Tank of the month: February 2018

SANDRO JELMINI

We open 2018 by reviewing the beautiful tank of our fellow aquarist Sandro Jelmini.
We are in Gravesano, in the Canton of Ticino (Switzerland), on the outskirts of Lugano.
Like many of us, Sandro has been fascinated by nature since he was a child:

"My passion for the aquatic world began at a very young age, when my father took me fishing with him in mountain rivers and lakes. At home we had a small goldfish bowl, and my brother and I always fought over feeding time. From then on I grew more and more attached to fishkeeping, and there was always a tank at home, however small. Over the years I have kept various kinds of fish; besides the classics I could mention angelfish, various Apistogramma, Colisa, bettas and so on.
At 23 I set up my first 80-litre freshwater tank entirely on my own, complete with various aquatic plants and mosses.
Unfortunately, after moving house 3 times in a few years, I had to dismantle the tank in 2010.
In September 2016, now settled, I decided to take up my passion again by setting up a new tank. On a friend's advice, however, I chose to venture into the marine world. At the shop I found a good deal on a Red Sea Reefer 350, 120x50x55, all in extra-clear glass and complete with sump.
I then added the following equipment:

Ultra Reef Akula UKS-160 skimmer

Newa 3,000 l/h return pump

Maxspect Razor R420R 320 W lighting

2 Rossmont M4600 flow pumps controlled by the Waver

Newa heater.

At that point I was ready to start my adventure.
On 23 October, with the help of this friend, I started the tank with a layer of fine sand about 6/7 cm deep and over 70 kg of live rock.
After 4 months of maturing I added the first livestock.
Over time my passion for this fantastic world kept growing, thanks also to groups like BallingMania, which I have always followed and which have helped me grow and still do.
By constantly reading guides and forum comments, and listening to the advice of people like Salvatore Riccardo and Ciro Murino, to name a few, my tank keeps improving.
In the meantime I have also been able to improve the equipment, and to date I have added a
TECO TK500 chiller, 2 Rossmont MX 9800 flow pumps in addition to the 2 M4600s, an Equo fluidised bed loaded with polymers, and a
6-channel ATI dosing pump that runs the Aquaforest Balling method and doses my own phytoplankton, 150 ml a day spread over 24 hours
(Once again a heartfelt thank you to Riccardo Salvatore for teaching me and guiding me in preparing everything needed to culture phyto and for giving me the starter: you are a great person!).

There are currently 31 fish in the tank:

15 Chromis

2 Ocellaris

1 Scarus quoyi

1 Halichoeres leucoxanthus

2 Nemateleotris decora

1 Loriculus

1 Zebrasoma flavescens

2 Synchiropus splendidus

4 Kauderni

1 Hexataenia

1 Ecsenius midas

3 urchins

2 debelius

2 wurdemanni

2 amboinensis

1 Stenopus

Various hermit crabs and snails

They are fed twice a day, always trying to vary their diet with Ocean Nutrition flakes enriched with vitamins or garlic, SHG Premium granules, nori seaweed, and various frozen foods such as Artemia, Mysis, krill, mussel paste and so on.

The tank is mainly made up of Acropora from Australia and Bali, and foliose and digitate Montipora.
A few LPS and some colonies of Zoanthus. An Entacmaea quadricolor and an ever-growing Sinularia resting on the sand. To feed them, besides phytoplankton I also dose freshly hatched Artemia nauplii and, from time to time, powdered zooplankton enriched with Red Sea amino acids, frozen lobster eggs or Nyos Goldpods."

Our congratulations again to Sandro on his beautiful aquarium, and now on to his splendid photos: