I'm from Minnesota and have only recently gotten very into the hobby about summer of 2016 when I got my first pair of breeding ocellaris. Before then, I was sorta experimenting with the hobby and trying to figure out if it was for me. I did newbie things like using tap water for a reef tank, mixing saltwater right in the tank with all the inhabitants in it, not covering my powerhead while keeping a wandering anemone, using a 40W light fixture, and trying to make a reef tank happen in a 20G tank. So, yes, I learned a lot in the past year and a half and have made A LOT of expensive mistakes.
So, what's changed now? I'm a fast learner, so I scaled up pretty quickly or otherwise I'll get very bored easily. I have 3 display tanks (13.5G, 40G, & 150G) along with a 30G quarantine system.
The 13.5G is being slowly converted into an invertebrates' only tank. I plan to add soft corals and an anemone into the tank. Inhabitants will include sexy shrimps, porcelain crabs, and a pair of harlequin shrimps.
In the 40G system, I keep various species of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic gorgonians, which are growing very well. In the tank, I have a collection of macropharyngodon wrasses (black, leopard, blue star, potter's, ornate), a pair of tiny red tail tamarin wrasse, and a pair of harlequin filefish. I feed this tank about 6x a day and water changes 2x a week. Don't worry, this tank is only a temporary holding/growout system for small and sensitive fish.
Lastly, in my 150G system, I keep some soft corals on live rock and I grow macroalgae on the sand bed. I'm not sure where I'm headed with this yet. In this tank, I keep the tiny fish that have overgrown their tanks with their larger fishy friends. I have a blue tang, kole tang, some yellow tangs, and a few wrasses. Currently this tank is going through its fallow period as I have lost an endless battle with marine velvet.
My future system will include a brood stock tank that will house marine fish breeding projects - currently I have pairs of clarkii (regular and deluxe), bicinctus, spoticintus, orange spotted filefish.
Let me know if you got any questions.
So, what's changed now? I'm a fast learner, so I scaled up pretty quickly or otherwise I'll get very bored easily. I have 3 display tanks (13.5G, 40G, & 150G) along with a 30G quarantine system.
The 13.5G is being slowly converted into an invertebrates' only tank. I plan to add soft corals and an anemone into the tank. Inhabitants will include sexy shrimps, porcelain crabs, and a pair of harlequin shrimps.
In the 40G system, I keep various species of both photosynthetic and non-photosynthetic gorgonians, which are growing very well. In the tank, I have a collection of macropharyngodon wrasses (black, leopard, blue star, potter's, ornate), a pair of tiny red tail tamarin wrasse, and a pair of harlequin filefish. I feed this tank about 6x a day and water changes 2x a week. Don't worry, this tank is only a temporary holding/growout system for small and sensitive fish.
Lastly, in my 150G system, I keep some soft corals on live rock and I grow macroalgae on the sand bed. I'm not sure where I'm headed with this yet. In this tank, I keep the tiny fish that have overgrown their tanks with their larger fishy friends. I have a blue tang, kole tang, some yellow tangs, and a few wrasses. Currently this tank is going through its fallow period as I have lost an endless battle with marine velvet.
My future system will include a brood stock tank that will house marine fish breeding projects - currently I have pairs of clarkii (regular and deluxe), bicinctus, spoticintus, orange spotted filefish.
Let me know if you got any questions.