The 5,000 gallon home reef

Gear in this tank

Lighting

EcoTech Marine Radion G6 ×20 $999.99in stock

Skimmer

Deltec $515.99in stock

Return

Abyzz A400 (six units on surface returns)

Flow

Sea Swirl ×4, Abyzz A400 surface returns ×6

Controller

Neptune Systems Apex $989.99in stock

Dosing

calcium reactor

Filtration

berlin / algae scrubber / roller floss

Salt

Tropic Marin $23.99in stock

Water Changes

One or two water changes per week (~330 gallons) from elevated mixing tanks above the sump

Feeding

Reef Nutrition auto feeder on dose system metering 5-6 times/day, two dry feeders, plus 10 sheets of nori Monday/Wednesday/Friday

Protocols & Practices

• Aquascape pushed back and built low (~1/3 height) to grow up and forward, leaving fish space.
• Divers enter the tank weekly to clean, move, and prune corals into optimal light/flow.
• Constantly prune/whack back fast growers so corals don't shade or burn each other.
• Seeded with cured live rock from the Keys for biology rather than dry boat rock.
• Heavy redundancy: dual chillers on staggered thermostats so water never exceeds 80F.
• Corals glued with cyanoacrylate to the back wall to encourage pedaling and encrusting.
• Capture and log all fish quarterly into a database to track stocking and losses.
• No zoanthids or softies — intentional stony-only reef grown out over 2.5 years.

Target Parameters

Livestock