DensityMan
Active member
Back from the reef-less place again, kind of. This is my work showcase tank. Started this tank in March of 2021 on the first day of my new job; after a drastic change of direction in my career path.
At it's core it is a FluvalSEA EVO 13.5 with the standard filtration block in chamber 2, the FluvalSEA PS2 Mini Protein Skimmer (replaced 3 times due to pump failures) in chamber 1. The circulation pump and heater occupy chamber 3 and both have been upgraded from the recommended specs for more constant/reliable temperature regulation and more flow respectively. An old-skool deep sandbed wasn't really practical with the given space, so I tried my best to get a really well populated 2-3 inches (with bugs from as many different places as I could manage and using two varieties of pre-packaged live-sand for the base. Stock light is still growing everything in the tank pretty well, though zoanthids do not seem to retain rich colors.
Corals consists of donated frags from regular customers along the way, some frugal rescues of stressed/damaged frags, and cherry-picked favorites purchased from Petco (Bloomington Indiana Magnet Store), Tidal Gardens (online), and most recently Modern Aquatics (Indianapolis Indiana; Stellar corals there!). Personal highlights include:
- a branch of "Tracy Morgan" gorgonian (center-stage on the sand)
- a multi-branched "Grube's" gorgonian from ORA (top-right in the rocks)
- a nuclear candy cane (bottom-left on the rock base)
- some Bam-bam zoas (middle-right behind some C. prolifera)
- a recovering-from-brown-out rainbow monti (top-center behind the "E" in "GREAT").
I'm a plant-hoarder at heart, so there are also 3 varieties of Caulerpa sp., Codium sp. mounds, Gracilaria.
Fish are limited to:
- Koumansetta rainfordi "court jester" or "Rainfordi" gobies (2) - both seen pictured below zooming in the bottom-right quad
- Stonogobiops yasha "Yasha gobies" (3; two paired, one bachelor) - pair in the front-right corner of the sand, singleton under the rocks
- Elacatinus multifasciatus "green-banded gobies" (2)
- Acanthemblemaria hastingsi "cortez blenny" (1; received as a panamic barnacle blenny) - in turbo snail shell on sand bottom right quad
Because I'm me, the fish are pretty secondary to the inverts which include:
- Fire cleaner shrimp (1)
- Red-banded pistol shrimp (2; paired symbiotically, one each with the Yasha gobies)
- Pom-pom crabs; with pom-poms! (3)
- Sexy shrimp (6)
- Bumblebee shrimp (2)
- porcelain crab, white with brown spots; filter feeder (1)
- anemone crab, green-brown with teal highlights; filter feeder (1)
- Bumblebee snails (5)
- Nerite snails (3)
- Stomatella snails (many)
- Collonista snails (many)
- Asterina stars (many)
- Brittle micro stars (several)
Good to be back.
Cheers,
Scott "Densityman" Chevalier
A couple months after starting: (May 2021)
This week: (August 2022)
At it's core it is a FluvalSEA EVO 13.5 with the standard filtration block in chamber 2, the FluvalSEA PS2 Mini Protein Skimmer (replaced 3 times due to pump failures) in chamber 1. The circulation pump and heater occupy chamber 3 and both have been upgraded from the recommended specs for more constant/reliable temperature regulation and more flow respectively. An old-skool deep sandbed wasn't really practical with the given space, so I tried my best to get a really well populated 2-3 inches (with bugs from as many different places as I could manage and using two varieties of pre-packaged live-sand for the base. Stock light is still growing everything in the tank pretty well, though zoanthids do not seem to retain rich colors.
Corals consists of donated frags from regular customers along the way, some frugal rescues of stressed/damaged frags, and cherry-picked favorites purchased from Petco (Bloomington Indiana Magnet Store), Tidal Gardens (online), and most recently Modern Aquatics (Indianapolis Indiana; Stellar corals there!). Personal highlights include:
- a branch of "Tracy Morgan" gorgonian (center-stage on the sand)
- a multi-branched "Grube's" gorgonian from ORA (top-right in the rocks)
- a nuclear candy cane (bottom-left on the rock base)
- some Bam-bam zoas (middle-right behind some C. prolifera)
- a recovering-from-brown-out rainbow monti (top-center behind the "E" in "GREAT").
I'm a plant-hoarder at heart, so there are also 3 varieties of Caulerpa sp., Codium sp. mounds, Gracilaria.
Fish are limited to:
- Koumansetta rainfordi "court jester" or "Rainfordi" gobies (2) - both seen pictured below zooming in the bottom-right quad
- Stonogobiops yasha "Yasha gobies" (3; two paired, one bachelor) - pair in the front-right corner of the sand, singleton under the rocks
- Elacatinus multifasciatus "green-banded gobies" (2)
- Acanthemblemaria hastingsi "cortez blenny" (1; received as a panamic barnacle blenny) - in turbo snail shell on sand bottom right quad
Because I'm me, the fish are pretty secondary to the inverts which include:
- Fire cleaner shrimp (1)
- Red-banded pistol shrimp (2; paired symbiotically, one each with the Yasha gobies)
- Pom-pom crabs; with pom-poms! (3)
- Sexy shrimp (6)
- Bumblebee shrimp (2)
- porcelain crab, white with brown spots; filter feeder (1)
- anemone crab, green-brown with teal highlights; filter feeder (1)
- Bumblebee snails (5)
- Nerite snails (3)
- Stomatella snails (many)
- Collonista snails (many)
- Asterina stars (many)
- Brittle micro stars (several)
Good to be back.
Cheers,
Scott "Densityman" Chevalier
A couple months after starting: (May 2021)
This week: (August 2022)
