Tank of the month: November 2019

EMANUELE CASATI

We are back with our tank of the month appointment. This November we stopped at the home of a BallingMania friend, Pietro Galantini, who opened a window for us onto the underwater world he keeps in his living room. Pietro's choices are interesting because he belongs to a new wave of enthusiasts who design the aquarium by combining the search for a natural layout with the selection of animals with rare colours, in some cases real "signature" corals, in a collector's spirit.

"Hello everyone, I decided to share my experience with you only to encourage those who, like me at the beginning, are hesitant and a bit afraid of this fantastic world. My passion began as a child, when I saw a small Mediterranean marine aquarium at my uncle's house. From there I decided to set up my first Mediterranean aquarium, 120x50x60. Husbandry was really minimal. After about a year I took it down. About 16 years went by, until a friend of mine had to dismantle a small marine aquarium, so I decided to take it on; it measured 80x35x40 and held only soft corals and a few fish. With this first start my adventure in this fantastic world began. The turning point in my life as an aquarist came when I met a young man who lived not far from me, Nicola Musacchio, who has now become a great friend. When I met him he immediately proved to be a knowledgeable and very helpful person, so much so that he invited me to his home to see his tank. When I walked in my eyes opened wide in front of this cube so packed with colours and corals! That time I decided that I too wanted to get as close as possible to that level. So together we designed my current tank, which is now about two and a half years old and which I present to you today. It measures 90x45x50, 10 mm glass, for a total of about 200 l, with an extra-clear front and sides; at the back there are the holes for the drain and return, fitted with an Xaqua overflow. In the cabinet there is a 60x40x40 sump, which also contains a 15-litre chamber for automatic top-off, and an LGM 425 double-pump skimmer. The return is handled by a Newa Jet 1700 pump. Calcium, carbonate and magnesium are replaced by a DP-4 dosing pump, using the Balling method. For supplements I used Nyos's three powdered elements, but these very days I am switching to ATI Essentials Pro. I have two Jebao SOW-8 pumps for water flow. As for lighting, I started with a 6x39 W T5 light unit, and today I have hybrid lighting with 4 x 39 W T5s, 2 Aqua Blue Special, one Coral Plus and one Blue Plus, alongside 3 Easy LED bars, 2 Deep Blue and one Marine Blue. This summer I also fitted my tank with a home-made Forex cover, to stop the fish jumping out, as unfortunately I had more than one bad experience with that.

The corals are mostly SPS; I love deep-water Acropora, so they are the majority. But overall we have:
carduus Pachman, carduus Blue Walindi and carduus red, caroliniana, some loripes, blue echinata, turaki,

Acropora kimbeensis "Bellina", Acropora insignis "Pearlberry", tenuis "Orange Passion", yellow tenuis with blue tips

Montipora Malampaya, Montipora Forest Fire, purple digitata, red digitata.

I also have Euphyllia glabrescens, green, purple and red blue-polyp Millepora, and some other corals.

There are quite a few fish; let's say that on this I am not a good example.

There are:

Two Ocellaris

A Pomacanthus navarchus

A Pygoplites diacanthus

A Zebrasoma xanthurum

A Zebrasoma flavescens

3 Chromis vanderbilti

A Centropyge loriculus

A Centropyge multicolor

A Synchiropus splendidus

A Nemateleotris decora

A pair of Pseudochromis fridmani

Of course, anyone in this field knows well that disappointments from losing corals or fish, through poor husbandry or bad luck, are never lacking. The important thing is not to get discouraged and to try to learn from your mistakes. That said, I want to thank Marco and Ciro for giving me the chance to share my story, and Nicola for his advice, support and constant encouragement. The road is still very long and I still have a lot to learn, but thanks to the advice of so many enthusiasts, little by little each of us can achieve our own satisfactions.

Bye everyone" And now, enjoy!