My Reef Aquarium

[IdahoOrchid]

This is a picture of my 29 gallon (nano) reef aquarium that I started last Summer. It has been really fun to watch the active and interesting life forms that now call my office their home. I'll attach a few pictures for you to enjoy. Hope you like them as much as I enjoy photographing them.

[WhiteRabbit]

wow
thats gorgeous!
wish I felt up to having a salt water aquarium - they are beautiful
I definitely look forward to seeing more piix

[Becca]

Wow Steven that looks great! Now it is time for you to stop on by and set me up one of those! Oh I forgot to mention, when I move into a larger house that is...lol. I want one someday!

[cb977]

Steven, that is fantastic!
You've done a wonderful job with it!

Is there a lot of work involved in that?

[whygreenberg]

WOW! That is amazing, Steven! Those are some crazy critters!

[IdahoOrchid]

There is a lot of work initially depending on how you decide to set it up. It can be fairly easy too. Took me several months of studying and planning, mostly to make sure that the system would not overflow at and after a power failure ( a wifey requirement ). It IS expensive though. No one thing is particularly expensive, but all together..........

[cb977]

Thanks Steven...it is just lovely!

[isurus79]

Steven,
That is a killer setup! How big is your sump and are you using a refugium? I also love that first Zoa you posted, its colors are amazing! Im also curious about that clownfish. Is that an occelaris with an all orange color morph? Also, Im curious about the object (live rock with anemones?) in the middle/top part of the tank that is seen in the pic of the whole tank. What is that? Overall, Im really impressed with that setup! Congrats!

I just set up a 55 gallon at the beginning of December and set up a 12 gallon nano yesterday! Any tips on the nano care? I know the smaller the tank, the tougher it is to care for.

[IdahoOrchid]

Originally Posted by isurus79

How big is your sump and are you using a refugium?

I am using a 20 standard divided into 3 sections: Drain/Skimmer section, refuge and return. The first two sections are separated by a bubble trap. I have a 2" sand bed in the fuge along with some rock and macro algae. This is were the two little shrimp like critters (and many others) hang out.

Originally Posted by isurus79

I also love that first Zoa you posted, its colors are amazing!

That one does not have a name that I am aware of. I have lots of other reds and oranges that I do not have pictures of yet. Looking to get some BLUES in the next few weeks.

Originally Posted by isurus79

Im also curious about that clownfish. Is that an occelaris with an all orange color morph?

Yes, it is a color morph of the normal "nemo" clown fish. It is called a Naked Clown.

Originally Posted by isurus79

Also, Im curious about the object (live rock with anemones?) in the middle/top part of the tank that is seen in the pic of the whole tank. What is that?

That is my return overflow. I am glad it looks like live rock. I'll post a link to my build thread so you can see why it does. What looks like an anemone is actually a Zoa called Armor of God. You should see it under just my actinic lights!!!!

Originally Posted by isurus79

Overall, Im really impressed with that setup! Congrats!

I just set up a 55 gallon at the beginning of December and set up a 12 gallon nano yesterday! Any tips on the nano care? I know the smaller the tank, the tougher it is to care for.

Thanks to you and everyone else that has been wowed by my endeavor. It has been a great deal of fun and I still have many things I want and need to accomplish to give it more polish.

Nanos are not that much different. You just need to be more regular with water changes and watch your temps. If you a/c your house it should be OK, otherwise lots of fans will help with evaporation for cooling. ATO becomes VERY critical for teh smaller tanks too.

Being in HI you should have access to LOTS of cool fish and corals for pretty cheap!!!!

[isurus79]

Originally Posted by IdahoOrchid

Being in HI you should have access to LOTS of cool fish and corals for pretty cheap!!!!

Yes and no. The fish here are really cheap (especially since I can catch my own and I work for Hawaii's largest wholesaler!!) but unfortunately the corals are illegal. It is illegal to harvest your own coral and it is illegal to import ALL invertebrates!!!!!!! Very frustrating. So we are limited to collecting blue octocoral (0.25" tall) and Zoas for the aquarium with no hard corals what-so-ever. On a lighter note, I was able to collect some really cool Zoas yesterday! One type is a large burgundy red Zoa and the other is a small (Palythoa maybe?) guy with a glowing green center. Very cool! If you get a chance, do post more pics! They look great!