Hello everyone, Jesse here. New to SW, I've got a freshwater tank with malawi cichlids in it. I caught a link to a nano reef from some other board and immediately decided I needed one. So I went out and got a 10g AGA and some plexiglass. Got it up and running yesterday with the live rock. I don't think that this will be my final rockscape. My big rock in the back has a nice hole in it that I want to show off more and the big hunk in the back right isn't real good like that. But we shall see how it goes. For now, this is what I have.


Is this a little feather duster? First hitchiker.


Little snail that was in there. Anyone tell what it is? There's at least 2 other snails in there, but I haven't seen them out and about yet. Came with the rock also.


Aiptasia?


Not sure what this is. Tube kinda just like the feather duster, but instead a long thread comes out of it. There's a few of them in there.


FTS

Leave the scape. It's impressive for a 10 gallon. I like it.

When you buy corals, try and get them w/o a big rock attached. And remove frag plugs. If you add any more rock it would look bad.

The tank has potential!

Welcome ! Looks like you off to a good start ! remember, be patient ! a little patients now will pay off big later !

+1 Looks good.

Link for your hitch hiker IDs.

Thanks for the replies and the link! I'm actually not planning on adding any corals at all until summer time, so hopefully I can hold off till then. Once the tank is cycled I'll get a CUC going and then maybe a fish or 2, then corals.

Thinking a watchman goby and pistol shrimp would be really cool. Then maybe a clown and that's about it for fish. We'll just have to see how it goes i guess.

Other than waiting and topping off is there anything I should be doing for the tank? From all the info I collected, the first few weeks when the tank is relatively empty has been my biggest question.

What is that light you have on the tank? I like the look of it.

Yes, that is aiptasia. Kill it.
That other one is a hair worm. Harmless IMO. May irritate corals.

http://fishneedit.com/t5ho-24quot-2-lamp-aquarium-l.html

I wanted to get the nova xtreme 24" fixture but everywhere that had it at a reasonable price was sold out. This had decent reviews, although I just saw someone say that their bigger light's balast blew after a year so who knows. At 55 buck it's kinda worth the gamble.


I've got quite a few aiptasia heads. Most are very small, but I'll try to get rid of them. I plan on getting a pepermint shrimp, so maybe...hopefully I can get him to develop a taste for them.

Nice and clean build, well done!

you got a nice set up man!! gonna be a nice tank

For a 10g gone AIO i like it. Very clean look to the rock with pleny of places to put corals later on.

If you have incorporated your PS3 into your nano I would be impressed.

Looks clean. What is the right side compartment for anyway? Chaeto?

Yep, for the cheato and the maxi-jett 1200. I've got some filter media just to catch the big stuff from the sand that didn't get out in the rinse.

Filter media in front of the pump intake? Cool. I used a HOB filter and that sucker could clean up any issue over night. Good to have around when the unexpected happens ... and it usually does. That's why I switchined to fresh and will study more before doing nano salt again.

nice tank. move the sand looks wavey cant wait you have coral in there

i kinda like the wavy look

One week in and the tank seems to have cycled already, never had much of a spike. Ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and the nitrates are at about 10, algae is starting to bloom. I'm probably pushing it but I added 2 turbos and 2 hermits to get the CUC going. I also added a peppermint shrimp, which I thought long and hard on whether or not that was the right move. The only reason I rushed him is because i've got a lot of little aiptasia all over the tank and I'm hoping that he'll help get them under control before they get out of control.

It's interesting how the bristleworms aren't so shy when there is food to be had.

!!! Success!!! Woke up this morning and there isn't a single piece of aiptasia in the tank. <3 my peppermint shrimp!