Tank of the month: December 2020

SALVATORE SCROPPO

Here we are for our usual monthly appointment with the "tank of the month".

Seventeen years. Yes indeed, you read that right: the marine aquarium of our Turin member Salvatore Scroppo is seventeen years old. And it wears them brilliantly, seeing as we chose it as December's "tank of the month". "Well yes, do not expect to see the classic modern aquarium with a sump, a super-performing skimmer, the latest-generation light and so on", he says, "but I assure you the result is still a marvel. Of course, I do not have forests of Acropora or other SPS, since mine is certainly not a "lean" tank, but the show is guaranteed. After all, I do have some experience, since I have been passionate about aquariums ever since I was a boy".

"Come on, tell us".

"At sixteen, when I started helping my father on his building site, every day I walked past an aquarium shop in Turin. I already had a little money put aside, so, with my parents' permission, I set up my first small freshwater tank. A hundred litres with the classic "mixed bag": Betta splendens, Barbus, platies and so on. Later I moved to African cichlids such as Pseudotropheus, and the passion took hold. The years went by, and I had the chance to have room for a bigger aquarium in the basement. It was 1990 or thereabouts, and I took the big step: my first marine aquarium".

"A small tank to start with?".

"Not at all, back then there was no such thing as a "small" marine aquarium. I set up a 600-litre tank with a huge trickle filter. Needless to say, hard corals were hardly talked about in those days; you kept just a few hardy soft corals like Sarco and Discosoma. LED lamps were science fiction too; there were only fluorescent tubes or at most HQI".

"Then more years went by...".

"And finally, in 2003, I set up the tank I still have, which I have practically never changed. It measures 137 by 42 by 60 centimetres, for a capacity of about 300 litres. Since the cabinet underneath did not allow it, I did not build the classic sump. Instead there are two side compartments, on the two short sides, connected to the tank through holes. In the left-hand compartment there is a Tunze skimmer, old by now but still efficient, plus a small flow pump; the right-hand one is used as a mechanical filter".

"A mechanical filter in a marine tank?"

"Yes, I know it is heresy, but it has always worked well for me. It is loaded with perlon wool and carbon, and when needed I add resins. The heater is also in this compartment".

"What husbandry method do you use, Berlin or DSB?"

"DSB, always. I could never do without sand. In my opinion it is ideal in an aquarium like this.

"Lighting, water flow?".

"Nothing out of this world, quite the opposite. I light it with 3 LED units built by a trusted craftsman, supplemented by 2 Easy LED bars, one Deep and one Marine. As flow pumps I use two Hydors in random mode".

"Let's come to the inhabitants of your magnificent aquarium".

"As you can see, there are almost exclusively soft corals and LPS. I have "ancient" pieces, for example a Turbinaria that has just turned 16. Then there is a bit of everything: Euphyllia, Lobophyllia, Trachyphyllia, Plerogyra, Caulastrea and so on, practically the most classic LPS, while as SPS I only have digitate and foliose Montipora. As for soft corals, plenty of room for Sinularia, Rhodactis and Actinodiscus.

"How many fish, and which?".

"I have 3 Chrysiptera, a flavescens, 2 Centropyge (bicolor and loriculus) and a magnificent Calloplesiops altivelis, which is sixteen years old like the Turbinaria I mentioned".

"How do you look after all these riches?".

"I make two water changes a month of about 10-15 per cent and use neither a reactor nor Balling, adding the triad elements by hand when needed. I do not feed the corals individually; once a week I spread a mix of fish eggs, Mysis and krill soaked in amino acids in the tank. I feed the fish three times a day with a wide variety of food, both dry and frozen".

"Do you use live phyto and zoo?".

"No, they are not for me; I prefer to stick to dry and frozen. After all, I still see the results: my animals are healthy. You can see for yourselves: feast your eyes on the photos. Thanks to everyone, and thanks to BallingMania for choosing my tank!".