Tolga Güldaglar’s LPS-dominated reef aquarium is proof that you don’t need a massive aquarium to create a stunning masterpiece. Image credit: Tolga Güldaglar/nxtlvl_reefing.

Tobias Neyer, the host of the YouTube channel SeaFriendlyReef, has an eye for amazing reef aquariums. Neyer’s most recent feature proves that you don’t have to have an aquarium of several hundred gallons in volume in order to grab the attention of the reefkeeping community.

Join Neyer as he takes viewers to the Gaiberg, Germany home of Tolga Güldaglar, who is a sports, mathematics, and physics teacher at a large public school in Mannheim. Güldaglar is also a fitness professional, trainer, and coach, and by the looks of it, a very adept reef aquarist as well! Güldaglar’s nxtlvl_reefing Instagram account is certain to wow and inspire.

Güldaglar’s reef truly has it all, and Neyer captures this great vignette as one of the opening shots in his reef tank feature. Image credit: Tobias Neyer/SeaFriendlyReef

The aquarium consists of a Red Sea Reefer Max-E 170, which is roughly a 2-foot cube format and approximately 40 gallons in volume. Neyer explains that the architecture of the reefscape consists of approximately 15 lbs. of Real Reef rock, and notes that a portion of those rocks are magnetically attached to the interior rear wall of the aquarium to maximize the available space to mount corals. The all-in-one filtration aspect of this Red Sea Reefer was removed and replaced by a sump underneath the display.

While the tank is heavily fed, water chemistry is kept in check. Notable water parameters for this reef as reported are:

  • dKH: 8
  • calcium: 415 ppm
  • phosphate: 0.16 mg/L
  • temperature: 21.5-22 C (that’s only 70 to 71.5F!)

And, if you’re lucky enough to speak German, you can even watch for a forthcoming interview with Tolga Güldaglar to learn all the secrets of this reef on Neyer’s second YouTube channel, NEYTROP.

Watch 40-gallon “High Luxury LPS Nano” Now!

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