Tank of the month: July 2019

ROCCO PARRETTA

For our July tank of the month appointment, today we publish the aquarium of our friend Rocco Parretta.

We like Rocco's tank because it represents very well the aesthetic idea of a modern tank, with the right balance between "full" and "empty" spaces. What is more, this enviable result is Rocco's first experience with marine, after a long spell in the freshwater world.

In detail, the tank measures 150x60x65 with a 130x40x50 sump divided into 3 compartments: overflow, return and a crypt holding the extra rock left over from the setup; the crypt measures 40x40x40, with a pump that draws from the overflow compartment, sends water into the crypt, and from there it flows by gravity into the return compartment. Separately there is a 60-litre top-off tank (18x55x70), sized to the little space left in the cabinet.

The husbandry method is a DSB with calcium carbonate of 600-900 grain size, 11 to 13 deep.

Equipment: old-model UltraReef Akula 200 skimmer, LGM 701SP calcium reactor, Jebao DCP 8000 return, 2 Vortech MP40 flow pumps, Teco TK 1000 chiller, 3 GNC Bluray LED lamps and 2 Silvermoon actinic bars, and a ReefAngel controller for pH, redox and the reactor.

"As this is my first marine experience after many years with freshwater, I can say I am getting a lot of satisfaction, and I have understood that if you start from a good base of equipment you are already halfway there.

This year I have run my aquarium with regular 10% water changes every 20 days with Royal Nature salt, using live phytoplankton every evening, amino acids once a week and food for the fish.

The animals I have in the tank are:

Zebrasoma xanthurum

Zebrasoma flavescens

Acanthurus japonicus and sohal

Siganus vulpinus

Ctenochaetus strigosus

Centropyge bispinosus

7 Chromis viridis

2 orange Ocellaris, 1 black

Paracanthurus hepatus

Naso vlamingii

1 wrasse

The corals are mainly of the genus Acropora, with some LPS such as Acanthastrea and Euphyllia.

The various problems I met along the way were mostly due to my inexperience, starting with dinoflagellates, which appeared after I dosed an algae product. Luckily I managed to beat them by putting Chaetomorpha in the sump as a competitor of the dinos, and a filter sock on the sump drain pipes to trap debris. I had some trouble setting up the calcium reactor and with the initial position of the flow pumps, but in the end I got there".

Let the photos do the talking, and goodbye to our friend Rocco.