Introduction
My passion for reefkeeping started about 5 years ago when I saw a beautiful 210 gallon reef tank in a pizza store near my home. The corals drew me in and I have not looked back since. I spent the next 3 years doing as much research as I could, scouring the various forums and websites to learn as much as I could about fish and aquariums. I spent those 3 years researching and finally started up a 10 gallon nano reef which was shortly upgraded to the 20 gallon rimless tank that is featured here. It has now officially been running 2 years including the 10 gallon it used to be. The corals are the main stars of my tank, with fish coming second.
Setup
Tank: 20 gallon rimless 24” x 12” x16”
Lighting: Kessil a150w “Ocean Blue” 15k pendant run 10 hours a day on a timer
Filtration: 30 lbs of live rock plus a hob eshopps psk75H and an aquaclear 30 that has chemi pure elite and phosguard in it.
Flow: Vortech Mp10 on reefcrest mode at 90% and a koralia 425
Maintenance
I do 25% weekly water changes or about 5 gallons using Red Sea coral pro salt. I also scrub the glass of algae during this time and scrape off any coralline that forms on the front and sides. I do not dose anything in this system as my water changes keep everything in balance. The skimmer is usually emptied 1-2 times a week as well.
Temperature: 80° C
Salinity: 1.026
pH: Don’t test
Ammonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: 0 ppm
Nitrate: 0.5 ppm
Calcium: 420 ppm
Alkalinity: 9.0 dKh
Magnesium: 1450
Phosphates: 0.05
Inhabitants
Fish
* Pair of Ocellaris Clowns (1 Black and white and one regular)
* Royal Gramma
* Flametail Blenny
Inverts
* Serpent Star
* Tuxedo Urchin
* Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
* Various Hermits and Snails
Corals
* 15 morphs of zoas (Eagle Eyes, Blue Hornets, Gold Mauls, etc…)
* Green and Purple Hammer Coral
* Green Torch Coral
* Duncan
* Mushrooms
* Acans
* Montipora Digitata (Green, Purple, Forest Fire)
* Jedi Mind Trick Montipora
* Rainbow Montipora
* Green Slimer Acro
* ORA Blue Voodoo Acro
* ORA Red Planet Acro
* ORA Ponapes Birdsnest
* Green Birdsnest
* Puple with Green Tips Birdsnest
* Blue Millepora
* Blue Tip Staghorn Acro
* Montipora setosa
* Green Star Polyps
* Blue base, Green Polyp Leptastrea
* Diaseris Plate Coral
Feeding
I feed 2-3 times a week, mostly frozen mysis shrimp, but I also feed them new life spectrum thera +A formula and the occasional live black worm treat. Being a small tank I always worry about overfeeding so the fish don’t get fed a ton. I never feed my corals.
Closing Thoughts
I am truly honored to have been selected for TOTM for June. My tank is still young and I have only been in the saltwater side of the hobby for two years so being chosen was quite the surprise. I buy all my corals as frags, they have all been grown out from small frags. I feel as if I am somewhat doing my part to lessen the burden on the ocean by only buying aquacultured corals or swapping frags with friends. I have put a ton of work into this tank and I hope it shows, it is my pride and joy. Thank you again for choosing my tank for TOTM!!
