How much? Well, the lengths I’m going to to keep them is pretty crazy. That being said, they give me so much enjoyment I don’t really see the major issue in it so it’s okay. As anyone who knows me well could tell you I’m utterly obsessed with marine fish & aquariums and have wanted to keep one of my own for the majority of my life - something I will finally be coming to realise over the course of the next few weeks. After a recent outbreak of algae thanks to my tank’s current location in direct sunlight all day I’ve been left with a bare tank - something simply not good enough. So rather than fill it back up with tropical (freshwater) fish due to its smaller than ideal size, I’ve opted to go for the nano reef route, something which I feel will not only give me something to spend a lot of my spare time on, but that is at the end of the day going to offer me a much higher enjoyment factor.

Overall it is going to be a fairly simple system, comprised of the following - my 70L tank (2ft x 18′ x 1ft); a 1000L/h canister filter with a carbon/wool/bionode/zeolite segments (in that order); 2 300L/h adjustable flow powerheads; a 2×40w Power Compact light fixture with 10000k globes; 15lb of Fiji live rock; 20lb of Fiji live sand; and a 300w thermostat-controlled titanium heater. The important part about it is that it’s going to rely on the Berlin Method of filtration (primarily biological via live rock/sand). That was one thing I decided on after tossing up the practicality of having a remote sump filter instead of the canister - doing so limited me severely and didn’t provide the ideals I wanted. So, Berlin Method, here I come!

As for what I’m stocking it with, for a start I’m going to stick to 2 pair of Clownfish, most likely False Perculas (Amphiprion ocellaris), and a few smaller corals. Only time shall tell what happens, eh? It’ll have a cleanup crew of most likely Peppermint Shrimp or Blood Shrimp, and maybe a smaller crab. I’m aiming for diversity so depending on the day I might end up with just a pair of Clownfish and perhaps 2 Gobies or something. Seeings this is my first foray into saltwater keeping I don’t want to get too technical right out of the gate, however I’m fairly confident I’m on a winning setup.

Cycling should take around a week and a half given the method of cycling I’ll be aiming for - dosing the tank with pure ammonia - which will see me ready to add the fish to the tank without issues and give me a fairly strong biohandling ability from the out.

So, I’ll post some photos once it’s all set up with the live rock and sand in place. Right now it looks kind of like shit because I’ve not bothered cleaning it knowing I’ll be emptying it and giving it a complete cleanout over the coming days, so I’m gonna take photos of it at every stage. Hooray for that!

So like, how many others of you keep fish and/or other glamour pets? You know, pets that’re kind of obscure. Lizards, corals, frogs, sharks, moose… anything! Also, someone needs to help me name my corals (yes, I’m going to name them) and fish because according to at least one reliable source I’m terrible at naming animals. Bring on your suggestions*.

* Please note: any and all suggestions of “Nemo”, “Dory”, or similar will be met with a prompt smack to the forehead. You are warned.

UPDATE! I have some photos I’ve taken so far of it as it stands, and I will be adding them progressively as I do more with it.

The empty tank waiting to be filled

Just after dumping some 2.5kg of salt into my water (I’m gunning for around 1.026 sg)

Last night after letting the tank cycle through for around 7 hours or so

About 15 minutes ago after letting it run for the last 30 hours or so with the airstone and all filters running. Current water params: sg 1.026, pH 8.5, 25.3ºC/77.5ºF, other traces undetectable

EDIT 2: Live rock and so forth now in the tank, cycling has begun!

Tank just as I’ve arranged my live rock, all in all I ended up with 16lb of Fiji rock

About 10 minutes ago after adding the crushed coral base and letting the tank stabilise. Thankfully seeings the rock was already semi-cured the system has spiked fairly high already at the start of the cycle. Current water params: sg 1.026, pH 8.2, 26.2ºC/79.1ºC, Ammonia 1ppm, Nitrate 10ppm

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