J-Ranko's 10 Gallon Obsession

[J-Ranko]

LATEST FTS:

[Taken 9/15/2010]

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Hi everyone!

 

I've been lurking around this forum for some time now reading and researching on all the various aspects of nano reef-keeping and looking at other members' tanks for ideas and inspirations. I figured it's time to join you guys officially and reveal what I've been working on these past two months.

 

While this is not my first time with reef-keeping, I have been out of the hobby for years after I left for college and then started a new career. (I once kept a 46 gal bowfront reef tank with just soft corals several years ago.) Now I have returned and wanted to try my hand out at nano tanks and with SPS and LPS corals in particular.

 

So without further delay, here is the most current full tank shot:

 

[picture taken 06/06/2010]

 

My tank is just your plain old 10 gallon AGA, with a 5.5 gallon sump plumbed below that houses the protein skimmer, heater, return pump and a clump of chaeto.

 

My equipment consists of:

 

* FNI 70w Metal Halide Fixture with an Ushio 20,000K DE HQI bulb

* FNI Fixture modded to hold a 150w Phoenix 14,000K DE HQI lamp powered by a Lumatek dimmable ballast.

* 2 Koralia Nanos for circulation

* Aquaticlife Mini 115 protein skimmer

* Marineland Stealth Pro 50w heater

* fountain pump for return

 

My current livestock is:

 

*clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris)

*Sixline Wrasse (Pseudocheilinus hexataenia)

*Red Acan Lord (Acanthastrea lordhowensis)

*Aussie Duncan (Duncanopsammia axifuga)

*Derasa clam (Tridacna Derasa)

*Green Birdsnest (Seriatopora guttatus)

*green polyped staghorn (Acropora cervicornis)

*Red Cap Montipora (Montipora capricornis)

*Ricordea mushroom (Ricordea florida)

*Brown Acropora (species?)

*CuC of 4 cerith snails, 2 turbo snails, 1 Astrea snail

 

Here are close-up shots of some of the corals:

 

This red Acan is my favorite. The deep red hue of its polyps is breathtaking to behold in person.

 

This Aussie Duncan has a really nice swaying motion in the current.

 

This birdsnest has very vibrant green polyps whose colors I wish I could capture on camera. (Next on my upgrades will be a DSLR with macro lens!)

 

My tank was established on March 11, 2010. I'll be reviewing it's brief history and discussing future plans for stocking and upgrades soon!

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[Taken 5/25/2010]

[J-Ranko]

Here are some pics showing the changing rockscape during the cycle:

 

This was the initial aquascape. I liked it, but it looked too artificial to me, and i wanted a more natural looking scape. I also wanted more mounting spaces for future coral inhabitants.

 

So I bought 3 pounds more of live rock and it became this. I got the inspiration from Dapellegrini's scape, which featured two mounds (or mountains) of rocks of different heights. I wanted the open "valley" space between the two mountains as well.

 

I still wasn't quite satisfied so I reworked it again and it became this--my final scape. You'll notice I removed the small tonga branch piece, and I changed the substrate to aragonite sand. Yes, I began with crushed coral and much to my dismay, I read that they can become detritus traps. So I changed it out at the same time that I changed my rockscape.

 

All in all, I must have spend dozens of hours reworking the scape to my liking during the first two weeks.

[latteslave]

Looks good so far!

[J-Ranko]

Looks good so far!

Thanks! Looking at yours and other member's tanks around here already makes me want to upgrade to a larger nano! *Must resist* (That should be at least several months down the road while I get this once stocked and matured.)

[DimePieceReef]

Scape is awesome. You got a nice tank dude and some nice corals too!. Good job. Are you going to get a friend for your clown?

[systemtool]

Nice tank! Off to a great start!

[J-Ranko]

Scape is awesome. You got a nice tank dude and some nice corals too!. Good job. Are you going to get a friend for your clown?

Thanks! (I must have spent many more hours than I should have rearranging the rocks.) I'm definitely thinking of adding another fish, but I haven't decided on what kind yet. I'm very limited by the small volume--it seems I can only put either another clown or a small goby. I'd like to put maybe a six-line wrasse, though. Got any suggestions?

[hooligan_78]

Let's see some pics of the sump!

[J-Ranko]

Let's see some pics of the sump!

There's nothing special or fancy in it, but if you insist:

 

 

See? Just a protein skimmer doing its thing, a clump of chaeto, a heater, and the return pump (next to a bag of carbon). I made the sump out of a 5.5 gal aga and a couple of 8x8in glass for the baffles.

 

I try to maintain the water in the return section to a level between the two strips of tape for top off. Hopefully I'll get an ATO soon, since I have to top off several times a day and it's not even summer yet.

 

You may not notice it, but there's a lamp behind the sump that lights the refugium from the back (through the glass). I'm using a 6500K compact fluorescent for the chaeto, on a reverse daylight period.

[polarblair2000]

Whats the purpose of the T connection on the return line going back into the other chamber? I've seen a few set up like this and always wondered why.

 

Is it so you can cutoff/redirect the water going to the display with out having to turn pumps off?

[J-Ranko]

Whats the purpose of the T connection on the return line going back into the other chamber? I've seen a few set up like this and always wondered why.

 

Is it so you can cutoff/redirect the water going to the display with out having to turn pumps off?

 

Its primary purpose is to enable control over the flowrate from the return pump into the display tank without adding back-pressure on the pump itself. The more you open the valve, the stronger the flow into the refugium and the weaker the flow into the display. I wanted to have a slow turnover through the sump while giving the chaeto a stronger current.

 

If you open the valve completely, all the water will return to the refugium.

[J-Ranko]

Here are some more close-ups of the other corals:

 

This is my green polyped staghorn.

 

Here's a closer view. The light green polyps should be visible in this pic.

 

Here's my brown acro. It has shown a bit of growth in the past month.

 

And finally a side FTS:

 

 

I can never get a good close-up of the red cap monti in the middle. It's always either overexposed or underexposed. It's right under the light in the middle of the tank so it's very challenging to photograph.

 

I'd love to get a DSLR with macro lens to get more dramatic macro shots, but it's competing with other things I'd like to buy for this tank (like more corals!).

[Rem]

Looking great!

[J-Ranko]

I'm starting to worry about my clean-up crew. They cleaned up the tank pretty good and ever since last week I see no more algae on the sand or the rocks or the glass except for the left rear corner they avoid because the koralia nano is pointed directly at it. I'm going to temporarily redirect the powerhead and move the snails to that last corner, but I've observed very little to no algae growth in my tank. How do I know if they're getting enough to eat? In fact, what indications are there that a snail is healthy? I can only tell if they're dead or alive (and even that's hard sometimes since they're sooooo slooooowwww).

 

There's not a lot of info on snail feeding and health around here, but I guess lack of algal matter or growth is not a very common problem around here (or in reef-keeping in general). Do you guys feed your snails? And if so, how often? Should I be worried about this? Do you think there is actually enough algae growth but that they're able to constantly and immediately mow it down the moment it springs up?

 

I don't want any dead snails, but I sure won't foster the growth of algae either just to feed them. I fought a grim war against algae before many years ago when I kept a soft coral tank.

 

I'll be adding another fish soon and feeding my corals a little bit more so maybe that will be enough.

[latteslave]

How big is your clean up crew? If you're really worried, take them out and let the tank sit for a few days to see how much algae growth you have

 

Seriously though - I see some tanks where people can keep a clean up crew of 5 - 10 total snails in a 20 gallon. Then there are tanks like mine where I have A LOT of clean up crew and there is still some hair algae hanging out in different spots. It's all about balance.

[J-Ranko]

How big is your clean up crew? If you're really worried, take them out and let the tank sit for a few days to see how much algae growth you have

 

Seriously though - I see some tanks where people can keep a clean up crew of 5 - 10 total snails in a 20 gallon. Then there are tanks like mine where I have A LOT of clean up crew and there is still some hair algae hanging out in different spots. It's all about balance.

 

I have 4 ceriths, 2 turbos and 1 astrea, so a total of 7 snails.

 

It's just the turbo snails I'm worried about at this point, since they seem to be strictly herbivores from what I've read. The others are also scavengers of detritus, fish poop and uneaten food so there's certainly no starving for them.

 

I read somewhere that the turbos might like a little bit of dried seaweed or some of the fish flakes for herbivores, so I might try that.

[J-Ranko]

I haven't added anything new to the tank, yet, but I I wanted to add some more pictures showing some nice growth and polyp extension.

 

My first coral was the brown acro, which has grown the most. I added it four weeks ago and here's a before and after pic:

 

4 weeks before, hours after being acclimated with its mesenterial filaments out.

 

Today, with its tips having grown a bit and its polyps extended.

 

Three weeks ago I added the red cap monti, green birdsnest, and Aussie Duncan. Here's the Aussie Duncan growing some new heads/polyps:

 

You should see two little growth buds at the neck of the rightmost polyp.

 

I hope you can see this one, but there's a small polyp on the neck of the leftmost polyp with its tentacles already grown!

 

Here's some close ups of my red cap monti and green polyp staghorn with their polyps extended. Sorry for the out-of-focus shots but my point-and-shoot camera has limitations.

 

 

 

And last but not least, an FTS:

 

 

I've temporarily hanged a HOB filter I found in my garage for use as a media reactor while I figure out a more efficient solution. The corals seem to love the added flow.

[J-Ranko]

Oh nooo!

 

 

I've been observing this polyp-like thing grow on this rock and now I think it's undeniably...aiptasia. I spotted a couple of smaller ones on my heater in the sump as well.

 

I guess if it's not one pest, it's another. Do you guys have any suggestions?

[J-Ranko]

Went to my lfs and got something:

 

 

Die aiptasia! The battle begins tomorrow.

[Arkayology]

Went to my lfs and got something:

 

 

Die aiptasia! The battle begins tomorrow.

 

AIptasia X works well expect on fairly large aiptasia. Get them while they are small!

[mew]

yea, i have the plague of the brown sps too. they look healthy tho!

 

i gave up on my battle with aiptasia. as long as they're not stinging or killing things, i leave them be now.

[J-Ranko]

AIptasia X works well expect on fairly large aiptasia. Get them while they are small!

 

The biggest one is less than 1/2 inch in diameter so hopefully this will be effective.

[J-Ranko]

yea, i have the plague of the brown sps too. they look healthy tho!

 

lol, I hope my brown acro turns a different color, but I wouldn't mind if it didn't. It seems to be doing fine at the moment. My other three sps are a green birdsnest, a red cap monti (which is more red-orange in real life), and a pale-yellow staghorn with light-green polyps. I guess I need more purples and blue sps but I went with my initial stock of sps as I read they were of the 'hardier' kind than those super expensive and highly delicate varieties with blues, purples or multicolor polyps.

 

i gave up on my battle with aiptasia. as long as they're not stinging or killing things, i leave them be now.

 

I hope I can get most of them out, but seeing as they appeared to have grown out of nowhere (and began to appear in my sump as well), I suspect the initial specimen spawned in some way and released its larvae into the water.

[mew]

i remember injecting boiling (ro/di) water into aiptasia before, and remember it as being way more effective than aiptasia x. unfortunately, you do need a needlepoint syringe for that, not just a blunt end. Time to find your druggie friends.

[J-Ranko]

i remember injecting boiling (ro/di) water into aiptasia before, and remember it as being way more effective than aiptasia x. unfortunately, you do need a needlepoint syringe for that, not just a blunt end. Time to find your druggie friends.

 

The Aiptasia-X does come with a small syringe (in .1ml increments) but with a flat tipped needle. Perhaps I can just get a compatible needle (pointed) to attach to it and use that. But I'll try the aiptasia-x first.