Hi everyone. I'd like to share my tanks.
I am from the Philippines, and my tanks are a crude compared to international flavors.

My top tank is a 7 gallon rimless bowfront.
Bottom tank is 27x17x12 rimless.

Lighting:
Top tank has 2 Aquaz bulbs with a shared reflector.
Bottom tank has 4 Aquaz bulbs with parabolic reflectors each.
I would have opted for ATI, but Aquaz is already the best I can find.

Filtration:
I never had a problem with nitrates. Even before I got a skimmer, my nitrates were at maximum, 5. Both my tanks share a single sump with DSB and mangroves. I tried keeping chaeto but they keep dying on me.

Skimmer is DNWB-110
PO4 control is Kent Nautilus PO4 reactor, running Rowaphos



Top tank is still under construction. Haven't really arranged it yet to my liking.. Kinda just threw everything in there for the meantime as I finish my bottom tank.


Bottom tank left side

Bottom tank right side



Fish and Inverts:
On my top tank I have a banded pipefish, 2 sexy shrimps, a red banded pistol shrimp, and a pair of antenna gobies.

Bottom tank houses a crocea clam, blood shrimp, blue coral banded shrimp, tiger pistol shrimp, 5-line cardinal, ocellaris clown, and a baby blue tang. The clown is gone when I get my Royal Gramma (I'm not a clownfish guy), and so my blue tang will go to a 180 tank when it gets to 2.5", to be replaced by a flame angel.

I am mostly limited to Indo-Pacific fish. Still waiting for imported fish, which may take quite a while since I only have 2 stores to choose from and they bring in only a small variety every few weeks. The good thing is, most Indo-pacific fish here are really cheap. Most of the corals and nano fish can be had for less than $2.

Corals
I will still stock up corals from abroad. We have really terrible choices here. There are no aquacultured corals for sale. Most of my corals were brownish or pale.. it just colored up in my tank. All my acans started as brown/gray. Still acclimating and turning red.

Top tank is dominated by softies.. Yumas, rics, clove polyps, GSP, and a lot of mushrooms.
Bottom tank is dominated by LPS.. Blastos, green hammer, red cynarina, brains, plates, sun coral, supersun, and acans. I did get a few pieces of SPS to try out though.. so far so good.

Some pictures:







Parameters as of today:
I really have a hard time differenciating the colors on the cards.. so I will be conservative on my readings. I use API test kits btw.
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate >5, most likely 0
Phosphate >.25
Calcium 440
Alkalinity 9
PH 8.2

Comments, criticisms, suggestions would be welcome.

WOW those tanks are impressive. People from the Philippines have some crazy nice tanks. Thanks for sharing!

I am not sure why you would say your tank is crude. It is simple and elegant. Awesome colors!

Crude? Really?!

Some people with tanks like that also fish for compliments by calling their tanks "crude," when they definitely aren't.

True. But I don't think that was his intention in this case. Maybe hes just being humble since he is new to the site

Thanks for the compliments. I have been a longtime member here, but I don't post much. I usually just lurk and get ideas from the tanks here. I would have preferred to post my tank when my top one is arranged... but I was so bored earlier that I decided to post anyway.


Here are the reasons why I describe it as crude:

1. My tank is very simple. My drains are just elbows and PVC pipes. No ball valves, union valves, whatever. Just straight pipes leading to the sump.

2. No high tech gadgetry like vortech and reefkeepers, which seem to be staple in here and RC. I can't even find any Koralia in here, and can't buy abroad due to the difference in voltage and hertz. (Ours is 220V/60Hz). I have to resort to these surveilance camera-looking SEIO propellers for low wattage powerheads. My top tank doesn't even have a powerhead because I can't find a Koralia Nano. A vortech would be nice, but it would probably be my last purchase since the livestocks are doing very good so far.

3. My top tank is unfinished. This is really not what I had in mind.. I think I have too much corals in there and didn't realize how fast some grow.

4. Those blue PVC pipes you can see inside the tank look really tacky. I have been searching high and low for Krylon Fusion but I just can't find any in here.

I really envy the selection you Westerners have. I admit there are some nice gems to be found here once in a while, but it really is a pain to go out and look for nice corals especially since I have work on weekdays and I'm almost always busy on weekends as well. Combine that with most LFS here closing at 6pm.. and you can probably see how hard it is. We don't have online stores btw.

Probably half of my corals were bought in Singapore; the other half being wild caught purchases. Most of my LPS were dull colored before.. it just colored up (to my surprise) after a while in my tank. The one thing I regret most is not taking enough pictures to see a timeline of change/growth in my corals.

I am currently testing some SPS before I decide on procuring some more. By that, I mean myself personally getting SPS frags. SPS are what we have lots of in here - particularly green and yellow acroporas. Lots of beaches in my country, and LOTS of SPS as well. I'll be going here on the end of the month to collect finger sized frags:




My GF took those pictures, just pointing it out since a lot of people think it's taken from the internet. The area between the two beaches is where lots of SPS abound. Current is really strong, and at low tide, there is a bridge that shows up. The SPS are exposed to air during low tide, and you guys will be surprised how dirty it is in there. Not to mention currents of really warm water (90+ F) hitting the SPS colonies without any damage seen.

Great tanks! I found the information you provided regarding what is available to you and the fact that you collect your own frags very interesting. I recently saw a small video of a guy in Figi standing amongst heads of all different SPSs' they were out of the water for hours in the very hot sun during the really low tides. no harm done. Weird because some corals you purchase die within a week, with good conditions.

Don't be too modest, your tanks look amazing!


^^
Where is that place?

Your tanks are awesomE!!!!!!!


and your concept is amazinG!

Jourdy your tanks rock! Seriously they do.

The best things in life, imho, are those things that we keep simple!

Keep up on the simple maintenance like water changes and you will be fine!

"Z"

Tanks are looking very nice, actually.

Back in the early 90's I had a 50g in the PI stocked with 100% native LR, corals, fish, etc. from a truly pristine coastal reef tucked away up in the Pangasinan province.

I still have one colony of Leptastrea taken from this reef that I brought back to the US, but the thousands of corals and most other other life was destroyed due to a cement factory that was built in the area.

Collecting your own corals and fish is a joy many reef keeps have never experienced. Take lots of pics to share!

Got any pics of it at low tide? That would be awesome to see.

Nice tank BTW. Great design too.

Very nice looking tanks. You're doing just fine with the equipment you have.

Yeah, I have seen that video as well. The area here doesn't look like that during low tide. It's mostly rocks with some corals. There are much much more beautiful coral reefs in here, but most are either unaccessible or protected.


Thanks. It's an island off the coast of the Bicol area. Accessible by small boats only.. no planes


Thanks. What concept?


Thanks for the reminder. Hehe. That is why I want to re-arrange my top tank.. it looks too cluttered for my tastes.


Very true. Collecting your own corals brings much more joy that buying. It would be much cheaper for me to just buy them actually. I just like the place... very serene. No people. And I only get very small frags. There's an awesome feeling when you pick your corals from the sea and not from the store.


Here's a closer shot of the water. You can see where the deep parts are by the color of the water.

Here's the back area during low tide. I'll take pics of the front area during my visit.




Hopefully I'd be able to get a Koralia nano or a Vortech. My top tank really needs more flow. Hehe.

Here are some before and after photos of my corals.
You can see how ugly they are when wild caught.

September 9:

November 20:


September 16:

November 12:



November 7:

November 20:

oh my gulay. do u actually just get ur corals from like ur backyard. lolz lucky

No bro. Have to get from the province. Quite a long drive too, but well worth it.

I got 7 of these guys:



Also got a Suttonia Lineata. Anyone know more about this fish? Can't find info on it but it's a very nice red color with a white line running through the forehead.

Updates:

dude, flaming prawn gobies?! those are IMPOSSIBLE to find here. how much per if you dont mind me asking.

I'm wondering if he caught them.

Jourdy, tanks are still looking absolutely amazing.

Flaming prawns are about $7 converted. Hehe.
We got 10, split between a friend and I.

Thanks for the kind words, weetabix!

Beautiful reefs jourdy