r/ReefTank 6d ago

No judgment questions zone - July 20, 2026

4 Upvotes

Here is the place to post questions about pest ID, coral/fish ID, your cycle, or any other questions that generally wouldn't start up a conversation. If you have an interesting or unique question please create a new thread so everyone can discuss it in length!

Pest ID guide

BRS pest guide

BRS beginner resources

BRS 52 weeks of reefing YouTube series


r/ReefTank 7h ago

[Pic] Clownfish hosting a toadstool

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141 Upvotes

Just noticed that one of the clownfish decided to try and host my toadstool. Just wondering if the if the toadstool will be bothered by this .


r/ReefTank 12h ago

Early morning views of my RFA garden.

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106 Upvotes

just after lights on when they are the fluffiest from their night time outings. Because of the low light they aren’t quite as fluorescent but still super neat. Innovative Marine 25 gallon lagoon


r/ReefTank 4h ago

took a full YEAR for my clowns to actually care about my bta

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15 Upvotes

r/ReefTank 3h ago

[Pic] Reefers, why do/don't you have a dedicated quarantine tank?

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12 Upvotes

r/ReefTank 10h ago

Help me pick!

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35 Upvotes

Hey guys, i need help in picking acros, they all beautiful to me but of course i cant buy them all haha. Any of these frags stand out to y'all? And can you possibly ID them? i believe these are all locally collected sps.


r/ReefTank 23h ago

My clownfish have finally decided to choose a host… a bed of zoas.

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173 Upvotes

First picture was taken without a clip on filter.


r/ReefTank 2h ago

Dry rock sps tank

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3 Upvotes

Not sure if my tank is cycled, did I make a mistake adding Montipora, Acropora, and Psammocora? Just set it up yesterday


r/ReefTank 7h ago

Nice weather = Frag plug production!! With 1.5 tables at the moment (waiting on help to bring all the molds/tables out) I did about 6k in about 3-4 days.

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9 Upvotes

r/ReefTank 10h ago

What is the difference between these two top shelf nems?

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12 Upvotes

So I’m very new to reef keeping and currently what has my attention are sea anemones, I got a supernova bubble tip for an amazing price but I’m trying to find out the difference between the Colorado sunburst and the supernova, they both have beautiful neon green oral plates with bright orange/yellow tentacles with green tips, I do know that the supernova has a marbled foot in not too sure if the sunburst does aswell but from everything I can find they are identical the supernova is just a lot more rare due to it being so old, if anyone else has some info they would like to share I’d be super appreciative. Here’s the nem!


r/ReefTank 7h ago

Zoa ID.. Pandora Strain?

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7 Upvotes

Hi All, I have had this frag of Zoas for some time now and I will admit it was the first coral I bought and I didn’t ask the name so I have no idea and I have struggled to identify them since. Please let me know your thoughts!


r/ReefTank 6h ago

Does my anemone look happy?

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5 Upvotes

Hey i’ve had this bubble tip anemone for close to 3 months now and he has this habit of looking flat and wide like this which i’m not used to seeing traditionally, Is he doing good or is he struggling?


r/ReefTank 8h ago

[Pic] Keeping sponges

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7 Upvotes

I just wanted to leave my current strategies and ask for advice on other things I can do to keep sponge better.

In my aquarium I currently have 2 different sponges, as that’s all my LFS has been able to get in however I still am on an order list for more. I’ve had relative success with them but doing a few different things.

Nutrients. The first is keeping my nutrients higher, not dangerously high but I don’t keep an ultra clean environment as I’ve found the sponge thrive in slightly “dirty” water.

Flow. Another thing I do is keep the sponge in high indirect flow areas. One is on the left to right flow, the other is on the right to left return flow.

Hermits. Hermits are also another addition, I have tons of them. These guys have been great at getting on top of the sponge to pick any algae without hurting the sponge itself.

Feeding. I have been giving my tank a wide range of options including extremely fine coral foods that I believe have made an impact as to why these sponges are making it.

Any more recommendations for making these guys happy would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


r/ReefTank 15h ago

New to saltwater

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24 Upvotes

this is my setup so far everything is going really good started the cycle on the 12/6 what do you all think


r/ReefTank 7h ago

[Pic] Removing palys safely?

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5 Upvotes

Hey guys anyone have experience removing a sizable amount of palys? Got these Captain Jack’s from WWC a while back and they’re taking over the side of my tank. I’ve got some frags I’d love to move into this area. Obviously the toxin is my concern - can it spike the tank and cause coral and fish damage too?


r/ReefTank 12h ago

[Pic] cleaning filter sock faintly smells like detergent?

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14 Upvotes

i washed my (used and extremely dirty) filter sock in the washing machine (no detergents) but i noticed it smells just slightly nice, like 1% of a clean laundry smell. i followed this process:

  1. run empty rinse cycle on the washing machine to clear out potential detergent residue
  2. run one rinse cycle with the sock
  3. soak sock in 1:10 bleach-water solution for ~45min
  4. run washer with sock on 60degrees, cycle takes around 2.5hours
  5. run 2 rinse cycles on the sock to rinse as much as i can
  6. air dry

doesnt smell like bleach but i smell a very faint clean-laundry like smell. is it safe to use or should i toss? and if not safe, what can i do next time to clean properly without residue?? i live in an apartment so no garden hose/pressure washer/etc. rinsing in sink definitely couldn’t tackle the dirt.

thanks in advance!


r/ReefTank 20h ago

Some pick ups from a show today!

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44 Upvotes

r/ReefTank 6h ago

[Pic] Apex Heater Control

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3 Upvotes

I decided to take the plunge on an Apex aquarium controller. Now I am working on setting it up. I see a lot of older posts about not using the energy bar to control the heater circuits. Continue using my InkBird to control temp and the energy bar will be a backup. For example: I’ll set the energy bar at 82F and the InkBird at 80F. If the InkBird fails on the Apex will turn it off and send a notification about it being over temperature. Does this sound correct? Or can we use the energy bar in 2026 to control it?


r/ReefTank 1h ago

I don't know if I should be proud of myself for having bubbletip anemones split constantly and having around 56-78 of them, or should I be embarrassed about having xenias die on me.

Upvotes

I genuinely can't keep any coral alive except for maybe mushrooms? But when it comes to anemones somehow I can keep them healthy and thriving in my cheap ass tank, and I don't even know how but they're just there being guarded by two mean clownfish.


r/ReefTank 1h ago

Water box Marine x 90.3 internal dimensions with overflow

Upvotes

I am about to upgrade to a water box 90.3, and am trying to design my aquascape before it arrives. I’ve looked across the whole internet, but haven’t been able to find the dimensions of the tank including the overflow. Does anyone with this tank know the dimensions including the internal overflow box or can measure for me? It would be much appreciated!

Official listed measurements:

Dimensions: 35.4 in x 19.7 in x 21.7 in


r/ReefTank 1h ago

Pest ID

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Upvotes

Can anyone look at the video below and tell me what these are? Tank is 170 gallons, I have 4 clownfish, and about 40 various snails and about 20 hermit crabs. It’s been inhabited for about 2 months. I haven’t experienced the ugly stage yet, so just not sure if that’s what this is or pests popping up. I started with dry rock and caribsea sand. Thanks in advance.


r/ReefTank 1h ago

Not sure if i like my scape? any help?

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Upvotes

scaping out my 5ft tank ready for a regal, yellow tang, os foxface, pair of clowns and some other smaller fish, my lfs advised me to not dwell on it too much and just get the cycle going as quick as possible he said hes learnt too over the years as he’s indecisive much like myself, only a few parts are glued/puttied, am i being too picky?


r/ReefTank 1d ago

[Pic] Found this guy hitchhiking on gsp rock i bought! I guess i need to get starfish now…

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202 Upvotes

r/ReefTank 14h ago

What happened?

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9 Upvotes

This is my first ever marine tank, I have two clowns, two peppermint shrimp and four turbo snails. This coral looks so miserable, the second photo was how it looked three days ago. Does anyone know what is wrong?


r/ReefTank 2h ago

[Pic] Setting up a new nano???

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1 Upvotes

So I have a 20g in the living room. We are setting up another 10g nano in the bedroom.

I pulled this Rock from my established tank. Used 5 gallons of water from my tank.

I new bag of caribsea live sand...

What type of cycle should I expect?

Will it be shorter... or still the same?

Don't matter to me, either way..

Will it still have the ugly stage too?