Cam's PhD Reef

[cameron1]

After 10 years of not having a tank I finally moved into a house that I plan on staying in for more than a year. A little bit about me and my tank journeys. I got my first freshwater tank in middle school and was hooked. Quickly moved to saltwater FOWLR. Again, I quickly outgrew this and by the end of highschool I had a 36 gallon AIO mixed reef and was the (self-proclaimed) youngest clownfish breeder in Colorado. Then I went to college, worked in california for two years and started my PhD in 2018. This year I moved into a house that I plan on staying in for at least the next two years so I figured it was the perfect time to get a tank again! I decided to get a 40 gallon IM Nuvo Fusion. So far, I am in the first week of the cycle using microbacter startxlm and ammonium chloride. I again plan on keeping a mixed reef and am excited to keep everyone updated! Also, my PhD is in photochemistry so I have been geeking out on water chemistry and lighting. Hopefully I do not disappoint in those regards.

 

Here is a pic of the tank as of today:

[Leoito]

Looking good! What rock and sand are you taking advantage of? Any plans for livestock yet?

[cameron1]

26 minutes ago, Leoito said:

Looking good! What rock and sand are you taking advantage of? Any plans for livestock yet?

Thanks! I’m using real reef rock (~35 lb) and Fiji pink Arag-alive sand (~25-30lb). Unfortunately the real reef rock was pretty dry by the time it got to me so I’m not sure if I got the advantage from their curing, but I love the way it looks.

 

right now the live stock plan is:

fish and inverts:

- 2 onyx percula, assuming I can find them. Was never a huge fan of designer clowns.

-pistol shrimp goby pair

-last fish will either be a long nosed hawk or a banghai cardinal. The last long nosed I had was beautiful but got pretty aggressive.
- bloodfire shrimp

 

Cleanup crew: 

- I’ll let John over at reef cleaners help me with this. He did a great job last time for pretty cheap.

 

Coral:

a mix of everything haha. I just love sps, lps and softies. I’m putting together a drawing right now of what I’m planning and I’ll share that when it’s done.

 

 

[cameron1]

Been a while since I last posted but everything is starting to look good! I’ve only lost one monti and a melted zoa so far which I think is pretty good.

[cameron1]

Time for another long delayed update! I had quite the battle with hair algae that I was finally able to fix with fluconazole (seriously a god send). Here are a few pics during the hair algae out break, a post fluconazole picture and a picture of my lovely euphyllia garden!