Charn's NC6 - Semi Retired QT

[charnelhouse]

For the early weeks of this tank's life after I inherited it see this thread.

My 7 year old and I decided to bring this tank back from science project status after it was left by someone who moved out. Here are the results so far....

Equipment:

JBJ Nano Cube 6
Stock 18W PC 50/50 10K/Actinic
Tunze 1073.008 return pump (upgrade) - max output ~200 GPH
Stock Lighting Fans (going to be replaced soon - loud)
Stock duckbill return nozzle (considering changing out to IM Spin Stream)

IM Spin Stream return nozzle.
JBJ Modular Surface Skimmer (not an actual skimmer)
Chamber 1 is floss/purigen/chemipure
Chamber 2 is a mini fuge w/ live rock and chaeto
Chamber 3 is return pump

Clean Up Crew:

(2) Bumblebee Snails
(?) Cerith Snails

(?) Stomatella Snails
Dwarf Red Tip Hermit Crab - "Scurry"
Scarlet Reef Hermit Crab - "Vivien"
Emerald Crab - "Envy" - MIA

Fish:

Citron Clown Goby - "Details"

Corals:

Devil's Hand Leather
Kenya Tree

Pulsing Sinularia
Unknown Zoa/Paly colony

Rasta Variant Zoa
Blue Spot Mushroom
Orange Ricordea Florida

Gold Ricordea Florida
Hollywood Stunner Chalice - Deceased

Current FTS:




FTS Archive:

 

11/14 FTS:

 

10/14 FTS:

[charnelhouse]

9/14/14

 

Water Parameters:

 

SG - 1.025

Amm - 0

NO2 - 0

NO3 - 5 ppm

PO4 - 0

KH - 10

Ca - 480

Temp - 82

 

Corals have been in less than 24 hours and all seem to be happy. They have opened up and the ricordea is in the middle of dividing I think.

 

I'm a little concerned about the chalice and how it will do in this tank so I'm going to monitor closely and take it back if it seems to be failing.

 

Pictures:

 

"Details"

 

 

"Details" & "Vivien"

 

"Vivien", "Scurry" & "Envy" (Emerald Crab is a little hard to see under the rock between the other two)

Left Side TS from today:

Devil's Hand:

Chalice:

Polyp (not sure exactly what it is):

 

 

And here are the mushroom and ric:

 

 

[charnelhouse]

We went to the movies yesterday afternoon and found the Kenya Tree knocked down off the rock into the sand. It was not happy about it either. The Devil's Hand had been bumped around too. Probably the hermit crabs.

 

I glued them down, as well as the mushroom and ricordea and everybody looks fine and happy again this morning.

 

I did manage to glue the Kenya Tree in the wrong orientation, parallel to the rock instead of perpendicular as it was growing off its frag rock. It seems to be ok though and was opening up and reaching for the light.

[charnelhouse]

9/17/14

 

Water Parameters:

 

SG - 1.025

Amm - 0

NO2 - 0

NO3 - 10 ppm

PO4 - 0

KH - 9

Ca - 400

Temp - 82

 

Water change scheduled for Saturday.

[charnelhouse]

Some things I have observed in the last week:

 

1) I got to see Scurry (dwarf red tip hermit) try on a new shell and then decide it didn't fit. Watched the whole process. It was very interesting to see all of the preparation. He spun the shell in the direction of it's swirl, then the opposite direction then put sand inside and spun it some more. This went on for a good 5 minutes.

 

When he finally felt like it was clean enough inside he took a few minutes to work up the courage to make the switch. He would start to come out, get halfway there then stop. I wanted to get my camera and take pics or video but I was afraid if I moved from where I was watching I would spook him and abort the whole process.

 

When he finally made the switch it was very fast, almost like he hopped into the other shell... haha. He was in there about 15 seconds and apparently didn't like the fit. Hopped right back to the old shell and went on his way. He's still in that shell too.

 

2) Details (Citron Goby) has adopted the Devil's Hand Leather as a bed (which was the main reason I picked it, they live in Acropora in the wild but I don't think this tank will support Acropora). Since the corals have been in the tank Details does a lot less swimming all crazy up and down the glass.

 

3) Details is hunting pods on a regular basis. I see him "stalk" them through the rocks then suddenly pounce. It is surprisingly cat like, he even has a tendency to flick his tail as he watched them.

 

What an incredible hobby. I wish I would have taken this up years ago. I watch this tank constantly. I had no idea so much life could happen in one cubic foot of space.

[reefernanoman]

We went to the movies yesterday afternoon and found the Kenya Tree knocked down off the rock into the sand. It was not happy about it either. The Devil's Hand had been bumped around too. Probably the hermit crabs.

 

I glued them down, as well as the mushroom and ricordea and everybody looks fine and happy again this morning.

 

I did manage to glue the Kenya Tree in the wrong orientation, parallel to the rock instead of perpendicular as it was growing off its frag rock. It seems to be ok though and was opening up and reaching for the light.

I don't use hermits in either of my two nano tanks. Just small snails like ceriths and astrea.

[charnelhouse]

I don't use hermits in either of my two nano tanks. Just small snails like ceriths and astrea.

 

Well when I inherited this tank the dwarf red tip was already in it. The scarlet is kind of a pain because it's pretty big for the tank, but it isn't hurting anything, it's just a clumsy oaf... heh.

 

The ceriths were shifting frags around too before I glued them. The Kenya Tree in particular because it was on such a tiny piece of rock. The Kenya Tree is fine now, it only took it about a day to straighten up.

 

When (not if, haha) I upgrade I'll keep this tank as is except I think I'll move the hermits and probably the Citron Goby too. Maybe do a goby/shrimp pair in this one at that point. That's a number of months in the future though...

[ClaireRenee]

What a great project. Is your daughter still a fan of the tank? Seems like such a fun way to spend time together.

[charnelhouse]

What a great project. Is your daughter still a fan of the tank? Seems like such a fun way to spend time together.

 

Totally, she always wants to feed the goby and has come up with most of the names... haha. I just wish she was old enough to do water changes .

[ClaireRenee]

Totally, she always wants to feed the goby and has come up with most of the names... haha. I just wish she was old enough to do water changes .

 

Haha... That is great! Epic Dad WIN!!!

[charnelhouse]

9/30/14

 

Water Parameters:

 

SG - 1.025

Amm - 0

NO2 - 0

NO3 - 10 ppm

PO4 - 0

KH - 10

Ca - 480

Temp - 82

 

Went to a local science supply store and spent $17 making my API testing kits more user friendly:

 

 

Makes the KH and CA tests a LOT easier than with the stock API tubes and their leaky caps.

 

All corals are showing growth and looking good.

[acrab78]

Awesome little tank, good job!

[charnelhouse]

Awesome little tank, good job!

 

Thanks! It's been a real learning experience and watching all the life develop in there is incredible. My ricordea ate a pellet the other day and I felt like I had truly achieved something.... haha.

[acrab78]

Any new updates, new FTS?

[charnelhouse]

Any new updates, new FTS?

 

Yeah, I've been slacking. Hockey season started back up

 

FTS 11/02/14:

 

 

 

Tank is doing great although the glass needed a cleaning in this shot. Corals are all growing, goby is healthy and happy and all the inverts are happy as crabs and snails....

 

Edit: Oh yeah, and the scrolling coralline algae is growing like crazy!

[charnelhouse]

Little bit of a scare yesterday. I did a 30% WC because I got lazy and let it go for almost two weeks. I was in a little bit of a hurry and thought I had the mix water at 1.026. Checked it with the refractometer twice.

 

Did the water change, got everything cleaned up and thought I checked SG again and it was good.

 

I went out for half the day and when I got back my mushroom and ricordea were looking seriously distressed. Checked salinity and it was at 1.030. I immediately took some water out and replaced with RO/DI and got salinity back to 1.026.

 

The mushroom and ric are fine today, looking happy and healthy.

 

Short of the "calibrate your refractometer" answer (that isn't it, it's working fine) anybody have any experience like this? Nothing else in the tank really appeared to be affected, just the mushroom and ric.

[ml86743]

Love the CCG! I miss mine...They`re coooool little fish.

[charnelhouse]

So my Emerald Crab is MIA after a molt, the Scarlet Hermit died last night after a (too long delayed) large WC and the Hollywood Stunner is completely bleached, probably dead. Some missing certihs too, hoping they are just in the sand. Bad two weeks. Delayed the WC for too long.

 

On the bright side, I have a bunch of stomatellas, like 6 or so, and everything else seems to be doing fine. My mushroom has split 3 times.

 

I'll do a new FTS in the next week or so.

[reefernanoman]

Little bit of a scare yesterday. I did a 30% WC because I got lazy and let it go for almost two weeks. I was in a little bit of a hurry and thought I had the mix water at 1.026. Checked it with the refractometer twice. Did the water change, got everything cleaned up and thought I checked SG again and it was good. I went out for half the day and when I got back my mushroom and ricordea were looking seriously distressed. Checked salinity and it was at 1.030. I immediately took some water out and replaced with RO/DI and got salinity back to 1.026. The mushroom and ric are fine today, looking happy and healthy. Short of the "calibrate your refractometer" answer (that isn't it, it's working fine) anybody have any experience like this? Nothing else in the tank really appeared to be affected, just the mushroom and ric.

Next time you have a salinity swing, try to bring it down slowly, not all at once, since it might shock your livestock even more. When my salinity was at about 1.022 in my 28G tank, I brought it up slowly with my normal 3g weekly water changes over a few weeks by having the salinity at 1.025 on my new water. Nothing can be done too fast in this hobby. Good luck.

 

My 7 and a half year old daughter loves her 10g fusion nano tank too!

[charnelhouse]

Ok, thanks for the tip. I might not have made it clear, but it was only elevated for a few hours and it was stressing the shrooms bad, so I figured dropping it back to where it was prior to the WC was the way to go.

 

Correction, the Scarlet Hermit molted for the second time in a month, still not good, but better than dead. I saw the molt this morning and what looked like an empty shell but she was just all the way withdrawn. Yay!

[charnelhouse]

Added a few new corals yesterday:

 

Some new zoas, Rasta variant I was told. I dropped them on their face moving them , that's why two of them look splotchy :

 

 

Pulsing Sinularia, pretty neat. Posting a vid in the Corals Forum:

 

 

New gold ric to go with the orange I already had:

 

[charnelhouse]

Huh... I thought for sure with "Pulsing" in the title I'd get 100 replies.... haha.

 

More Pulsing here:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/355229-pulsing-sinularia/

[charnelhouse]

Brief update before this tank becomes a QT:

 

Upgrading to a Fusion 40 mostly due to the Devil's Hand and Sinularia engaging in constant chemical warfare. the Devil's Hand has been getting the worst of it. Hopefully some extra space gives them both a happy place.

 

Also want some more fish, as does the kid.

 

So this tank will be retired to QT status in the next couple of months. I'm going to start a new build thread soon.