Thanks @MoshJosh - I'm a fan of the asymmetrical look. May add more rock eventually, but this scape suits my current plan... Aiming to get a big Toadstool growing on the leftmost rock eventually.
Love the tank and especially the aquascape! Nicely done!!Current Full Tank Shot - 7.28.22
Hello Reef2Reef!
I'm excited to start my first Build Thread. I've been in and out of the aquarium hobby several times over the years, mainly related to moves across country. I've primarily kept freshwater planted tanks in the past. After a recent 10 day trip to St. Thomas USVI, and tons of amazing snorkeling, I decided I had to have a little slice of ocean in our home.
Thanks to this forum I found a used JBJ 20 Gallon AIO for a good deal - shoutout to @bro1123 for helping me get set-up. Here's the details:
I set everything up on May 1st, dosed Dr. Tim's, and the cycle was complete by day 13.
- Display tank: JBJ 20 Gallon All-in-One
- Glass or Acrylic: Glass
- Stand: JBJ Gloss Black Stand
- Sump: All-in-one style, so the sump is integrated into the back of the tank
- Return pump: Stock return pump - 12W 198GPH. (I'm considering upgrading to Sicce Syncra Silent - curious what other's experience has been?)
- Water circulation: Hoping to add Nero 3 soon
- Lighting (display): AI Prime 16 HD with the Light Shade/Diffuser from 3D Reefing (Schedule is 10 hours with 1 hour ramp up and down)
- Auto top-off: Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 ATO
- Heating: 2 Eheim Jagers hooked into to Inkbird ITC-306A
- System control: I have a BN-Link Smart Power Strip on order that I plan to use as a sort of basic controller.
- Maintenance: Currently 3 gallon (15%) water changes weekly
Here's my first photo under the Prime light - need to figure out how to get a better white balance in my photos
Second photo during daylight with Prime on cool white only.
From my experience with planted tanks I knew I wanted to take time to get my aquascape just right, so I tried a bunch of different set-ups with the rockwork over the course of a week. I used wrapped paper to help envision how the sand would sit against the rocks. I'm pretty happy with what I landed on - there is visual interest and depth with just the rocks, and now I get to build upon that with corals!
On Monday night this week I added my first coral and inverts:
I'll work to get good pictures of them this weekend so I can share.
- Hammer Coral: Euphylia ancora
- Purple Photosynthetic Sponge: Collospongia sp.
- Emerald Crab: Mithraculus sculptus (named Giacometti)
- Sexy Shrimp: Thor amboinensis (named Frida)
I already love this tank! It lives in my office and I work from home, so I get to observe it everyday. It's nice to have some companions sharing the space with me, and I'm jamming on the chill vibes of the gently waving hammer. I'm looking forward to learning more about the biology of this system and how to best work with natural processes to build a healthy reef tank.
I've started this build thread to record my progress, and meet folks in the community. My goals with this tank are to take it slow, create a beautiful mixed reef, and to feature symbiotic relationships as much as possible. Corals will be mainly softies and LPS, maybe select SPS down the road. I prefer the purples, reds, and turquoise colors over the bright fluorescent greens, yellows and oranges. I'm thinking that a Toadstool Leather or Weeping Willow Leather would eventually be a nice feature on the rock to the far left. For fish, I know I'll be adding a pair of Ocellaris Clowns, and I'm really intrigued by the Yasha Hase Goby paired with a Pistol Shrimp.
Thanks for reading along and happy reefing!
