Tank of the month: April 2021

Enzo Ranieri

Playing with colours using animals that are usually snubbed, and managing to create a tropical seascape that literally takes your breath away, is not something everyone can do. One of the few members of our group who has succeeded is Enzo Ranieri from Sesto San Giovanni, in the province of Milan. In fact the April "tank of the month" belongs to him; he is forty-six and owns a gym. One metre twenty of marvel where nature, skilfully "guided" by the aquarist's hands, has gone wild filling all the available space, composing scenes that owners of far more prestigious corals can only envy. Just take a look at the lush gorgonian in the centre of the tank, rising from a carpet of Discosoma and Rhodactis like a tree standing over a meadow, and feast your eyes. Done? Good, then it is time to hear from Enzo, who is married with three children, how he came to this hobby, he who has always taught fitness and until eight years ago did not even know what an aquarium was. Or almost: "As a boy I was given a couple of goldfish, but they soon passed away", he says.

Then what happened?

"Eight years ago I bought myself a small freshwater aquarium; I liked the idea of bringing a bit of life into the house. I kept the classic guppies, black mollies and various cleaners, and I must say I got good satisfaction: the fish bred, everything ran beautifully, and maybe I would never even have moved to marine if I had not had a friend who, every time I visited him, made me green with envy by showing me his corals".

How long did you hold out before taking the big step?

"Oh, look, within a year or so I said goodbye to guppies and company and moved to the marine aquarium with a second-hand hundred-litre tank. Of course I researched first, I read books... you know how it is, back then BallingMania did not exist yet, so it was not easy to find information. Jokes aside, after the first tank came another one, which is my current one. But at first it was not so beautiful; I had mostly soft corals and a nice layer of sand. In short, like everyone at the beginning, I made quite a few mistakes. But then, little by little, the results began to show. I removed the sand, nitrate and phosphate finally came down; in short, everything started to run well".

Good, now let's come to the description of the tank.

"It measures 120 by 45 by 60 high, Berlin method, with a Deltec 1000i skimmer. As you can see, on the right above the tank there is a refugium of about thirty litres. To keep the triad stable I use Triton Base Balling, with a Doser One Evolution dosing pump".

What about lighting and water flow?

"I went for four GNC Silvermoon bars: two marine, one blue and one actinic. Water flow is provided by a Nero 5 and a Sicce. On top of all this there is a TK 500 chiller".

At this point it is time for a close encounter with your animals.

"As you can see, the green Discosoma take the lion's share, and to think that I had bought them, together with the Rhodactis, just to hide the drains. Then I am crazy about my super zooxanthellate gorgonian, the one that looks like a tree, so to speak, and I am also proud of the purple Collospongia, a light-loving sponge that grows a lot but can be safely trimmed with scissors. As for corals, I have various SPS, including some Acropora, the classic milka, caliendrum and various Montipora. Among the LPS, various Euphyllia, Caulastrea, Favites and Lobophyllia stand out".

How many fish do you have?

"13 in all: a leucosternon, a flavescens, a xanthurum, a strigosus, two Ocellaris, a kauderni, a hexataenia, two Chromis, two Halichoeres and a Pictichromis. I feed the fish a mix of dry foods, and I feed the corals with Polyp Lab Reef-Roids and Easy SPS".

Well, Enzo, I'd say we have covered everything. Now all that's left is to enjoy the photos of your tank, daydreaming in the shade of your tree-gorgonian, standing alone over its green meadow of Discosoma.