cindyp Posted September 9, 2014 Share Posted September 9, 2014 is there actually water in that planted tank? it is pristine! and i love planted tanks too. i'd have gone that route if i didn't do the saltwater. as it were, my daughter is already like: i thnk you have too many tankes, mommy. i have three. i'm Crazy Tank Lady. Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 is there actually water in that planted tank? it is pristine! and i love planted tanks too. i'd have gone that route if i didn't do the saltwater. as it were, my daughter is already like: i thnk you have too many tankes, mommy. i have three. i'm Crazy Tank Lady. I think it stays so clean because my one snail somehow produced a billion baby's. I'm not sure if I am going to have to evict any, but for now they are doing a great job of cleaning up. I really like the calm of a planted tank. This one though is a pretty simple setup... Only low light easy care plants. Not very impressive when compared to fancy planted tanks. Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Nice little planted tank. Looks like some Anubias and other lower light species. I used to raise Killifish that don't like a lot of light, so I have some experience with low-light plants and mosses. Looks like you are off to a good start and nice arch for the saltwater tank. Can't quite tell, but can water flow freely all the way around? For these smaller tanks, free flow is quite important in the long run. To help with cleanup duties, be wary of larger snails and such in such a small volume of water. If/when they die they can really pollute the tank. If you can find local reefers with smaller live rock hitchhiker scavengers (Stomatella snails, micro brittlestars, bristleworms, Mysids, etc.) they are the best additions IMO. I've found that a single small 1" Hermit Crab is enough for this sized tank and is less irritating to the corals than having a bunch of them. Link to comment
Rehype Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 image by clairerenee111, on Flickr Awesome scape...looks great so far and Your Planted tank is gorgeous as well Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 Nice little planted tank. Looks like some Anubias and other lower light species. I used to raise Killisfish that don't like a lot of light, so I have some experience with low-light plants and mosses. Looks like you are off to a good start and nice arch for the saltwater tank. Can't quite tell, but can water flow freely all the way around? For these smaller tanks, free flow is quite important in the long run. To help with cleanup duties, be wary of larger snails and such in such a small volume of water. If/when they die they can really polute the tank. If you can find local reefers with smaller live rock hitchhiker scavengers (Stomatella snails, micro brittlestars, bristleworms, Mysids, etc.) they are the best additions IMO. I've found that a single small 1" Hermit Crab is enough for this sized tank and is less irritating to the corals than having a bunch of them. Yes, the plants are anubias, bacopa, sword, and dwarf hair grass. The stock light on the Edge is pretty crappy, so I stuck with easy/boring plants. I thought I would eventually upgrade the light and re-plant with some more adventurous plants, but all my effort has been transferred to its sister tank the nano reef (sorry planted tank!) As for the water flow, unfortunately my fluffy dog managed to add multiple "wind socks" all over the rock. From the looks of it there is at least slow movement everywhere. The front right corner is the slowest, but still moving. In the future i will likely add a little powerhead in the back right to add some random movement as well as boost flow on that side. For CUC, I was hoping for 1 banded troches snail, one hermit crab and maybe some type of small shrimp. Any warnings you have about that would be very welcome. I would love to find some micro brittlestars and the like, but as of yet, don't know any local reefers. I really appreciate you taking the time to help a NOOB. Thank you!!! Awesome scape...looks great so far and Your Planted tank is gorgeous as well Thanks for the Welcome! I feel so lucky to have this resource and can't believe that I am now part of such an incredible community. I think this is going to be a fun adventure. UPDATE: So I just updated my first post with some new photos: Day 2 with water and some tank and stand photos. Hope you enjoy! Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 I believe that you are in the SF area, correct? You can hook up with the regional club BAR (Bay Area Reefers website). They have quite a few events per year and I'm sure that folks attending would be happy to give you some critters fi they know you are looking for some. Trochus are bit large (depending on species), but they do a good job and generally live the longest of these CUC snails. The 'Banded Trochus' is one of the smaller ones at around 1". Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 10, 2014 Author Share Posted September 10, 2014 I believe that you are in the SF area, correct? You can hook up with the regional club BAR (Bay Area Reefers website). They have quite a few events per year and I'm sure that folks attending would be happy to give you some critters fi they know you are looking for some. Trochus are bit large (depending on species), but they do a good job and generally live the longest of these CUC snails. The 'Banded Trochus' is one of the smaller ones at around 1". That would be great! I will look them up, thanks for the tip. I was also under the impression that the banded was the smallest and not susceptible or at least less susceptible to the Hermits. Do you think that it would be too large? Awesome scape...looks great so far and Your Planted tank is gorgeous as well After seeing your tanks, either you are just being nice or I am doing something right Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 Yes, the Banded is the smallest easily available Trochus. Realistically, any similar sized snail in with a Hermit Crab is a potent casualty as the Hermit may view the snail shell as a new 'home'. If you try them together, best practice is to have a few similarly sized empty shells in the tank so that the Hermit will (hopefully) be happy with those instead. Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 The tank is clearing! Thanks for all of your input. I am going to go slowly and let this tank cycle. I am so happy I found NanoReef, you all are awesome!!!! I have learned so much here and still have so much to learn. I hope I can put something together worthy of this great forum. Link to comment
gena Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I just love this! What a serene room. Looks great!!!!! Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 I just love this! What a serene room. Looks great!!!!! Thanks Gena! I love your flower box. Another great source of inspiration. Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 So I have just stumbled on my first problem! It is testing day for my FW, so I thought I would do the SW at the same time just to get into a routine. Well, what I found surprised me. Trace ammonia (maybe), no2 at 0.75, and no3 at 10. Well that just didn't make sense! So, I tested the SW I had used. I didn't want to drive my husband mad with mixing buckets, so got water from very reputable reef aquarium store. Well, the results were even worse: ammonia at 0, no2 at 1+, and no3 at 20+. The photo below shows the tank tests behind (API plus Elos nitrate to confirm) and LFS in front row staggered to the right as you are looking at it. What should I do? I don't have anything in there, so I'm not immediately worried, but going forward I need to figure out what to do. I am thinking my only and best option is to get some buckets and start mixing. Any advice would be appreciated Thanks Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Do you buy your water pre mixed or just RODI from the lfs? Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 I got premixed SW also RODI for top off Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I got premixed SW also RODI for top offSometimes LFS give saltwater from their own systems. Best option here is to buy your own RODI unit and buy your own salt. Check the TDS of the water from your LFS. Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 11, 2014 Author Share Posted September 11, 2014 Sometimes LFS give saltwater from their own systems.Best option here is to buy your own RODI unit and buy your own salt.Check the TDS of the water from your LFS. Thanks, I figured that would be the case... I guess the hubby is just going to have to get used to buckets hanging around overnight. Thanks Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Thanks, I figured that would be the case... I guess the hubby I just going to have to get used to buckets hanging around overnight. Thankslol it's not so bad Link to comment
chironerd21 Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Disregard what I typed before about your cycle. Didn't know you put in water Oct 8th. Still amazing tank. Did you order your conversion online? Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Disregard what I typed before about your cycle. Didn't know you put in water Oct 8th. Still amazing tank. Did you order your conversion online? Thanks, didn't see what you typed, but thanks for checking out my tank. I got the conversion kit from saltwater conversions online. It is called the marine-pac 3. It is expensive, but makes such a clean looking tank. Also Neil, the inventor/owner is beyond helpful. So far, well worth the expense. Link to comment
gena Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thanks Gena! I love your flower box. Another great source of inspiration.Thank you . It sounds like a pain, but it's super easy to make your own RO/DI(and saltwater) at home. This way you know exactly what you are getting and no surprises like you found with the water you bought from the LFS. I'm curious what the TDS is on their RO/DI. When I bought 5g at one of the LFS here, the TDS was 200+ . That was the last straw . Link to comment
ClaireRenee Posted September 12, 2014 Author Share Posted September 12, 2014 Thank you .It sounds like a pain, but it's super easy to make your own RO/DI(and saltwater) at home. This way you know exactly what you are getting and no surprises like you found with the water you bought from the LFS. I'm curious what the TDS is on their RO/DI. When I bought 5g at one of the LFS here, the TDS was 200+ . That was the last straw . So, after this surprise I bought a TDS meter on amazon. In two days I will have a result for you. I figure since there is nothing in the tank I can wait for amazon prime shipping. They say that the SW they sell is seawater, would that explain my results, or are they selling their used water? Link to comment
Legendary Corals Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 Looking great! Following along for sure, always love to see other Bay Area peep's tanks. Link to comment
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