200+ Caribbean Macro Tank

The_Macro_Lady

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80 Gallon Rimless Deep Blue, with 12 gallon attached display. Sump 100 gallon stock tank and additional 3 macro grow out bins plumbed in. Total is roughly 275 gallons.
Established Sept 2022

Display Tank
Light: AI Prime x2, AI Hydra 26, PopBloom LED light bar, Generic grow bulb for Mangroves/Orchids,
Flow: Jebao crossflow x1 + 2 powerheads
Filtration: None, all natural!
Apex controlled
Fish: Queen Angel, Rock Beauty, Pygmy angel, Pearly jawfish, green filefish, swissguard basslet, Caribbean Clingfish (favorite), saddle blenny, harlequin bass, Chalk Bass, Redspotted Hawkfish, Blue Reef Chromis, purple Damsel, Spotfin Butterfly, and an imposter Yellow Clown Goby (he's 9 years old and has retired to the Caribbean paradise)
Inverts: several decorator crabs, peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, tunicate, caribbean starfish, basket starfish, several feather dusters, brittle stars, serpent stars, typical hermits and snails.
Large condylactis anemone, several rock flower anemones.
Macro algae: Over 30 different species just in the display!
Corals: Zoas, gorgonian, mushrooms

Small DT
Light: AI Prime
Just macros right now and a NPS gorgonian. A few mushrooms as well. Still thinking about what to do with this one.

Sump:
Light: Double Metal Halide, 250w
Flow: generic powerheads
Habitants: Saltwater Molly Fish colony. Also dove snails that reproduce rapidly. A large 6 year old mandarin lives in here as well. It's a true refugium!
I keep extra rock for seeding new builds and growing out macro in the sump. Most of the rock came from a 15 year old tank teardown. The rocks are loaded with micro brittle stars. There are mysis shrimp breeding throughout all the tanks. Some days the sump is more beautiful than the DT!

Recently added 3 grow out bins plumbed into the rest of the system. Once "The Macro Lady" website went live I realized real quick I needed more room to grow! Additional grow out bins in the works!

I am 100% a Macro Algae nerd and would love to chat/educate about macro algae. To me a reef tank without macro algae is like a world without vegetation. It is an essential part of the ecosystem. I give credit to the macro algae for my success in the hobby. It keeps everything stable and adds that natural beauty. I don't do water changes, I dose minimally (no number chasing here), I watch the macros for changes and act accordingly. I am not only able to keep this large tank balanced, but nanos, picos and vases as well.

...Just add macros!


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Peace River

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Amazing!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
 

QuickrdenU

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There is something about the white lights and all the colored macro algae that is very refreshing. I can’t wait to add a tank like this onto my system. Great work!
 
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The_Macro_Lady

The_Macro_Lady

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There is something about the white lights and all the colored macro algae that is very refreshing. I can’t wait to add a tank like this onto my system. Great work!
Thank you! I love white lights, but at night the blues are in to show off the zoas and RFAs
 

Ironwill723

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80 Gallon Rimless Deep Blue, with 12 gallon attached display. Sump 100 gallon stock tank and additional 3 macro grow out bins plumbed in. Total is roughly 275 gallons.
Established Sept 2022

Display Tank
Light: AI Prime x2, AI Hydra 26, PopBloom LED light bar, Generic grow bulb for Mangroves/Orchids,
Flow: Jebao crossflow x1 + 2 powerheads
Filtration: None, all natural!
Apex controlled
Fish: Queen Angel, Rock Beauty, Pygmy angel, Pearly jawfish, green filefish, swissguard basslet, Caribbean Clingfish (favorite), saddle blenny, harlequin bass, Chalk Bass, Redspotted Hawkfish, Blue Reef Chromis, purple Damsel, Spotfin Butterfly, and an imposter Yellow Clown Goby (he's 9 years old and has retired to the Caribbean paradise)
Inverts: several decorator crabs, peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, tunicate, caribbean starfish, basket starfish, several feather dusters, brittle stars, serpent stars, typical hermits and snails.
Large condylactis anemone, several rock flower anemones.
Macro algae: Over 30 different species just in the display!
Corals: Zoas, gorgonian, mushrooms

Small DT
Light: AI Prime
Just macros right now and a NPS gorgonian. A few mushrooms as well. Still thinking about what to do with this one.

Sump:
Light: Double Metal Halide, 250w
Flow: generic powerheads
Habitants: Saltwater Molly Fish colony. Also dove snails that reproduce rapidly. A large 6 year old mandarin lives in here as well. It's a true refugium!
I keep extra rock for seeding new builds and growing out macro in the sump. Most of the rock came from a 15 year old tank teardown. The rocks are loaded with micro brittle stars. There are mysis shrimp breeding throughout all the tanks. Some days the sump is more beautiful than the DT!

Recently added 3 grow out bins plumbed into the rest of the system. Once "The Macro Lady" website went live I realized real quick I needed more room to grow! Additional grow out bins in the works!

I am 100% a Macro Algae nerd and would love to chat/educate about macro algae. To me a reef tank without macro algae is like a world without vegetation. It is an essential part of the ecosystem. I give credit to the macro algae for my success in the hobby. It keeps everything stable and adds that natural beauty. I don't do water changes, I dose minimally (no number chasing here), I watch the macros for changes and act accordingly. I am not only able to keep this large tank balanced, but nanos, picos and vases as well.

...Just add macros!


9EA52558-E1EA-4219-B4BE-D1FFA3B958C5.jpeg
IMG_5529.jpeg
IMG_5759.jpeg
IMG_5623.jpeg
IMG_5364.jpeg
IMG_5358.jpeg
IMG_5361.jpeg
IMG_5296.jpeg
Beautiful tank! Is that a blue colored background or just the wall behind the tank?
 

Gumbies R Us

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80 Gallon Rimless Deep Blue, with 12 gallon attached display. Sump 100 gallon stock tank and additional 3 macro grow out bins plumbed in. Total is roughly 275 gallons.
Established Sept 2022

Display Tank
Light: AI Prime x2, AI Hydra 26, PopBloom LED light bar, Generic grow bulb for Mangroves/Orchids,
Flow: Jebao crossflow x1 + 2 powerheads
Filtration: None, all natural!
Apex controlled
Fish: Queen Angel, Rock Beauty, Pygmy angel, Pearly jawfish, green filefish, swissguard basslet, Caribbean Clingfish (favorite), saddle blenny, harlequin bass, Chalk Bass, Redspotted Hawkfish, Blue Reef Chromis, purple Damsel, Spotfin Butterfly, and an imposter Yellow Clown Goby (he's 9 years old and has retired to the Caribbean paradise)
Inverts: several decorator crabs, peppermint shrimp, coral banded shrimp, tunicate, caribbean starfish, basket starfish, several feather dusters, brittle stars, serpent stars, typical hermits and snails.
Large condylactis anemone, several rock flower anemones.
Macro algae: Over 30 different species just in the display!
Corals: Zoas, gorgonian, mushrooms

Small DT
Light: AI Prime
Just macros right now and a NPS gorgonian. A few mushrooms as well. Still thinking about what to do with this one.

Sump:
Light: Double Metal Halide, 250w
Flow: generic powerheads
Habitants: Saltwater Molly Fish colony. Also dove snails that reproduce rapidly. A large 6 year old mandarin lives in here as well. It's a true refugium!
I keep extra rock for seeding new builds and growing out macro in the sump. Most of the rock came from a 15 year old tank teardown. The rocks are loaded with micro brittle stars. There are mysis shrimp breeding throughout all the tanks. Some days the sump is more beautiful than the DT!

Recently added 3 grow out bins plumbed into the rest of the system. Once "The Macro Lady" website went live I realized real quick I needed more room to grow! Additional grow out bins in the works!

I am 100% a Macro Algae nerd and would love to chat/educate about macro algae. To me a reef tank without macro algae is like a world without vegetation. It is an essential part of the ecosystem. I give credit to the macro algae for my success in the hobby. It keeps everything stable and adds that natural beauty. I don't do water changes, I dose minimally (no number chasing here), I watch the macros for changes and act accordingly. I am not only able to keep this large tank balanced, but nanos, picos and vases as well.

...Just add macros!


9EA52558-E1EA-4219-B4BE-D1FFA3B958C5.jpeg
IMG_5529.jpeg
IMG_5759.jpeg
IMG_5623.jpeg
IMG_5364.jpeg
IMG_5358.jpeg
IMG_5361.jpeg
IMG_5296.jpeg
Very awesome looking tank!
 

tigre44

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Great looking tank and sump. I especially like your external plants are those vandas
 
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The_Macro_Lady

The_Macro_Lady

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Great looking tank and sump. I especially like your external plants are those vandas
They are! I’ve had the larger one nearly 10 years. Seems to bloom every other year. This is the first year above the tank.
There is an auto mister that goes off a few times a day, waters the Vandas and helps the mangroves with salt creep.
 

dough

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Just amazing. I’ve always admired such tanks due to the colors and diversity. Although I keep a mixed reef tank, I think yours looks less “sterile” if that is the right way of saying it.
 
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The_Macro_Lady

The_Macro_Lady

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Loving the new iPhone 15Pro!
 

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