CronicReefer Posted October 2, 2014 Share Posted October 2, 2014 Hello my name is Chris and this is my first attempt at a saltwater aquarium. I have always wanted a saltwater tank with a pair of clownfish since I was a child. I started this tank nine months ago after finally having the time and money available to put it together. The tank is nothing fancy, just a 29 gallon standard rimmed tank that had been sitting empty at my parents house for at least 10 years. I guess you could say there is no real planning with my coral choices, I just wanted a good variety of color/species to have when I upgrade to a larger tank. It has been very exciting and rewarding establishing this reef and watching it grow week by week and I'm looking forward to everything overgrowing the tank. Filtration/WaterflowRed Sea Berlin Airlift 60 Skimmer2 - Jebao RW-4 w/ controller (W1 Mode, Level 3 Speed and W1 Mode, Level 2 Speed)Fluval 306 Canister Filter (cleaned out weekly) Stage 1: Filter Pads Stage 2: Xport-BIO Stage 3: Xport-NO3 Stage 4: ExtraxPhos and AlgoneLightingReef Radiance DM-132e (~12" above water - 70-80% Actinic Spectrum, 30-50% Daylight Spectrum) ParametersAlkalinity - 9.0Calcium - 430 Magnesium - 1400 Phosphates - 0.00Nitrates - <10Fish/Invert LivestockORA Ocellaris Clownfish PairORA Springeri DottybackEmerald CrabDebelius' Reef Lobster4 - Dwarf Hermits (red/blue/yellow tip)Turban SnailCerith Snail2 - Banded Trochus Snail2 - Nessarius Snail20+ Stomatella Snail10+ Asterina StarfishRuby Scooter Blenny Jumped out after one month and promptly eaten by my cat Mexican Turbo Snail Grew too large, returned to LFSNinja Star Snail Killed by hermitSofties/Shrooms/PolypsPurple/Green Ricordea YumaRainbow Ricordea YumaStriped Green MushroomBlue Spotted Green MushroomGreen Button PolypRicordea FloridaRed RhodactisKenya TreeMetallic GSPGreen Clove PolypZoas/PalysHorizonsPurple People EatersDarth Maul (Two varieties)Jason Fox Watermelon aka Eagle EyePink Utter ChaosWWC TwizzlerGI JoesLPSWWC Blazin Blue ChaliceMetallic HammerFrogspawnDuncanRobokaki ChaliceVivid Riddler ChaliceWarpaint ScolyCherry Blasto WellsiDiaseris Plate (I think I killed it with my lights)SPSSuperman Encrusting MontiporaPoker Star Encrusting MontiporaRed Montipora CapricornisWWC Electro PavonaPocillopora DamicornisMr. Pacman AcroporaAussie Highlighter Green Table AcroporaSlimer AcroporaCurrent FTS 03/13/2015Older FTS FTS 10/28/2014FTS 12/01/2014FTS 12/18/2014FTS 01/01/2015FTS 02/02/2015 Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 So it's late at night and I thought I'd post a picture of my glow in the dark reef rock. The rock is 100% natural reef rock I bought from from the LFS. If anyone else has ever seen something like this before please let me know because I can find no information on this (I believe the rock is made of calcite). Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 A macro shot of my kenya tree. Link to comment
kalireefer Posted October 24, 2014 Share Posted October 24, 2014 So it's late at night and I thought I'd post a picture of my glow in the dark reef rock. The rock is 100% natural reef rock I bought from from the LFS. If anyone else has ever seen something like this before please let me know because I can find no information on this (I believe the rock is made of calcite). That rock is a trip. I've never seen anything like that. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted October 24, 2014 Author Share Posted October 24, 2014 That rock is a trip. I've never seen anything like that. The guys at the LFS store told me not to color on them with highlighters Link to comment
JerseyFireShrimp Posted November 7, 2014 Share Posted November 7, 2014 Hello fellow nano-reefers and welcome to my first attempt at saltwater. The tank is a 29g standard rimmed tank (around 15 years old) and still not leaking! I started this tank 4-months ago after finally having the time and money available to put together a saltwater tank. I originally planned on this being a FOWLR but discovered I am fortunate enough to live within 20 miles of two LFS with great colorations and rare morphs of coral for very good prices. Filtration 30lbs of live rock Deep Sand Bed CAD Lights PLS-50 Protein Skimmer Red Sea Berlin Air Lift 60 Fluval 306 Canister Filter w/ Seachem Matrix, Seachem Seagel, and Algone Ammonia/Nitrate Remover Lighting TrueLumen Pro 36" Actinic Blue Bar TrueLumen Pro 36" 12K Diamond White Bar Fish/Invert Livestock Ruby Scooter Blenny (male) 2 - Ocellaris Clownfish (mated pair) 2 - Banded Trochus Snail Large Mexican Turbo Snail Ninja Star Snail Turban Snail 5+ - Stomatella Snails (originally had two but they love to breed) Unknown Mollusk (hides inside my live rock) 8 - Dwarf Hermits (red/blue/yellow tip) 2+ - Asterina Starfish (so far no coral munching) 2 - Berghia Nudibranch (waiting to receive order at LFS) Coral Livestock Kenya Tree Ricordia Yuma 2 - Green Striped Mushroom 4 - Spotted Mushroom(came attached to yuma frag disk for free!) Metallic GSP 2 - Neon Green Clove Polyp Watermelon Zoa (still recovering color from small ammonia spike) Unknown Blue Zoa Bowsers Pink Utter Chaos Morph WWC Twizzlers Purple People Eaters Metallic Branching Hammer Frogspawn Duncan Chalice Superman Encrusting Montipora Red Montipora Capricornis Pocillopora Damicornis WWC Electro Pavona FTS 9/29/14 FTS 10/28/14 Great tank. I plan on starting a 29 gal reef tank in a couple of months. I'm probably going to go for the Coralife BioCube 29. I see that you only have three fish in yours. I think that's sensible. I see a lot of nano and mini reef tanks on YouTube that are overstocked, in my opinion. I plan on 3-4 fish and a shrimp for mine. Thanks for sharing the photos. Much success in the future! Jeff Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 Great tank. I plan on starting a 29 gal reef tank in a couple of months. I'm probably going to go for the Coralife BioCube 29. I see that you only have three fish in yours. I think that's sensible. I see a lot of nano and mini reef tanks on YouTube that are overstocked, in my opinion. I plan on 3-4 fish and a shrimp for mine. Thanks for sharing the photos. Much success in the future! Jeff Hey thanks. I think it's best to keep the stocking low to reduce stress on the fish. I haven't had a chance to update my thread this week but I actually lost the ruby scooter (he was a jumper) and I've replaced him with a Debelius' Reef Lobster. I'll post some pictures of him once I can coax him out of his cave during the day. Good luck with your biocube setup as well. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 7, 2014 Author Share Posted November 7, 2014 New addition to the tank! Sadly I had to replace my ruby scooter after he jumped out last week. I decided on a Debelius' Reef Lobster (no more jumping fish ) and the LFS just happened to have one in stock so I didn't have to wait for an order. He dropped a claw after I added him to the tank (probably just stressed from being moved around) but he's already molted and made himself a nice little cave. I managed to get a picture of him peeking out after I dropped some food on the ground for him. Link to comment
Spiderguardnano Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Picked up a super sexy warpaint scoly today. It had lost a good amount of tissue but it was on sale for 75% off now that is it recovering tissue. I could never afford to pay full price but I'll wait out the regrowth and I'm looking forward to see how it will turn out once it's fully recovered. feed that sucker and it should recover fast Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 feed that sucker and it should recover fast Will do. Waiting for it to open that sucker up. Link to comment
aquariumlover10 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Won't the lobster eat corals and macro algae?!? Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Won't the lobster eat corals and macro algae?!? Not as far as I know. Lobsters are carnivorous scavengers that sometimes hunt small fish or inverts when food is not easily available. Never heard of them eating coral or algae. Link to comment
aquariumlover10 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Oh ok, I have never had sw but I had a fw crayfish and it ate everything. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Oh ok, I have never had sw but I had a fw crayfish and it ate everything. I appreciate the concern. I always make sure whatever I buy is not known to eat corals and will be safe for my mated clown pair. Link to comment
aquariumlover10 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yup, I didn't even buy the cray, a bird picked it up out of a nearby pond and dropped it in my driveway Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yup, I didn't even buy the cray, a bird picked it up out of a nearby pond and dropped it in my driveway Lol that's cool. I saw some awesome purple/blue craw at the LFS when I was searching for my purple lobster. Link to comment
aquariumlover10 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Yup, it was missing 3 legs, they all grew back aftera few molts. Link to comment
lilmatty5dimes Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 very nice scoly. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 very nice scoly. Thanks! I've always wanted one but always so pricey. Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Nice tank and I like your choice of livestock and corals.☺ Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 Nice tank and I like your choice of livestock and corals.☺ Thank you. I plan on getting some more ricordea or a jelly bean chalice from WWC. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 My chalice at night. Looks so evil. Link to comment
vlangel Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 It's the sweeper tentacles that do it. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 12, 2014 Author Share Posted November 12, 2014 It's the sweeper tentacles that do it. Yeah I just liked how they looked. They're incredibly long for its size. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 So many polyps! Link to comment
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