Video by Reefer_NYC · Specs extracted by AllCorals · Watch on YouTube ↗

Reefer_NYC

125 Gallon SPS Reef Tank Tour

2

Tanks Featured

11

Minutes

2021

Released

Reefer_NYC tours his mentor's ('reef sensei') two-year-old 125-gallon SPS-dominant in-wall reef, which was upgraded from a 55-gallon setup. The video's central theme is budget, old-school reefing: cheap black box LEDs, manual ESV Bionic two-part dosing, a simple chaeto-and-skimmer sump, and a patience-first, hands-off philosophy proving expensive gear isn't required for a thriving SPS tank.

⏭ Skip to a moment

00:00:13Tank overview — 125 gallon SPS dominant in-wall display 00:01:21Black box LEDs and boiler-room equipment setup 00:01:41Sump: chaeto and skimmer only 00:02:01Flow: two MP40s 00:02:08Tank age — 2 years, moved from a 55 gallon 00:03:04Maintenance and manual ESV Bionic dosing 00:03:25Quarantine tank with copper band and Moorish idol 00:05:04Supplemental Current Marine Orbit LED / moonlight 00:05:30Sandbed philosophy — no cleaning, occasional stir 00:06:04Water change routine — ~10% monthly by eye 00:06:56Feeding — heavy, pellets only 00:09:16Keys to success — patience and keeping it simple

The Builds

2 Tanks Featured

Every spec, brand, and livestock mention pulled from the host's narration. Click any tank tour above to compare.

Tank 01

My reef sensei's 125 gallon SPS reef

125

Gallons

SPS dominant

Style

24

Months Old

A two-year-old, 125-gallon SPS-dominant in-wall display run by an old-school 15+ year reefer on a deliberate budget — black box LEDs, manual ESV Bionic dosing, and a chaeto/skimmer sump. Corals like green slimer, gold torch, and yellow Fiji thrive under a minimalist, patience-first, hands-off approach with monthly ~10% water changes.

Lighting

Black box LED budget Amazon black box LEDs,

Current Marine Orbit LED

Flow

EcoTech Marine MP40 ×2 $431.99in stock

Dosing

two-part

Filtration

refugium

Water Changes

Roughly 10% (~20 gallon bin) once a month, adjusted by eye based on how the tank looks

Feeding

Feeds heavy, pellets only for all fish

Husbandry & Practices 8

Manual two-part dosing of ESV Bionic (Ca, Mg, alk) — no dosing pump
Feeds heavy with pellets only; avoids nori
~10% (20 gal) water change once a month, gauged by tank appearance
Never cleans the sandbed; only occasionally stirs it lightly for detritus
Keeps it simple with minimal equipment; runs cheap black box LEDs
Minimizes hands-in-tank; tank does better during long stretches untouched
Quarantines new fish in a separate boiler-room QT tank
Success philosophy: patience and letting the tank fully establish and stabilize

Corals

6

green slimer Acroporayellow FijiCaps pink bird's nestgold torchelegance coralred goniopora

Fish

5

Nassau tangspurple tangswrassescopper band butterflyMoorish idol

Tank 02

Fish-only display in the basement

FOWLR

Style

A separate fish-only tank in the host's basement, mentioned only in passing. It houses a mix of tangs and wrasses but was not toured in detail in the video.

Fish

2

tangswrasses

Shop the build

Featured products from our catalogue

Equipment mentioned in this tour that we cover in our gear catalog. Click through for full specs, retailer comparison, and where-to-buy.

EcoTech Marine Vortech MP40 QuietDrive

Vortech MP40 QuietDrive

Mentioned as: EcoTech Marine MP40

ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System

B-Ionic Calcium Buffer System

Mentioned as: ESV calcium, magnesium and alkalinity, dosed manually

In their own words

Notable Quotes

This is a huge budget reef tank except for the MP40.

You can have success using these cheap LEDs.

Once the tank stabilizes you really don't have to do much to it.

The best tip is just patience, which a lot of people don't want to hear.

There's a million ways to do it and they all can equal success — just follow one of them, not all of them.