We love Japanese reef aquariums. They are simple in design, but appeal to a complex array of senses and they are just so different than what we see here in the US. The rock structure is beyond minimal, and the little bit of rock that is present is strategically covered by large plating Acropora colonies, most of which are of the deepwater variety. Couple that look with the long list of rare fish that usually stock these tanks, and you’ve got a real eye-popper. The video above, which is the latest creation from YouTuber “pontyandayo“, is a like a scaled down version of the modern day full-blown Japanese reef, complete with large corals and a few not-so-common fish. According to the video’s description, the aquarium measures a mere 600mm × 300mm × 360mm, which is roughly 24″ x 12″ x 14” or approximately 17 gallons. The tank looks so much bigger than that, right?
Understanding these dimensions totally challenges our sense of scale, which was already being thrown off by the firefish that looked far larger than they should when compared to the other fish in the tank. It’s not the firefish that are huge, but everything else is just proportionally small. Continuing on with our view of this tank, we get past the sheer beauty and honestly can’t help but cringe a little at the thought of so many fish with the potential to get quite large sitting in such a small aquarium. That being said, the fish all appear very healthy and we assume this tiny tank is plumbed into one of the larger setups that “pontyandayo” is world famous for. Which brings me to my next point. Even though the fish in this aquarium are probably going to be relocated as they get larger, we don’t recommend purchasing fish that get far too large to be housed in your own aquarium, regardless of whether or not you plan on upgrading to a larger tank or trading out the fish for something else down the road.
