A new start, nano style!

[neodystopia]

Hi All,

 

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I've had a cheap, ugly 40g reef tank for the past 2 years. I had a great learning experience with it but now I'm looking to start fresh with a new tank that I hope will come closer to matching the dream tank I have in my mind!

 

I cut a lot of corners with my current tank to save money, and I haven't been satisfied with most of the results. Over the last year I've discovered I'm not very good at DIY and that when buying used you don't always get what you pay for. For example my DIY LED array rusted out within a year and the wet live rock (from a now defunct LFS) I thought was such a great deal ended up harboring a huge but stealthy gorilla crab that ate my first three fish! Additionally it's been leaching phosphates resulting in an uncontrollable hair algae and cyano outbreak. I don't think going cheap the first time was a terrible idea, I probably made less costly mistakes in the long run because I didn't have the expensive livestock and equipment to screw up with.

 

But now I think I've learned some of the hard lessons in this hobby aand with the mantra of "do it right the first time" and "pay now so you don't pay later" I've started designing the following system. The goal here is for a mixed reef with some SPS and a few small fish (clown, chromis, etc).

 

PicO Aquariums Deep Blue 18, Starphire Baby! (approx 22g)

Solana Stand

Kessil A150W 10K with Gooseneck mount

Vortech MP10

Aquacontroller Apex Lite

BRS peristaltic top-off pump

 

I'm hoping that the Kessil and the MP10 will give me enough light and flow at the top of the tank to keep some SPS. I've got Hammerhead, Toadstool, Open Brain, Chalice, Zooas and Ricordias from my current tank to round out the mid and lower levels.

 

I want to keep the maintenance to a minimum so to that end I've decided to reduce my volume by 50%, go skimmer-less and to forgo dosing. I hope that with this small tank a weekly 5gal WC with RedSea Coral Pro Reef Salt will remove enough nutrients and replace enough Calc, Alk and Mag to keep my parameters in check.

 

The Deep Blue 18 has a small chamber in the back for a refugium and filter media. I plan to grow out some cheato and run carbon and GFO in here.

 

Let me know if you think I've overlooked something! Also if you have any recommendations for buying small pieces of dry base rock in the SF Bay Area I'd appreciate it. Thanks!

[italipinos8]

Sounds good to me. The mp10 should be plenty of flow. I dont know much about the kessil lighting so i wont comment on that. Weekly water changes will be fine for the purpose you stated.

 

Look into dry rock from Bulk Reef Supply. I ordered both there reef saver rock and pukani. Both are inexpensive but the pukani is definitively more worth it.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...x-fiji-dry-rock

[neodystopia]

Look into dry rock from Bulk Reef Supply. I ordered both there reef saver rock and pukani. Both are inexpensive but the pukani is definitively more worth it.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/produc...x-fiji-dry-rock

 

Hey thanks for the recommendation on the BRS rock. The price is right!

With this dry rock did you cure it in a bucket? If so how long? I've heard conflicting reports on if it should be cured or not.

[italipinos8]

If you are putting it straight into an established system it would be smart to cure it but since you are starting from scratch you dont have to. It takes awhile to become encrusted with coralline but it is worth it for the price.

 

When i ordered mine i just washed it with some RODI water and put it into my tank to cycle.

[bdaniel5278]

sounds like you got it all planned out, id say your fine on the water change, i dont dose on my MR18 from pico, i just do 3-4 gallon water changes a week, and im keeping LPS and softies even a crocea clam easily. Its working out well so far.

 

Looking forward to pics

[G0nePhishin]

Hey!

Glad to hear you are taking a shot at your dream tank! Your setup that you listed is pretty much my dream setup so I wish you the best of luck!

[Veng]

It sounds like a very nice, well thought out setup. I'm a fan of significant water changes over dosing on smaller tanks.

[21093r53]

deep blue 110 might be my next tank, they are nice!

[neodystopia]

Hmmm.. I'm leaning towards dry base rock this time. I found wet live rock really hard to work with and glue together. The lack of stability in my scape was definitely putting my corals at risk of a fall. I like the of being able to hack and glue the dry rock and take time to build nice arch or pillar without worrying about the LR drying out. I'll definitely check out the SF LFS you recommended. Ill see if they can sell me a few pieces of LR for seeding! Cool tip with the seltzer water. Hadn't heard of that one.

[neodystopia]

Thanks for all the comments. Looks like

Im on the right track! Im going to be rounding up this equipment soon. I'll post some pics when I start the build. Do you guys have any recommendations for sand? I'm planning to have a 1" sand bed. Not enough for biological action I just like the look. I want fine white sand but not so small that it gets blown around in the high flow.

[neodystopia]

Now were getting somewhere.....

 

 

I got the Solana Stand built and I'm pretty happy with the way it looks. I fabricated a wood panel to replace the glass panel that goes in the door. It came out really good, got the color and wood grain matched perfectly. I can't fathom why they thought it would be a good idea to put a clear door on an aquarium cabinet. To show off your ATO bucket and salt creep? The stand is pretty nice. It's fashionable and fits with the living room (i.e. passes the wife test!) and study enough. It looks like a natural stand for the DB18.

 

BTW the DB18 is awesome! Build quality is top notch! It came via UPS well packaged and unharmed. I did a quick leak test and everything is golden. I played with the adjustable water level mechanism (the first chamber overflow height is adjustable) and it works nicely. I'm impressed with this little attention to detail. Im just concerned I'll need to adjust the ATO float switch each time I fiddle with the water level. Maybe time to magnetize my Float Switch.

 

The rock is BRS ReefSaver. Got 20lbs and it was way too much! This rock is very light and porous! The aquascape is the first stab at the arch style I'm going for. I'm trying to get some good elevation under the light for a few SPS corals. I'm trying to keep the aquascape stable and small this time. Trying to create some negative space and leave corals room to grow.

 

 

Next step is to add water and sand and start cycling. Got some Microbacter7 that will hopefully help. Stay tuned.

[TristanC]

Really nice choices on everything you've got going on here. I am actually going to be doing something very very similar to this. Im planning on getting the Deep blue w/ starphire, Brs Pukani rock, mp10 (would never buy a different pump after having it on my last tank) an Aqua Illumination Sol, and hopefully a Tunze nano skimmer. Im about a month away from getting all my equipment together and i will be following your build! By the way how much did the tank run you (if you don't mind me asking)

[Riotjock]

Now were getting somewhere.....

 

 

I got the Solana Stand built and I'm pretty happy with the way it looks. I fabricated a wood panel to replace the glass panel that goes in the door. It came out really good, got the color and wood grain matched perfectly. I can't fathom why they thought it would be a good idea to put a clear door on an aquarium cabinet. To show off your ATO bucket and salt creep? The stand is pretty nice. It's fashionable and fits with the living room (i.e. passes the wife test!) and study enough. It looks like a natural stand for the DB18.

 

BTW the DB18 is awesome! Build quality is top notch! It came via UPS well packaged and unharmed. I did a quick leak test and everything is golden. I played with the adjustable water level mechanism (the first chamber overflow height is adjustable) and it works nicely. I'm impressed with this little attention to detail. Im just concerned I'll need to adjust the ATO float switch each time I fiddle with the water level. Maybe time to magnetize my Float Switch.

 

The rock is BRS ReefSaver. Got 20lbs and it was way too much! This rock is very light and porous! The aquascape is the first stab at the arch style I'm going for. I'm trying to get some good elevation under the light for a few SPS corals. I'm trying to keep the aquascape stable and small this time. Trying to create some negative space and leave corals room to grow.

 

 

Next step is to add water and sand and start cycling. Got some Microbacter7 that will hopefully help. Stay tuned.

 

 

20 lbs wasn't too much rock, you used way too little. You won't even be able to keep one fish with that tiny amount of rock unless you've got more stashed in a sump.

[Kazooie]

20 lbs wasn't too much rock, you used way too little. You won't even be able to keep one fish with that tiny amount of rock unless you've got more stashed in a sump.

Have you seen some of the minimalist scapes?

[neodystopia]

^ Yeah! A minimalist approach is my goal. The stocking will be really light. Two small clowns is the plan. I've got water and sand (non-live aragonite) in the tank and the cycle is starting. I'll post some ammonia, nitrite and nitrate numbers as I go. I'm feeding the tank as if it had fish and dosing with microbacter7 to get the cycle going.

 

Tristan,

Let me know if you end up getting an AI sol. That was on my short list of LED fixtures I was considering. Should be a really great match for the DB18! I paid $289 for the DB18 with Starphire. Looks like the pricing has changed recently I also took advantage of a free shipping promo so keep an eye out if there is another one.

[Deleted User 4]

Yooo, welcome to the PiCO family. You should probably move this tank thread to Members Aquariums by sending Christopher Mark(owner of this website) a private message, asking politely to do so.

[Lenny82]

I ordered a DB18 and the pukani rock as well. My tank should be here next week some time.

 

Your setup looks really good! I will probably use a bit more rock as I like the aquascapes with lots of rock but that minimalist arch looks pretty darn good.

 

Do you mind me asking where you purchased the stand. They seem to only be a little sparse where I have looked. Thanks!

[thehobdenmarina]

Lucky Ocean Aquarium and Aquatic Central in SF both have great selections of live rock, and it's only $5.99/lb. It's been cured already, so you don't need to cycle. I poured some seltzer water over mine to eliminate the undesirable hitch hikers (saved my tank from one mantis shrimp). Not one single aiptasia or any other nuisance pests. Since you need so little rock, I'd just pick live rock up locally so you can pick your pieces.

Cured or not there will be die off from transport, when ever you buy LR you should either cure it yourself or cycle with it. Even being exposed to air for a few second can cause a good deal of die off which can impede in a established system

[NanoOrBust]

Welcome to the DB18 club! Looks like a great start... excited to see it grow.

[neodystopia]

I ordered a DB18 and the pukani rock as well. My tank should be here next week some time.

 

Your setup looks really good! I will probably use a bit more rock as I like the aquascapes with lots of rock but that minimalist arch looks pretty darn good.

 

Do you mind me asking where you purchased the stand. They seem to only be a little sparse where I have looked. Thanks!

 

 

Lenny,

 

The stand is a Solana 20G stand. I found it at petsolutions.com but I don't see it there anymore. You might find one somewhere else. I have a bit of buyers remorse about it. I paid 200 and that seems a lot for what you get. It's sturdy enough but basically IKEA quality. Unfortunately I didn't have the DIY option and I needed something that wouldn't look too out of place in my living room. Other options were the CAD Lights 22G stand and the Biocube 29G stand. However they were a bit wide and shallow. I like the Solana because its 20"x20" and I can basically center the DB18 right in the middle. Looks sharp!

[neodystopia]

Cycling Log:

 

I started feeding the empty tank with one mysis shrimp cube per day as soon as the salinity and temp were stable and the reef-saver rock and dry sand were added.

 

After 1 week the Ammonia measured 2ppm. At this point I stopped feeding.

 

One week after that the Nitrite peaked at 3ppm and the Ammonia had fallen to 0.25ppm.

 

It's been another week since Nitrites peaked and now Ammonia is 0ppm and Nitrites about 0.025ppm (using the salifert nitrite test kit high sensitivity method.) The Nitrates are now 40ppm. I'm thinking of doing a 20% water change soon to try to bring down the Nitrates.

 

Test Kits used = API Ammonia, Salifert Nitrite and Nitrate.

 

I've attached a chart showing how the cycle has been progressing. You can see the ammonia spike rise then fall as the nitrite takes it's place. The vertical scale shows the mg/L of nitrogen contained in the ammonia and nitrite.

[neodystopia]

The cycle is now in the algae phase. Brown Diatoms are starting to grow on the base-rock. I added some live rock rubble from my LFS. For now it's in the DT but I'll be moving it into the first chamber or the fuge soon. I've got some cheato in the fuge section too. Lighting is from the PicoAquariums Fuge LED Light.

 

Ammonia and NitrItes are at 0. NitrAtes at 10ppm. Phosphates are high 0.33ppm. I've heard the algae cycle goes like this.

Diatoms -> Cyanobacteria -> Filamentous Algae -> Coralline Algae

 

I didn't get a chance to observe this cycle in my first tank cause I rushed and started stocking at the cyanobacteria stage and continued fighting it for years!

 

I'm looking to add some snails as my first CUC members when I've got some algae for them to eat.

[Quantum]

20 lbs wasn't too much rock, you used way too little. You won't even be able to keep one fish with that tiny amount of rock unless you've got more stashed in a sump.

 

*uratard*

[neodystopia]

A little more than one month into the cycle. Nutrient levels are dropping as they are getting converted to algae! NH4 = 0, NO2 = 0.01ppm, NO3 = 2.5ppm, PO4 = 0.07ppm. Lots of Diatoms, some Cyanobacteria and a little green spot algae are now present. Observing some tiny white Copepod on the glass. Larger shrimp like pods running around in the cheato. I found a few aiptasia came in on the live rock rubble and I've removed them with suction from a pipette. Did the tanks first 20% WC yesterday.