Hello!
I have been in the reefing hobby for about a year and half now, but have kept aquariums for almost 20 years now. The majority of those being freshwater. I purchased my tank in December 2022 after I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole on reef aquariums, the one that really captivated me was "Drews Lagoon". During that time I was going through something in life that I hadn't really experienced before, it was bad depression and nightly vodka dosing.... I was able to quickly pull myself out of the depression and alcoholism after getting started in the hobby. I want to thank the community and the hobby itself for helping me get through that tough time.
The tank was a used Red Sea reefer 170 that included two MP10’s, and an octo skimmer all for $750. I got the tank setup early January 2023, added my first fish in Feb 23 and corals in March 23. I don’t do any dosing, just a weekly (sometimes every 2 weeks) 10 gallon water change. For water testing I just use the Tetra test strips. The only thing I really look at is the alk/ph. Nitrates and Nitrites never really show results on the strips. I would like to invest in a better testing kit… I have a few Hanna testers but those are too time consuming. For mechanical filtration I am using Acurel filter fiber, I swap it out every few days. I make my own water, I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. My local fish shops are WWC and Crabbi Patties Aquarium shop.
My future plans, I would definitely like to get a larger tank, as I regret not initially going bigger. I have my eyes on the IM EXT 150. For controllers, I am still up in the air about it, but as someone who works very closely with technology, I think a Hydros system would be ideal for me. For lighting, I really enjoy how low profile the Ai Blades are… I would just have to buy the longer versions of them. I might do 4 Blades OR do 2 Blades and 2 Radeons. For flow, I'll probably stick with the MP10's and maybe get a couple more along the way as needed.
I do need to plan better for emergency situations, I live in Florida where we get Hurricanes and AC units die... My current life support consists of frozen water bottles that I throw in the tank in the case that the power goes out or the AC dies. My truck has a 110v outlet which is enough to keep the return pump flowing. I plan on buying a generator very soon!
Some of my struggles: Flukes and ich, I have made it a habit to freshwater dip all new fish before they are put into the display… Most of the time there are flukes that fall off. For the ich, every couple months I run cycles of Metroplex mixed in the food and that seems to keep everyones immunity pretty high. Another struggle I have had is my Gonis and Alvis recessing until they die… They were doing great, I’m not sure what I changed in my routine that caused their decline. Another one is Acans and SPS…. The Acans were some of the first corals I put into the tank and they just don’t grow, they still get puffy and open up, but they just survive. SPS, I have plenty of growth but I feel like I don’t get the polyp extension that I should.
Thank you for reading my thread! I know my reef keeping is far from perfect but it works for me… for the most part lol. If you have any questions about me or my tank, feel free to ask! Also, don’t hesitate to give constructive criticism, I am always looking for ways on how I can improve!
Sincerely,
Bunn
Below are the details on my reef along with some photos
I feed the following variety of foods:
I have the following fish in my tank:
I have been in the reefing hobby for about a year and half now, but have kept aquariums for almost 20 years now. The majority of those being freshwater. I purchased my tank in December 2022 after I fell down a YouTube rabbit hole on reef aquariums, the one that really captivated me was "Drews Lagoon". During that time I was going through something in life that I hadn't really experienced before, it was bad depression and nightly vodka dosing.... I was able to quickly pull myself out of the depression and alcoholism after getting started in the hobby. I want to thank the community and the hobby itself for helping me get through that tough time.
The tank was a used Red Sea reefer 170 that included two MP10’s, and an octo skimmer all for $750. I got the tank setup early January 2023, added my first fish in Feb 23 and corals in March 23. I don’t do any dosing, just a weekly (sometimes every 2 weeks) 10 gallon water change. For water testing I just use the Tetra test strips. The only thing I really look at is the alk/ph. Nitrates and Nitrites never really show results on the strips. I would like to invest in a better testing kit… I have a few Hanna testers but those are too time consuming. For mechanical filtration I am using Acurel filter fiber, I swap it out every few days. I make my own water, I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. My local fish shops are WWC and Crabbi Patties Aquarium shop.
My future plans, I would definitely like to get a larger tank, as I regret not initially going bigger. I have my eyes on the IM EXT 150. For controllers, I am still up in the air about it, but as someone who works very closely with technology, I think a Hydros system would be ideal for me. For lighting, I really enjoy how low profile the Ai Blades are… I would just have to buy the longer versions of them. I might do 4 Blades OR do 2 Blades and 2 Radeons. For flow, I'll probably stick with the MP10's and maybe get a couple more along the way as needed.
I do need to plan better for emergency situations, I live in Florida where we get Hurricanes and AC units die... My current life support consists of frozen water bottles that I throw in the tank in the case that the power goes out or the AC dies. My truck has a 110v outlet which is enough to keep the return pump flowing. I plan on buying a generator very soon!
Some of my struggles: Flukes and ich, I have made it a habit to freshwater dip all new fish before they are put into the display… Most of the time there are flukes that fall off. For the ich, every couple months I run cycles of Metroplex mixed in the food and that seems to keep everyones immunity pretty high. Another struggle I have had is my Gonis and Alvis recessing until they die… They were doing great, I’m not sure what I changed in my routine that caused their decline. Another one is Acans and SPS…. The Acans were some of the first corals I put into the tank and they just don’t grow, they still get puffy and open up, but they just survive. SPS, I have plenty of growth but I feel like I don’t get the polyp extension that I should.
Thank you for reading my thread! I know my reef keeping is far from perfect but it works for me… for the most part lol. If you have any questions about me or my tank, feel free to ask! Also, don’t hesitate to give constructive criticism, I am always looking for ways on how I can improve!
Sincerely,
Bunn
Below are the details on my reef along with some photos
I feed the following variety of foods:
- Dr. Basslers Açaí pellets
- Dr. Basslers Matrine pellets
- Hikari Seaweed Extreme pellets
- Reef Nutrition ROE
- Red Sea AB+ Coral Nutrition
- Hikari Mysis Shrimp
- Polyp Lab Reef Roids
- Red Sea Reefer 170
- Ai Blade Grow
- Ai Blade Glow
- 2qty EcoTech MP10’s
- EcoTech Vectra M2 (overkill but I won it in the RAP Orlando 2023 raffle)
- Reef Octo Classic 110-S
- Tunze Ozmolator nano
- IM Helio temp controller
I have the following fish in my tank:
- Tomini Tang
- Flame Angel
- Solorensis Wrasse
- Midas Blenny
- Sunset Dottyback
- Clown pair ( 1 black Darwin & 1 Picasso)
- 2 Chromis
- 3 Lyretail Anthias (juvenile)
