These aquariums are not only impressive for their sheer scale, but also for the people behind them. What follows are some of my notes from these highlights written in mad-dash style, with complete darkness on every flyer and piece of scap-paper I found in my bag.



Randy Donowitz 210 gallon NYC

• nice galaxia coral
• no skimmer
• no dosing
• all handled by frequent water changes
• 4 250w 14k halides
• 4 MP60s

Sanjay's 523 Gallon Penn State

• clowns living in giant clam
• photon clownfish!
• Tuka Anthias that eat pellets! (8 months)
• pipefish! (a few years)
• feeds strongly
• has red bug loaded acropora that he leaves alone! Does this to prove a point - it is the condition of the tank, not red bugs themselves.

Feng's 700+ gallon aquarium New Jersey

• crazy large L-shape aquarium with nearly a dozen LED fixtures
• Feng built the tank himself, never built a tank before
• flounder!
• filefish!
• at least 7 hippos

Joe Yaiullo's 20,000 gallon aquarium NYC

• the man behind Atlantis Marine World
• Napoleon wrasse!
• 400 watt radium halide as moonlight!
• carlson surge
• 1" concrete walls (hmm - as pointed out - this may be 1' - too many dashes in my mad-dash session)
• schools of parrotfish!

These highlights would have been enough, but Tony kept going and I ran out of paper. There was Mr Deltec with his 1420 gallon reef, 6 meter Pieter with his 1532 gallon concave reef in the Netherlands, Ralft Prehn in Germany with his 870 gallon reef and Chingchai in Thailand with a 308 gallon reef tank. Each tank was unique and the husbandry and dedication from the owners was apparent. Tony really impressed through these highlights that rules could be bent or tossed out, that sometimes wild engineering along with dedication, love and a good routine could reap big rewards with massive corals and tons of fish.

I left Tony's talk inspired to try harder with my own aquariums. Perhaps this or Tony's upcoming book - The Coral Reef Aquarium - will inspire you and you will even build a large tank and try new things. If things go well, just let Tony know, he might want to check it out.





Tony Vargas' The Coral Reef Aquarium - Coming Soon!




Hear Tony speak at MACNA 2011!

 

neat I want a copy.... any other date other than soon? also the part about planing a tank with your spouse is cool ;D

 

I want a copy! That sounds like great book.

 

I talked with Tony about a month and half ago. His book wasn't released at that time but he said it would soon be distributed by Two Little Fishies. This is a good reminder to check back with him.

 

Hehe I was there when he was bringing it up to Julian... That was a funny conversation at first lol!

But this is a great talk all, really worth going to if he is near your area!
P.S. You gotta love the "spouse factor" hahaha

 

I'm thinking 1' concrete walls

 

Good catch sir. lol... too many dashes in my mad-dash note taking?

 

Nice I want any price yet

 

Looks like a great book. I would love to see him speak.

Interesting about Sanjay's tank and Red Bugs, with the pipefish. It's all about balance I guess.

 

Matt, thank you for the kind words. I work real hard to make my presentation as informative as possible with a dash of humor here and there. This presentation has evolved and will continue to for the rest of the year. I try to change it up at every meeting I do.

As for the book, believe me I'm as anxious as the next guy for its release, but it will be soon. Additionally, for those that follow me on FaceBook there will be a special announcement of the books "Special Edition" release. The "Special Edition" release will be limited to 100 copies.

Once again thank you Matt, and thank you everyone one for the interest in the book and for being so understanding, believe me it is well worth the wait.

Just so you know, I will be speaking tomorrow for the Salt Lake City reef club (Wasatch Marine Aquarium Society). Hope to see some of the locals there.

Tony Vargas