fraggle rockette Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 Hi Everyone! I've been around the RC, NR, and other message boards doing my SWF tank research for almost a year now... I was in the market to get a smallish tank for my apartment and then BAM! there was one on CraigsList, fully cycled ready to go and even included some livestock for a price that I couldn't beat! I've had it up and running for two weeks, have missed school and not done homework, have been up till the wee a.m. hours on these message boards, and am finally posting pics. Tank Specs: 12 G Nano Cube (stock everything w/ led moonlights) 15-20(+?) lbs live rock 10(+?) lbs med coral substrate 6 mini hermit crabs 1 peppermint shrimp 1 orange (fromia?) starfish ("Mr. Stumpy") 1 coral beauty ("Zsa Zsa", and yes I know she'll be too big with the tank... she came with it though... sigh) Assortment of mushrooms, polyps, and zoas (feel free to ID) Small bunch of caulerpa The first pic is the initial aquascape... better than the pile o' rocks it was, but not 100% what I wanted. The other pics are the current scaping, minus one really dense awkward piece of LR that wasn't happening (it's cool- I traded it for that neon shroom at my LFS today ) Sorry for glare/lighting/etc. Obviously I need to read the photo forums a little more!!! Hopefully I can post some better pics tomorrow as well as maybe catch one of my pretty pretty fish. Picking up some zoas, ric, and GSP tomorrow... YAY! Tell me what you think- any mods I should make or additions/subtractions? I'm really new to this and open to suggestions! Thanks NRers! Link to comment
quy_nquyen Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 looking good. i think it's time to use the magnet scrubbers set up a refuge in your filter chamber. put some LR rubble and cheato in it then add a light in the back of the tank. shawn Link to comment
jimbro Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 2nd the magnet scrubbers, lol. Looks good though Keep an eye on that caulerpa, and maybe try to isolate it to one rock, or else it will send out runners and cover all your rock. If you notice your nitrates staying high you might want to think about switchin out the CC for a shallow sand bed. Jim Link to comment
Nolbi-Wan Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 congrats on the new tank. looks like your off to a good start. like everyone else said. tank can use a lil scrubbing. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 5, 2007 Author Share Posted March 5, 2007 thanks everyone- will do... i was kind of waiting for my lfs to get some of the snails i wanted this week before i put in a lot of elbow grease and destroyed all their foods... will they not get the job done? also, do i really need an external refugium for such a small "all in one" tank as long as I maintain it? Pros/cons? THANKS!!! Link to comment
travisurfer Posted March 5, 2007 Share Posted March 5, 2007 i would say to go ahead and take out the coral beauty imo. otherwise, very nice tank. waterchanges and moderate to low stocking are all you should need for a small tank. the caulerpa will also help with nutrients. hth. Link to comment
nanoty Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 thanks everyone- will do... i was kind of waiting for my lfs to get some of the snails i wanted this week before i put in a lot of elbow grease and destroyed all their foods... will they not get the job done? also, do i really need an external refugium for such a small "all in one" tank as long as I maintain it? Pros/cons? THANKS!!! Snails will help a lot. Mine did anyways, but you will still need to scrape once in a while. The fuge just gives you more biofiltration, although it looks like you have tons of rock already. By adding chaeto to the back it will soak up a lot of extra nutrients that algae is snacking on. Edit: I forgot to tell you nice tank Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 New corals today!!! I got a single mouth blue ric, some cinnamon zoas, about 20 polyps of GSP (yay!), a blue zoa family, some red/orange zoas, and a few neon green zoas as well just a few hours ago. They are acclimating as I type! I also got some margherita snails at the LFS and a few astrias from an awesome NRer. Thanks Gerber77 for the great coral frags- I'm so excited and will post pics as soon as stuff starts opening!!! Oh also new tank pics soon now that it's clean Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 okay- here are new tank pics. the first is my starfish lounging on several corals while the hermits close the other new ones... grr. the second is my coral beauty- i heart her. and finally, the obligitory fts. the outside of the glass has a little bit of streakyness from salt residue on it- what do you guys use to clean that? i'm so fearful of chemicals in my room now- don't want anything gettin into my tank!!! i tried lots of water and paper towels, but there's still some there... thoughts? Link to comment
cab_cali Posted March 6, 2007 Share Posted March 6, 2007 Great looking tank! Are all your new additions compatable with one another? I'd hate to see some munching going on between tank mates. Otherwise, I wish my AP12 would look as good. Have you tried any of the mods people have posted here e.g. on improving the flow, filter floss, blah blah blah. It might help to improve your good conditions even more. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 6, 2007 Author Share Posted March 6, 2007 Great looking tank! Are all your new additions compatable with one another? I'd hate to see some munching going on between tank mates. Otherwise, I wish my AP12 would look as good. Have you tried any of the mods people have posted here e.g. on improving the flow, filter floss, blah blah blah. It might help to improve your good conditions even more. thanks! the hardest part is how slow a go saltwater reefing is! i'm learning patience quickly, and rediscovering awe in the process. i'm watching the munching... so far so good! everyone seems to pick on the peppermint shrimp, but he's got some good hiding places so he stays out of trouble. the hermits and snails get along awfully well- they tend to eat stuff off each other's shells and try to catch a ride (poor hermits- the snails are 2x their size!!!). the angelfish doesnt nip corals at all, just the algae around them (he's a pretty good gardener) and the star doesnt seem to be bothering anything. it's just the aptasia amenome's that tries to bite everything, but he'll be gone soon- little booger is too big for the mintster to eat. i haven't done any mods yet- i'll be adding a chiller this week and that'll set me back $$$, and i've removed the ceramic rings, but i'm looking into maybe dropping a carbon filter or one of those other filter things into the central sump/fuge to remove the lovely LA pollution that gets into the water... i'm getting a 2nd opinion on this first, but it's something someone at an lfs brought up that kindof makes sense. thoughts? Link to comment
jimbro Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 The carbon definitely couldn't hurt. I usually run some for about a week or so every month. I'd say try it for a week or two and then pull it out. If you notice things looking better with it, then keep it in. The tank's lookin good btw Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 The tank looks great! Good to see you cut back some of the caulerpa it looks like. While it's great nutrient wise, it's a real pain when it goes sexual and multiplies instantaniously overnight in some cases and then takes over the entire tank. What chiller are you planning to get? The ICA chiller from Nanocustoms is a good inexpensive choice, and it's rather effective. I had one on my Aquapod 12g that I tore down a couple months ago. Sounds like you're really doing your homework on the hobby, and that will benifit you greatly! Keep up the good work. Link to comment
Bloke Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 The tank is looking good after the cleanup... I, like mentioned by another post, might think more bout changing out the crushed coral for a sand substrate. It will be more beneficial in the long run. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 thanks everyone... wish I had looked into nano customs... i did some research and ended up getting the Current Prime Mini-Aquarium Chiller. While I like the idea of spending less than half a month's rent, I don't like the thought of it breaking mid-summer, and the guys at Vivid Aquariums told me that this would also work in a 24g upgrade if I ever decided to do that (even tho it's rated for 50g) and it has a darned good warranty, plus they've never received a return on one. (They also told me the new JBJ Arctica I originally wanted is a POS- they've had multiple ones returned after fans crapped out left and right and me+leaving for 2-3 days at a time=can't have that.) SOO basically my fishies are getting a nice little $300 A/C unit while I sweat in my hot apartment with the windows open... lol. this hobby is way crazier than I could have ever imagined, but hey... at least my GSPs are finally opening! Thanks Jimbo, I'll try the carbon. Phixion, I've been pulling that stuff out non-stop!!! My coral beauty loves it, but she will go soon b/c I can't keep her and let her get too big and love the tank... sigh. it hurts. :-( Bloke, if I was going to change substrates, would I have to completely run a new cycle again? I guess I would also need a hospital tank or bucket or something to keep everyone in- would this be a 24 hour thing or a 2-3 week thing like the initial cycle? I'd like to switch to LS, just because the more I read about it the more trouble it looks like I'm going to have with my current substrate later on (and that makes me wonder why a guy with years of experience set up a tank with crushed coral? ah well.) Thoughts? Thanks!! p.s./edit: should i be concerned about my starfish being in too small of a tank/not having enough food/etc? he seems to be doing well, but the more i read, the more i wonder.... Link to comment
andykee Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 p.s./edit: should i be concerned about my starfish being in too small of a tank/not having enough food/etc? he seems to be doing well, but the more i read, the more i wonder.... i was thinking the same thing... if you are that concerned, you could always target feed it. i never got a starfish because i was under the impression that they are tough to keep healthy in most smaller tanks without target feeding Link to comment
quy_nquyen Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 aahhh summer heat! i live in monterey park and it was 84 in my house yesterday -____-. gotta love the socal sun. tank looks a lot better now. Link to comment
jimbro Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 If it's a smallish apt or you could just ac the room with the tank, wouldn't it be just as cost effective to get an ac unit? Not positive, it might be more $$ to run the ac, just throwin that out there. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 i was thinking the same thing... if you are that concerned, you could always target feed it. i never got a starfish because i was under the impression that they are tough to keep healthy in most smaller tanks without target feeding i know i kind of felt that way but he looked so small and seems to be finding plenty... i'll keep an eye on him... what do you suggest i target feed? If it's a smallish apt or you could just ac the room with the tank, wouldn't it be just as cost effective to get an ac unit? Not positive, it might be more $$ to run the ac, just throwin that out there. yeah all in all, my roommate kills me when i run the living room ac in the summer for an hour at a time, so no units in my room on a split energy bill. plus, with the chiller i'm getting, it's sized for up to 50 gallons which means it'll only be on a minute or two an hour max... i think... now where to put the damn thing... Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 7, 2007 Share Posted March 7, 2007 aahhh summer heat! i live in monterey park and it was 84 in my house yesterday -____-. gotta love the socal sun. tank looks a lot better now. My tank hit 83F yesterday, and that's open topped! Damn the SGV, lol! Fraggle, caulerpa can be pretty persistant, but you'll eventually get a handle on it. I've had some small piece pop up growing in my tank recently, I'm not sure where from but it's barely even noticeable. Just be sure any you pull out that you throw away and don't wash down the drain, if it gets in the ocean it can spread pretty badly. They had a problem with that down in Dana Point a while back I recall. But anywho, having it gone definitely makes the tank look less cluttered inside. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 7, 2007 Author Share Posted March 7, 2007 My tank hit 83F yesterday, and that's open topped! Damn the SGV, lol! did you not get a crash? i heard most tanks will crash at anything over 82, and your's doesn't look that big... is this just a lie? Link to comment
Phixion Posted March 8, 2007 Share Posted March 8, 2007 did you not get a crash? i heard most tanks will crash at anything over 82, and your's doesn't look that big... is this just a lie? Yeah, it's just not true. 83 is ok, just not recommended for lone periods. What you have to watch more than anything is significant tempature swings. You don't want to swing more than 3 degrees in a 24 hour period. I know of people that maintain a constant 83F throughout the summer without issue. I've hit 85 with my Aquapod I used to have back last summer, and never had issues with that. The tank is a bit more tolerant than some people will lead you to believe. But anything above 86F is when you'll most likely have problems and begin to see corals "melt." But with me, I didn't get a crash, and never have with temps. I've been hitting in the high 82 range to near 83 almost everyday this week since it's gotten hotter. I just keep my A/C on during the day now, but unfortunately it's a wall unit and doesn't quite reach to the corner my tank is in. =/ I set up my chiller last night finally though since they are forcasting up to 90 in LA next week, eek!! As for my tank, I have a 30g Finnex right now, so it's not big but it's not small either, lol! It's 2 feet wide by a foot and a half tall and deep. Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 Went to the not so LFS today... vivid aquariums in the SFV (san fernando valley, ca) that is 30 miles from my house. had to pick up my chiller- tomorrow i'll retrofit it to my nano (you think they'd design these things for the basics- heater, chiller, etc. ehh... whatevs) of course while i was there i got some more stuff - 1 smallish sally light foot crab - 1 emerald crab (that's actually scarlet) - bubble coral - torch coral - frag of candy cane - red mushroom - assorted zoos, including some that look like alien eyes i think - something else (plus a small clove polyp if i can find it) the guy also threw something into my zoo/mushy bag, but i dont know what it is. pictures later tonight when everything opens a little more!!! any suggestions for punching holes in my canopy for chiller in/out hoses? thanks guys- back to the tank... Link to comment
fraggle rockette Posted March 11, 2007 Author Share Posted March 11, 2007 edit: so i'm looking at doing a small prop tank but wanted you guy's input- is less than 5 gallons okay for frags? I just need something small that I can hide in a bookshelf, and a NRer is selling a pico which I'm very interested in for this. Thoughts? Link to comment
reefone Posted March 11, 2007 Share Posted March 11, 2007 u can have as small a prop tank as u want but it will fill up quickly also i like ur sig the bottom one.i take it u heard that from some friends? Link to comment
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