Chaquita-Reef

Chaquita-Reef Saltwater fish, inverts, corals, live rock, lots of alkalinity, propagation and frags

On Wednesday the ammonia peaked at about 4ppm and today ammonia readings were zero. We are halfway to being able to add...
03/22/2026

On Wednesday the ammonia peaked at about 4ppm and today ammonia readings were zero. We are halfway to being able to add the rock structure to the lagoon. Next we will need to wait for NO2 (Nitrite) to run the same course as NH3 did, once NO2 spikes, falls and turns to zero, it then produces Nitrates (NO3). Once this happens it will be safe to add the rock to the lagoon. In the meantime, the lagoon inhabitants are eating well, look very happy and will be excited once their permanent structure is in place.

No mater how much money you’ve spent or how long you’ve been in the hobby, you are not exempt from problems in the middl...
03/22/2026

No mater how much money you’ve spent or how long you’ve been in the hobby, you are not exempt from problems in the middle of the night.
Polo reef lost 10,000 gallons from their system.

A kaleidoscope of color. Water so clear and glass so clean, do you know which is the real reef vs the reeflection?
03/17/2026

A kaleidoscope of color. Water so clear and glass so clean, do you know which is the real reef vs the reeflection?

Our basement sump is up and running and supporting Chaquita-Reef & Lagoon. Currently the lagoon has some live rock, a...
03/15/2026

Our basement sump is up and running and supporting Chaquita-Reef & Lagoon. Currently the lagoon has some live rock, a few small fish, a few corals and is hosting 6 clams of 3 different varieties; Maxima, Squamosa and Crocea and don’t forget the 3 mangrove seeds.
The rock for the main structure is still cycling and reading 4ppm of ammonia, so it is not ready to go into the lagoon yet.

03/12/2026

What is happening on Chaquita-Reef tonight?
These are fish frye, most likely from a pair of mating Red Head Gobies on the reef. They won’t last long as frye needs to eat Rotifers for food. Rotifers are smaller than phytoplankton and are either live (only good for 2-4 days) or frozen and frye do not always eat frozen. So in this case, the frye will become food for the reef

03/06/2026

Friday Night Filtration! Did you know a small 2” clam is capable of filtering up to 40 gallons of water per day. How many clams do you see on Chaquita-Reef? … here’s a hint, clams like a lot of light, they produce most of their food through photosynthesis.
Not all clams are the same. Color, mantel and shells can all be different, as well as size. -Reef has Maxima, Squamosa and Crocea clams, all are bi-valve and can live 20-40 years in captivity with a proper set-up, that’s why we’re creating Chaquita-Lagoon. A low-flow, high light, shallow lookdown tank with mangrove plants at the centerpiece.

Follow Chaquita-Reef to see Chaquita-Lagoon go on-line soon.

Chiquita-Reef has exciting news!! We are expanding our tank volume from 220 gallons to 400 gallons of water volume. We’...
02/27/2026

Chiquita-Reef has exciting news!! We are expanding our tank volume from 220 gallons to 400 gallons of water volume. We’re moving the sump to the basement, adding a 50g frag tank and a 50g shallow clam lagoon.
We’re just about finished downstairs and hope to go live soon.

Mexican Turbo Snails leave interesting patterns on the glass after they have helped themselves to a gorging of green alg...
02/19/2026

Mexican Turbo Snails leave interesting patterns on the glass after they have helped themselves to a gorging of green algae, if the algae is left unattended, it turns into the beautiful pink & purple coraline algae that covers live rock and is found throughout Chaquita-Reef.

Chaquita-Reef is Meg tooth diving in Wilmington, NC. 28 teeth collected, the Ave size is 5”, our biggest is 6.5”.For si...
02/11/2026

Chaquita-Reef is Meg tooth diving in Wilmington, NC.
28 teeth collected, the Ave size is 5”, our biggest is 6.5”.
For size comparison, the tooth at the end of the yellow line in photo 1 is a great white tooth, all others are megalodon teeth.

02/11/2026

Top down view of the reef

Torch Tuesday on Chaquita-Reef
02/11/2026

Torch Tuesday on Chaquita-Reef

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Wilmington, NC
28401-28412

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