50 gallon mixed reef started in 2023
Aquarium Profile and Equipment
- What type of saltwater aquarium is this?
- Mixed Reef
- Total Water Volume
- 59
- When did you start this tank?
- Jun 3, 2023
- What is your aquarium made of?
- Glass
- Aquarium Length (inches)
- 36
- Aquarium Width (inches)
- 18
- Aquarium Height (inches)
- 18
- Aquarium Overflow/Drain
- External Overflow
- Aquarium Sump
- YES
- Sump Water Volume
- 9
- Aquarium Stand
- Home made rocket engineer style with a 20 long as my sump
- Aquarium Controller
- NO
- Aquarium Controller Make and Model
- I don’t run a controller.
- Protein Skimmer
- YES
- Protein Skimmer Make and Model
- IOAOI PS-100
- Aquarium Reactors
- Carbon
- Return Pump
- Hygger model 915 1350gph
- What types of equipment are you using for water flow and circulation?
- Powerhead
- Wavemaker
- Water Flow and Circulation Equipment List
- I run a Jebao MCP-90 and a Hydor Koralia 3G 1350gph for flow up top and a Hygger 915 for return pump down below.
- Aquarium Lighting
- LED
- Lighting Equipment List
- Kessil Ap9x
- Lighting PAR and Goals
- I run a 14 hour light cycle. I start at 1% blues only for 1 hour to simulate dawn. A 3 hour ramp up to 50%. Then a 3 hour ramp up to peak at 60%. A 3 hour ramp down back to 50% then a 3 hour ramp down to 1% blues only for a 1 hour dusk. I also tune the light to gradually increase to a whiter spectrum as the peak approaches. It feels more natural and helps simulate the changing angle of the sun through out the day. The dusk and dawn periods are important as well to help give a circadian rhythm to the system by giving everything time to wake up gently and go to bed peacefully. This is a habit I have kept from my old halide/t5 days. As to actual par readings, I have no clue. The corals seem to like it so that’s what I make my settings based on.
- Dosing Equipment
- Calcium
- Alkalinity
- Magnesium
- Other
- Dosing Equipment Detail
- I run three dosing pumps. I have a Ecotech Versa set up to dose all for reef four times through out the day, a Kamoer F1 for Acropower twice weekly and another Ecotech Versa for my top off water, about 700ml a day.
- Auto Top Off or ATO
- YES
- Aquarium Heating and Cooling
- I am using a heater or heaters
- Water Temperature
- 78
- Heating and Cooling Equipment Detail
- I have a 300 watt heater set on a Inkbird controller
- Additional Equipment Detail
- I also run a IOAOI nano dc return pump with a BRS mini carbon reactor.
Aquarium Water Chemistry and Parameters
- pH Level
- 8.3
- Specific Gravity
- 1.026
- Nitrate or NO3
- 30
- Phosphate or PO4
- 0.30
- Calcium
- 490
- Alkalinity
- 9
- Magnesium
- 1400
- Salt Brand
- Instant Ocean Reef Crystals
- Trace Element Dosing
- All For Reef handles my trace elements and Acropower for aminos
- Water Chemistry Detail
- It runs pretty stable with the All For Reef but I do have to periodically dose alkalinity to keep up with calcium. I also dose magnesium to keep it elevated a little bit for euphyllia
Aquarium Natural and Mechanical Filtration
- Substrate
- Crushed Coral
- Substrate Level
- Shallow
- Live Rock
- 40
- Live Rock Type
- I started with about 30-40 lbs dry Marco rock to build my aquascape and I have an additional 10 lbs in my sump.
- Nutrient Export
- Protein Skimmer
- Filter Sock
- GFO
- Carbon
- Water Changes
- YES
- Water Change Details
- I do a 15 gallon water change every couple months or as needed when nitrates rise
- Nutrient Export Details
- I rely on my rock, skimmer and Chemipure elite for the majority of my nutrient export. The 200 micron mesh filter socks handles the large detritus.
- Additional Maintenance Details
- I keep my hands out of my tank as much as possible and let it run on its own most of the time.
Aquarium Tank Inhabitants (fish, coral, invert etc.)
- Fish List
- Clownfish
- None
- Total Fish
- I have 4 fish. A pair of ocellaris clowns, a royal gramma and a tomini tang.
- Coral List
- SPS Coral
- LPS Coral
- Zoanthids
- Soft Coral
- Mushroom Coral
- Total Corals
- 30
- Invert List
- Crabs
- Starfish
- Shrimp
- Snails
- Urchin
- Other
- Total Inverts
- 100
- Livestock Detail
- My clean up crew consists of zebra and Mexican turbos, asters snails, nassarius snails, thousands of keyhole limpets and brittle stars, peppermint shrimp, blue and red leg hermits, a pencil urchin, emerald crabs and a tiger sand conch.
- Livestock Quarantine
- No Quarantine
- Favorite Fish
- Mated pair of ocellaris clowns
- Favorite Coral
- Platygyra
- Favorite Invert
- Tiger sand conch
- Never Livestock
- None added recently
Aquarium Nutrition (fish, coral, invert etc. feeding)
- Fish Feeding Frequency
- One Daily Feeding
- Coral Feeding Frequency
- A Few Times Weekly
- Fish and Coral Feeding
- Pellet
- Frozen
- Algae Strips
- What brands of foods are you feeding?
- Usually Spectrum pellets or PE Mysis and occasional nori for the tomini
- Auto Feeder
- NO
Additional Aquarium Information
- What do you think are the keys to your success in reefing?
- Keeping my hands out of the tank as much as possible and letting my tank do the rest.
