Thomas' Reef Tank Build

Your second reef aquarium is where experience starts to shape the build from the very beginning. Instead of learning how to reef, you’re learning how you reef: what kind of maintenance routine fits your schedule, what gear you trust, what livestock you want to keep, and what kind of system will support your long-term goals.

Rather than telling you exactly what to buy, this series is about showing you the questions, tradeoffs, and planning process that lead to every decision. If you're planning your next reef tank, especially an SPS-dominated reef, this series will help you build with intention from day one.

Thomas from BRStv

About Thomas

Thomas is a long-time reef aquarium hobbyist and familiar face from BRStv known for making saltwater aquarium care easier to understand. Through years of hands-on experience with reef tanks, equipment, livestock, maintenance, and troubleshooting, Thomas brings practical hobby knowledge to every build he takes on.

In this series, Thomas applies that knowledge to a real reef tank build from start to finish, sharing not only what he chooses for the system, but why those choices matter. Along the way, he highlights the questions, trade-offs, and goals that help shape a reef aquarium around the way you actually reef.

Episode Guide

Episode 1: Build Your Next Reef Backwards

Thomas introduces the mindset behind this build: using the lessons from a first reef aquarium to plan a second system with more confidence, more intention, and a clearer goal from the start.

Starting a second reef tank is completely different from starting your first. Instead of making decisions as you go, experience gives you the opportunity to work backwards from the reef you actually want to build.

In This Episode

  • Why a second reef aquarium gives you the chance to build with more confidence and intention.
  • How defining your reefing goals early helps guide better equipment and livestock decisions.
  • Thomas’ plan for an SPS-dominated reef with fish, clams, select LPS, and soft corals.
  • The importance of balancing automation, redundancy, maintenance, and available space.
  • Why choosing the right aquarium footprint is the first major decision in the build.

Episode 2: Coming Soon

In the next episode, Thomas takes the first major step in planning the build: choosing the right aquarium. Since available space is the first real constraint, the tank’s footprint will shape everything that comes after, from aquascape and flow to lighting, livestock, maintenance, and long-term coral growth.

Coming Up

  • How available space influences the entire reef tank plan.
  • Why aquarium dimensions matter for aquascaping, flow, and coral growth.
  • What Thomas is looking for in a tank for an SPS-dominated reef.
  • How the right aquarium choice can support the build instead of limiting it later.