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Na mo‘olelo o ko‘akā (Mo‘olelo's 20L) (RETIRED)


Moolelo

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Retired June 2017
 
Updated: March 3rd, 2017
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February 27th, 2016
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August 1st, 2014
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May 24th, 2014
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March 23rd, 2014
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October 28, 2013

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Aloha Nano Reef community! After the fateful passing of my dear fluval spec V tank, I had to hustle to set up a replacement. After a few LFS visits around the island, I had found the tank.
Recent changes are bold.

Equipment:

  • Aquarium Masters 20 gallon long (30"x12"x12"), black silicone. DIY derimmed
  • Vortech mp10 ES on Nutrient Transport Mode with tuned wave 75%
  • Eheim Jager 50W Heater (only during colder months)
  • Nanobox Duo w/ gooseneck + Storm 75W DIY LED array/cannon
  • Petco Brooklyn Metal Stand
  • DIY PVC Airstone Skimmer

 

Vertebrates:

  • 2x Goldstripe Maroon Clownfish

Invertebrates:

 

Cnidarians

  • Many Sesere's Anemones, Gyractis sesere
  • Psuedocorynactis corallimorph
  • Various zoanthids from tide pools

Molluscs

  • Hawaiian Top Snails
  • Hawaiian Turbo snails
  • 2x Cerith Snails
  • Knobby Snail, Modulus tectum
  • Hawaiian Snakehead Cowrie, Cypraea caputophidii
  • Money Cowries, Cypraea moneta
  • 2x Grape Drupes, Morula uva

Echinoderms

  • Purple (use to be pink) needle spine urchin, Echinostrephus aciculatus
  • Many micro brittle stars
  • Dwarf Stars, Aquilonastra anomala

Crustacea

  • Halloween Hermit, Calcinus pictus
  • Rosy Hermit, Calcinus laurentae

Sponges/Tunicates

  • Blue sponges - Haliclona sp.

Water/Dosing:

  • NSW: 5 gallon water change each week with ocean seawater from 1000ft offshore Oahu, Filtered....heavily
  • Dosing 3ml Seachem Reef Fusion 1 & 2 (found reef level NSW is deficient when pumped in and using precise testing to calculate what needs to be up to spec. Reef fusion is a cheap way to achieve buffered levels)

Feeding:

  • New Life Spectrum pellet, Formula One pellet
  • Frozen mysis and krill for larger invertebrates
  • Leftover urchin, etc. eggs from lab.

 

 

So tank is saved and there has not been any serious fatalities with the move. Lost about 5 electric pink polyps, but that may not be connected as I had just collected them the same week.
Future plans are up in the air, but short term is to get a balanced natural tank running. First order of business is to get a wavemaker and then let the tank mature itself.

Future livestock:
Entertaining the idea of getting harlequin shrimp pair for some more action in the tank. Collecting starfish for food would not be a problem.
In Hawai‘i we are limited on coral that is allowed, so maybe this will be a broad invertebrate focused tank (with fun macro algae)

Though this was a forced upgrade it is for the best and gives me ample room to go out and discover more for my piece of the reef at home. Once equipment is finally settled, I can start the long process of letting the reef build itself.

 

 

This tank will focus on natural dynamics with mostly organisms taking care of maintenance and the water. I will provide fresh ocean seawater weekly, the flow, the light, and a temperature buffer. Besides that I just sit back and watch things happen as the tanks develops through time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Added a red mangrove collected at the small mangrove estuary. It seems to be adapting to the tank, but impressed it into my skimmer tube and it broke one for the small side roots, and some lower leaves are yellowing. I am using a cree xte neutral white led with optics as a spotlight grow light, hopefully it will be enough.

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Mr. Microscope

Fun tank! I think you'll need more light for the mangrove to form properly. Otherwise, it'll probably end up tall and lanky.

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Fun tank! I think you'll need more light for the mangrove to form properly. Otherwise, it'll probably end up tall and lanky.

:P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pretty cool I live there for 10 years about 10 years ago lol

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How is livestock selection on the island? I am looking at going to college there for marine biology. Do you have good stores?

University of California Santa Barbara or Berkely MarSci. Why? Mo'orea!

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Berkeley is a great school and I have done plenty collaboration there, but Mo'orea is not equal to Oahu marine research by location. To Fishbrawler: choose college based on opportunity, not only in school, but after. Just a warning, Mānoa has plenty of marine biology students.

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  • 4 months later...

Update 2014:

Been doing great and has lots of growth. I would love to show some pictures of this great growth, but a few circumstances led to a little Saturday project.

First I had aiptasia and wasn't going to deal with them till I had to.

Second the boss prefers the rimless look and wanted our tank like that.

Instead of being sensible...I decided to use sodium hydroxide on my aiptasia friends and then completely drain the tank, with inverts and live rock stored in buckets.

Then I derimmed the 20L.

Never again.

 

(my mp10 got quieter after the nice cleaning, but it hasn't been this quiet even brand new)

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  • 3 weeks later...

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Clowns and Red people eaters when we still had the Caulerpa racemosa nursery and Holothuria pervicax cucumber in background.

baeolidia_zpsd21c289a.gifBaeolidia salaamica traveling around and eating aiptasia.

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Love the tank derimmed. Seems to be plently sturdy with no brace, but I guess that will depend on glass thickness. The unfinished edge under the brace is the tell-tale part, I had minor nicks so I just have that pane as the back pane, but if it was anything more I would be more worried about glass strength in the long term.

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My collector urchin is too big for the tank now and has returned to the ocean to clean real reefs with the state's urchin army.

Working on a tiny project to get my echinoid fix. This is no collector urchin...

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Another echinoid project much further along, though not going in my home tank.

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And added a few lab raised specimens.

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Actually the leaf chiton I added was lab raised, this one I don't know where it came from? But if you can ID this chiton, please let me know. It is not a color morph I have ever seen commonly.

Names of new additions are in first post along with any changes to current livestock.

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B.salaamica eggs! Maybe more nudis soon. Though more likely mantis food, I took one little mantis out, but there is still loud snapping noise, and no more sand piles, probably a smasher mantis I have never seen.

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Also my unidentified chiton's shell was found in the grasp of a micro brittle star, with the animal eaten out.

Lastly a bunch of zoas have taken to folding half their disk over or not opening at all. I can't figure out what is bothering them, with no outward signs, besides not opening completely.

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Oops, sorry I didn't realize how that reads out. That one is a purple spotted nudibranch (Chromodoris genus), the first picture is of the aiptasia eating sea spiders. The five orange ones below the middle anemone in distress.

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  • 2 weeks later...

These guys felt real natural and I was missing having an urchin for the time being.

Don't mind the bubbles, those are just decorator crab food I've been saving...

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I also have plans to modify and upgrade light a bit.

Moving to:

3x 25W Dimmable drivers

Channel 1-

2x Cree XML Cool White

2x Nichia Neutral White

1x Cree XML2 Warm White

Channel 2-

Luxeon M Royal Blue

2x Cree XTE Royal Blue

2x Exotics Hyper Violet

Channel 3-

2x Exotics Turquoise

2x Cool Blue

1x Deep Red

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Made a few additions reflected in top post and bouncing a few guys between work and home.

At work I found this anemone, or so I think. Any ideas on ID?

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