reefsahoy Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 I've finally decided to get alittle more serious on my nano. Current equipment list.20 gallon Pico Aquarium 18X18x16H - 3 sided starphyer glass150 watt XM 20K HQI MHJNS WS1 SkimmerCA RKE controllerDUAL BRS dosing pumps for CA and ALKBRS dosing pump for ATO controlled by CA RKEVortech MP10A little history on this tank. I started excitedly about a year ago using almost the same setup except I was using Ecotech Radion Pro 3 for lighting. I personally couldnt dial in the light, got really disappointed in the progress and in doing so lost intrest in the upkeep. The mg in the tank went low and all the corals were either dying or turned white almost colorless. Rightly or wrongly I gave up on the radion (it's now sitting in the box in my garage until i decide to part with it) and decided to go back to MH where I've had much success keeping sps in my rimless 100G.So I bought one decent size live rock for the tank to rescape the tank for a fresh look, hit the reset button and now I'm in the wait and see mode. I can't remember the names of the corals I currently have and dont know what colors they are/were and decided not to buy any new frags and just use what I have. In the week since hitting the reset button I'm begining to see colors seep into some of the browned out sps. The hammer and ORA gonipora has exploded and looks happier than it has ever looked under the LEDs. I will now document how long it will take the tank to get to some glory. I have been successful keeping sps before and understand it can be a long journey to success. Stay tuned. Link to comment
DrVENKMAN Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 That's a nice looking rock you got there. Best of luck with the reset. Link to comment
happyclam Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Excited to see how this tank will look in a year! Link to comment
PODPIMP Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 How long has it been running? Is that monando rock? Looks like a great start! Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 That's a nice looking rock you got there. Best of luck with the reset. Thanks for the encouragement. Excited to see how this tank will look in a year! Hopefully it won't take that long, at least for colors to appear. I've been running with the MH now for about 9 days and I already see a change in the tank. How long has it been running? Is that monando rock? Looks like a great start! Tank been running for at least a year but with LEDs. Didn't like the results so I went MH and that change happened about 9 days ago. Not sure what type of rock, but liked it as I wanted just one major rock so if necessary, I can remove entire reef if need be. Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 Todays update, about one week since hitting the reset button. I've added a UV light to the nano. I don't think I can live without one now that I've installed one on a tank for the first time since keeping reefs for so many years. it really keeps the water crystal clear. I've also added phosphate remover and changed the carbon. I've noticed a slight change for the positive in the corals. They are on their way to better colors. Not sure you can see the change in the picture, but surely in real life the corals are coloring up and the polyps are extending especially at night. my current plan for maintenance is to include: weekly to biweekly water change of 2 gallons check SG,Ca,Alk, & Mg weekly and adjust as necessary. feed daily change Gfo and carbon on a biweekly schedule. I'm considering adding another colorful sps to the tank as most of the current corals were neglected and have turned brown from before hitting the reset button. I'm thinking this will indicate whether the 150WMH lights are sufficient to keep sps in this 16" deep tank. 8/10/2014 Link to comment
atrox Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 The halides will do you right, welcome back to halides. I run two 150 hqi and couldn't be happier with results. I also run a uv sterilizer and am happy with clarity. What bulbs are you running? Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 I hear 150W Halides are not sufficient and I also hear they are sufficient! LOL I'm running on a single 150W XM 20K DE. I haven't any luck with LED's. Not blaming LED's as it could be me not knowing how to use them. Got frustrated and switched. The craze today is a very unnatural blue lights giving some crazy unnatural colors, especially in lps and softies. The XM 20K is mostly white with a tinge of blue. I like the color better as in my eyes, look more natural, kinda like a bright clear day over blue ocean look. Thanks for the reply and I hope you're right that the 150's are sufficient. I do see the corals coloring up slowly. Link to comment
atrox Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 Hers my tank link I run dual phoenix 14k with two t5 true actinics. http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/347034-my-40-breeder-thread/#entry4790813 Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 @atrox, nice tank! I'm not going to use any supplimental lighting. Just one 150 watt hqi. I noticed you adding t5's later in your build. The 150's wern't enough? I'm hoping it is as i do not have any space for supplimental lighting even if i wanted to add them and i surely dont want to go 250 watt MH! Link to comment
atrox Posted August 10, 2014 Share Posted August 10, 2014 I wanted more fluorescence in the tank, with ur tank footprint the single halide will be enough, but I would use a 10-14k bulb to get better par out of it. Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 10, 2014 Author Share Posted August 10, 2014 well I just installed the new XM 20K into the fixture so gonna wait and see what happens as far as colors. I actually am seeing a slow change since I switched over and started to get serious again. its gonna be a long, slow process. The corals were completely browned out when I started, so I figure give it a couple of months. Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 16, 2014 Author Share Posted August 16, 2014 Big update, i went to a lfs that finally uses radions on all their display with all sps colorful and thriving. The owner showed me their light schedule and told me to contact ecotech and ask for assistance with light schedule, intensity, and spectrum. I contacted them and decided to give the radions one more try. Instantly the corals are more colorful the minute i switched, but it wont be until a month or so that i will be able to tell if i can be successful with the radions. I currently have the settings starting at 40% with acclimation of 3 weeks to 55% max. Time will tell. Link to comment
Egginis Posted August 16, 2014 Share Posted August 16, 2014 Most of my LFS have also started lighting their aquariums with LED's. I'm still not completely sold on them but they will be the wave of the future in our hobby. I had LED's lighting my Nuvo 24 with much success and 250 watt metal halides on my 220 gallon with similar success. I recently switched the middle portion of my 220 with a kessil a360WE and the corals really pop with color. I have been wanting to try the radions and might in the near future. Looking forward to your build and future updates. Good luck! Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted August 24, 2014 Author Share Posted August 24, 2014 I'm not quite sure how to add photos to the thread other than to add a pic to my gallery and then from there add to thread. Anyhow, heres my 4th week update on the tank, one week after changing back to LEDS. If you see any improvement in colors in corals at least lie to me and make me feel good! . Im not sure if I'm wishing for progress but I think I see improvements! Link to comment
reefsahoy Posted September 5, 2014 Author Share Posted September 5, 2014 it's been about 5 weeks now that i've been recording updates and i'm glad to report that the corals are coloring up more since the last post. i've also added an orange digi and a pink pocillipora as new corals and a vertical rock in the back to fill in some space and give depth of field to the tank. this will also give me some more space to add corals to the tank not tomention i really like the rock layout. i will add a few more corals over the month to fill in the tank so all corals will mature at relatively the same time giving a natural mature look to the tank. Link to comment
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