REEF OF THE MONTH - November 2022: Samsreef's 340-gallon Mixed Reef! Hobby, passion, obsession!

[zzl630]

Well deserved! Congrats Sam!

 

[REEF EXCLUSIVE]

My congratulations Sam.... this is a very cool reef!

 

[ggNoRe]

Thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and write up of your system. Thank you kind sir

 

[SamsReef]

Thoroughly enjoyed the pictures and write up of your system. Thank you kind sir

Thank you for your kind words.

Sam

 

[EakTheFreak]

Congrats and great looking tank! Is the green Goni a glitterbomb Goni?

Are the Sea swirl items a custom item? Seems like a great play for the most random flow possible.

 

[maroun.c]

Great tank and write-up well deserved. Congrats!

 

[SamsReef]

Congrats and great looking tank! Is the green Goni a glitterbomb Goni?

Are the Sea swirl items a custom item? Seems like a great play for the most random flow possible.

This Goni, which I call Medusa Goni, as it looks like the snakes, I have been growing and fragging and Sharing since 2015. Glitter bomb is much more recent. The color palette is the same but Medusa is brighter.

Sea sweep has been around for sometime but the builder Eddie only makes a few at a time. Premium Aquatics used to carry them. Maybe they can chime in. This stuff works.

Sam

 

[Pieces of the Ocean]

Sam has the blue thumb when it comes to growing especially acros. Nice job and congrats!

 

[Slicktop]

Very nice Sam, congrats and well deserved!

 

[Dburr1014]

Thanks for sharing!
Beautiful!

 

[Waters]

Awesome tank and write-up! I am curious about your statement that you don't believe snails should be in reef tanks and are better left in the ocean.....is this due to their (sometimes) short lifespan? This is the first time I have ever heard anybody speak against snails so I need to learn more lol.

 

[SamsReef]

Sam has the blue thumb when it comes to growing especially acros. Nice job and congrats!

Thanks Kenny. Means a lot coming from you.

Sam

 

[SamsReef]

Awesome tank and write-up! I am curious about your statement that you don't believe snails should be in reef tanks and are better left in the ocean.....is this due to their (sometimes) short lifespan? This is the first time I have ever heard anybody speak against snails so I need to learn more lol.

Thanks for asking. Best cleanup crew are the fishes themselves. Snails and hermits typically end up dying in the reef tank (or becoming food for the wrasses) and I personally do not like the look of snail shells all over the place.
What happens in the hobby is we put these inverts when the water chemistry is the worst, the tank is full of cyano or hair algae and expect them to do their job…they only end up adding to the bio load and eventually dying.

there is no invert which can do better job than diamond Goby or no algae eater better than tangs…the key in all of this is to plan ahead. You need a few algae eater, a few pest eater, sand shifters if you have sand bed, etc.
Some Shrimps are good additions like harlequin, cleaner, peppermint,..they contribute and oil cool too. I hope we can farm them sustainably.

Hopefully that was helpful.
Sam

 

[eleslie3]

Amazing, stunning, and inspiring tank!

 

[ajjw0828]

Amazing work! Thanks for sharing!

 

[TokenReefer]

 

[ying yang]

Amazing colourful tank and like the way the coral is from the side,high at top and gradually going down,good luck on your new aquascape,hope all goes smoothly for you.
Keep up the good work ^_^

 

[14 foot reef]

Sam, congratulations on this honor, a reefer is at the top of their game when they receive this recognition!!!!!
I want to say that I really like your deep explanation of your process which includes your failures, not many share that part of their journey. All new reefers should read every word of this and mimic your attention to their reef. Massive kudos for you on your success with this tank. It really is one of the nicest reefs I've seen in my 40 years of reefing, keep up the great work.

 

[Waters]

Thanks for asking. Best cleanup crew are the fishes themselves. Snails and hermits typically end up dying in the reef tank (or becoming food for the wrasses) and I personally do not like the look of snail shells all over the place.
What happens in the hobby is we put these inverts when the water chemistry is the worst, the tank is full of cyano or hair algae and expect them to do their job…they only end up adding to the bio load and eventually dying.

there is no invert which can do better job than diamond Goby or no algae eater better than tangs…the key in all of this is to plan ahead. You need a few algae eater, a few pest eater, sand shifters if you have sand bed, etc.
Some Shrimps are good additions like harlequin, cleaner, peppermint,..they contribute and oil cool too. I hope we can farm them sustainably.

Hopefully that was helpful.
Sam

I agree with most of that....I actually posted something very similiar a ways back stating that snails are not a miracle cure for an algae infested tank. They do little to nothing on anything but diatoms and very short "maintained" algae. I do believe there is a place for them in reef tanks but they need to be added from the beginning before the tank becomes an eyesore (along with other cleaners such as tangs), and target fed if necessary. Oh well...I was just curious.....again, beautiful tank!

 

[RUKelly]

Your tank is magnificent: thank you for the detailed write-up of your systems/routines and it is inspiring.
May your success continue!