Bekolsyra's 30 liters

[Bekolsyra]

Hi Nano-reefers.

 

My name is Oskar and I'm a reefer(no hidden messages there) and I'm from Sweden.

I've had a tank set up now for a little more than a month. It's very low-tech and easily maintained. I'll be writing with metric mesurements and standards, make's it way easier for me to narrate that way(guess I'm lazy )..

 

My tank's a 30l, that's approximately 8Gals, the brand's Aquael. I've got it running under 11W of light +1W of blue LED's to boost the blue. A 24W DIY LED kit from aquastyleonline is on it's way.. I'm running without a skimmer with circulation of about 20x the water per hour (400lph), Now it's been upgraded to 600lph, approximately 30x the water volume and have a 25W heater that I've bought to get a more stable temperature.

I'm planning on 10-15% water changes per week, which has been carried out so far.

There are no plans in getting any fish, just the two cleaner shrimp that are already in there.

Don't know all the names of the animals in there in english, so bere with me..

 

Inverts:

--> Two cleaner shrimp.

--> Three Trochius snails, and presumably some small that came with the rocks.

--> Two hermit crabs, one has reddish legs and blue eyes, the other is a blue legged hermit crab.

--> Many bristle worms, unidentified.

--> Lots of serpant sea stars.

--> Tree Nassarius snails

 

Corals:

-->Euphyllia paraancora

-->Montipora delicatula

-->Caulustrea furcata

-->Some kind of white star polype, green tips

-->Two different kinds of Zoa's

-->Acropora.. non-defined

-->Montipora.. non-defined

-->A few differnt discs

-->Assorted Mushrooms

-->Hystrix, pinkish

 

If I've missed something, please point it out to me, will keep this list updated.

 

 

I'll keep you posted about all the improvements.

 

-Oskar

[Bekolsyra]

The last few days I've seen something running around on the rocks.

Now I know what it is, it's baby cleaner shrimp!

Brilliant!

[kevlow]

Great start! I have the same concept. small nano without filtration. My thread is in signature below.

since your tank is only 8g [6-7 after displacment], why not WC 4-5 g once a week. this is important because your only export and filtration is via WCs. This will also illiminate a need for dosing except for maybe Alk.

 

I think you will love your LEDs. I like them on a small tank because of heat control. will folow along.

[Bekolsyra]

Thanks.

I'm looking forward to my lights as well, supposed to arrive this coming Tuesday.

4-5G of WC sounds a bit overkill.. Wouldn't it be easier for me to just add some Calcium?

I'm adding trace elements from GroTech already, and I'm putting in some ZeoSTART to boost the colors and to reduce algae spurs. I'm doing 2l/0,5G WC right now, once a week. Everything looks fine and the coralls are growing already after a few weeks in the tub.

And also, I have no fish and no ambitions in getting any, my water dosn't get that dirty..

By the way Kevlow, your tank looks brilliant.

-Oskar

[kevlow]

No fish will definately help keep the water clean. I think what is very important is consistant husbandry. Whatever you decide, stability is key.

 

For me the WCs have worked and helped keep costs down by illiminating dosing. I like the no fish part.

The only reason I have one is that is my son's and the reason we got the tank 8 or 9 years ago. It's the corals that I love. I may try a fish free nano in the future.

 

Good Luck and keep posting.

[Bekolsyra]

Sooo...

My DIY kit from Aquastyleonline arrived yesterday.

I almost screwed it up trying to solder it, note to everybody going down the magnificent road I did, DO NOT solder with a measly 15W solderer, use at least 25-30W.

 

This is what my tank looked like before the new lights:

 

Here's my gear arriving:

 

Me (barely) maniging to get the kit together:

 

Now, for the grand result:

 

And a close up:

 

Hope that my babys grow, poured a whole lot of love into them, and a bit of cash.

I'll keep you posted.

-Oskar

[Bekolsyra]

The light is doing marvels to my corals.

My Rhodactis is puffing up nicely and my Zoa's aren't stretching for the light any longer, and the colours are starting to pop like mad. Can't imagine what it'll be lika after a month or so.

-Oskar

[asting]

Looks very good! I'd love to see more of the fixture. Yeah, don't do 4gal water changes. That's dumb, and likely to shock the inhabitants of the water isn't precisely the same.

[Bekolsyra]

I'll stick to my 1-2 liters every week, but I wouldn't call it dumb if you prepare the water enough each time.

Thanks for the compliment though, I'll try to post some more pictures of the fixture as soon as I have some more time.

Unfortunately one of my Turbos died this night, first casualty! ;(

But on Saturday I'll be heading over to a place selling a bit more stuff than the town I live in, and they have a rarity for Sweden; Nassarius's! I'm looking forward til then.

-Oskar

[Bekolsyra]

Looks very good! I'd love to see more of the fixture. Yeah, don't do 4gal water changes. That's dumb, and likely to shock the inhabitants of the water isn't precisely the same.

 

Here comes some more pictures of the fixture:

 

And here's a picture of the livingroom where the tank is:

 

-Oskar

[Bekolsyra]

Got my first fish yesterday, a Gobidon Okinawea.

It is ridiculously cute, should prove to add a whole lot of personality to the tank.

[asting]

Ah Clown gobies rule!

[Bekolsyra]

Got some more corals this Sunday, three mushrooms; blue, green and red. Also got a few branches of Hystrix, hopefully they'll grow a bit upwords and will add to the depth of the tank(or verticalness..).

Enjoy:

-Oskar

[asting]

Wow that's some purple rock.

How did you attach that PVC to the fixture?

[Bekolsyra]

Wow that's some purple rock.

How did you attach that PVC to the fixture?

Superglue, cyanoacrylate to be specise.

Thanks for the compliment, the live rock at the local store is killer, got Zoa's and Mushrooms with it when I bought it.

Take care.

-Oskar

[Bekolsyra]

My Goby died today, while I was at school:(.

Sucks.

[robertmosen]

Looks good. Keep the photos comin'

[Andreww]

Did your tank cycle? why did your snail and fish die? Did you test for ammonia ?

You are moving fast with corals and such...and SPS like monti and acro are very demanding...good luck

[Bekolsyra]

This was a while ago..
Had two different tanks inbetween the one I'm currently starting up right now.
I was a complete noob when I was posting on this one.
/Oskar