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Hexadron's Nitoralis [Retired]


Hexadron

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Introduction

This is my tank journal for my Reef Aquarium "Nitoralis"

The Name

Nitoralis is a pseudo word from two latin words merged together. Nitor and Borealis. Nitor meaning: elegance, brilliance, to shine and Borealis meaning: Northern. Canada=Nothern and those LED's sure do shine! I spent quite a while thinking of the name, and believe it really adds to the character of this tank.

 


 


History
This is my first Reef Aquarium, and first saltwater tank. I have only had one Aquarium in my lifetime - and that was a freshwater 10g from when I was about 12 years old. Many years have passed since then and looking back, I didn't do much right! It's truly a miracle that the livestock didn't croak within the first week, but that tank lasted me a good two years before I got bored with it.

I have spent the last four years doing much research and readings from forums to books to learn as much as I possibly could before embarking on a journey like this. This is probably much longer than the average reefer, and I truly wish I could have started sooner, but glad I waited as I believe waiting saved me many disasters.

I have dreamed of saltwater tanks from the time I was small. I would always stop by the pet store every chance i could when my family and I went into the city (small town growing up) and would spend the majority of the time looking at the tropical fish.

Many delays were from my own fear of messing up, and always having the assumption that Saltwater is so difficult you had to be a rocket scientist to get it right. None of my friends, family or co-workers seem to have any interest in anything Aquarium-related; so it was up to me to push myself to get started. Cost was a bit of an issue as I didn't want to have to constantly replace equipment along the way, and I am a firm believer in "Doing it right" the first time.

I have had many inspirations - mainly from Nano-Reef including: Rehype, urbaneks, MedRed, Schreiba, AJ_Tsin, Uhuru, and el fabuloso. Not in any particular order, and there are many more to mention, but these in particular stood out and inspired me to get started with Reefing.

Okay enough about these guys, lets get on to the journal!

 

 

 

 


 

 


Equipment

I chose my equipment very carefully to suit the needs for this build. having absolutely nothing to start with wasn't easy on the wallet, but there are lives at hand here, and nothing but the best for my livestock. The components I chose had a lot to do with energy savings as well (Go Green!)

Main System

 

 

 

  • Tank - PicO Aquariums Custom Starfire (all 4 sides) 20"x12"x10" ~10g
  • Lighting - Maxspect R420R 120w 16k
  • Circulation - 2x Ecotech Marine VorTech MP10w ES (one in back center, one on left) EcoSmart TSM
  • Ecotech Marine Battery Backup
  • Pumps - 2x Eheim Compact 300 (one in each of the two back chambers)
  • Heater - Cobalt Aquatics 75w Neo-Therm
  • ATO - ELOS Osmocontroller Digital
  • Filtration Media - Purigen, Carbon ROX 0.8, inTank Filter Pad

Accessories/Misc. Equipment

  • Base Rock - BRS "Reef Saver" Rock
  • Substrate - Caribsea Arag-Alive! Fiji Pink 10lbs
  • Salt - Fluval SEA Pro Formula
  • Glass Cleaner - Nimble Nano & Vertex Duplex Magnetic Algae Cleaner (I couldn't decide, so I got both!) Kent Pro Scraper II
  • Test Kits - Elos Testkits (Nitrate, Nitrite) API (Ammonia) Hanna Checkers (Alk, Calcium, Phosphorus) Red Sea (Nitrate, Phosphate, Alk, Calcium, Magnesium)
  • Refractometer - ATC Refractometer
  • RO/DI - BRS 5 Stage Chloramines PLUS RO/DI

Remorbis (Coral QT) RETIRED

  • Tank - 5.5g AGA
  • Lighting - LEDTRiC Par38 Full Spectrum Plus
  • Heater - Cobalt Aquatics 50w Neo-Therm
  • Circulation & Filtration - AquaClear 50
  • Filtration Media - Carbon ROX 0.8, inTank Filter Pad

 


Livestock

For this build, I am aiming to keep things clean and in line with my vision for this tank. Keeping certain color groups for corals, and not overcrowding the Fish & Inverts. This saves me on my Bio load and also keeps everyone happy in such a small volume. My goal is to have equal amounts to positive and negative space by using simple design philosophies, and keep an open feel to the tank. I don't really care for the "Thousands of Frags wasteland" that I see all too often.

Fish

 

  • Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura)

Invertebrates

  • Dwarf Zebra Hermit Crab (Calcinus laevimanus) x1

Corals

  • "Wicked Frags Bonsai" Acropora nana
  • "Wicked Frags Cobalt Tort" Acropora tortuosa
  • "Fire & Ice Prostrata" Acropora prostrata
  • "ORA Purple Plasma Acro" Acropora sp.
  • "Cali Tort" Acropora tortuosa
  • "Tyree Rainbow Stylophora" Stylophora sp.

 


Table of Contents

 


EST. February 23rd, 2013

Retired sometime thereafter.

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Now that's a great start! Brilliant title!

 

I can completely empathize with the "None of my friends, family or co-workers seem to have any interest in anything Aquarium-related; so it was up to me to push myself to get started"........ my friends think I'm nuts, and my poor poor wife....given up on me :D .

 

Good equipment choices. I'm waiting to see the filtration plans though? Skimmer?

 

Time to subscribe!

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Now that's a great start! Brilliant title!

 

I can completely empathize with the "None of my friends, family or co-workers seem to have any interest in anything Aquarium-related; so it was up to me to push myself to get started"........ my friends think I'm nuts, and my poor poor wife....given up on me :D .

 

Good equipment choices. I'm waiting to see the filtration plans though? Skimmer?

 

Time to subscribe!

Tell me about it. There is one guy at work that used to have a Reef, but he's one of those "I use tap water and it's fine" He showed me old pictures of his tank, and it looked absolutely horrible. I hate to say it, but it was BAD.

 

Well Filtration-wise it will be mechanical/chemical filtration. No skimmer. I just haven't quite decided on which chemical filtration to go with ATM, but will be using simple filter floss as mechanical. There was no room for a sump, and i'm trying to keep it as an AIO type. Water changes and strong flow will be key with this tank.

 

Thanks for subscribing :D

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Are you cycling with the reefsaver rock right out of the box or did you prep it any? Im thinking an ro rinse than in the tank to cycle for me.

 

Out of the box for me. I was going to do a vinegar soak, but after much reading I came to the conclusion that the ReefSaver rock was actually pretty clean, so decided against the soak. It couldn't hurt if you decide to do it though :)

 

Well you should be:) Nicer than most of the engineered prints I see!

 

Thanks :)

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I had some pukani in another tank seemed like it had alot of phosphates in it.

 

I heard the Pukani is pretty dirty. Well I guess if I made a mistake you'll hear about it! :lol:

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That's a very cool print!

 

Since you're going skimmer-less, have you seen Marko Haaga's reef? IMO, the king of skimmer-less tanks. Google it :)

 

 

P.S. Loved the meme on the aquascapers thread...lol

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Thats quite an impressive beginning...you better deliver. ;)

 

Thanks :) I'm going to do my best!

 

Wow that looks like an awesome start jordan cant wait to see this tank in action

 

Me too! I have a few more things to post tonight ;)

 

Me likey the print! Clever intro... I'm in!

 

Thanks so much!

 

That's a very cool print!

 

Since you're going skimmer-less, have you seen Marko Haaga's reef? IMO, the king of skimmer-less tanks. Google it :)

 

 

P.S. Loved the meme on the aquascapers thread...lol

 

I haven't seen that setup, but i'm definitely going to check it out, thanks for sharing :) Haha, well we have a newcomer Canadacorals.com which is shaping up to be really great, but i'm seriously jealous of you guys down South, so many choices!

 

Great sounding plans!

 

Thanks, I spent a fair bit of time planning this one out.

 

:wub:

 

:bowdown:

 

Thanks so much kat! Your tank is amazing! :wub:

 

Excellent intro and nice hardware choices :)

 

Thanks :happy: It honestly took me forever to decide on a light fixture, but I think i made the right choice for me.

 

this is going to look great, definitely the epitome of nano setups simple, yet high end equipment always looks good on these.

 

Thanks hey! I am loving your tank as well, shaping up to be something amazing B)

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Hey guys, I meant to update yesterday, but got a new office chair delivered, and couldn't wait to put it together!

 

Here are some pics of the actual tank. Chris@Pico Aquariums did an amazing job. Craftsmanship is out of this world.

 

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love the start so far :D

 

Thanks, hopefully things get even better from now on!

 

The intro page is awesome. Love the theme and meaning. Subscribed.

 

Thank You :)

 

I shall wait and watch.

 

And you shall be rewarded. (hopefully)

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