markalot Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 Once again I'm back to a 40 breeder for my smaller tank, an upgrade from a 29 gallon. 12-27-2015 Just after restart, before I let Alk spike and killed most of the SPS. 40B starts on this page: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/313051-marks-29-soon-to-be-40b/page-29 Last FTS of the 29, just when the colors really started to come in. 20 long restart (2014) This was restarted mid October to hold all my acros that were infested with AEFW. That didn't work out but I kept it running, added sand and live rock, and it's now a rescue tank for my purple firefish (pictured below) that was cowering in fear due to bad stocking in my 46. The original history goes something like this. Setup a 20 long as my second reef tank and my first real nano. Had all kind of dumb issues mainly caused by poor planning and bad filtration. Took my 46 planted down, cleaned it and converted it to a reef. Moved everything from this tank into my 46 and took this down. edit: Now upgraded to a 29 gallon. Same footprint, just taller. Latest FTS Original startup below, the continuation starts here: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/313051-marks-20-long-restarted/?p=4585408 ---------------------------------------------------------------- Oct 16th 2012 Howdy, Needless to say I've gotten a lot of inspiration pouring over each monthly featured nano and the member aquarium threads in here. I've been running planted tanks for 6 years, I started my first reef tank last February. This tank was started Oct 1st, seeded with rock rubble from both inside my 40 breeder and the AC110 that I run on my 40B. I had added a bunch of rock rubble to the filter 3 months ago in preparation for a new tank. No ammonia was ever recorded and the uglies started 3 days after setup. At startup: - 20 gallon long - Standard glass canopy - 2 Current USA 30" T5HO light fixtures, 24" bulbs (Hagen Power-Glo, TruLumen 12K, TruLumen Actinic, TruLumen Actinic) - 1 Marinelife 24" hidden LED strip, blue. Mounted under glass top on frame. - Aquaclear 110 with a bag of carbon and Phosguard - Koralia Nano 240 Flow Pump - Fluval 100 watt heater - 1 bag of aragonite sand - unknown quantity of rock rubble plus 8 small live rocks from my other tank - A 'mushroom rock' - A small rock with zoas I use Reef Crystals salt, Spectrapure (blatant plug) RO/DI water, test with a refractometer to 1.025, and run at 80F I don't like the rock wall look in smaller tanks so I'm going to try rubble with a lot of flow. This plan has changed twice but right now I envision mainly softies and LPS corals with 3 or 4 small fish. Lone inhabitant at the moment is a purple firefish. Planning on 1 or 2 neon gobies and, once the tank is mature, a small peaceful wrasse. The flow is provided by the 110 and to some extent the Koralia. The 110, at full blast, starts moving the sand around. Placing the rocks. Filled and running. Side shot showing the hidden LED bar mounted to the inside front of the tank. This gets me some nice blue in the morning and evening but no shimmer since it's underwater. 2 Quote Link to comment
eitallent Posted October 18, 2012 Share Posted October 18, 2012 I like your LR rubble idea. I can't wait to see how it turns out. Good luck! Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 (edited) Some updates. Added more rocks from my 40 gallon tank, and then 3 nights ago, while staring at the tank, saw a shape in a hole that should not be there. Got the flashlight, MANTIS! Good grief. I was really lucky, got the rock out, extracted and killed. Cockroach of the seas. Apologies to those who love these ... creatures. So the question is, did I get really lucky and move it from my 40, or did it come in with a mushroom rock I purchased. He was living in the hole in the rock visible in the previous photo, left side. About an inch long. Lights (front to back): Coralife Powerglow (purpleish) TruLumen 12K ATI Blue Plus ATI Coral Plus Fish: Purple Firefish Neon Goby Reef Chromis Inverts: Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp 6 Astraea snails 5 Nassarius snails 3+ Stomatella snails pests: At least 2 very small Majano anemone 2+ Aptasia anemone Some hair algae Latest FTS ** right click / view image to see full size (Firefox and Chrome) ** Red Mushroom rock Euphyllia cristata Branching Hammer Leather Duncan and shy Purple Firefish Pipe Organ Acan Pulsing Pompom Xenia (this is growing alarmingly fast in my 40) Also a Stomatella snail on the rock. Apparently these guys had an entire family living in the dark in a rock rubble filled AC120 on my 40B. My quick pseudo refugium in the AC 120. I used some cheap Petsmart LED lights (from a bubble wand). I'm not sure it's enough light so looking into other options. I want the lights internal to the AC 120. Edited October 31, 2012 by markalot Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Woops. Forgot some new Zoas. Understand I'm not a collector. A LFS has random frags available, all $25. Sometimes I get lucky. If any of these have names please let me know. Quote Link to comment
Isteallunch$$$ Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Was thinking about going for a 20gal L as well. Really dig your setup. Are you running a sump with this tank? Quote Link to comment
c-bskt Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Your tank looks great, the rubble looks much better than a plain rock wall! Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted October 29, 2012 Author Share Posted October 29, 2012 Howdy, not running a sump, just the AC110 and doing weekly 2 gallon water changes. So far no measurable nitrates, but time will tell. I like the rock rubble and I don't like the rock rubble. Need some more time to make a decision on it. Thanks for dropping in. Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted October 29, 2012 Share Posted October 29, 2012 Great looking 20 L!!!! I like the scape! Quote Link to comment
Isteallunch$$$ Posted October 30, 2012 Share Posted October 30, 2012 Howdy, not running a sump, just the AC110 and doing weekly 2 gallon water changes. So far no measurable nitrates, but time will tell. I like the rock rubble and I don't like the rock rubble. Need some more time to make a decision on it. Thanks for dropping in. Appreciate the info bud! Quote Link to comment
msscha Posted October 31, 2012 Share Posted October 31, 2012 I really like the long look! Will pop back for a closer look later -- gotta run to class! Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted November 1, 2012 Share Posted November 1, 2012 The red center ones seem like watermelon/eagle eyes but the mouth has a rectangular rim instead of round. This might be unique as I have never seen it before! You might want to try posting in the zoa thread on here and contacting coralpedia or zooanthid.com The green with orange centers are green bay packers. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 1, 2012 Author Share Posted November 1, 2012 The red center ones seem like watermelon/eagle eyes but the mouth has a rectangular rim instead of round. This might be unique as I have never seen it before! You might want to try posting in the zoa thread on here and contacting coralpedia or zooanthid.com The green with orange centers are green bay packers. Hi, thanks for dropping by. When I get a chance I'll post some pics over on the zoa thread. Quote Link to comment
Tamberav Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Looking great! I really love the color of those mushrooms. They are like neon Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 (edited) Thanks to all for the feedback! Updates. FTS, Nov 5th. You can see I had to move my Flame Angel from the 40 into this tank due to nipping at some SPS corals. It's really not large enough, though she's not extremely active and has some hiding places the balance has been thrown off and now my purple firefish hides all the time. Will wait another week and then decide what to do longer term. I found a LFS about 40 minutes away that is simply amazing. I was able to purchase a large cutting of really colorful Duncans plus some $15 frags and a rock with a few Palys and a neatly colored shroom (also for $15). I had to move most of the rocks in my 40 and ended up fragging my sympodium. The original piece, plus the always present Daisy polyps made it into the 20. This was a forgotten frag in one of their frag tanks. Some clove polyps had grown on it, $10 ... I took it. Again, randomness over art. I also moved some Pop Pom Xenia into this tank. I moved 3 clumps 5 days ago, now there are 5 clumps. -gulp- ... left 2 clumps (feet if you will) in the 40. I see more Xenia in my future! My main concern is the algae. I had this in my 40 as well and it was eaten or died out over a month so patience might be key here ... but it's not slowing down. Added 5 Nerite snails to try and help. Edited November 6, 2012 by markalot Quote Link to comment
thetran Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 very nice looking tank Mark, Thanks to all for the feedback! Updates. FTS, Nov 5th. You can see I had to move my Flame Angel from the 40 into this tank due to nipping at some SPS corals. It's really not large enough, though she's not extremely active and has some hiding places the balance has been thrown off and now my purple firefish hides all the time. Will wait another week and then decide what to do longer term. I found a LFS about 40 minutes away that is simply amazing. I was able to purchase a large cutting of really colorful Duncans plus some $15 frags and a rock with a few Palys and a neatly colored shroom (also for $15). I had to move most of the rocks in my 40 and ended up fragging my sympodium. The original piece, plus the always present Daisy polyps made it into the 20. This was a forgotten frag in one of their frag tanks. Some clove polyps had grown on it, $10 ... I took it. Again, randomness over art. I also moved some Pop Pom Xenia into this tank. I moved 3 clumps 5 days ago, now there are 5 clumps. -gulp- ... left 2 clumps (feet if you will) in the 40. I see more Xenia in my future! My main concern is the algae. I had this in my 40 as well and it was eaten or died out over a month so patience might be key here ... but it's not slowing down. Added 5 Nerite snails to try and help. Quote Link to comment
tran Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 very nice looking tank Mark, I think you need a stronger power head than that Koralia Nano 240 Flow Pump for that size tank. Quote Link to comment
msscha Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I love those duncans! The "stripe-y" pattern on the polyp is really nice. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 I think you need a stronger power head than that Koralia Nano 240 Flow Pump for that size tank. Hi Tran, most of the flow in this tank is from the output of the AC 110, which is turned down to the lowest setting and still creates a ton of flow. I love those duncans! The "stripe-y" pattern on the polyp is really nice. Yea, me too, but the camera color isn't right. I moved some bulbs around and now everything looks good to the eye but bad on the camera. Quote Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 Looking good in ther, Mark!!! -Mark Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 (edited) Took some more pictures and a video, mainly for me to keep track of growth. Going to try and keep my hands out for a while and let it grow up. I changed bulbs again to re-add the 12K bulb in front. This really helps with photos. front to back: ATI Coral Plus TruLumen 12K ATI Blue Plus PowerGlo A short lame video of the tank: FTS, Nov 8th. Edited November 9, 2012 by markalot Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 Looking good in ther, Mark!!! -Mark Thanks, much appreciated. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 9, 2012 Author Share Posted November 9, 2012 A couple of images of my AC110 fuge. I purchased some LED lights on sale at Lowes, used aquarium silicone to seal the lights from moisture, then attached them to the AC110 lid and siliconed the edges to keep out moisture. This satisfies my light needs and my requirement that the lights are internal to the filter. Very little light bleeds back into the tank. Another picture of my Duncans plus what appears to be a baby hammer coral from a rock that was purchased months ago and moved from the 40 to here when the tank was setup. It's doubled in size over the last month. Quote Link to comment
msscha Posted November 12, 2012 Share Posted November 12, 2012 yep, that's it. my next investment is a long. looks awesome! Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 yep, that's it. my next investment is a long. looks awesome! Thanks. I'm not sure I'm happy with the look but time to let it grow out and see what happens. I need to keep my hands out of the tank for a while, except for water changes of course. Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 (edited) FTS. Made one more change, moved the leather to the back, and moved some green hairy mushrooms to the 40 to make room for moving my new Alveopora to the front. The Xenia has added another foot ... or three. Alveopora. Frogspawn This is over twice this size today! Edited November 13, 2012 by markalot Quote Link to comment
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