Hey all,
Thought I'd share some pics of my 15g all-aquacultured reef aquarium, both to show off and to show that an aquacultured aquarium can be every bit as incredible as any other tank, and also gives me something to brag about. Being in the aquaculture business and a very strong proponent of aquauculture, I'm often asked "Well, it sounds like a good idea and all, but you can't really have a very nice tank with the few species availiable aquacultured, can you?"
So, I finally bit the bullet and set up my first reef tank, a 15g because I thought it would be easier to make a 15 seem full of life. Now I wish I had more space, and am in the process of setting up a 55 in-wall reef.
Lighting
150w HQI Metal Halide Pendant - 10,000k (8:45am-9:45pm cycle on timer)
1/4 watt LED Moonlight (9:45pm-8:45am cycle on timer)
Flow
Mag Drive 7 on closed Loop (700GPH)
Feeding
New Life Spectrum (to fish) twice weekly
Cyclops-Eeze (to corals, target feeding) once weekly
Phytoplankton (grow my own) once weekly
Dosing
C-Balance Dosed every other day (6mL/component)
alternated between
Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium every other day (3 scoopfuls)
Water Changes
Once monthly, 5g with Tropic Marin Pro salt (simply and undoubtedly the best)
Refugium
5g, tons of caulerpa, 4" DSB
One massive hermit crab, saved from becomuing Tuskfish food for eating LPS corals in friend's aquarium - not aquacultured, but that's it!
Sandbed
1" AragAlive Bahamas Oolite
Skimming
None.
Livestock
Rock
22# Aquacultured Live Rock
Fish
1 ORA Captive Bred Tomato Clownfish
Clams
2 ORA Aquacultured Crocea Clams
1 ORA Aquacultured Derasa Clam
1 ORA Aquacultured Maxima Clam
Inverts/Cleanup
20+ Captive Bred Cerith Snails (sold to me by a private breeder, reproducing in my aquarium)
Tons of bristleworms, Asterina stars, and other hitch hikers on live rock
1 Zebra Hermit (hitch hiked on anemone)
Plant Life
Caulerpa racemosa macroalgae - from club
Corals
Purple/Pink Tips Millepora (fragged by club member)
Brown/Purple Tips Montipora digitata (fragged by club member)
Green Montipora digitata (fragged by club member)
Green/Brown/Baby Blue Tips Unidentified Acropora (fragged by club member)
Yellow/Purple Polyps Birdsnest (fragged from club member)
Porites with Christmas Tree Worms (came in on live rock)
Green/Red Acanthastrea lordhowensis (fragged by BillsReef)
Green Caulastrea (fragged by club member)
Tons of Zoanthids (fragged by club members)
Green Star Polyps (fragged by club member)
ORA Xenia
Purple Gorgonian (fragged by club member)
LIAq (Long Island Aquaculture) Yellow Toadstool
LIAq Colt Coral
Anemones
Actinia equina (divided in friend's tank)
Stichodactyla tapetum (divided in club member's tank)
Massive green BTA (divided in club member's tank)
Rose BTA (divided in friend's tank)
Tiny Green BTA (produced by budding off of large green BTA)
Readings as of today:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temperature: 81 F
Phosphate: 0 (!!!)
[Edited gratutitously to add all sorts of details + a warning]
Thought I'd share some pics of my 15g all-aquacultured reef aquarium, both to show off and to show that an aquacultured aquarium can be every bit as incredible as any other tank, and also gives me something to brag about. Being in the aquaculture business and a very strong proponent of aquauculture, I'm often asked "Well, it sounds like a good idea and all, but you can't really have a very nice tank with the few species availiable aquacultured, can you?"
So, I finally bit the bullet and set up my first reef tank, a 15g because I thought it would be easier to make a 15 seem full of life. Now I wish I had more space, and am in the process of setting up a 55 in-wall reef.
Lighting
150w HQI Metal Halide Pendant - 10,000k (8:45am-9:45pm cycle on timer)
1/4 watt LED Moonlight (9:45pm-8:45am cycle on timer)
Flow
Mag Drive 7 on closed Loop (700GPH)
Feeding
New Life Spectrum (to fish) twice weekly
Cyclops-Eeze (to corals, target feeding) once weekly
Phytoplankton (grow my own) once weekly
Dosing
C-Balance Dosed every other day (6mL/component)
alternated between
Tropic Marin Bio-Calcium every other day (3 scoopfuls)
Water Changes
Once monthly, 5g with Tropic Marin Pro salt (simply and undoubtedly the best)
Refugium
5g, tons of caulerpa, 4" DSB
One massive hermit crab, saved from becomuing Tuskfish food for eating LPS corals in friend's aquarium - not aquacultured, but that's it!
Sandbed
1" AragAlive Bahamas Oolite
Skimming
None.
Livestock
Rock
22# Aquacultured Live Rock
Fish
1 ORA Captive Bred Tomato Clownfish
Clams
2 ORA Aquacultured Crocea Clams
1 ORA Aquacultured Derasa Clam
1 ORA Aquacultured Maxima Clam
Inverts/Cleanup
20+ Captive Bred Cerith Snails (sold to me by a private breeder, reproducing in my aquarium)
Tons of bristleworms, Asterina stars, and other hitch hikers on live rock
1 Zebra Hermit (hitch hiked on anemone)
Plant Life
Caulerpa racemosa macroalgae - from club
Corals
Purple/Pink Tips Millepora (fragged by club member)
Brown/Purple Tips Montipora digitata (fragged by club member)
Green Montipora digitata (fragged by club member)
Green/Brown/Baby Blue Tips Unidentified Acropora (fragged by club member)
Yellow/Purple Polyps Birdsnest (fragged from club member)
Porites with Christmas Tree Worms (came in on live rock)
Green/Red Acanthastrea lordhowensis (fragged by BillsReef)
Green Caulastrea (fragged by club member)
Tons of Zoanthids (fragged by club members)
Green Star Polyps (fragged by club member)
ORA Xenia
Purple Gorgonian (fragged by club member)
LIAq (Long Island Aquaculture) Yellow Toadstool
LIAq Colt Coral
Anemones
Actinia equina (divided in friend's tank)
Stichodactyla tapetum (divided in club member's tank)
Massive green BTA (divided in club member's tank)
Rose BTA (divided in friend's tank)
Tiny Green BTA (produced by budding off of large green BTA)
Readings as of today:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.2
Temperature: 81 F
Phosphate: 0 (!!!)
[Edited gratutitously to add all sorts of details + a warning]
