_Mitch_ Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Current Full Tank Shot: FTS - 1/27/12 Side view - 1/16/12 Videos Mitch's 17.4g Reef - 9 Months Old Hello, I've finally taken the plunge... this is my first reef! It has been set up since yesterday, 6/15/11. I'm not new at all to aquariums though, all my life I've had a couple of freshwater tanks going. My other main hobby is Poison Dart Frogs (Shout out to any Dendroboard members on here) so they may get some surprise pictures in here too. Anyways, here are some details about the tank: Current Livestock Fish 1 Banggai Cardinalfish - Pterapogon kauderni 2 Blue/Green Chromis - Chromis viridis 1 Hi Fin Red Banded Goby - Stonogobiops nematodes 1 Royal Gramma - Gramma loreto Invertebrates 1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp - Lysmata debelius 1 Tiger Pistol Shrimp - Alpheus bellulus Clean up Crew 1 Banded Trochus Snail - Trochus sp. 25+ Dwarf Cerith Snails - Cerithium sp. 10+ Nassarius Snails - Nassarius sp. 10+ Florida Cerith Snails - Cerithium sp. 1 Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit Crab - Clibanarius tricolor 1 Rock Boring Urchin - Echinometra mathaei 1 Fighting Conch - Strombus alatus Corals Red Sea Pulsing Xenia - Xenia umbellata Ricordeas - Ricordea florida Zoanthids - Zoanthus sp. Palythoas - Palythoa sp. Frogspawn - Euphyllia paradivisa Green Star Polyps - Clavularia viridis Rusty Gorgonian - Gorgonia sp. Candy Cane Coral - Caulastrea furcata Blastomussa - Blastomussa wellsi The Setup Tank Mr. Aqua 17.4g (24" x 12" x 14.4") Lighting Fishneedit 24" 4 Bulb T5HO Fixture 2 ATI Aquablue Special Bulbs 2 ATI Blue+ Bulbs 12.5" 6W Ecoxotic Stunner Strip Filtration & Heating Eheim 2213 with 50 Micron Filter Floss, Lignite Carbon, GFO, Purigen Hydor ETH In-Line Heaters, 200 watt, 5/8" Skimmer Hydor Slim Skim Nano Circulation Circulation is provided by two Koralia 240's. Live Rock & Sand 17 lbs. of Fully Cured Manado Live from Premium Aquatics. 15 lbs. of regular Aragonite Reef Sand I've learned most everything I know from this website thus far. I have two major inspirations for this tank: matth6761's 20 Gallon Nano Reef and Schreiba's ADA 60-F. Thanks for the ideas and inspiration Matt and Schreiba! Also, thanks to anyone who has helped me out in my other threads. A few other pictures: Top-Down Shot Just sand Most Recently Tested Water Parameters Temperature: 78ºF SG: 1.025 pH: 8.2 Nitrate: 0 ppm Nitrite: 0 ppm Ammonia: 0 ppm My goals for this tank are to keep a thriving system with healthy corals and fish (Who doesn't want that?) Thanks for looking! Feel free to comment too! Link to comment
Lee Van Reef Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I love the rockwork! Definitely following this tank. Link to comment
mike007 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 I'm following too! Great job so far! Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 I love the rockwork! Definitely following this tank. Thanks! I had an idea of what sort of rock scape I wanted to do and Premium Aquatics helped me out by sending the perfect rocks to do it. They're awesome... highly recommended. I'm following too! Great job so far! Thanks! Link to comment
Zer0 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Nice aquarium! It looks really clean, and very nice! Your scape is awesome! Definitely following. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 16, 2011 Author Share Posted June 16, 2011 very nice and clean. Nice aquarium! It looks really clean, and very nice! Your scape is awesome! Definitely following. Thanks guys. I was thinking about getting Lily Pipes (to get an even cleaner look), but the way the spray bar is positioned you can barely see it. Same goes with the intake. Link to comment
Zer0 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Yeah I read spray bar and I couldn't see it on your FTS so I was like wtfz.. I say stick with the spray bar if you can't see it, and it does work. Link to comment
dorkymk3 Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Good looking rockscape. Very clean setup. Link to comment
teamschreiba Posted June 16, 2011 Share Posted June 16, 2011 Looks good Mitch!! Glad I could help and provide some inspiration for you Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Looks good Mitch!! Glad I could help and provide some inspiration for you Thanks x2! Yeah I read spray bar and I couldn't see it on your FTS so I was like wtfz.. I say stick with the spray bar if you can't see it, and it does work. Yea, that's what I'm thinking. Link to comment
gio28 Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 definitely following along. the rockwork looks amazing. I've always liked the minimalistic and clean approach to a tank and the rimless+aquascape looks awesome. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 definitely following along. the rockwork looks amazing. I've always liked the minimalistic and clean approach to a tank and the rimless+aquascape looks awesome. Thanks! I love rimless and minimalism too. Link to comment
Rehype Posted June 17, 2011 Share Posted June 17, 2011 Looks great mitch. The scape is awesome. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 17, 2011 Author Share Posted June 17, 2011 Looks great mitch. The scape is awesome. Thanks Rehype. I'm a big fan of your tank! Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 19, 2011 Author Share Posted June 19, 2011 Changed the 'scape the tiniest bit but I think it looks "smoother" now. Might be barely noticeable to you guys, though. I also added a single Red Mushroom - I'm getting impatient staring at an empty tank! I'll try to post pictures tomorrow. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 Sorry I couldn't get the pictures up yesterday, but here they are today: Full Tank Shot - You can see the spray bar better in this one. Hitch-hiker: Bristle worm? Need an ID! Another Hitch-hiker: Very tiny (2 mm), sort of looks like baby bristle worm. My single red mushroom... doesn't look too great because I took this right when the lights went on. Might not be much to you guys but this is my first ever coral So far I've seen tons of hitch-hikers from the rock. I've seen about 5 different types of worms, no clue what they are, and tons of copepods and amphipods. I'm sure I'll see tons of others over the next few weeks. The cycle is a little after mid-way through at this point. Nitrites have spiked and are slowly going down. Also, like I said, my frogs might get some surprise pictures in here... so here's a picture I took yesterday of one of my Iquitos Vents: Link to comment
Squared Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 arnt canister filters for fw? and nice frog. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 arnt canister filters for fw? and nice frog. Thanks... and no, canisters can also be used for salt water. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 20, 2011 Author Share Posted June 20, 2011 I've got a diatom bloom going on now... looks ugly! Glad I'm getting this over with now, though. When I order the CUC they should take care of it if it's not gone by the end of the cycle. Link to comment
Zer0 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Awesome tank still! and that frog has a bad-ass coloration. Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 21, 2011 Author Share Posted June 21, 2011 Awesome tank still! and that frog has a bad-ass coloration. Thanks! Once the tank is done cycling I'm making a frog-for-coral trade... getting some awesome Ricordeas, Pom-Pom Xenia, and possibly Paly's. I'm going to set up a Ricordea garden on the bottom left of the rock worm and have the Xenia a little bit to the right/behind. Might not make much sense now but hopefully the next round of pictures will have those corals in them . Link to comment
xcom Posted June 22, 2011 Share Posted June 22, 2011 It seems like a great start! I really like you rock work I will be following this! Link to comment
_Mitch_ Posted June 23, 2011 Author Share Posted June 23, 2011 This... Compared to this... It's crazy how much a mushroom can change size throughout the day. You guys may be used to it but I think it's awesome! I also took a close up of the mushroom: I'm also trading some tadpoles from these frogs... ...For 4 awesome Ricordeas and a bunch of Pom Pom Xenia. I can't wait to get some corals in the tank! And yes, those frogs are having sexual intercourse. Also, as you might be able to tell from the photos, the tank is having a big diatom bloom, but I'm hoping it'll go away soon. That's all for today! Link to comment
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