Reefer1030
New Member
Hi all, I’m pretty new as a member here, though I’ve been lurking, reading and learning from this site for a long time. Finally decided to actually sign up a couple of weeks ago. Then received a welcome email a short while later suggesting I introduce myself in this forum, so here I am.
My name is Corey, I live just outside Toronto, Ontario and I’ve been keeping saltwater aquaria since 2009. I have seemingly a million interests/hobbies, but my other reef-related hobby is diving. For work I’m an advanced care paramedic and paramedic educator.
My current tank is a custom-built 227 litre (60 gallon) ish, corner aquarium with diamond front. It’s been wet since December. First livestock went in in February. I’m adding livestock very slowly. The goal is for it to be a mixed reef. I’ve started a build thread for it here. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coreys-227-l-corner-mixed-reef.632048/
As for my history in this hobby... I started in 2009 with a 38 litre (10 gallon) nano containing just a pair of clownfish hosting a bubble tip anemone along with some live rock. This was a barebones set-up, with HOB filter, powerhead and internal heater. I quickly upgraded slightly within a year to a 76 litre (20 gallon -still barebones-) tank, to which I added a frogspawn. This oddly caused my clownfish pair to get a divorce, as the male moved out and began hosting the frogspawn, while the female stayed in the anemone.
In 2011 I moved and took the opportunity to upgrade again to a standard 189 litre (50 gallon) tank. This time I added a proper sump with refugium, skimmer, media reactor, temperature controller, etc. I also decided this tank would host a yellowhead jawfish colony (along with the clowns) so it had a DSB. That was my tank from 2011 until just last year. I never added any other corals. The anemone split many times and basically ended up covering all the rockwork, giving my female clown a massive field of anemones to host, while the male stayed in his little frogspawn in the front corner. The frogspawn eventually stopped growing and actually receded, losing a couple of heads over the last few years, due to stinging from the anemone (I think). These clownfish living arrangement remained for the rest of their lives (odd fish). As planned I added a jawfish colony. I had 4 of them that worked out nicely with 2 males and 2 females) living on the fairly roomy sand bed. All were happy. The clowns were fat. The jawfish tended to their burrows continuously, and spawned several times, with the males mouthbrooding large clutches of eggs. None of the fry survived but it was never my intention to raise fry. Eventually, over 4-5 years, the jawfish all dropped off (apparently that’s their expected lifespan) and by last year that tank was back to where I had begun with just the 2 clowns, anemones++ and frogspawn. I always meant to expand and get into more varied livestock and corals but never seemed to get around to it.
Then, at the end of 2018 I moved again, and through a series of my own errors I experienced a catastrophe. I lost both of my 9+ year-old clowns and all my anemones. It was rather heartbreaking. Somehow the frogspawn survived. It went into a small tank all by itself while I contemplated what to do next in the reefing hobby. I quickly decided on a complete reboot. My new home is a high-rise condo unit. It’s a spacious, open concept, corner unit with 180 degrees of wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s an amazing place, but that layout doesn’t leave a lot of available wall space for a tank set-up outside of the bedrooms or entrance hallway, and I didn’t like that idea. There was no really good spot (that I liked or wasn’t already spoken-for) for my standard 189 L to go. There was a potential spot for a larger peninsula-style tank, which I would have loved, but it would have affected the flow of the space and broken up the open concept, as well as requiring a downsizing of the dining room set. Ultimately what was left was a corner in a prominent spot in the living space that could accommodate a 76x76 cm (30”x30”), diamond-front corner tank.
And that brings me to where I am today. Slowly adding to that set-up in hopes of achieving a nice, well-stocked, mixed-reef. Details of that build can be found by going to my build thread, linked above.
My dream build, for when I eventually move back into a house, is a 1020 litre (270 gallon), 183x91x61 cm (72”x36”x24”) elaborate reef system, with a fish room either beneath it or behind it. But that’s at least 5 yeas away, so this is it for now.
Thanks for reading, and being an awesome community of dedicated reefers.
My name is Corey, I live just outside Toronto, Ontario and I’ve been keeping saltwater aquaria since 2009. I have seemingly a million interests/hobbies, but my other reef-related hobby is diving. For work I’m an advanced care paramedic and paramedic educator.
My current tank is a custom-built 227 litre (60 gallon) ish, corner aquarium with diamond front. It’s been wet since December. First livestock went in in February. I’m adding livestock very slowly. The goal is for it to be a mixed reef. I’ve started a build thread for it here. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/coreys-227-l-corner-mixed-reef.632048/
As for my history in this hobby... I started in 2009 with a 38 litre (10 gallon) nano containing just a pair of clownfish hosting a bubble tip anemone along with some live rock. This was a barebones set-up, with HOB filter, powerhead and internal heater. I quickly upgraded slightly within a year to a 76 litre (20 gallon -still barebones-) tank, to which I added a frogspawn. This oddly caused my clownfish pair to get a divorce, as the male moved out and began hosting the frogspawn, while the female stayed in the anemone.
In 2011 I moved and took the opportunity to upgrade again to a standard 189 litre (50 gallon) tank. This time I added a proper sump with refugium, skimmer, media reactor, temperature controller, etc. I also decided this tank would host a yellowhead jawfish colony (along with the clowns) so it had a DSB. That was my tank from 2011 until just last year. I never added any other corals. The anemone split many times and basically ended up covering all the rockwork, giving my female clown a massive field of anemones to host, while the male stayed in his little frogspawn in the front corner. The frogspawn eventually stopped growing and actually receded, losing a couple of heads over the last few years, due to stinging from the anemone (I think). These clownfish living arrangement remained for the rest of their lives (odd fish). As planned I added a jawfish colony. I had 4 of them that worked out nicely with 2 males and 2 females) living on the fairly roomy sand bed. All were happy. The clowns were fat. The jawfish tended to their burrows continuously, and spawned several times, with the males mouthbrooding large clutches of eggs. None of the fry survived but it was never my intention to raise fry. Eventually, over 4-5 years, the jawfish all dropped off (apparently that’s their expected lifespan) and by last year that tank was back to where I had begun with just the 2 clowns, anemones++ and frogspawn. I always meant to expand and get into more varied livestock and corals but never seemed to get around to it.
Then, at the end of 2018 I moved again, and through a series of my own errors I experienced a catastrophe. I lost both of my 9+ year-old clowns and all my anemones. It was rather heartbreaking. Somehow the frogspawn survived. It went into a small tank all by itself while I contemplated what to do next in the reefing hobby. I quickly decided on a complete reboot. My new home is a high-rise condo unit. It’s a spacious, open concept, corner unit with 180 degrees of wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows. It’s an amazing place, but that layout doesn’t leave a lot of available wall space for a tank set-up outside of the bedrooms or entrance hallway, and I didn’t like that idea. There was no really good spot (that I liked or wasn’t already spoken-for) for my standard 189 L to go. There was a potential spot for a larger peninsula-style tank, which I would have loved, but it would have affected the flow of the space and broken up the open concept, as well as requiring a downsizing of the dining room set. Ultimately what was left was a corner in a prominent spot in the living space that could accommodate a 76x76 cm (30”x30”), diamond-front corner tank.
And that brings me to where I am today. Slowly adding to that set-up in hopes of achieving a nice, well-stocked, mixed-reef. Details of that build can be found by going to my build thread, linked above.
My dream build, for when I eventually move back into a house, is a 1020 litre (270 gallon), 183x91x61 cm (72”x36”x24”) elaborate reef system, with a fish room either beneath it or behind it. But that’s at least 5 yeas away, so this is it for now.
Thanks for reading, and being an awesome community of dedicated reefers.
