Mostly a Florida reef

[Fishbird]

Tank: Fluval evo 13.5, stock light and return pump.

Rock: mixture of KP Aquatics and GulfLiveRock


After spending a bunch of time looking at build threads and full tank shots I realized that I’m most drawn to biotopes. My tank isn’t a super strict biotope because my understanding is that my live rock came from two different parts of the Gulf of Mexico but I have found a couple of marine life censuses that showed many organisms from more southern parts of the gulf being present in the northern parts. The biggest thing thats out of place is my blue tuxedo urchin. I got it before I realized that there were reef-safe urchins that would stay small enough for a nano from Florida so my reef is a Florida reef plus one introduced urchin.

Filling the tank and adding the rock:

 

[Fishbird]

Of course, even though I’d cured the rock and then watched it for a couple of weeks in a QT tank the day after adding it to my “real” tank I found bubble algae and an anemone that I’m pretty sure is Aiptasia. The rock with the Aiptasia came out, and I like the tank emptier anyway. The bubble algae rock I want to keep since it has a ton of awesome things on it so it’s back in the QT tank awaiting hydrogen peroxide on the bubbles. I also added chaeto to the first compartment. I’ll probably end up scraping off the mesh covering the glass but left it on for now to see how the chaeto reacts to the shade.

At the moment, I’m most nervous about what I think is GHA but what might really be Bryopsis.

I’m also feeling a bit nervous about trying a nano as my first saltwater tank.

My plan is to post photos here when I make changes to the tank and also, hopefully, weekly progress photos to see how it progresses (or regresses?)