CD_Scapes
Active Member
Greetings R2R,
I am officially making a return to the salty side. After checking out Saltwateraquarium.com yesterday to get a heater for my 20 long Aqueon tank from petco I checked out the cleanse section like I always do and bam I saw my tank. $79 new “open box” IM 15 cube and you bet I snagged that so fast then sold my 20 long last night. Some might say I should have kept the 20 long due to surface area and space, but living in an apartment makes the 30” of space prime releastate. The IM 15 is a better fit for me tbh, the cube is nice and being an all in one is perfect for me to have. I also already own one that is a freshwater tank too.
This was my old tank I used to have in college which was only 7 gallons and used KP Aquatics base rock. I want to try and make something similar with just a larger footprint and an added bonus of getting Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and sand!
Other than that I really want to focus on natural filtration and biodiversity while still keeping it realistic and natural looking. By this I mean I want a diverse community of inverts but less species diversity in corals and macroalgae. Many of the dive videos and pictures I’ve seen show many areas with under 6 coral species in a 15” x 15” area and usually only a species or two of macroalgae. I hope to replicate this by only having maybe 2-3 soft coral species and potentially a singular showpiece photosynthetic gorgonian. I also plan to keep a single macroalgae as the dominant species with whatever else shows up on the rock. Invertebrate diversity wise I want a decent amount of micro snail species that stay under 1” and I’m hoping to get the following maybe in small numbers but maybe I stick to a couple of these species:
Strombus maculatus (nano conch)
Stomatella
Dwarf marginella
Dwarf planaxis
Dwarf cerith
Zig zag periwinkles
Black ribbed/dwarf limpet
Collostian snails
Dwarf chitons
Mini brittle stars
Pods
Mysid shrimp
All of these combined would probably equal the same bioload as having:
2 regular nassarius (nano conch/marginella)
3 astrea/trochus (collostian/marginella/stomatella/dwarf limpet)
2-3 regular sized cerith (periwinkles/planaxis/dwarf cerith)
8 snails in a 15 gallon to me seems fair, maybe a bit high but again these all max under 1” adult size with most staying under .75” full grown. I am also thinking of trying to obtain a few more invertebtrate species such as a cluster colony, some other larger dusters, Caribbean porcelain crabs and maybe just maybe a couple flat tree oysters.
Coral wise as stated above I want to keep simpler like a toadstool, maybe some Kenya tree or similar finger type leather, a single showpiece photosynthetic gorgonian and maybe some palys/zoas if I’m feeling up for it. My thing with zoas is I want the natural varieties not anything designer. I’m all for natural and wild type colorations in my tanks. Macroalgae wise it will either be a caulerpa or red grape I think or coralline clusters because those have also been cool to me.
Moving on to fish which I actully already have one of the fish I’m putting in the tank. A small 4-stripe damsel that lives in the sump of my friend’s Red Sea 120. Besides that I was leaning towards a Tailspot blenny or small goby species. Again, this I want to keep simple, not too many fish live in 15” x 15” spaces from all I’ve seen. Usually it’s a big school over a reef section but I’m limited so a single damsel and maybe a rock dwelling creature will suffice.
That’s all for now I think livestock related. Hardware and equipment wise I have the following:
Duetto ATO
Inkbird temp controller
HMA-100 heater (coming)
IM 15 cube (coming)
Stand (needs some TLC which will be the 1st little bit of the thread)
Looking to get a wavemaker at some point and the Hygger 60w mini gyre or their mini wavemaker. Thought about a Nero 3 but I think a gyre could be nice for the gorgonian and softies to help with shedding. I also saw that TBS rock/sand appreciate a bit higher flow which the gyre could accommodate. Upgrading the pump is also on my radar to the pro version DC pump down the line if I feel I need it. Also filtration is just going to be live rubble in the back, the live rock, live sand, macroalgae, and good ole water changes.
My big question is lighting. I would LOVE a Kessil a80 but I feel it does not have the cover for the tank. I really love shimmer as it just adds to the natural look. Was also thinking about an Asta led which is the Amazon version of Kessil a-160 or an AI Prime.
That’s all for now, I’ll update as much as I can!
I am officially making a return to the salty side. After checking out Saltwateraquarium.com yesterday to get a heater for my 20 long Aqueon tank from petco I checked out the cleanse section like I always do and bam I saw my tank. $79 new “open box” IM 15 cube and you bet I snagged that so fast then sold my 20 long last night. Some might say I should have kept the 20 long due to surface area and space, but living in an apartment makes the 30” of space prime releastate. The IM 15 is a better fit for me tbh, the cube is nice and being an all in one is perfect for me to have. I also already own one that is a freshwater tank too.
This was my old tank I used to have in college which was only 7 gallons and used KP Aquatics base rock. I want to try and make something similar with just a larger footprint and an added bonus of getting Tampa Bay Saltwater rock and sand!
Other than that I really want to focus on natural filtration and biodiversity while still keeping it realistic and natural looking. By this I mean I want a diverse community of inverts but less species diversity in corals and macroalgae. Many of the dive videos and pictures I’ve seen show many areas with under 6 coral species in a 15” x 15” area and usually only a species or two of macroalgae. I hope to replicate this by only having maybe 2-3 soft coral species and potentially a singular showpiece photosynthetic gorgonian. I also plan to keep a single macroalgae as the dominant species with whatever else shows up on the rock. Invertebrate diversity wise I want a decent amount of micro snail species that stay under 1” and I’m hoping to get the following maybe in small numbers but maybe I stick to a couple of these species:
Strombus maculatus (nano conch)
Stomatella
Dwarf marginella
Dwarf planaxis
Dwarf cerith
Zig zag periwinkles
Black ribbed/dwarf limpet
Collostian snails
Dwarf chitons
Mini brittle stars
Pods
Mysid shrimp
All of these combined would probably equal the same bioload as having:
2 regular nassarius (nano conch/marginella)
3 astrea/trochus (collostian/marginella/stomatella/dwarf limpet)
2-3 regular sized cerith (periwinkles/planaxis/dwarf cerith)
8 snails in a 15 gallon to me seems fair, maybe a bit high but again these all max under 1” adult size with most staying under .75” full grown. I am also thinking of trying to obtain a few more invertebtrate species such as a cluster colony, some other larger dusters, Caribbean porcelain crabs and maybe just maybe a couple flat tree oysters.
Coral wise as stated above I want to keep simpler like a toadstool, maybe some Kenya tree or similar finger type leather, a single showpiece photosynthetic gorgonian and maybe some palys/zoas if I’m feeling up for it. My thing with zoas is I want the natural varieties not anything designer. I’m all for natural and wild type colorations in my tanks. Macroalgae wise it will either be a caulerpa or red grape I think or coralline clusters because those have also been cool to me.
Moving on to fish which I actully already have one of the fish I’m putting in the tank. A small 4-stripe damsel that lives in the sump of my friend’s Red Sea 120. Besides that I was leaning towards a Tailspot blenny or small goby species. Again, this I want to keep simple, not too many fish live in 15” x 15” spaces from all I’ve seen. Usually it’s a big school over a reef section but I’m limited so a single damsel and maybe a rock dwelling creature will suffice.
That’s all for now I think livestock related. Hardware and equipment wise I have the following:
Duetto ATO
Inkbird temp controller
HMA-100 heater (coming)
IM 15 cube (coming)
Stand (needs some TLC which will be the 1st little bit of the thread)
Looking to get a wavemaker at some point and the Hygger 60w mini gyre or their mini wavemaker. Thought about a Nero 3 but I think a gyre could be nice for the gorgonian and softies to help with shedding. I also saw that TBS rock/sand appreciate a bit higher flow which the gyre could accommodate. Upgrading the pump is also on my radar to the pro version DC pump down the line if I feel I need it. Also filtration is just going to be live rubble in the back, the live rock, live sand, macroalgae, and good ole water changes.
My big question is lighting. I would LOVE a Kessil a80 but I feel it does not have the cover for the tank. I really love shimmer as it just adds to the natural look. Was also thinking about an Asta led which is the Amazon version of Kessil a-160 or an AI Prime.
That’s all for now, I’ll update as much as I can!
