Tank of the month: March 2018

VINCENZO CIRELLI

This month, too, we are about to describe a beautiful marine aquarium.
It is Vincenzo Cirelli's tank: an aquarium that stands out for its splendid light and for the pastel colours of its SPS!

He tells us he is very happy that his tank was judged among the most beautiful of the group's members, and he wants to thank the whole staff, and Ciro Murino in particular.

"I think my story as an aquarist is not very different from others", Enzo tells us.
"Ever since I was little I showed curiosity and love for animals but, despite my constant requests, my mother did not seem at all willing to take in a pet.
So, one day, my father came home with a tropical fish aquarium.
That was the beginning of my great passion for fishkeeping.
In 2008 I decided to look after one of my own, a 300-litre discus aquarium, and I proudly achieved excellent results.
After a couple of years I began to learn what it takes to run a marine aquarium, reading online and on various forums, and in the end I felt ready to set up a small 60x60x60 cube, where I successfully kept two Ocellaris, some soft corals and a few LPS.
About two years later, with the cube giving me great satisfaction and the discus almost forgotten, I decided it was time to move to something bigger. I replaced both tanks, also because I would not have had room for a third, to venture into something more demanding. So I bought a 350-litre tank that I decided to run with the Berlin method; it was lit with T5s and had a skimmer and a calcium reactor. That is how I began to look after important fish such as surgeonfish, as well as LPS and SPS. In the early stages of this new adventure I ran into small problems, but nothing that could not be solved with the right measures.
At the beginning of 2016, as my wife was expecting our first child, I downsized the aquarium, knowing that between work and the baby I would not be able to give it the time and care it needed, and so I came to my current aquarium.
It measures 60x45x45 and has an Xaqua overflow and return.
It comes with a 57x42x50 sump with a single partition for the 15-litre RO top-off. The current equipment consists of a GNC AM 650 light unit, with the whites at 40% and the blues at 100%; water flow from a Conch Slim 7 and return from a 1,450-litre RIO 6; an Ultra Reef UCS 100 calcium reactor
and a Deltec 1455 skimmer.
Temperature is controlled by a TC300, set at 25 degrees, which runs the heater and the fans.
As for the biological side, there are 15 kg of rock and 1 cm of coral sand.
I do not use a coral protocol, but I feed the fish a lot with dry and frozen food.
Among the corals I keep Acropora, Montipora, Stylopora, pistillata, various LPS, Tridacna and Zoanthus.
As for fish and crustaceans, I have a Zebrasoma flavescens, two Kauderni, a Gramma loreto, three Chromis and a Centropyge eibli"
We thank Vincenzo for his kindness and, with our congratulations once again, we take our leave, diving into the beautiful photos of his aquarium!
!