Hello nano-reefer's!

Little background first, for what it's worth... This is probably gonna be lengthy, I tend to be too thorough in the early goings

Started keeping freshwater fish about a year ago, went from a 10 gallon, to two 10 gallons to a 44 gallon corner tank.



After I got bored with that (about a month ago) I started exploring my options with saltwater. I didn't particularly like the dimensions and angles of the corner tank so I sold it and have decided to turn one of my ten gallons into a rimless (top gone only) nano-reef.

This thread is intended to, one, introduce myself (Hi my name is Shane) and two, track my progress.

That said, I have been lurking for about 10 days now, and have finally got the motivation to begin this thread... Here's how it started...


10/31/09: Bought a Tetra 45 Whisper (On sale for $19.99 couldn't say no, figured the flow would be adequate for a little while, till I plumbed a sump or something) IO Reef Crystals, 20LB bag of Carib-sea crushed aragonite LS, and 12LBS of cured Fiji live rock from one of my local shops. Here's a pic of the initial setup... I used my spare ten (scratched to $hi^) for now as I only plan to cure my LR and get a CUC going before I move everything to my rimless DIY...



I let everything settle in for about 36 hours then decided I needed to check out another saltwater store's inventory. In my initial haste I rushed the purchase of LR before looking at all I had available to me in my area. I say this because the Aquaculture rock at store number two was so much more beautiful than my drab and dead looking fiji scape. I decided to buy a small one pound piece covered in coralline to help seed the tank with all those good looking purples. This was mistake number two. The piece the guy sold me was half covered with a dying sponge... (Who am I to know this?? Im new) So I go back and tell him I saw a huge ammonia spike overnight and he says he shouldn't have sold that rock it was an accident, explained that the sponge probably fouled the water.. blah blah. To make up for it he takes all my fiji rock and hooks me up with his nice aquaculture stuff. So this appeases me....

Enter tank pic two, around 11/2/09:



Ammonia is like 4.0 at this point... I was hoping to skip the cycle with cured rock... so much for that....

So I have been testing twice daily, and the cycle is going rather quickly... Here's some random pictures I took while waiting for it to cycle...





added a little more rock... 11/6/09



That is how it looks as of this post 11/9/09. Ammonia is at trace levels tonight, Trites dropping. Tomorrow I will be doing a 50% WC with RO/DI water (tank was originally setup with Tap water, but I have been Toping off with RO/DI and will only use pure water form here on out)

No for some pics of the DIY progress...








Still planning lights.. Gonna run a Koralia 1, and a closed loop surface skimmer in tank. Simple. Lots of WC's will keep params in check... once I add coral i'll worry about dosing or whatnot... one step at a time though.


Heres my temporary tank setup...



I am going to introduce 2 pep shrimp in the next couple days, as I have seen about 3 Quarter sized aptasia come out. Fingers crossed that works. If not at least I have no coral or fish to disturb if I have to inject.

Done... for now....



Even though no one knows I exist as of me typing this... I already want to thank EVERYONE who posts on here. I've learned so much over the past 10 days. The initial forum scour and planning phase might be my favorite part of any new hobby. So here's to that. Thanks again guys!

Welcome to nano-reef =)

looks like your off to a good start. you have the right mindset in taking things nice and slow.
i really like the colors on that rock.
what are you planning to keep coral and fish wise?
oh and what light are you planning to use?

That table you have the tank on does not look like it's adequately or safely supporting the bottom of the tank. The pressure should be on the rim, and only the rim. It looks like the bevel on the table is putting the pressure on the glass bottom. That would be a recipe for some serious disaster, IMO.

Agree.

Im a little confused... yes it does overhang a little on each edge. There is no bevel or rounded edge to the end table though. Its just solid pine. And the bottom tank rim keeps all the glass up off the stand. I had this tank setup growing snails on this table for about 9 months and never had an issue. Maybe the picture is deceiving? Again this is only temporary, I'm exploring my options of modding another more adequate sized stand to hold the tank and insert some metal tubing to hold a pendant of some sorts.

What blacksumbel is saying is that the rim itself of the tank should be supported, not hanging over. In the last pic, it's clear that the glass panes on the side are just floating with the rim cantilevered to support them.

So I took the warnings serious... You guys know way more than I ever will... Got my rimless setup on a brand new stand and moved everything over... pics tomorrow...

Yeah in bigger tanks when the rims hang over, the glass can bust.

Quick update... Crappy picture.



Moved the tank contents into the rimless and got it all setup on a new stand. Im liking this new scape a lot, gonna stick with it after 45 different attempts. Added the Koralia 1 (these things are sweet, wanted one since I first saw it in my local shop) and I'm running the HOB to polish the still-murky water. Have a surface skimmer on order and still haven't decided whether to just hook it up to this HOB (a Tetra Whisper 45 = Lots of flow in a 10 gallon) or go with my powerhead hooked to surface skimmer plan.

Anyone have guesses on the hitchhiker on the back wall? He had a couple antennae and appeared "fuzzy".

Lighting is now my issue because I didn't plan on using this rimless tank yet. Im gonna DIY something up for the time being, until then don't mind the crappy 18" fixture resting - on - the - glass - sideways - look. It was only for pictures sake. No electrocution risk! (minimal anyways lol)

During the move I did my first WC, used 50% new RO/DI water at a bit higher salinity. Im right at 1.025 now. Gonna have to keep an eye on params for the next 24 to 48 hours.... woohoo more waiting

It's hard to ID the hitchhiker without a closer pic. Check the identfication forum (first the "ultimate ID thread") for some help.

More pics... Somewhat better quality. I need a nicer camera.

Another one of rock work, cleaner water today. I used some AquaMend to make a better hold:



Whole Setup:



Top Down:





Saw a mini-cycle start... To be expected after moving everything so soon after the initial params zero'd out. Waiting it out while trying to figure out my light situation. Need $$$ haha


How's it all look? Don't be scared to be critical, It's why I am doing this!

It looks way better than before

Been busy with school... Time for an update:

on 11/13/09 I added 5 hermits, 5 ness snails, and 2 peppermint shrimp (had aiptasia). One of the hermits turned out to be what I think is a conch. So oh well, LFS mistake but I dont care.

The snails and hermits are all doing fine, grazing constantly. The peps I rarely see (how do they hide in a 10 gal? haha) They are always behind the rockwork.. maybe they'll get brave. No signs of any more aiptasia though. Which makes it worth it. Today (11/22/09) they both molted, so good sign.

I modded an AC70, got the surface skimmer attachment for it. Threw in some Chaeto and have an LED book light over it temporarily. Im running the stock foam pad on the inlet side, and a filter pad with no carbon in the overflow area. The surface skimmer got rid of the "slick" in about 5 minutes, so pleased with that.

I had a local picture frame shop cut me a 20" x 7 1/2" piece of glass to sit on top. I didn't want to go this route, but with the evap I was getting, and the sideways light setup, I had to get something. For 6$ I cant complain.

on 11/21/09 I added a 2 small ocellaris clowns. One is about 1/3 of an inch bigger, so hopefully pairing goes well. To be honest, they seem buddied up already... they are probably just too shy to start arguing yet. They came from a tank with about 12. All were between one and two inches and 3 months old or less.

Pictures look awful because its daytime and my camera sucks. Probably will for awhile since i'd rather spend money on the tank then a device to prove to you guys how good it looks! haha. I will take some better pictures this evening, and try to get a buddies camera though.

Pics:








I plan on getting a T5 setup by christmas, I'll probably try some GSP and Ricordea though until then, just to have something starting.

Mod.. Move this to Members Aquariums please?

bump...

please move to members aquariums Mod. Thanks

*POOF*

Thanks for the move Scott!


More Pics, and a video (tiny link at the end):















View My Video

Lots of changes since last update...

Got the 2x24 watt Nova Extreme. Got a good Black Friday Deal from my LFS. Bulbs are stock and will probably stay that way for a few months.

Hid the heater behind the rocks now that im confident that temp is consistent. Cleans up the left corner a bit.

Had a couple hermits die; I have some sort of crab about the size of a nickel hiding in one of my rocks, not quick enough for pics but I suspect he is the culprit, as all params have been good. He's sand colored and appears to be fuzzy. No luck running through the ID thread or google images...

Clowns are showing the normal pairing behavior. The littler guy is twitching and what not when the larger charges, so hopefully thats a good thing.

Pep Shrimp are still afraid of everything and rarely move. Im thinking of ditching these two soon, as the aiptasia hasn't been back in a couple weeks. Id rather have a cleaner shrimp.

So since joining this forum I've been dreaming about corals. I FINALLY got some today. Wasn't quite planning it, but a good deal is hard to pass. I found a guy on craigslist that was moving and needed things gone. Ended up with 4 shrooms, 2 zoa frags, and some kind of star polyp frag (all for 30$). I haven't taken the time to ID anything yet so feel free to tell me what things are!

Pictures:

Current FTS 12/1/09


Unknown Zoa


Half and Half Zoa Frag (Half is same as above)


Unknown


Purple and Green Shrooms (freebie)


Red Shrooms Rock (freebie)


Rock Close-up


Crab is dead center in this pic if you can make him out id love to know what he is


Everything rode 30 minutes in a tupperware container, acclimated for 15 minutes, placed, and was fully open within 5. Places are temporary. They came from a tank with very poor lighting so I think they welcomed the change.

Also, I'm finding the flow from my koralia 1 is kind of intense in such a small tank. Any ideas on placement?

That's all for now... Cheers

tank is looking good. that's probably a xanthid crab. there are lots of different kinds, does he have large (compared to say a hermit) claws with pointy tips?

d.

Thanks for the quick response. Yes he does have larger claws now that you mention it. And they are pointy. The defining feature to me was the hairy looking body/legs but I don't know if that helps.

Been following this tank since I joined... quite similar to my setup. I like it!



How do you like these lights? I've ordered them and they've been taking a while to get to my LFS... hope they're worth the wait!

I look forward to the continuing evolution.

What I like best about this thread is how you can start from something cheap and medoker and slowly invest in it and do reserch and take advise from fellow reefers and with pateince and slowly come into your own with a great tank setup. Goodjob alot of people can learn from this thread you came a long way and have a nice clean tank well done now the fun part slowly adding corals weel keep it up.( Just look at the first pic of the tank and now this last one.)

Thanks Meech!

I like this light a lot actually. I was surprised. I wanted to go crazy and buy the nova extreme pro on sale at DFS online. But I decided that I would probably get a bigger tank within a year so I should hold off on that. This light is bright... I mean, I can only compare it to a 15 watt aqu-glo, but still. My GF thinks we have a tanning bed in our living room now. haha. In just 3 days I've seen the macro's on my rocks and the ugly ball of chaeto in there show growth. It's not really blue or very white either, right in between... I'm going to eventually add a powerbrite strip to up the intensity of my overall lighting, as these will easily be moved to a bigger tank when I upgrade

Speaking of chaeto... I need a fuge light for an AC70. I've searched the forums but haven't found any options I really like yet...

Anyways, thanks again for following. I'm gunan check out your build now

Thanks!!

I don't know if the patience part is necessarily true though, It has only been one month. haha. but I did follow other peoples success stories meticulously. It has come a long way in only a month. Im really excited to start the coral propagation phase... I started sooner than expected, as I still show some nitrates between WC's. Hopefully these softies don't mind.

i love 10gallons! lookin good by the way. i had the exact same setup when i first started. i kind of miss the simplicity of it..... guess the upgrade bug just kept getting the best of me.
but, yea... keep up the good work.
oh, and is there any room in the ac70 for your heater? that's where i kept mine.

Thanks!

Yea I do like the ease of care, I was worried that it was going to be ridiculously tough compared to FW. Compared to the awful, super deep, 44 gal I had - this is a breeze. WC's take 5 minutes and running the mag float once a day is cake... Now I just gotta stay in a routine.

I have the 50W Stealth Heater. While I could probably put it in there, it would be close. It hides well behind the rocks, and I don't have to worry about the water line on it. One less thing to worry about the better, right? haha

My lights don't kick on till 11, but I noticed one of the free floating green/purple shrooms has moved and lodged behind the star shaped cloves or polyps or whatever they are. Can I glue these things?

Wow...I love the fact that you made it rimless...

I should have done the same to my home tank :-(


The tank looks great.

[quote name='shaner014' date='Dec 2 2009, 08:54 AM' post='2551859'
My lights don't kick on till 11, but I noticed one of the free floating gren/purple shrooms has moved and lodged behind the star shaped cloves or polyps or whatever they are. Can I glue these things?
[/quote]

eh..they're real tough to glue. they stay on for an hour or so, then eventually get too slimy and just detach from the plug/rock. best thing to do is to put the shroom on top of a plug or a small piece of rubble and place both in a shot glass or some sort of open top container just so the light can get through but water flow can't. better yet, if you can find some sort of a clear cylinder that is open at both ends. that way you can just put the plug and mushroom in the sand and just stick that tube over it. whichever way, it should take a couple days for the shroom to attach. hope this helps!

inTank sells submerisble lights if you're still looking for a fuge light.
Sweet 'scape, btw!

I'm having some issues with my koralia 1. I am not liking the intense flow it creates in a few spots of the tank, I feel like its limiting the places I can put softies. Will they just eventually get used to it?? I've tried many different placements and angles of the koralia, with the grate, without the grate... nothing I really like. Lowering it and pointing it up works ok, but then it looks awful. My question then, is can I only run this thing at night? would that keep the dead spots away and clean the corals? or do I need it to run while they are open? I could try a couple hours in the AM, couple hours in the PM type schedule....

I have had it off for the last 6 hours or so, and all the corals have opened up more and seem overall happier, so there's no doubt it is affecting them to some extent...

Any input or past experiences appreciated!

Honestly I would shoot for something smaller than a nano even. I installed a nano in my 8 gallon biocube for about 2 minutes. No matter where I pointed it, it blew the softies around like crazy and I took it out because everything looked so stressed. Maybe plumb in another powerhead.

How much flow do you have through you HOB?

Yea, I had it blasting against the main right corner, and it still creates lift on the shrooms, and the ricordea doesn't open as fully (oh btw, I got a green and orange ricordea haha)

I might try and clip the impeller or just throw it in my salt water mixing bucket as I have only been using an air pump with no stone to mix.

So if koralia's aren't gonna work for me, I'm interested to hear what others have had success with. I don't plan sps at all in this tank. I have an AC70 I did the fuge mod on, mainly to hold the chaeto and have some various chambers. I run it full power, but the flow is still reduced with the sponge, chemi-pure elite, and some filter floss hanging in front of the return grate.

Its not drilled, not gunna drill, and obviously smallness is key....

I still am interested in the K nano, I have to believe its considerably less flow than the 1, and shooting it against the wall should be enough... but im just speculating

Thanks DRAllison!

So I superglued the flow concentrator and snail grate thing, that comes with koralias, on to the unit (because they always blew off). I have it pointing slightly upwards and straight at the front.. this will have to work till I decide on something else. Its def a lot better than it was. The corals seem happy anyways, thats the goal right? haha

In the 18 hours or so I had reduced flow... I saw a diatom bloom start... it's a little worse tonight than yesterday even though the K-1 has been running all day. Could be just that time in my tank... I thought I skipped it, but who knows. Doing a 20% WC after this post to export some nutrients, It's 2 days early of my every monday schedule but id rather nip this thing in the butt.

Pics tomorrow or maybe later of the new ricordea and coral placements... Ive ID'ed the Zoa's as radioactive dragon eyes, and eagle eyes. I think the star polyp things are GSP, they had no color when I first got them but have turned a nice green in just 3 days.

Thats all for now.. Thanks for following!

Looking forward to the pics!

Very nice first reef!!! I have a K1 in my 10g and have it pointing forward and up If the crab has black tipped claws try and catch it...they are bad news (gorilla crab)

Thanks!


No new pics yet. My diatom bloom, plus laziness have kept me from snapping any photos.

I had a little scare this morning... I woke up to see the tank temp dropped from 79 to 70. The Marineland Stealth Heater apparently stopped working, as it was cool to the touch. I turned the thermostat up just a hair, and about 2 minutes later it was working... I didn't have time to mess with it more cause I had to work. When I got home the tank was steady at 80, so it is working again... I set up my old HOB heater (surprisingly fit quite nice in the AC70) as a fail-safe a couple degrees under, about 75. So i'll watch the stealth closely over the next few days, if it flakes again ill replace it.

Everything else is good, the temp swing didn't seem to bother anything... maybe the GSP a little, but that could just be my imagination.

I'm gonna work on catching that crab... they are so darn fast. If I can find his hang out ill try the tipped glass method trap.

Everything else is good, I was feeding everyday when I first got the clowns (probably another reason I got the diatom bloom), I'm gonna switch to once every 2 days now that they have gotten healthier looking. With some random frozen mysis treats every 5 days or so... that feeding plan sound adequate?

Thanks everyone!

Get unlazy... wanna see pics!!!

Keep us posted on what the heater does... I just got one and would like to know what happens.

Still lazy... Plus finals are taking up all my time. The heater flaked again, not happy about that. I have a 150w rena smart heater I was using in my water mixing bucket... it fit in the AC70 so I threw it in. Got rid of the glass HOB heater... as that thing was old as dirt.

Is a 150w heater bad for such a small tank? I know its overkill, but the temp has been steady, and I love the indicator lights on the rena heater so i know its working.

I have begun my battle against some unwanted macro's too. I have dictoya (sp) popping up everywhere. I'm gunna get a dental pick and scrape off as much of the stuff as I can in the next couple days.

Other than that, fish are happy, shrimp are still alive but always hiding. And corals are all doing well

pics eventually.... haha

Hmm... too bad about the heater... and the algae - I wonder where its coming from. Are your parameters steady? A big water change might help too.

I point my nano directly at the back of some rocks to disrupt the flow, works great. Lot of holes in the rock so still get a good amount of movement even in the opposite corner of the tank. Before doing that, was in the same boat with the thing creating a hurricane in the water no matter where I aimed it.

Yea I'm gonna see if pet-smart will just take it back for store credit or if they won't, I'll have to call marineland. These things are supposed to last for life.

The macro's I don't think are a fault of bad params. Rather too much light. I was doing a 12 hour ON light period, and after looking around some... I'm going to stay closer to 9 hours. It's not awful looking stuff, in fact I really like this red bushy macro that's growing in. But the dictyota [EDIT for spelling] looks like plain old seaweed, and until the chaeto and other macros can out-compete it, I'll probably have to keep manually scraping it off...

And violinist, Thanks for the tip. I think someone else mentioned that too. My scape doesn't really allow for it however... I finally found an angle I can tolerate for now... Corals seem ok too so hopefully that's one problem solved.

Update time!

I got two margarita snails two days ago. Glad I did. These things went to work immediately on the diatoms and other algae. Can't believe how much they have consumed in such a short amount of time. I'm gonna be trading in my hermits for a couple more of these guys. The hermits are annoying me, like they do most everyone else. I know the margarita's don't always fair well abouve 75 degrees. But for $1.50 a pop, and the results I got, I am gonna see if they do ok. Cruel? Eh debatable. Haha

The 150w Rena SmartHeater is working great, the temp is right about 80 at the end of light cycle and 78 right before they go on. Not a bad swing IMO.

I have the lights on an 8 hour schedule, gunna keep it at that for now as the algae gets eaten up. Corals all still great after the 4 hour cut... (softies are surprisingly resilient) I'm gunna get 2 ATI Aquablue Special's after Christmas, so I can make the most of my fixture. Is 8 hours enough? too much? Let me know!

On to the pics...

OMG new FTS


New Ric


Left Side Close Up (Glued some of the GSP on the rock)


Zoo's (I superglued the tiny frag to the top middle there. Only ruined one head ripping it off the plug. This is an acceptable loss for my first attempt at this haha)


Red Shrooms



Can anyone ID these Macro's??





Still need a fuge light. I have some options lined up, but now with the heater and a bag of chemi-pure elite in the AC70. I don't know if I can even fit enough chaeto to make a difference haha.

Anyways, that's all for now... Been snowed in all day in Buffalo! Good thing I have a piece of the ocean to dream about...

Been a while since an update... Nothing new hardware wise except I added a current usa blue moonlight.

Lots of new coral.

Montipora Digitata
Purple-Tipped Hammer
Green with Neon Tip's Torch
Unknow Zoa (Orange skirts, pink mouth) Please ID! Thanks


Pics:

FTS 1/6/10


Monti (Much more orange than picture captures)


Hammer


Torch


Zoa (ID please)


Closer FTS


If anything looks misplaced or wrong please chime in. Thanks!

Looks great. I like the new coral additions.

Thanks!


Anyone have any idea what type of zoa those orange skirts are? I have done a little looking around and think they may be "Horizon's" let me know if you have any guesses

WOW first tank? Looks like an expert did it. just remember to stay on your params. one slip and disaster happens.

nice tank dude.....
....do u still have that glass on top of the tank to prevent so much evaporation or did u take it off after the transfer?.....i think that might be a great idea for my tank too. but woudnt it cause the light not to penetrate the water so well?...thats what i was thinking, the light itself already has a glass to prevent the bulb from demaging it. it looks like its working though=)....im still in a noob at tis and asking for peeps opinion.

by the way i have a power compact fom current usa dual actinic and daylight each 65 watt......130in total

......hey man can u take some pics of those margarita snails?.....never heard of those b4

bro i also really like the clean and simple look of the tank............i think u did a great job man

Expert eh... haha Thanks! I have taken this pretty slow and researched non-stop, the tank is running smoothly. I have only been monitoring ammonia and trates. But I will be getting the reef master test kit this week, now that I have quite a few pieces to keep alive.


Junior:

I do still have the glass top on there. I scrape it with a razor once a week top and bottom to keep it clean. As far as light transfer, I still have no idea if it's making a major difference. What I do know, is that I have cats and dry air, so It's a must. All the corals seem happy so I'm happy. And as far as the light having the protective shield... I removed the acrylic barrier between the bulbs and the tank. One to keep heat low, and two because the glass top protects the light. I haven't seen any salt creep on the bulbs or reflector so it's working.

The margarita's are behind the rocks... i'll get some pics when I can, or just search on here.

Thanks for the kind words! I like the simple look too. Makes the tank seem bigger and is easier to keep clean.

that glass u have on there is glass right? and not acrylic?......do u think any frame store should do this for me?
how much water do u add per day or per week? my tank loses like a gallon a day, its crazy.
yea i think i might do that too take the acrylic that comes with the light off and add the glass to the tank...today i got some turbo snail and a pepermint shrimp.....i dont want them to get out of the tank

It is 1/8 inch glass. Cheap at a local framing shop. I add 2 cups of water every morning. Or about a gallon a week. Pretty normal I guess. Certainly not a gallon per day like some people. Your snails and shrimp shouldn't escape. The fish are the jumpers. I still have about a 1/4 of the back of the tank uncovered, but I haven't had any issues. I keep the water pristine though. Husbandry is the key to success.

Update to come soon. Decent growth over the past month, unfortunately the Digi didn't make it. I think my lights just weren't enough. Everything else is doing fine.

Quick question. If (when) I upgrade to a 20H tank, what's the easiest way to make the transfer of the livestock? I've read some threads on here about moving things.

This is my plan, critique please if needed.

1. Mix up 10 gallons of new water. Let it be for 24 hours
2. Drain the current tank into two 5 gallon buckets, transferring livestock as its exposed to the air. One bucket will be just water and the LR itself, the other housing all the rest.
3. Move old tank off stand, ditch old sand
4. Move new tank onto stand, add the fresh mixed water, add new live sand and additional LR
5. Add current LR and 5 gallons of old water, then aquascape
6. Add fish, CUC, and the other 5 gallons of old water
7. Arrange corals, clean up
8. Crack a Boston Lager

sound like it'll go smooth? ill have a small space heater keeping some heat on the buckets so they don't get too cold (and no I won't cook them either haha)