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Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef


Nano sapiens

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I'm still jealous of your dang beautiful tank. Why do I have to clean hair algae and other gunk off my tank once a week? I don't overfeed and only use distilled/RODI water and do once a week water changes :angry: ?

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I'm still jealous of your dang beautiful tank. Why do I have to clean hair algae and other gunk off my tank once a week? I don't overfeed and only use distilled/RODI water and do once a week water changes :angry: ?

 

Up to around 2 months ago things were going great for this tank, but in this hobby there are no gurantees that everything will go as planned...or stay the way you want it.

 

In short, I bought a Blasto which brought in the 'receeding tissue' syndrome. The 'Pods finished it off and probably infected my other perfectly healty Blasto which was gone a week later. It wasn't long before I started loosing my Acans (only two tiny polys remain) since they are in the same family as Blastos and prone to the same infections. On top of that, I had changed part of the lighting to LEDs which caused some bleaching events and I lost a Bali Green Slimer Acro. All the die off caused a stringy brown cyano or Dino bloom on the sand bed that persists to this day, even with increased water changes, minimal feeding, etc. Virtually all of my tiny snails and limpets perished, too, so the only CUC is a tough blue-leg hermit.

 

Now its a matter of patiently keeping up with a good maintenance schedule and allowing the tank environment to restabilize again. My advice is to just keep at it since algae can be beat, but it often takes a lot of patience to get the upper hand.

Edited by Nano sapiens
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Aree these 12g Cadlights made of glass?

 

No... They are made from Heat treated crystallized minerals... Yes they are That Fantastic! ;)

 

 

Disclaimer: Sorry NS, I couldn't help myself :lol:

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No... They are made from Heat treated crystallized minerals... Yes they are That Fantastic! ;)

 

 

Disclaimer: Sorry NS, I couldn't help myself :lol:

 

:slap: ... :)

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i was looking at your picture at about 1 month and your rocks look almost fully encrusted in a deep purple coralline algae. I have never seen rocks color up so fast. Were you able to buy them that way, or did you have stellar water parameters?

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i was looking at your picture at about 1 month and your rocks look almost fully encrusted in a deep purple coralline algae. I have never seen rocks color up so fast. Were you able to buy them that way, or did you have stellar water parameters?

 

The rocks were from a lower light area of a 10 year old 50 gal. reef tank which I rarely changed water on. Coraline algae growth in the 50gal was crazy, very different than the slow coraline growth in the Nano tank. I'm just happy that the rocks in the Nano have maintained their coraline.

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You have a beautiful tank!! I just recently got one for myself and have been studying your setup very carefully. I have only one unanswered question.... What are you using for filter media if any? Could you post a picture of the filter/pump/fug section of your tank? I am having a hard time understanding what the optimum water level should be for best results.

 

THX

Will

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You have a beautiful tank!! I just recently got one for myself and have been studying your setup very carefully. I have only one unanswered question.... What are you using for filter media if any? Could you post a picture of the filter/pump/fug section of your tank? I am having a hard time understanding what the optimum water level should be for best results.

 

THX

Will

 

Thank you and welcome to the 12g Cadlights club! This tank has no filter media whatsoever. I use a filter sock over the Hydor oscillator once in a while to capture detritus when I stir things up a bit. There is nothing in the 'fuge area except a pump, heaters (one is a backup) and a thermometer. The 'fuge config on my older tank is backwards to the newer tanks (my pump is on the left). My water level sits at about halfway up the outlet slots when in operation. I picked a level that didn't cause any 'burbling' sounds as the water left the outlet into the 'fuge.

 

This tank is just an experiment in what is possible with only water changes. If you plan on a tank with a medium to high bio-load (a fish or two and quite a bit of different corals) then I'd recommend some type of physical/chemical filtration and a frequent water change regimen.

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  • 4 weeks later...
How is your tank doing? Still fighting the algae? Hope it makes a comeback!

 

Yeah, still fighting the persistent brown snot on the sand.

 

Good news is that the paremeters are all optimal and the corals are all doing fine. First time I've seen nitrates undetectable in this tank due to the cyano/dyno using them up so quickly. Right now, Its more of an esthetic problem than anything else.

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Good to hear! Do you vacuum your sand bed to help out?

 

Yes, every week. I used to think the problem was in the sand, but I'm so sure anymore. Once this stuff takes hold it is really tough to eradicate.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sweet tank Man! I plan to do the water bottle idea on my 30gal B tank. I have a glass lid on it so most of my water loss is the skimmer over time. Really neat looking Rics thats for sure.

 

have you had any heat problems with removing the plastic shield on your hood? I have a Nova extreme and I thought about doing the same. But a guy told me my fan would not have a good tunnel to move air across if I took off the shield. So curious as to you having any issues,whether you have a fan or not. Mines gets dusty.

 

 

 

 

quote name='Nano sapiens' date='Jan 10 2011, 02:36 AM' post='3167528']

Yes, every week. I used to think the problem was in the sand, but I'm so sure anymore. Once this stuff takes hold it is really tough to eradicate.

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Sweet tank Man! I plan to do the water bottle idea on my 30gal B tank. I have a glass lid on it so most of my water loss is the skimmer over time. Really neat looking Rics thats for sure.

 

have you had any heat problems with removing the plastic shield on your hood? I have a Nova extreme and I thought about doing the same. But a guy told me my fan would not have a good tunnel to move air across if I took off the shield. So curious as to you having any issues,whether you have a fan or not. Mines gets dusty.

 

 

 

 

quote name='Nano sapiens' date='Jan 10 2011, 02:36 AM' post='3167528']

Yes, every week. I used to think the problem was in the sand, but I'm so sure anymore. Once this stuff takes hold it is really tough to eradicate.

 

Glad you like the tank :) . I've gone back to a regular full shield for the bulbs. I have read that T5s like to run in the mid 90 temps for longest life and output and the shield accomplishes that. My fixture doesn't have or need fans since the output is low at only 32W and the tank isn't covered. You are probably best off using the shield as the manufacturer suggested. Also, removing the shield will subject your corals to more UV than they are used to. They might have problems (bleaching) unless you were to do it gradually.

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Yeah your right. Never had any problems so don't want to cause any! Thanks

 

 

Glad you like the tank :) . I've gone back to a regular full shield for the bulbs. I have read that T5s like to run in the mid 90 temps for longest life and output and the shield accomplishes that. My fixture doesn't have or need fans since the output is low at only 32W and the tank isn't covered. You are probably best off using the shield as the manufacturer suggested. Also, removing the shield will subject your corals to more UV than they are used to. They might have problems (bleaching) unless you were to do it gradually.
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  • 1 month later...
Nano sapiens
How's the tank doing?

 

Much better, thanks for asking. After moving one rock to vacuum underneath every week, I was finally able to get this Dyno outbreak under control. Using a flter sock and external canister filter during each WC halped, too. I still have a bit of a light dusting on the sand bed, but its nothing like it was before.

 

After this nasty outbreak I noticed that something good came out of it. Nearly all of my Vermetid snails (aka 'Tube snails') have perished :)

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

First off, AMAZING JOB! I love this tank!

 

I have just ordered a 12g tank with the hydor oscillator, I'm excited to get it! And also I have lurked your thread for quite some time and I'll be doing the mod to the oscillator and also I'm debating on the lights to convert to full Cree LEDs or leave the t5 bulbs in and do what you did with the led strips.... I plan to have a mixed reef with lPS and softies and a few SPS as well.

 

Also one more thing, are you not using your middle chamber as a fuge? I see your ato bottles are directly over it and no other light installed?

 

I currently have a 4.4 pico aio with an ac70 fuge mod and I'm debating this as well. Like I'm wondering if I can incorporate the ac70 on this tank like I did my pico.

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Nano sapiens

Just a simple little tank, but glad you like it.

 

I went back to the original NO T5s since the LEDs were messing with my Rics' colors. The T5s work fine for most anything other than Acros & Millis which I've found tend to brown-out at mid-depth. Good quality LEDs in combo with a few T5s should allow you to keep just about anything.

 

I wanted to keep this set up bare-bones/super simple, so no 'fuge per se. The space just houses a heater and the ATO down spouts. The tank has no mechanical filtration, only filtration is provided by the LR and LS.

 

Good luck with your setup!

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  • 4 weeks later...
Nano sapiens

Can't believe it's been 3 years already, but that's how long this little tank has been running.

 

Cadlight12g070111.jpg

 

I've always had an interest in 'Natural' method reef tanks, but wasn't sure how successful one would be on such a small scale. This tank started out as an experiment of sorts to see just how simple and energy efficient a small tank could be run while still providing a healthy environment for the animals as well as enjoyment for me, the aquarist.

 

Despite a few issues (notably, Zoanthid eating Amphipods and a Dyno outbreak) the tank has been quite stable. Maintenance has been a breeze since the LR/LS handle the filtration. Light vacuuming of the sand bed every week along with the 10% WC is about all that's required. Oh, and cleaning the main pump and Hydor oscillator every few months, too.

 

My original goal was 5 years continuous running of this tank. If its still looking good at that point, then I'll consider it a success.

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Your tank looks fantastic. Congrats on keeping such a beautiful tank for three years!Thats truly an accomplishment in this hobby!

 

Excellent job!

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  • Nano sapiens changed the title to Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef
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  • Christopher Marks unlocked this topic

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