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Cultivated Reef

My Bonsai Reef


sam_the_reefer

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sam_the_reefer

This tank has been running for a while and has been through a few natural disasters (magnitude 7 quake and super typhoon Yolanda). Current plan is to see if I can maintain the carpet nem to a small size, while letting the rest of the corals grow.

 

SPECS:

Lighting: AI Prime HD

Flow: Hydor Koralia Nano Jebao SLW10

Filtration: live rock + Eheim Liberty 2042 with denitrate, activated carbon and Purigen Seachem Tidal 55 with Seachem Matrix bio rocks + Bubble Magus QQ1 HOB skimmer

Tank: Naked Eclipse 12  Local Made Custom Glass Cube (20" x 20" x 15.5")

 

FTS PIC DUMP:
January 2023
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August 2020
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January 2020
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September 2019

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December 2018
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October 2017
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March 2017

Dec 2015
23329985233_94eb9366a0_b.jpgDSC00770 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Oct 2015
21720773904_45a6b4ef74_b.jpgDSC00478 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Sept 2015
20994666839_295d9614f2_b.jpgDSC00467 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Aug 2015
20423314601_a0551c2a9a_b.jpgDSC00212 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Jul 2015
19425287332_903093d56e_b.jpgDSC00139 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
May 2015
16859509174_22b25ddd16_b.jpgDSC00057 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
March 2015
16271825323_9254510bf8_b.jpgDSC06979 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Feb 2015
15914099814_6626ddd879_b.jpgDSC06829 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Jul 2014
14687247781_418d878e11_b.jpgDSC06245 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Sept 2013
9731656217_05403b268a_b.jpgDSC04307 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Jun 2013
9132421233_457586d9b7_b.jpgDSC04081 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Oct 2012
8340423371_b2dc69014e_b.jpgDSC02324_1 by sc0lex, on Flickr
 
Feb 2011
5430624726_97e3046206.jpgfront view by sc0lex, on Flickr
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  • 2 weeks later...
sam_the_reefer
  • 2 weeks later...
sam_the_reefer
Nano sapiens

Dealing with high nitrates. Trying to keep it below 20ppm through water changes.

 

Welcome and nice nano tank.

 

You'll likely find that the nitrates keep rising since WC's are only temporarily effective. I ran into this same issue with my 12g after about 8-10 months as well as the brown diatoms on the SB. The problem is that over time the SB and LR gets over loaded with detritus which leads to all kinds of issues with nitrate and phosphate. Nitrate slowly rises because the SB and LR are clogged and they are no longer working efficiently as denitrification zones. The fix is simply to vacuum your SB, use a turkey baster or a small powerhead to blast your LR and remove any other detritus pockets in the system. However, start off doing only small sections of the SB at a time with each WC or else you'll end up with a very large and nasty algae bloom.

 

Once the majority of detritus has been removed you should see nitrates and phosphates significantly reduce (nitrate and phosphate is undetctable in my 5 year old tank...and that's with 2 Clownfish fed 4-5x/day). All the animals should benefit from the cleaner environment.

 

I would keep the Galaxea out of any high flow areas to minimize sweeper tentacles. In high flow they can develop 12" long sweepers!

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sam_the_reefer

Welcome and nice nano tank.

 

You'll likely find that the nitrates keep rising since WC's are only temporarily effective. I ran into this same issue with my 12g after about 8-10 months as well as the brown diatoms on the SB. The problem is that over time the SB and LR gets over loaded with detritus which leads to all kinds of issues with nitrate and phosphate. Nitrate slowly rises because the SB and LR are clogged and they are no longer working efficiently as denitrification zones. The fix is simply to vacuum your SB, use a turkey baster or a small powerhead to blast your LR and remove any other detritus pockets in the system. However, start off doing only small sections of the SB at a time with each WC or else you'll end up with a very large and nasty algae bloom.

 

Once the majority of detritus has been removed you should see nitrates and phosphates significantly reduce (nitrate and phosphate is undetctable in my 5 year old tank...and that's with 2 Clownfish fed 4-5x/day). All the animals should benefit from the cleaner environment.

 

I would keep the Galaxea out of any high flow areas to minimize sweeper tentacles. In high flow they can develop 12" long sweepers!

 

Thanks for the advice. I've never cleaned detritus off my rocks so I will do that. I think the high nitrates are also due to my removing some of the LR that was originally in this tank to give the fish more water volume/swimming room.

 

My damsel also likes to dig everywhere so she stirs up the sand often.

 

I found a shop here that sells Seachem products so I'm experimenting with Matrix and de-nitrate to make up for the LR I removed.

 

The flow is not so strong where they are so I guess that's why the Galaxea have been behaving (for now).

 

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Nano sapiens

Honestly, you have plenty of LR and LS for the nitrogen cycle, but the water needs to have access into the pore spaces for the cycle to work efficiently. It's your choice to be stuck on buying expensive additives for denitrification, but I prefer to use the simple no cost 'cleaning of detritus principle' to hold nitrate and phosphate in check.

 

This sums it up:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327364-maintenance-and-the-nano-reef-tank/

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  • 2 months later...
sam_the_reefer

Good News: Moved into new house. :)
Bad News:
Found out I had a broken lamp for the past year possibly. Attempted to have it fixed by a local shop but they said 'di na madala'. :( Anyone with soldering skills want to experiment replacing leds?
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DSC04289 by sc0lex, on Flickr
Galaxea didn't make it.
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DSC04309 by sc0lex, on Flickr
Neutral News:
Despite the broken lamp, the new toadstool grew. But it lost the green color.
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DSC04284 by sc0lex, on Flickr
Current FTS under temporary t5 lighting:
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DSC04307 by sc0lex, on Flickr
I think my best option would be to get PAR38 lamps. And this time, use a fan.

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
sam_the_reefer
  • 4 months later...
sam_the_reefer

So after having a crazy year full of natural disasters (Magnitude 7 quake and super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan) since my last post, I'm glad to say that my tank is still up.

 

Latest fts:

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DSC05829 by sc0lex, on Flickr
But now I have a new challenge. It looks like my other toadstool is dying. For some unknown reason, It started retracting it's polyps after I managed an algae problem. I took out the sponge in my filter and I think that reduced the nitrates in my tank.But since then it hasn't put out it's polyps and algae has started to grow on it. I've done some research and have also been through a couple of times where it shed and this is different. So, right now I'm just giving it some extra flow and seeing if it will pull through. I've had it for 3 years and grew it from a fingernail sized frag. :( I've also changed the media (seagel) and purigen in case it's some kind of chemical war. But it's still not looking good. :( The snails have been helping it a bit by eating the algae. It has always had a thin film of green algae on it's base and I didn't think that bothered it.

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DSC05834 by sc0lex, on Flickr

 

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DSC05828 by sc0lex, on Flickr

 

Everything else in the tank is doing great:

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DSC05838 by sc0lex, on Flickr

 

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DSC05843 by sc0lex, on Flickr

 

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DSC05849 by sc0lex, on Flickr

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Nano sapiens

The good news is that it hasn't flopped over on it's side. It's hard to see in the pic, but it looks like markings on the head. Have you checked at night with a flashlight to see if anything is pestering it and preventing it from opening?

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sam_the_reefer

Yup. I did see a hermit crab on it once when it still put out it's polyps but that was just one time. Also, the clownfish peck on it from time to time. (probly coaxing it to open up). But they've been in the tank since I started growing the coral so I'm not sure if they're the cause. The brown parts on the cap are actually algae and the pinkish part on the bottom right of the cap is where I think a snail snacked on some. It normally looks pinkish.

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Happy to see it survived those disasters! I hope the toadstool can pull through!!!!

 

Can you share how you were able to keep the tank alive through the earthquake and typhoon? Did you have battery pumps? How many days without power? Living in earthquake country myself, I'm hoping your successful experience might help me someday in the future :).

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sam_the_reefer

Happy to see it survived those disasters! I hope the toadstool can pull through!!!!

 

Can you share how you were able to keep the tank alive through the earthquake and typhoon? Did you have battery pumps? How many days without power? Living in earthquake country myself, I'm hoping your successful experience might help me someday in the future :).

 

The worst was a 4 day power outage after the earthquake and I think it was able to survive that because it was in an area in the house that had a lot of indirect sunlight (it gets direct sunlight for around 30 mins in the late afternoon). I am not sure how it survived the lack of flow. The only source of water movement at that time was fish fins.:) After that, there were intermittent 1-2 day power outages and it survived those days too. I just kept with weekly water changes through the days with no power. I've moved the tank into a corner since then though. It still gets some indirect sunlight but not as much, and I can control it with curtains in this corner. I think the indirect sunlight from that part of the house was causing algae problems.

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The worst was a 4 day power outage after the earthquake and I think it was able to survive that because it was in an area in the house that had a lot of indirect sunlight (it gets direct sunlight for around 30 mins in the late afternoon). I am not sure how it survived the lack of flow. The only source of water movement at that time was fish fins. :) After that, there were intermittent 1-2 day power outages and it survived those days too. I just kept with weekly water changes through the days with no power. I've moved the tank into a corner since then though. It still gets some indirect sunlight but not as much, and I can control it with curtains in this corner. I think the indirect sunlight from that part of the house was causing algae problems.

Wow...that's incredible that it survived with no water movement!
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sam_the_reefer

Without power...no aircon! How warm did the tank get?

I didn't measure, but the tank was in a well ventilated area. I don't use a chiller so my tank stays around 29-31 degrees celsius (according to my probably not so accurate thermometer). It helps that it's acrylic so the temp doesn't swing around too much.

 

Wow...that's incredible that it survived with no water movement!

I was surprised too. It didn't look pretty when it went through that though...lots of algae and the corals closed up.

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  • sam_the_reefer changed the title to My Bonsai Reef

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