Ukiah’s 15 gallon Mixed Reef Evolution

[UkiahTheTurtle]

I got the tank set up this weekend after it sitting in its box for months. Started cycling with Fritzyme and bottled ammonia. Once it’s cycled I am planning on adding my pink skunk clownfish Curry and her two favorite corals and then I will add more from there.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Can't wait to see how this tank progresses over the years!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Well I completely forgot to update this build thread as I have been really busy lately. Currently this is my only reef tank. My 29 got taken down a while ago and I condensed my 5 gallon into this one as I wanted to bring it to college with me. I'm currently pretty happy with this tank and I'll send some photos of its evolution to where it is today!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

This was in January when I disassembled my 29gallon and brought of some corals from that tank to this one as well as getting a new pair of clowns as I lost most of the fish in my 29.

 

[Baldyreef]

rockwork is looking good! I cant wait to follow along with the build!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

This was in June, the tank had previously been overrun with Bryopsis which I think lead to the major lack of photos I had between January and June. The day this photo was taken I had just taken all the rocks out and scrubbed them with H2O2. The 2 clowns were a bit ticked.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

This was right before I moved the tank to college, the corals from the 5 gallon had been moved over and I got and added some macroalgae and Zoanthids as well. The clowns had also decided that they liked digging and piling the sand around the tank.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

This was the tank right after moving it to college, I finally got it a stand.

The Caulerpa was looking really nice here but the favia was looking rough, it had been being buried by the clownfish when it was on the sanded.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Pretty much up to present day, the favia is complete lost at this point. Also the caulerpa lost its fronds but its still alive. As always with my tanks I have a ton of aiptasia.

Added some pappermint shrimp about a week ago to try to combat it, I think they are working but I have never found them that reliable in the past. I would have loved berghias but they are so expensive right now. I also have been noticing that I have some bryopsis and turf algae, and was thinking of maybe getting a pathos crab. Anyway happy my build thread it now up to date and I am excited to keep working on it. Oh and the clowns are doing great and looking at the old pictures they definitely. Have gotten bigger, and they are now obsessed with eating earthworms since I threw them one one time!

 

[NCsalt]

My first saltwater tank was in college. A 20 high all glass. Looking good have fun with it!

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

My first saltwater tank was in college. A 20 high all glass. Looking good have fun with it!

I’m having lots of fun with this tank.I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to college with out taking a reef tank with me. I spend a lot of time between classes tinkering with it.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Added a ATO today. I’ve always wanted an ATO but I’ve never pulled the trigger on one cause of price. But this one was very affordable https://naturedimensions.com/products/n-fill-ato. I’m very excited as I swear this tank loses so much water.

 

[UkiahTheTurtle]

Big tank updates!

Peppermint shrimp + Maxspect Aiptasia Control have majorly reduced the amount of Aiptasia in my reef. All the corals are looking pretty good and the clowns are as boisterous as ever.

Also getting my first spots of coralline after having this tank for well over a year. I honestly don’t remember how coralline algae grows, is it normal for it to almost appear white at the beginning?