THE GEAR REAL REEF TANKS RUN | TOURS · EQUIPMENT · GUIDES

ALLCORALS REEF TANKS & GEAR
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Reefer_NYC

My reef sensei's 125 gallon SPS reef

Tank 1 of 2 from 125 Gallon SPS Reef Tank Tour

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.
Video by Reefer_NYC
Equipment

Gear in this tank

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

Protocols & Practices

  • 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
Stocked

Livestock

Corals
6
green slimer Acroporayellow FijiCaps pink bird's nestgold torchelegance coralred goniopora
Fish
5
Nassau tangspurple tangswrassescopper band butterflyMoorish idol