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Hey! My name is Tristan, I’m a relatively new reefer. At the time of posting this I have been reefing for 7-8 months now. It has been an amazing journey and super rewarding. I took my time setting up my original tank and it really payed off when I decided to upgrade. I was able to skip the whole cycle process practically immediately (2 days)

Custom built stand using steel beams. And custom face plates that my friend helped me put together. Still need to sand em smooth but do the job for now

Using 3 jebao wave makers still messing with settings. But my torches flow nicely currently.

2x smatfarm 140w reef lights

Top of tank 300-350. Sand bed 70-115

Currently dosing All for reef daily 16-18ml. Has been working for the last 5 months with all parameters within specs. May end up switching as I get nervous my calcium rises sometimes and I have to take a day break or 2

I use dual 300w titanium heaters both controlled by an INKBIRD controller.

Not currently setup, but I got a free redsea reefer 250 that came with everything. It was leaking so I have to reseal it (I have experience doing this )

Red Sea coral pro red bag

All for reef

Nope, I like to keep things stable as I’ve learned stability is key and not to chase numbers.

Was dry Marco rock when I started. Then when I bought my 120 it came with a ton of rock. Lots of caribsea light weight rock but super good

Yes, I should be better about them. But I’ve honestly never had nitrates go over 10 ppm yet and I don’t want to bottom them out. So I’ll do 5-10 gallon water changes a month sometimes. And sometimes I won’t do any.

I was using chaeto and it grew extremely fast and kept escaping my sump section and getting into the main display so I switched to caulerpa and it’s been doing great. Still somewhat a small ball. But tumbling good.

I scrape the glass just about every time I walk by it because it’s satisfying. Feed 1-2x a day frozen mysis/ brine w/spirulina and seaweed for tangs.

12-14

I currently have 4 clowns. Will be getting rid of one pair as they were with the tank when i got jt. Just hard to find someone able to take them and be ready to care for them. Reefing isn’t very common in my area

I’ve not had many fish to know what ones are buttheads in a reef tank. I tend to dive deep on research when I get something to ensure my tank will stay happy and pest/trouble free

Hikari frozen brine/mysis spirulina.
Couple different brands of sea weed I soak in kanaplex/garlic to keep fish happy

Constant research and asking questions.
Like Confucius once said. The man who asks a question is a fool for a minute. The man who doesn’t is a fool for life. And I live by that. I don’t care what people may think when I ask questions as long as I’m learning and being successful that’s all that matters to me.

Only got in late April after finishing my 11g freshwater tank next to it. Apologies for any spelling mistakes as I had to truncate text to fit below 255 word limit and also I tend to mispell things on mobile

Walmart Heavy Duty Shelf

14w LED gooseneck

25w heater

Instant Ocean Sea Salt

Tank had bad start (minicycle leading to ammonia spike led to my black clown goby dying & amm. burned my default clownfish, I managed to save clownfish & now he is normal, as if never happened
Also bc me dosing over the course of a week, ~50 ml of Microbe Lift Special Blend

CaribSea dry rock

10 percent once every Friday

Chaeto, Gracilaria and mangroves

3
2x ocelladis clownfish in a pair
(1 default male 1 platinum female)
1x yellow clown goby

Mollusks of any kind, almost all echinoderms except for sea urchins and sea anemones as I have a phobia of them

Hikari, Aqueon and Imaginaturium

Stuff a lot of sponges in the filter to maximize as much benefixial bacteria surface area so it can process nutrients better

I am new here only been reefing about seven months

Red Sea 25 Red Sea 25

Duel Red Sea 115

All-for-reef

Red Sea blue

Tampa Bay

Weekly water changes

7

Moved all my sps and most of my LPs from my 30 gallon to this little 20 gallon AIO system. Life has been good since splitting my bio load up.

Jbj white stand

Vortech mp 10

Current USA 60 watt

Between 100 and 350

BRS 1.1 mil doers on timers

100 watt heater

Tropic Marin pro

Tropic Marin Part A and K added to two part

Man made stuff seeded from my 2 year old 30 gallon

Around 10% every other week depending on nutrients

Water changes and filter floss with a skimmer

4

Geometric hawk, neon goby, two pajama cardinals

Patients and consistency

I’ve been raising fish for over 35 years and took a break in 2020. In July of 2024 I broke down and modified a 30 gallon freshwater water box to start a sps dominant tank but ended up with a mixed reef system. I’ve had two resets on the tank in 18 months but it has finally stabilized and growing coral.

I’m hoping to be between 250 and 400

BRS dosers on timers

Tropic Marin pro

All for reef, potassium

I dose 6.5 ml of soda ash in my fresh salt mix plus 3 ml daily of all for reef. Started 5ml of potassium a week after ice’s showed it was always on the low side. Since I started potassium dosing it has stayed steady at 400

Real reef

I try to do a 10% water change every 6 to 8 days… I’m old school lol

Skimming and water changes

12

2 bangay cardinals, 2 pajama cardinals, pair of Mocha oscellaris clowns, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 blue chromes, 1 royal gramma, 1 Pygmy hawk, 1 white belly , 1 neon blue goby

Frozen brine and mysis shrimp in the mornings

Being patient and definitely listening to others on this page and podcasts. Its truly amazing how far this hobby has gone.

Innovative Marine White Aluminum

Hanna Checkers for Nitrate, Alkalinity, Calcium, Magnesium and Phosphate

Two Little Fishies In/Out Overflow and Return, 2 Hygger Mini Wavemakers 1600GPH,
Hygger Wavemaker 1321GPH

Reefbreeders Meridian 24 on an Aquatic Life adjustable T5 HO Hybrid 4-Lamp Fixture with 2 Blue Plus , 1 True Actinic bulb and 1 purple plus

Middle top of aquascape 350 par slightly lower on the sides, 200-100 middle below 100 bottom I love the new meridians,and added them easily to a aquatic life hybrid T5 fixture and love the combo. The T5's provide more UV, violet and light blue. I run them 7 hours during my cycle. My meridians run through a high noon white period then go deep blues later in the day for that evening pop. I wanted full representation of the color spectrum and have achieved it with these lights and my schedule.

Kamoer F1 Liquid Dosing Pump

Heater in my sump

natural seawater

All for Reef dosed 4 times daily and occasional Balling B for Alkalinity. Red Sea Trace Colors A and B weekly and iron monthly

Stability is key. I test alkalinity, nitrate, phosphate and calcium weekly using Hanna checkers. I like my Nitrates between 10-15 ppm. They move up to 20+ occasionally. Phosphates between .05 and .1. I feed reef roids to maintain phosphates, otherwise they drop with carbon dosing and my algae scrubber.

Caribe Sea Life Rock. The shapes were amazing for building my scape, but maturity and biodiversity took a while. The rock will still not grow Coraline on it.

10% water changes weekly or bimonthly as needed to resupply trace elements and reduce nitrates. I use a turkey baster to siphon detritus from my display and use a power gravel washer in my sump to remove water. I have a jug of natural seawater in a decorative amphora next to the tank. Water changes and weekly maintenance takes 30 minutes.

Drop .6 algae scrubber with Chaeto 10 hours opposite of my light cycle, Brightwell Bio Blocks, Cycled rock and water changes, protein skimming, carbon dosing with microbacter 7 and a 200 micro filter sock.

3

My reef is space limited obviously, so rapid growth of my corals in not a priority. Great color, nice shape and solid growth are my goals I have lots of frags and small colonies living in relative harmony. I am able to keep some SPS happy and colored up. Deep water (Smooth-Skin) Acropora, a few high end tenius, Anacropora, Montipora, Pocillopora, Psammacora, and Stylocoeniella.
LPS include Lobophyllia, Torch coral, Goniopora, Duncan, Favites, Cyphastrea, Trachyphyllia, Cup coral, Caulastrea and multiple chalice corals. My bare bottom is filling in nicely with multicolor Florida Ricordea, and I have some Zoanthids as well. Cerith snails are my main algae control workforce with turbo snails and a few emerald crabs to round out my cleanup crew. Fish are great but not my priority. My Sunburst Anthias is beautiful, my Pajama Cardinalfish is a stud, and my Yellow Tail Damsel is a model citizen.

Understanding my goals and limitations going in was key. I wanted a mixture of sps, lps and anemones. Flow and lighting has to be just right to accommodate the varied needs of theses different organisms. Consistent maintenance routine and making changes slowly is important. All for Reef has been a game changer. Modern technology is extremely helpful.