Gumbies R Us
God, Bouldering, and Reefing
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My Aquarium Showcase
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2022
- Messages
- 32,096
- Reaction score
- 56,667
- Location
- North Georgia
- Seller Rating
- 5 ★
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Howdy everyone! I told my wife, Carrigan, 3 years ago that I was going to turn our living room into a fish room. At first, this bold prediction was met with skepticism, but when I finally began to share my vision...she was all in! While we were dating, she quickly realized that I didn't just have a passion for reefing, I had an obsession! Shortly after we got married, we moved into a new house in North Dallas, and the front living room was calling my name. I decided I was going to create what I called "A Modern Farmhouse Reef." I set out to not only set up an epic aquarium but also to consult with my wife on a color scheme for the stands and furniture for the room. And soon I was off to the races, building an aquascape for a 118-gallon Red Sea Reefer 450 (this was back in November of 2022). I condensed all the corals and fish from my nano tanks and started to watch the first mixed reef take shape. When I finally began to understand the importance of STABILITY, the corals started to grow out of control. Soon, the Red Sea Reefer was WAY too small to display all the fish and corals I wanted to keep.
So phase 2 of my plan to turn our living room into a fish room took effect. I researched different tanks and decided to purchase a CADE aquarium from Algae Barn. And y'all I kid you not, just before I was about to click the BUY button my wife stopped me and asked if there was a bigger aquarium available...Guys, if you want to be successful in reefing, then find yourself a WIFE like my girl Carrigan! Sure enough, the CADE S2 2100 with a white stand was available...
Fast forward to January of 2023...the CADE tank had arrived. With the help of a local fish store and some good buddies, we moved the tank from the garage into the living room. I set about hand-building the aquascape with Marco rock, superglue, and cement. The tank finally got wet in February of 2023!
From day one, my goal was to create a visually appealing space with EPIC aquariums to display some of the most amazing creatures on this planet. With a lot of hard work and water changes, I was able to create the Modern Farmhouse Reef in our living room.
All good things must come to an end, however, and I directed my focus to just the one large CADE tank to really focus on growing Acros and harboring a diverse array of fish! My tank, known as Rice's Reef, is a culmination of everything I've learned up to this point in reefkeeping over the past 5 years.
How did you get into the hobby?
Even though reefing is a relatively new hobby for me, my love for corals and fish actually started a long time ago when my mother took me to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago for my 13th birthday. That was the first time I had ever seen a large coral reef display in person. In particular, I remember a tank of clownfish hosting an anemone, and I was mesmerized by the color pop of a mandarin Goby. The memories from that experience really fueled me to go all in when I finally got my first reef tank. Fast forward to 2020, when COVID was in full effect, and I decided it was time to pick up a new hobby. I was an emergency medicine resident with very little free time on my hands, so I had to start small. I started with a 20-gallon reef tank in my bedroom. One thing led to another...or rather one tank led to another, which led to another until soon I had 4 aquariums in my apartment. I loved having multiple ref tanks, but there was something missing, and I felt like my creativity was being stifled by such small tanks. So I began to envision what a fish room would look like when I finally moved into a house!
What do you love most about this hobby?
Gosh, there are so many things to love about this hobby,
-DIY projects
-The Science behind Reef Chemistry
-All of the Innovation in the hobby with tech and gadgets
-Animal Husbandry and the art of not just keeping them alive but thriving
-Creating an ecosystem in your home and designing how that would fit into the aesthetic of a space
-Collecting and fragging corals (Duh!)
-Coral and fish photography
-And of course, watching the fish and corals grow!
Do you have a video of your tank?
https://www.instagram.com/rices_reef/reel/DPHPcSCgAYX/
System Profile Questions:
- Display Tank: 285G 82.6/29.5/35.4
- When did you start the tank: Feb 5th, 2023
- Glass or Acrylic: Glass
- Stand: The aquarium itself is a rimless open-top design with high clarity Opti-Clear glass and German Whacker silicone made by CADE. The CADE cabinet on the S2 2100 model is made from aluminum and has both front and side doors. The side doors are super helpful in accessing the sump. I went with CADE due to the high quality of materials, the dynamic stand, and the dimensions of the tank
- Sump: 50g
- Protein Skimmer: Bubble Magus Curve Elite 7 (which is way undersized for the tank!) I had a larger Red Sea model, but the pump was not working, so I went back to the trusty Bubble Magus I had on my previous Red Sea 450 tank. And that thing pulls out some GUNK!
- Aquarium Reactors: Carbon, GFO
- Return Pump: Neptune Cor 20
- Water Circulation: Ecotech MP40 x4, Maxpspect Gyre x1
- Lighting: Ecotech Radion G6 Pro x5 (these babies push out some PAR), running them at about 40%, Refugium light from Home Depot for the chaeto to grow
- Calcium/Alkalinity/Magnesium Dosing: Neptune Dos Systems, I have 3 modules running: 2 part Alk/Ca from BRS. Mag from BRS. Tropic Marin All for Reef. Kalkwasser
- Auto Top-Off: Yes
- Heating/Cooling: Two heaters with Inkbird wifi controller (BRS 600-watt titanium heater). Having two heaters in the system allows for redundancy in case one fails
- System Control: Neptune Apex and Neptune Trident. In my opinion, nothing has helped me create more stability for my tank than having a reliable controller and auto tester. Neptune simply makes a great product and is worth the investment.
Additional Equipment Detail:
One overarching point about equipment:
-Spend money on quality NEW equipment such as lights, controllers/dosers, heaters, wavemakers, skimmer, UV. If you spend money up front on good equipment, this will help with your success in the long run. Used equipment comes with a cheap price tag, but at the cost of possibly failing or not working as efficiently. If you are serious about this hobby or building a large reef tank, then the reality is that you need some expensive equipment. There are certainly budget options out there, and even nano tanks can be cheaper. But a large SPS system should start with the right tools for the job
Other equipment I use:
UV:
I have 2 UV sterilizers running to help primarily with ICH MANAGEMENT. They also help with water clarity.
Carbon Reactor:
I use a canister reactor from BRS that contains carbon and GFO
CO2 absorbing media:
Used in a way similar to my skimmer to help increase pH
Water Parameters
- pH: 8.2
- Specific Gravity: 1.025
- NO3: 5ppm
- Ca: 400
- Alk: 9dkh
- Mg: 1400
- PO4: 0.05
Salt Brand
Tropic Marin Pro (mixes super clean)
Live or Dry Rock?
Both!
Live rock from Tampa Bay Saltwater. Honestly, I don't know the exact weight of the rock in my system. But I did order about 20 lbs of live ocean rock from TBS at one point to help with cycling the tank and to add bacterial diversity
Substrate
Shallow Sand
Trace Element Dosing
I dose trace elements by hand daily
Tropic Marin Trace A and K
Manganese (primarily to promote Goniopora health)
It's not trace element dosing, but I also will occasionally dose:
Brightwells Restor (for coral health)
KZ flatworm stop (those buggers are in the tank somewhere lol)
Aquaforest Lifesource
I also send an ICP every 2-3 months to check trace levels
Nutrient Export Details
Refugium, Protein, Skimmer, Filter Sock, Filter Roller, GFO, Carbon,
Overall, my method for nutrient control is HEAVY IN, HEAVY OUT
My main source of nutrient export is the corals themselves and the refugium!
Water Change Details
I do about a 15-20% water change every month. So that equates to about 40-50 gallons. I'm a huge proponent of water changes! They help so much with stability, and a larger volume water change can help alleviate any dosing errors or help lower excessive nutrients
Additional Maintenance Details
Weekly: Scrape and clean the glass (about every 3 days or so), check dosing containers and refill as needed, clean skimmer cup/filter floss
Monthly: Make dosing solutions from bulk, 15-20% water change, remove cheato from refugium, replace carbon and GFO as needed
Every 2-3 months: clean the wavemakers/pumps in citric acid, siphon out the sand with a water change, dose coral snow, send off ICP test
Annually: replace heaters, replace UV bulbs, replace or check for any faulty equipment, and deep-siphon the sandbed.
Tank Inhabitants Fish
I think around 40ish fish or so in the tank. I have quite a large fish bioload, but honestly, I think it complements the Reef. It's fun to see the larger fish cruising about while the damsel has their small carve out territories, the wrasses are daring in and out, and the hawkfish...Well, Henry (aka Henry the Hawkfish) just does what he wants
Angelfish:
Regal Angel
Female Bellus Angel
Damsels:
Azure x2
Starkii
Sapphire
Talbot
Green Chromis
Clownfish:
Original mated pair
Another clownfish I kept for a friend
Wrasses:
Green Coris wrasse
Melanarus wrasse
Katherine Fairy wrasse x2
Blue line flasher wrasse
Koi Fairy wrasse
Blue-sided fairy wrasse
Tangs:
Powder Blue
Sohal
Purple
Juvenile Atlantic Blue (in yellow phase)
Tomini x2
Regal
Vlamingii
Blenny:
Starry Blenny
Bicolor
Red scooter Blenny
Spotted Mandarin Goby x1
Rabbit fish:
Orange spot
Magnificent foxface
Hawkfish:
Red Flame
Basslets:
Royal Gramma
Black Cap basslet
Anthias:
Lyretail female x3
Lyretail Male x1
Butterfly:
Pyramid
Copperband
Coral List
SPS Coral
LPS Coral
Zoanthids
Mushroom Coral
Inver list:
I love my inverts!
Definitely love the starfish and shrimp the most
Starfish:
Orange linkia
Orange Serpent star
Regular serpent star
Tons of tiny little bristle stars
Sand sifting starfish x2
Snails:
Assortment of astrea, nassarius, turbo etc...
MY FAVORITE are trochus snails
Urchin:
2 tuxedo urchins (pound for pound, the best algae eaters in the tank!)
Shrimp:
3 Cleaner shrimp
Favorite Livestock (Fish, Coral, and Invert)
This is a tough one because there are so many, but I may have to go with the sentimental choice here. I'd have to say my OG pair of clownfish, Bonnie and Clyde! I've had them from day one in a 20-gallon Petco tank! Otherwise, I'd say the Regal Angelfish and my trio of Zebrosoma Tangs (Yellow, Purple, Desjardinni)
Goniopora and Acropora, and if I had to guess, I'd say the Walt Disney Acro, I have several frags of it throughout the tank
Scarlet Cleaner shrimp or my Orange linkia starfish. My niece and nephews love searching for the starfish in the tank when they come over to the house
Never Livestock:
Fish that are SUPER expensive! I have a lot of fish that some may consider pricey, but I thought long and hard about what I wanted to keep and if it was worth the money. Any fish that has a high price tag and can be hard to keep is a no-go for me. One example is an Achilles Tang. With my ich management strategy, I would avoid any other acantharus tangs that are super susceptible to fish disease and have a high price tag
Quarantine?
NO
What brands of food are you feeding?
I give the fish a mix of pellets and frozen mysis. I use PE MYSIS; no other brand compares. And the TDO pellets, but honestly, I do pellet feeding very lightly during the week so as not to increase my phosphate load. I use an auto feeder when I go on vacation, and it drops a little more than what I feed weekly. I give the tangs 2 NORI strips a day and sometimes even double that.
Feeding Routine
Multiple times a day for fish and once a week for coral
What is the best thing you have ever bought for your tank?
1. NEPTUNE APEX CONTROLLER AND TRIDENT (added stability)
2. Custom lid from Top Lids (no jumping fish deaths)
3. UV sterilizer (helps with ich and fish disease and water clarity)
4. Filter Roller (No mess filtration cleaning)
5. RODI unit (everything starts with high-quality water)
6. Printed Reef light covers (I couldn't keep the tank in the living room if I didn't have these blocking light glare)
What do you think are the keys to your success in reefing?
1. STABILITY!
-Routine water testing
-Routine equipment maintenance
2. WATER CHANGES, WATER CHANGES, WATER CHANGES
3. Diagnosing problems quickly and reacting accordingly (and in some cases, this means acting slowly to correct a problem)
Who or what in the hobby most influences/inspires you?
-REEF2REEF, specifically the tank of the month features, to see what others are doing with successful tanks
-RYAN Batchellor's videos with BRS TV and now Serious Reefs
-Any of Jake Adams' old videos on YouTube, he was a very special person who contributed so much to our hobby, and I highly recommend new reefers watch his stuff or listen to his old podcasts! He will be forever missed!
-Podcasts, WWC tank tours
Have you faced any major challenges with this particular tank, and how did you overcome them?
Oh man! Here we go! This is where it gets juicy, haha! As a newer reefer, I have had to learn so many lessons the hard way
The worst problem I ever faced was a malfunctioning salinity meter! I lost several fish and corals because my salinity had climbed super high. I noticed my fish and corals were off, and finally got a new salinity meter, and to my horror, realized my mistake. I took about a week to slowly start bringing the salinity back into range. Now I use the Milwaukee salinity tester and have backups just in case I feel something is off
I initially started bare bottom, but then transitioned to sand due to algae blooms. I like the look of sand in a tank anyway. But bare-bottom tanks are notorious for taking a long time to cycle. I added a bunch of live sand and rock, and the algae blooms went away. The tank started to become more stable
Dosing errors! This one is on me! The Neptune Apex has so many features, but sometimes I get a little trigger-happy when I know my all or calcium has dropped low. Several times, I have left the dosers on, and it dumped a whole load of Ca or all or mag into the tank. Fixed this with about a 30% water change, and luckily, with such a large tank, errors like that are not completely catastrophic
The temperature increases when on vacation or when the AC goes out! This was also bad. Our AC went out two different times, and we live in Texas. The tank temperature rose to the mid-80s, and I lost some very important coral pieces. We even had a temperature spike in the house while we were on vacation, and luckily, I had a friend who was able to go over and adjust the AC in the house to help bring the temperature back down! Fix: Added a chiller!
Ich outbreaks:
OK, I feel like this is where I am going to get some eye rolls from the more experienced reefers out there, but I do not quarantine my fish. I know, I know! Asking for a disaster here. This is why I use 2 UV sterilizers, and I only source fish from trusted sources
-The simple reason for this is that when I broke down my old tanks, I simply placed the old fish (who had ich) into the new system. So the system has had ich since its inception.
-Now I do a form of ICH management, the quarantine process is also super hard on the fish, and I don't have the space to set up a quarantine system
-I combat this with tank stability, good fish nutrition, and UV sterilizers
-I do have a power blue tang in the tank (MY WIFE'S FAVORITE FISH) who will sometimes have small breakouts of ich, where I have a small heart attack. But honestly,y that's part of keeping a large reef
Not buying a lid sooner:
# of crispy fried jumpers without a lid = quite a few
# of crispy fried jumpers WITH A LID = 0
How do you typically get over setbacks?
I research, ask fellow reefers, watch YouTube videos, and listen to podcasts
What are your future plans for improvement/ upgrade of the tank, if any?
Right now, Rice's Reef is in its teenage phase, and the SPS colonies are really starting to take off. My goal is to see this tank fully mature over the next 2 years. I got the SPS bug and kept getting tons of tiny frags, which in hindsight cost money and created lots of chaos in parts of the tank, haha.
My dream build would be to one day have a 300-400-gallon peninsula tank. Would love to take my time growing SPS colonies out and creating a more fluid and less chaotic scape. Negative space aquascape is fun, but sometimes creates too much dimensional chaos.
Any special tips for success or advice you'd like to share with other reefers?
Stability is the number one key to success in this hobby. Keeping the tank stable through routine maintenance, testing, water changes, etc...is the staple of any successful reef tank
Patient is key...I'm an ER doctor, so I do everything at a fast pace...except reefing. I do like to tinker with the tank, but any changes I make take time. Nothing good in this hobby happens fast!
Buy quality equipment up front; this will actually save you $ in the long run and lots of heartache
Do your research and planning up front. Take time to build out the aquascape and envision what the corals will look like in 2-3 years, and not in the first 2-3 months.
In closing, do you have any additional comments, or are there any questions you wish we had asked but haven’t?
If you are thinking of starting a new reef tank, then I highly encourage you to go and watch Ryan Batchelor's video on Biome Cycling:
This video changed the way I think about setting up a tank!
Happy Reefing Y'all, and God Bless
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