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Aquageek's Little Reef (now with video!)


aquageek

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LITTLE REEF

 

Hello, friends. Join me on my misadventures in the world of reef keeping. Most of the time I have absolutely no idea what I am doing which is really fun! The whole project is a giant learning experience to prep me for a much larger build in the future.

 

Current Setup

 

Display Tank:

Coralife 29G BioCube (Drilled, Rimless, back chambers removed)

Glass-Holes Super-Nano overflow kit (1" drain, 1/2" return)

Coralife BioCube Stand

20 lbs Hawaii Black live sand

30 lbs (approximate) mixed dry/live Fiji rock

Kessil A360W-E

EcoTech Marine VorTech MP10

 

Sump:

Custom built acrylic sump (17"x17"x14") water at 9", approximately 10 gallons filled

Filter Sock

Eheim Jager 100W heater

Tunze Osmolator Nano 3152 ATO

Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 return pump (357 GPH)

SCA-301 Skimmer

Koralia Nano 240 in fuge chamber

Chaeto

MarinePure Ceramic Spheres

BRS Mini Media Reactor GFO/Carbon (Offline)

Digital Thermometer

 

Water Mixing:

BRS 4 Stage Plus RODI

2 Brute 32 gallon bins for water storage (1 salt, 1 fresh)

Instant Ocean Reef Crystals

 

Supplies:

Elos Test Kits (pH, Nitrate, Calcium, Magnesium, Alkalinity)

ATC Refractometer from BRS

Hikari Freeze-Dried Bio-Pure Spirulina Brine Shrimp

Hikari Frozen Krill

Two Little Fishies Sea Veggies (Purple)

New Life Spectrum Sinking Pellets

Ocean Nutrition Prime Reef Flakes

BRS Reef Chili

Polyplab Reef-Roids

Turkey Baster

Two Little Fishies VeggieMag

 

Livestock

 

Invertebrates:

Turbo Snails

1 Hermit Crab (Walker, the Lone Ranger)

1 Long tentacle anemone

1 Coral Banded Shrimp

 

Fish:

2 Ocellaris Clownfish

 

Coral:

Zoas

Acans

GSP

Green Hammer

Green Stylo

 

 

Video

 

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Welcome to the insanity! :D

 

You may want to add a bit more live rock if you are going with a reef. :D More surface to attach coral and for more surface area for good bacteria.

 

You need good flow and to use only the stock pump is not going to be enough. You need good water movement to prevent dead spots where detrius will settle and cause you water chemistry issues. It will also help prevent cyano outbreaks like red slime algea. Your corals will also dictate the types of flow as well.

 

I am using a tunze nano and a Koralia nano power head in my 29. I replaced my stock pump with a Hydor 400 pump. Most people go with the maxi jet 1200. For a filtration pump you want 10 x the gph so 29 gal ideally would have a 290 gph pump.

as for circulation (powerheads) I can not remember the ratio for those, I think for most people it depends on your tank and aquascaping.

My lights are on for 11 hours a day, but I am using a radion and it has ramp up and ramp down settings. Someone else would have to chime in on a light schedule they use for stock lights.

 

You temperature is fine, I keep mine at 79.

 

You are looking pretty good so far!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks magik!

 

I have been up and running for just about 2 weeks. Still playing with water temperature - at first it was getting a bit to warm (81) and now it may be running on the cool side. I've added a Hydor powerhead nano 240 which has helped with water movement quite a bit, I also plan on replacing the stock pump with something that has more power :D .

 

I have also added more LR. I added about 10 lbs of Florida LR which was quite a bit more dense that the Fiji rock. I have also adjusted my lighting from 12 hours to 9 hours (which means I will need to play with my heater again).

 

I am also planning on another round of purchasing at the end of this week. I will be upgrading my filtration to the inTank media basket and fuge with chemi-pure elite, purigen, filter floss, and chaeto. I may also include an upgraded pump in this purchase as well. Also thinking about picking up the Hydor Rotating Water Deflector to replace the stock outlet from the pump because that looks awesome!

 

Oh and I had an epic algae bloom over the weekend. Algae on everything, my white sand is brown lol!

 

Pictures coming.

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So I am about 13 days into my cycle here - algae growth is extreme - lots of really long hairs (hair algae?). My sand is completely covered... do you guys think it is time for me to start adding my cleanup crew? Or do I need to wait longer? I am just concerned this algae is going to get way out of control.

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Reefmaster1996

It will get worse before it gets better, depending on your ammonia levels I reccomend to add a crew about when you hit .5-.25 ppm of NITRITE. that's about the best time.

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Thanks, Reefmaster!

 

Officially 2 weeks in today. Still lots of algae growth. Took more measurements today with my super accurate and easy to read API test kits (LOL). Ammonia is about .5, nitrite is 0, and nitrate is some where between 10 and 20 - I can't quite tell, I called it 20.

 

I just finished placing a few orders. I ordered about 15 more pounds of rock and some chaeto from Reef Cleaners. I am not satisfied with my current scape so I decided to order some more rock and see what I can do.

 

The chaeto is for the InTank media baskets I just ordered. I picked up the fuge and media baskets along with the JBJ nano-glo LED fuge light, Chemi-Pure Elite, Purigen, and of course the filter floss.

 

I have also been thinking... I have had the bio balls in since day 1 - now I am a bit worried about taking them out. However, since I don't have any stock yet I think I am going to just bite the bullet and pull them all out tomorrow. I am pretty sure the tank hasn't cycled yet as I have never recorded any nitrites what so ever so far. If pulling them out adds another week or two to the cycle than so be it. This will be better for the long run.

 

What do you guys think?

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Reefmaster1996

I would keep them in until you can afford loosing what vital bacteria is living on it, I would do it right after the cycle. They aren't bad, just un necessary.

 

In the long run

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Thanks for the kind words on my thread! Your tank had lots of potential :) for the aquascape, I think it's important to have uniquely shaped rocks, not just the boulder looking ones, your algae is coming from the nitrates, id do a ~20% water change as nitrates don't really go away on their own (except for algae consuming it).

I know a lot of people don't agree with the "cycle bacteria" but I've used it on every tank with great results! When I first set up my nano, I used the rock/sand/water from my previous tank and had to obviously put all my coral and fish and shrimp in right away. I tested the water a few days later and had a huge ammonia spike...so I went and bought the bio-spira and added it, and I didn't lose a thing :)

Anyway, ill be following along, I'm curious to see how your tank progresses!

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Thanks for the reply Saltt! Glad to have you following along.

 

So, not much has been going on these past few days since my last update. I will be at the 3 week mark on Wednesday which is exciting. My InTank media baskets should be coming in today so I will be setting that stuff up - pictures to come later today! The diatoms explosion I was experiencing seems to have died down - by that I mean, it doesn't appear that I am getting any new diatom growth the past few days.

 

Went shopping yesterday. Picked up a 5 gallon bucket, and a 21 gallon tote from Menards. The bucket is for emptying old water, and the tote will be my salt water mixing station. I picked up a siphon, and some Bio-Spira (Thanks Saltt!) from Pet Smart and ordered some goodies from That Pet (Fish) Place for my salt water mixing station which includes:

 

Red Sea Coral Pro Salt bucket (I bought a bag of Coralife Sea Salt when initially setting the tank up, but decided to switch to Red Sea for the long run)

Maxi-Jet 1200 (for pumping water from salt water mixing station to display tank)

Eheim Jager 75W

Koralia Nano 240

Coralife digital thermometer

10' of 1/2" clear hose for saltwater mixing to display tank return

 

Hopefully I should get this stuff by the end of this week or beginning of next. Once it's all in I can get my salt water station going and start mixing water in preparation for my first water change. My plan is to have the equipment in the salt water mixing tote running 24/7 (minus the pump, which will only be on when pumping water into display) that way I always have good salt water ready to go for a water change. As far as the pump goes, I hope it is strong enough to be able to pump water up about 5'. If it isn't I will just replace the stock pump in the display tank with this one and buy a stronger pump for the mixing station. Keep in mind that all of this stuff is setup at my desk at work lol, so the salt water mixing tote is under my desk and the tank is above it.

 

The 15 lbs of dead Florida rock and tennis ball of Chaeto should also be in this week from Reef Cleaners. What ever rock I don't use from this order I will put away for when I start my 55G later this summer. That tank will actually be in my house, not at work lol.

 

Oh, also discovered that in the midst of the diatom explosion - I've got a bunch of Halimeda growing on my rock! So that's cool!

 

I will post some pictures and test readings later today once I get to the office.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

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Got the InTank stuff all installed with the Purigen and Chemi-Pure Elite. My Chaeto should be here tomorrow or Thursday - however, we've got a huge winter storm moving in so... that may be delayed.

 

I initially removed the mesh filter between chamber 2 and 3 (where the return pump is at) and then decided to replace it with some of the poly filter floss I picked up - I was concerned that removing the filter between those chambers I may suck stuff into the pump. So I have filter floss at the top of chamber 2 in the media basket, and at the bottom between chamber 2 and 3. Picture!

 

 

post-64702-0-90931700-1359489153_thumb.jpg

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Alright, update time! So my InTank mediabaskets are in, and I got my Chaeto and Florida rock from Reef Cleaners. Needless to say, I didn't get much work done that afternoon as I quickly worked on integrating my new aquascape. So here are some new pictures. What do you guys think? Too much rock? I really like how it turned out. Oh and I discovered photobucket, so without further ado, pictures!

 

3D6CAD5D-orig_zps14c35c04.jpg

 

IMG_20130131_142935_001_zps6682dab1.jpg

 

IMG_20130131_142946_023_zps156c58e7.jpg

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Oh and water update. Been struggling to maintain a solid temperature. I've been trying to take 3 readings a day; the first one about an hour before the lights turn on for the day, the second one at about mid day, and the third one about an hour before lights turn off. This way I can get a nice graph to look at daily temperature swings. I think I will be needing to replace my cheap Top Fin heater with something more durable.

 

The only parameters I have been keeping track of besides temperature is ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, and salinity. I did have a salinity of about 1.024, but after I added my new rock I had to take some water out to correct for the displacement from the rock. That managed to drop my salinity down to about 1.021. What is a good way to get it back up? I will no be able to make my own RO/DI water at the office, however I am buying RO/DI water from the water guy in 5G jugs for a pretty good price when he comes to stock our water cooler. Today I bought 20 gallons to get ready to set up my saltwater mixing station. I bought a 21 gallon tote and lid from the hardware store that I will keep under my desk (it will be conveniently labeled "files" :D) this will be my mixing tote. I ordered a powerhead, heater, pump, and some red sea salt that I should have Monday. When I need to raise salinity, what is a good way to do it without a big water change? I am new to salt water so I am not quite sure how to manage the salinity.

 

Hopefully within the next couple of weeks my cycle will be complete and I can start adding my CUC!

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Reefmaster1996

I would add saltwater to the tank when the water level lowers from evaporation. You usually add freshwater since when the water evaporates the salt stays in the rest of the tank water, but this would be a safe way to slowly bump up your salinity.

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  • 8 months later...

Long time, no update. Tank is still up and running on my desk at work. Because I have had the tank at work, I haven't been able to give it the attention it deserves. So since February, all I have added is a small frag of Zoas (I think?), 2 Clownfish, and 1 fairy tail wrasse. I want to really start to add coral and maybe another fish.

 

With that being said, I am taking my tank home this week! This is really exciting for me! Today I should have my new stand and when I get off work I am going to get that setup, and maybe even bring the tank home tonight. I have also setup a BRS 4 Stage RODI system at home with fresh, and saltwater in separate containers and the salt water is already mixed and ready to go. This alone will be a great improvement over the water I have been using at work. I have also purchased new lights to replace the stock Biocube lights. I ordered 1 12k white/445 blue, and 1 445 blue Panorama Pro module from Ecoxotic that I will be installing. I am also looking to upgrade my power head, and return pump as well for higher flow.

 

Another thing I would like to do is change my scape once I get the tank home. The big red rock on the bottom in the right I think I am going to take out completely. It's really not that cool of a rock, and it is very dense. So if anyone has some ideas for a rescape that would be awesome! I just think that I have too much rock, not too many places for coral.

 

Here are some pictures from today, let me know what you guys think!

 

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131007_125321_339_zpse069ea75.jpg.html'>IMG_20131007_125321_339_zpse069ea75.jpg

 

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131007_125407_958_zps6999be96.jpg.html'>IMG_20131007_125407_958_zps6999be96.jpg

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Thank you!

 

Also, any tips on cleaning the glass and sand? The glass is not nearly as easy to clean as my fresh water tank lol. For the sand, I've got a bunch of small shells and stuff I want to pull out, I was thinking about doing this by hand.

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clean sand by hand yes, and nothing beat a strait blade razor for glass



ps i saw joel zimmerman before he sold out back in 2007 no album is able to compete with random album title.

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Gotcha. Only concern I have is scratching the glass, with my luck I'd mess up and scratch the hell out of it lol. Yeah, Random Album Title was amazing. That's awesome that you got to see him.

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Tank successfully moved home on the new stand!

 

I got the new Ecoxotic Panorama Pro modules installed (1x12k/445nm 1x445nm) although, I think I am going to need to pull them out and readjust the mount, I don't think I am getting full coverage. The front is much brighter then the back. I think this is because I used the stock reflector in the hood to mount the modules to and they are slightly at an angle. I think I am going to pull it out, and try to flatten the reflector with a mallet.

 

Also working on a new scape which is extremely difficult lol. Pictures later today.

 

Oh, I ordered a new power head to replace my Nano 240. Upgrading to a 425.

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While working on the new scape I keep getting the same thought as I arrange the rock... I need a bigger tank lol.

 

Also as a side note, my clownfish don't take kindly to me moving their home around. The cute little guys keep nipping at my hand and arm as I arrange the rock, it kind of tickles lol.

 

So far I have tried a few different scapes and would like some input from you guys. I am trying to avoid a mound of rock, and shooting for something that has some style. I figure my rock work is just as much art as the coral and fish. With that being said, I am trying to avoid dead spots, while also trying to create cool caves and nooks and crannies that the fish can swim through while also keeping in mind coral placement (even though I have NO idea what I want to add as far as coral). I am trying to not stack rock against the back wall, while also leaving some good sand real estate in the front and sides for placing coral in the sand.

 

Any tips or comments on the above?

 

Here are some pictures of a few things I have tried so far. I apologize the pictures are so blue, I don't have a cool camera and since I added the Panorama Pros most of my pictures are really blue now.

 

White/Blue and Blue modules. I could also try cleaning the salt water buildup on the cover, that stuff is on good though.

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131008_110912_237_zpsaa945750.jpg.html'>IMG_20131008_110912_237_zpsaa945750.jpg

 

I've always disliked this rock, and it will no longer be part of my scape

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131008_131053_918_zpsf1d922ac.jpg.html'>IMG_20131008_131053_918_zpsf1d922ac.jpg

 

Attempt 1: I like it, tried to leave room on all sides while creating caves and such. Worried about coral placement.

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131008_132438_421_zps5bea0979.jpg.html'>IMG_20131008_132438_421_zps5bea0979.jpg

 

Attempt 1, picture 2

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131008_132506_283_zpse8170ca4.jpg.html'>IMG_20131008_132506_283_zpse8170ca4.jpg

 

Attempt 1, picture 3

http://s1292.photobucket.com/user/jskyn/media/IMG_20131008_131009_066_zps934dc6e8.jpg.html'>IMG_20131008_131009_066_zps934dc6e8.jpg

 

Notice in picture 3 there is a lot more blue in the back than the front? Is this ok? I am so used to the PCs in the stock BioCube that were pretty bright white and consistent throughout the tank.

 

Comments, suggestions, and criticisms are all welcomed! Thanks for reading!

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