RonLarimer Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 Since the tank is wet I guess it is time to share the progress and the plans for our newest tanks and my 1st saltwater. I had a freshwater community tank growing up, my wife and I have had a couple since we have been married and each of my children have small tanks overflowing with baby guppies currently. This experience along with the show "Tanked" have inspired my wife and children to ask for a salt water tank. However since I will be caring for it... it will be mine. (almost feels Lord of Ring-ish huh?) Anyway the goal of the tank is to create a tank that looks minimalist in terms of life support, but has everything it needs to be an effective nano-ish reef. Equipment List Innovative Marine Fusion Mini 40 - Purchased on BRS's Black Friday Sale Nano Box Dual - Purchased on Craigslist Tunze DOC 9001 Nano Protein Skimmer - Purchased from InTank with Coupon Code InTank Media Basket - Purchased from InTank with Coupon Code ViaAqua 300W Titanium Heater - Purchased at a discount from LFS Custom built stand from 2" welded steel tube and various 2x4's sanded and sealed. - The design was shamelessly stolen from here but I made a few changes to the implementation Autotopoff.com ATO with IM Pump... If I had it to do over I would have bought an auqalifter No powerhead as of yet Biological Filtration 30 lbs of reefsaver rock. InTank Media Basket will be made into a mini fuge. Live Stock Pair of Ocellaris Tailspot Blennie named "Benny" **Planned** "That blue one we saw in the store that one time" (by request of my daughter)... I'm pretty sure it was a damsel Sixline Wrasse **Planned** Blue-green Chromis Clean-up Crew - Slightly modified recommendation from ReefCleaners.com to include the Starfish **Planned** 1 Serpent Starfish - Red 20 Dwarf Ceriths 3 Nassarius 9 Florida Ceriths 5 Assorted Hermits 3 Trochus Snails 1 Emerald Crab **Planned** 1 Cleaner Shrimp **Planned** 1 Feather Duster Coral - Will be slow additions once I learn more about my flow and lighting. I prefer the look of tanks with specific specimens as opposed to a little of everything so I want to keep it somewhat simple. A Torch Coral **Planned** A colony of blue mushrooms **Planned** A Toadstool **Planned** 2-3 Varieties of green skirted Zoas **Planned** A Blue Xenia **Planned** A Brain Coral **Possibly** A Hammer Coral Wow... all typed out that sure seems like a lot in a tank. So where am I making a mistake? Any words of caution? Any thoughts on what mechanical filtration should go in the other media basket? Should I get a different type of rock? Other than a damsel going in last is there anything I should be concerned with? Link to comment
Steelen Posted December 17, 2014 Share Posted December 17, 2014 I have a suggestion for your rocks Look into the BRS Reef Saver Dry rocks and look for a local reefer for some sand to kick start your cycle. That is how I will do it for my tank. I will get 20lbs from him (seeded) and ill give him the new live sand unseeded. I have the same tank, haven't started it yet. Good luck on yours! Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted December 19, 2014 Author Share Posted December 19, 2014 Plans change... I decided to go with man made rock and spent a few hours on a good rock scape, but I won't know exactly what it looks like until the sand settles. Also the 9001 doesn't fit in the inside chambers so I may be down to one intank basket. I'll post more pics when it clears. Link to comment
Odyssey350kc Posted December 20, 2014 Share Posted December 20, 2014 Looks like you've got a good start. Not sure if that stand will hold the weight though. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 That has actually been my little joke. While I was planning it there was a thread here where people were commenting about a 1x4 stand being over built... mine could hold my jeep. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 I guess the cycle officially started about 60 hours ago, but this is the 1st time I have taken pics of the rock scape. The rock is on the glass with 3+" of sand. I have been feeding the tank and will get more aggressive with the cycle tomorrow after my LFS has the right testing kits in stock. He is brand new and may have slightly underestimated how busy he would be. What do you think? What would you put where? Link to comment
cju84 Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Love it man. Looks great! Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 I finally completed the stand and made a 1st attempt at hiding the cables. This is actually pretty good considering the light itself has 3 plugs. I have also made my 1st attempt at planning coral placement. This might not mean anything to anyone else, but I like the concept of this design and I'm happy to answer any questions. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Getting close! Ammonia is down to .2 and Nitrates are 10. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 I now have fish! That seemed to take forever. 4 days ago I did a 30% water change (because that is how much water I had on hand and had the ability to transport with available buckets)... Then after bringing everything up to temp I went back and picked up a pair of small clowns. I assumed at their small size they would both be juveniles, but the "larger" one immediately started with what I would call female traits. Unfortunately they decided to live in the back corner furthest my chair, so I decided to go back and purchase a torch coral. I figured the movement might make them curious and draw them out and at the very least it would give me something to look at, help me figure out my lighting, feeding corals and flow. In the attached pictures it looks a little pissed (I don't blame it) because I dropped it transferring it from its plug to a better looking rock. Next up in the tank I think will be either people mushrooms or a blenny (unless I get an alge bloom in which case it well be a CUC)... Next on the tank is an ATO. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 I was supposed to be out of town tonight, but I got to come home so I wanted to surprise the kids. The 2 baby clowns didn't affect the tank parameters so I added a tiny tailspot. Next up will be Chromis while I wait to get more algae. Link to comment
Weasel Baron Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I remember drawing out plans and stuff for rock and corals for my first tanks, I dont think I have the patience for that anymore looks good so far! A CUC will certainly add some movement, especially littler hermits, they can be hilarious Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I'll add a CUC when I get something to clean up. I haven't even set up a 'fuge, carbon or any other filtration yet. My skimmer is making water but I'm running it just to airate the water. Benny looks happy, but I've decided he also looks like a legless grasshopper. Lastly my torch looked a little unhappy because its hair was being parted by downward, laminar flow. I target fed it some frozen food today and turned a return and it looks better. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have my 1st Diatom. Woohoo! Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 7, 2015 Author Share Posted January 7, 2015 I thought you might want to meet Benny... Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 Nice tank and start. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 9, 2015 Author Share Posted January 9, 2015 I'm going to like this blenny. He was hiding behind a rock and looking really stressed... then he worked up a giant poop and got all of his color back. I don't think he was stressed, I think he was pushing. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Since the last update I have added a 6 line Wrasse and a clean up crew from reefcleaners.com. I think I lost 1 snail and 1 hermit crab in transit, but considering the temperature when they arrived I'll call that a win. I have also had decent diatom bloom 2 full weeks after I showed zero ammonia and zero nitrites. Nitrates were at 20 before today's water change but I have been feeding the tank a lot. More interesting however is that you can see the light in my tank in the Diatom's and I thought that was pretty cool. In the picture below (Shot with the tank lights off and then processed to bump up the contrast) you can see that the rocks are still white on the underside of all of the overhangs. I was excited to see this worked as I wanted mushrooms smack in the middle of the tank next to the cave and didn't want to burn them out. Link to comment
RonLarimer Posted January 21, 2015 Author Share Posted January 21, 2015 I was told last night my blenny died. He got stuck in the overflow flow again. He had gotten stuck against the over flow before, but this time I want there to get him loose? Any future slow swimming fish will have to be bigger I guess. Link to comment
not_the_size_that_counts Posted June 21, 2015 Share Posted June 21, 2015 Hey man haven't checked this website in forever just got your message. I broke my tank down almost a year ago. It looks like you got the stand built really well. I have some compatible products if you are interested for the nuvo tank. Message me if you need stuff! Link to comment
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