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| The Palanggana System (palanggana: Filipino term for washbasin) |
| My reef system is simple, cheap, and
stands up to the very considerable effects of
Philippine weather and climate. The grow-out tanks are basins. These provide a large surface area with respect to water surface and bottom, for better stocking capacity and lighting. These basins are equipped with a surface-skimming overflow, and are arranged in descending height.Water moves by gravity downflow from one basin to another and into the lowest basin, which is filled with live rock. Thence it drains
into the sump which contains a foam fractionator
(protein skimmer) which is technically in-line,
and a powerhead pump to return the processed
water back via pipe to the topmost basin in a
fairly straightforward cycle. |
 Lighting is natural, as my geographic location is ideal regarding light. It is farthest from ideal regarding temperature. The sump is shaded, and the basin sides are protected with opaque insulation. An overhead sunscreen/rainshield reduces the effects of the intense Philippine sunshine and the robust Philippine rainfall. |
| The System at a Glance |
| Materials Used | Location and Assembly Notes | |
| The grow-out tanks are ordinary
plastic washbasins, cheap and durable. They hold
about 25 litres each, which isn't a lot and
therefore doesn't cost a lot saltmix-wise -and I
DON'T scrimp on the quality of the salt. The
overflows are PVC elbows with a very short piece
of pipe in one end. The basins are protected by covers of plain, clear polyethylene (PE) plastic sheeting. These rest on a crosshairs of nylon fishing line tied into holes drilled or melted into the basin rim. The cover sheet is held in place by nylon or wire-tie 'pegs' also tied into basin-rim holes, and through holes in the cover sheet. The cover sheets are cut to allow for overflows into their basins. The sump is similarly covered. The sump is just a plastic
bucket with a plastic handle. It holds about 25
litres of water. It sits on the ground, shaded by
the table-frame on which the basins rest. (We'll
get to the table in a minute). The table is of 2x2 wooden construction, and fairly simple to make if you have any carpentry skills. It has to be well-braced and well-sealed (with paint if you like). On the table, small platforms of sealed 2x2 wood and plywood allow for gradations in the height of the basins.Overhead, a rainscreen of clear heavy-duty plastic (if you're rich you can spring for polycarbonate) coupled with a sunscreen of blue plastic netting tempers the elements. Likewise any appropriate thermal and optical shielding around the basin-sides and sump. |
As this system is so bare and openly
reliant on natural sulight, location is terribly
key. I'm an architect, so I had it easy: I built the damn location. Hard by the firewall on one side of our home, I installed a high, decorative trellis. This supported the sunscreen and rainscreen. Under it, I had a concrete slab poured. Electrical outlets were installed, and a water faucet tapped in (for those nasty emergencies). I took into account the solar angle and pathway, so that the house did not shade the basins over much or too little --throughout the year. Assembling PVC plumbing is easy as long as you measure everything out with exactitude. Once a coupling is glued in, it's fairly permanent. the glue emits toxic fumes, so take precautions. Drilling anchorage
holes into the basin rim is easy if you DON'T
drill: just melt them. With a pair of pliers,
hold a 1" common wire nail over a
candleflame, and then use the hot nail to melt
holes. If the nail cools, then reheat. This of
course works with PE basins and buckets. With
certain other thermoset plastics, you're better
off using a drill. Melting plastic can give off
fumes, so take precautions. Don't forget the other peripheral equipment you'll need to maintain and monitor the system: a hydrometer to roughly gauge the salinity of the water; an extra bucket for mixing saltwater; a thermometer to tell you when to start panicking. A flexible plastic hose that can fit onto the outlet of the return pipe is a big help whn you have to bypass one basin or another. I have never had to, but a leak is always a possibility. |
| Support Livestock |
| Apart from the myriad lifeforms that
come part and parcel of the live rock, there are
a number of useful creatures you can stock the
basins with. I found herbivorous snails of the Genera Turbo and Astrea too fragile and too clumsy to enlist in the war against unwanted algae. Starfish are even clumsier and very sensitive to heat spikes in the afternoons. Young sea urchins of the Genus Diadema have given me the least trouble: they are too light to knock most anything over, and are deadly efficient at removing ALL surface algae. When they grow too large, I either give them away or can return them to their original home: Ligpo's reefs. A lot of friends have suggested inclusion of fish, but I feel the basins are too open to give most fish any feeling of security. I HAVE hosted fishes from time to time, for weeks (often due to emergencies with friends' tanks) and the system can handle the load fine. The fish just get real jumpy (literally) with me leaning over the basins. |
 Longspine Black Sea Urchin
(Diadema spp.)
|