Hi, my name is Salty

[SaltySaltyDog]

I am a college student.

Here is my experimental, relatively low budget tank. Almost 2 months old now, in what I believe is the final stretch of a mild diatom bloom.

Fully cycled for 3 weeks, weekly water changes (typically more often) using pre-mixed RODI saltwater, manual RODI freshwater topoff, and vigilant (borderline obsessive) monitoring. Thread for documentation and your viewing pleasure/constructive criticisms.
Help me be a better reefer.

 

This is essentially a rough draft tank I want to run for the next 6 months until my current lease is up.

If I can sustain a variety of life in a small tank for a reasonable amount of time and learn an immense amount via obsessively reading, I will upgrade everything to either a larger tank size, or start a new nano tank from scratch with the knowledge I acquire over the next 6 months.

 

Standard 20x12x10 10 gallon found in attic

1" Sand Bed

12lb Man-Made Live Rock

3lb Dry Rock (Not sure where this came from,

AC70 HOB Refugium, with 2" Miracle Mud, 1" Aragonite Live Sand

-(Chaeto and mixed pod culture on their way)

Attic found water pump I am using as a PH. (Koralia 240 on its way to replace this POS)

Curent USA Orbit Marine LED Lighting System ( REALLY neat, and has kept my corals alive and pretty this far)

 

Inhabitants:

Fish

1x Blue Green Chromis

3x Blue Legged Hermit

3x Red Legged Hermit (2 missing, the Blues are murderous. yes, I have plenty of shells laying around for them)

2x Nassarius Snail

1x Coral Banded Shrimp (****ing beast)

1x Emerald/Mithrax Crab

Frags

2 Unknown Zoas \

1 Unknown Mushroom | LFS not helpful, sells frags that they can only vaguely identify

1 Unknown Paly / and i'm too new at this to tell

1 Euphillia / Torch Coral

1 Pulsing Xenia

1 Green Star Polyp

1 Candy Cane

 

Average Water Parameters

Ammonia - 0 ppm

Nitrite - 0 ppm

Nitrate - 5-10 ppm ( working on dropping that via refugium/chaeto )

pH - 7.8 (WC brings it to 8.2, I am uncomfortable with this swing and the low pH and I am hoping that the addition of chaeto will use up excess CO2 in the water and bring the pH up.)

Phosphate - Not Tested

Salinity - 1.026 SG when topped off, evaporation sometimes bringing it as high as 1.028-1.029

Calc/Alk I have not bought a test kit for, but I plan to within the next week or two.

(I know, this is bad practice, this is why I frequently change the water to ensure they are relatively balanced)

 

Here are some pictures:

My only questions so far are as follows:

I notice if I drop a Chemi-Pure Elite, which I have done twice now only to take it out a few days later. The Euphyllia and CC seem to be react poorly to the CP Elite, where the torch will "wilt" almost, and the Candy Cane wont open his "mouth" and fully extend, however, when I remove the CP they seem to come right back out the next day. All other corals are unfazed by it.
Is the carbon or another ingredient irritating the LPS corals, or is this just a coincidence?

 

Would it be reasonable to eventually drop a SPS frag in and plant it near the top of the tank for the highest lighting, this would only leave it about 4 inches from the LED fixture itself, and I'm not sure if it would bleach it, or if it would just die/brown out from inadequate lighting. The stats on the Current USA site say at that depth the PAR rating should be 400+. Is this a possibility, or should I stay away for a few months?

 

Any other information or criticism is VERY welcome. I am not here to gloat about my tank, and I do not need approval, what I need most is INFORMATION, so if you have any suggestions or info that may apply to the setup I am running, please chime in.

 

Thanks guys!

[patback]

Welcome.

 

Many lfs can't keep up with zoa names. It damn near impossible, especially when there are 5 different names for the same morph, hundreds of unknown ones straight from the ocean, etc. don't worry about that, and zoaid.com is a good place to find out yourself.

 

As for the adverse reaction to chemipurr, you may be cleaning your water too quickly. The water clears up beautifully when a large dose is put in, but now your lighting is greatly enhanced since it doesn't need to "fight" to reach down. Your corals may not be able to handle the sudden burst in par, hence the meh appearance.

 

Also, if you don't want to buy an ato, might I suggest less surface agitation, a lid, more frequent top offs than you're doing now, or some other way of keeping the water in the tank. Swings like that can keep coral alive, but far from thriving. Sps will NOT appreciate it and I suggest not getting any sps until you figure that out.

 

Unless corals/inhabitants look miserable, don't even test ph once your powerheads an equipment are set up how you want it. It's nice to know a ball park once in a blue moon or when adding something new, but chasing ph is a terrible decision IMO. Everything chemically speaking is balanced with one another, and dosing to keep ph throws other parameters out of whack. It's just not worth it.

[SaltySaltyDog]

Great to hear, thanks.

I do have a lid on the tank, it isn't pictured, i have it fitted over the LED fixture. An ATO is something I have considered for down the road, but for now I am okay with topping off. I am pretty meticulous about topping off, and the swing has only happened two or three times when I work a long weekend.

The burst in par would definitely explain why the LPS react the way they do, I hadn't considered that.

 

The high surface agitation is a result of my concern over the pH. I was under the impression that better gas exchange would increase the pH, however, if chasing that number is a waste of my time and not ultimately going to kill anything or inhibit growth, it would be a weight off my shoulders to stop fighting it.

 

Also: I have yet to buy a heater and my temperature averages around 75 F. However, I have seen it as low as 72 F. I know the low temperatures will inhibit the tank's metabolism, but I am afraid to buy a heater and have fail and overheat or shock my tank or start a massive algae bloom. Can I get away with running the tank at 74-75 F or should I sack up and drop the heater in and set it at 78?

[patback]

The thing about ph is that consistency is key. Obviously it needs to be around ideal, but7.9-8.2 isn't bad at all IME.

 

I would recomend a high quality heater. Go big or don't go at all. When you cheap out is when it'll get stuck. There are controllers just for heaters that won't necessarily break the bank, but a rkl is one of the best purchases I have made in this hobby, and I hear apex and reef angels are even better.

 

* that range should be within a decent period such as 24 hours. Lighting will have an effect on it so it is impossible to keep a constant ph level.

[SaltySaltyDog]

I don't think for this application a controller would be necessary, but down the road it is definitely something I will look into, specifically if I decide to move up to a bigger, more complex system. The lights I have are already on a ramp timer and are adjustable at the command of a remote control (weather patterns, moonlights, cloud passover, the whole deal. This light is neat.) and I am not interested in dropping a paycheck on any of the endless automated reactors.

I am looking into a Cobalt Neo-Therm now. Considering the 50W but I hear they run hot and I don't want to melt the plastic of the AC70 fuge, where I will be housing the heater. However, I also want to purchase something I may be able to use in a bigger setup. Lots to consider with the possibility of upgrading EVERYTHING in the foreseeable future. Like any other hobby, though, it's probably best to just go big the first time to avoid paying for every upgrade on the way up.

[blacksand_reefer]

i just bought a used reefkeeper elite for a 30 gallon jbj. I thought i wouldn't want one either but the thought of constant monitoring and the addition of an ato, and a wavemaker almost pays for itself. Plus its hardware that could be used in any setup no matter how large you decide to go. At least that how i justified it in my head. just my .02

[SaltySaltyDog]

Nice, I'll check it out. If I could get one used, it might be feasible. It seems like a bit overkill for a 10 gallon, but if it can be used for any size, it may be worth it.

[SaltySaltyDog]

Update on the tank:
The tank has just reached its 4 month mark and I am easing out of the "obsessive up-all-night forum reading" phase. I have noticed a huge increase in biodiversity upon adding a few chunks of LR rubble from different systems and hitchikers from frags including bristle worms, spaghetti worms, small asterina starfish, spiroid snails, vermetid snails, and all kinds of strange microfauna in the sandbed. I have nearly used up all the reasonable real estate on my LR by adding my final wave of frags in the last month, including:
- a small tabling acro colony

- a branching acro frag

- millepora frag

- green and pink chalice

- 2x Acanthastrea frags

- several misc. free or cheap zoas and shrooms

 

Livestock I have added:
- Bicolor Blenny

- Barnacle Blenny x2

- Blood Red Fire Shrimp

- Tuxedo Urchin

- Mexican Turbo Snail

- 2 Nerite Snails

I have lost:

-Emerald Crab

[i believe the CBS got him while he was molting, or he died for some other reason shortly after molting. Possibly a lack of green algae]

- My small gsp rock ( nearly )

[i am not sure why I have lost this frag, possibly due to extremely low nutrients/unreadable nitrates and phosphates, or constantly being trampled by my snail and crab population, or even possibly due to a small brown algae that seems to have only moved into the spaces between the GSP polyps. Regardless, I am not upset or concerned with this loss, even if I cannot determine the source]

-Small zoa frag

[i opted to remove it from the tank when a good size aiptasia was observed.]

- Coral Banded Shrimp & Barnacle Blenny

[ I added one Barnacle Blenny after discovering its existence, and it is by far the coolest fish I have come across in this hobby, nano fish or not. Upon adding the Barnacle Blenny to the tank, it was not given a chance to find a good hiding spot, and was caught by the CBS within hours of its introduction. THE NEXT MORNING I removed the CBS and brought it in to the LFS with my tale of tragedy, and added a new Blood Red/Fire Shrimp and a brand new Barnacle Blenny, who is now a happy inhabitant with no predators.]

Parameter and Water Quality Changes:

I have set up a refugium out of a gutted Aqua Clear 70 gallon HOB filter with 2 inches of Miracle Mud and a thin layer of sand on top as a substrate, topped with a few small pieces of LR and a wad of growing chaeto under a small hallogen pond light. Since the construction of this mud refugium, I have had unreadable nitrate and phosphate in the tank, especially now that the mud has had a few months to mature. Since the introduction of this Miracle Mud refugium, I am a now a HUGE believer in mud refugiums. This refugium has made the tank almost run on autopilot at this point, as i feed beyond liberally to my fish, coral, and invertebrates individually. I feed New Era algae flakes, New Era Marine Flakes, New Era Marine Pellets, PE Mysis (thawed and rinsed), Coral Smoothie, Live Rotifers, Live Phytoplankton, Live Copepods, Live Brine Shrimp, and whatever microalgae or microfauna are growing in my tank/refugium.

Another reason I believe I may have extremely low nutrients is due to my dosing of Aquavitro's FUEL additive. I believe the carbohydrates and vitamins may feed bacteria in a similar way to vodka dosing, and may lock up some of the nutrients. Since starting my every-other-day FUEL dosing regimen, I have noticed a huge improvement in coral coloration, and I cannot vouch for the growth, as the tank has only been up for 4 months.

I have also researched and learned to 3 part dose, keeping my calcium at roughly 450, dKH at about 9-10, and magnesium at about 1350. Still keeping salinity at 1.026 with daily manual topoff and weekly water change of 10-20% (every monday). Chaeto in refugium on a reverse photoperiod keeps pH stable at around 8.0 all day. Temperature fluctuates from 78-81F.

 

So far:

Growth is hard to tell due to the immaturity of the tank, but all the frags seem to have encrusted and moved onto the rock to an extent, and they are all noticeably larger. I have learned an incredible amount in the last 4 months, and if I can sustain and improve on my knowledge base in the next few months, when my lease is up I will be setting up a 75-100 gallon tank. It is safe to say that this hobby has completely engulfed me and I am still learning something new every day and keeps me on my toes. Even this small tank gives me a place to stare and think, and I am both excited and impatient for my frags to fill in, and for an upgrade after a few more moths of experimentation. I will be at the reef convention in Orlando in two weeks, and I am excited to learn even more there, and to meet people who I can learn from, and to become a better reef keeper.

Now enjoy some pictures.