Allathlete5 Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hey Guys! So I'm new to the saltwater side of the hobby and thought I'd start this journal in order to help keep track of the trials and tribulations that my first nanoreef tank brings. I'm a science major so bare with me and my random flow of consciousness (which I'm sure this thread will turn into.) I'll try to stick to bullet points, but we'll see how that goes. A little about me.... I'm a 22 y/o ex collegiate football player who's just started nursing school... and working full time :scarry: I've had a 100 gallon African cichlid tank set up for a little over a year now, stocked with 35ish haps and peacocks (for those familiar). The bright colors and personality are what brought me to the cichlids, and now pushing me towards the nano reef. I've been researching the last 3-4 months, and feel pretty confident that I'll be able to keep a solid environment for some corals and a fish or two. What I have so far: The tank is a standard 10 gallon, which I painted the back black. Aquaclear 110 with the inTank media basket Hydor 100w heater NanoBox mini Tide w/ storm controller and moonlight 20 lbs of BRS reef saver dry rock (currently using about 12lbs) 10 lbs of Caribsea fiji pink sand Refractometer Saltwater mixing bucket with a heater and powerhead Instant Ocean Reef Crystals Temporary stand built by 2x3's until I can put something nice together Tunze Osmolator Nano on the way I'm cycling the tank with Dr. Tim's Ammonia and I threw in some Bio-Spira (maybe it'll help, maybe not.) Thinking it will be atleast 3 weeks until the cycle is done and I'll be able to get a clean up crew. My freshwater tank taught me a whole lot about patience, so I'm not in too much of a rush. Still waiting to see if I will need to get a powerhead for the tank. The AC110 is putting out some solid flow, and not pushing the sand around too much. I suppose only time will tell. I will probably pick up a spectrapure RODI unit after the holidays, but for right now I'm using good old bottled distilled water. I live in the Temecula/Murrieta area of southern California and am unfortunately not near any decent local fish stores, which means I will most likely turn to the online vendors when it comes to corals and such. I also tried looking for reef clubs in my area, but doesn't seem like there is anything close I'm planning on having a designer clown, a cleaner shrimp, and possibly a pistol shrimp/goby pair. Coral wise I'd like to start with some zoas and paly's, maybe a little ricordea garden, and hopefully a hammer/torch/frogspawn. So we'll see how my interests change these next few months. Hope my random train of thoughts make a little bit of sense and aren't too confusing. Nice and cloudy after first getting it wet: After 12 hours it's started to clear up: Any suggestions or concerns please let me know! Look forward to keeping this updated and learning about this side of the hobby!! Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Looks like a nice scape. Cant wait to see how it progresses. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted December 22, 2014 Author Share Posted December 22, 2014 Looks like a nice scape. Cant wait to see how it progresses. I appreciate it. Will have to try and get some better pics of the scape after work tomorrow, I'm not too sure if I'll be keeping it like this or not. I really dig the arch look in general, but I'm not completely satisfied with how it looks now. Also, I didn't realize the light would play with my iphone camera that much! Link to comment
R1sky_Biz Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Looks great! I like the bridge/tunnel. I'll be following along for this one! Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Hi I like your set up. I also have a 75g peacock tank, but only have 5 peacocks and one altolamprologus from the other Lake. Good luck. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Got a spectrapure RODI unit for Christmas and some just ordered the redsea test kit which is on the way. I originally added some Dr Tims ammonia to get the cycle started, so hopefully by the time the test kit comes in I will actually have something to test. I'll be taking some new pictures later today to get a better shot of the scape. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted December 26, 2014 Share Posted December 26, 2014 Looks nice and I really like the arch. You've got the most important thing already - patience Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted December 26, 2014 Author Share Posted December 26, 2014 Looks nice and I really like the arch. You've got the most important thing already - patience Thank you, I appreciate it! I'm following along your fusion thread and hope I can get this tank looking half as nice as yours!! Link to comment
ImNew:] Posted December 27, 2014 Share Posted December 27, 2014 Nice start buddy. Im up in Redlands, nice to see another inland empire reefer! Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 So I got an RO/DI unit for Christmas, which I'm excited about. No more bottled distilled water. Going to mount it right above my garage utility sink next to the washer and dryer. Today I put together my clear screen lid. I went to lowes looking for a black screen frame kit, but they only had white and brown.... ended up going with white. I'm pretty surprised how decent it looks on the tank. The issue I ran into was how to put it together with my Nanobox tide on the side of the tank... I ended up using a large grind wheel to notch it out. It didn't turn out too bad! And here's another FTS. Still waiting on my redsea test kits to come in. I'm hoping to be able to get a clean up crew in 3 weeks, but only time will tell. Nice start buddy. Im up in Redlands, nice to see another inland empire reefer! Thanks brotha! Any LFS you favor near Redlands? I'm up there every so often for family. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 What's everyone's opinion on a glass/acrylic top on a tank this small? It seems like, with all of the surface agitation my AC110 creates, I'm having about 2 gallons evaporate per week. Is this a typical number? Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 3, 2015 Share Posted January 3, 2015 It's looking good - I like the screen top you made. Two gallons a week is about right for a 10g tank in my experience. It will go up and down depending on the humidity and time of year. I get more evaporation in the winter when the air is drier. Did you get your Tunze Nano ATO yet? That will make like easier and you won't need a cover then. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 It's looking good - I like the screen top you made. Two gallons a week is about right for a 10g tank in my experience. It will go up and down depending on the humidity and time of year. I get more evaporation in the winter when the air is drier. Did you get your Tunze Nano ATO yet? That will make like easier and you won't need a cover then. Thanks brotha i appreciate it. No man it's supposedly on the way, we'll see if it shows up. Any other suggestions for an ATO other than the Tunze nano? Would a DIY with a float be better or will the tune nano suffice? If this buy here on nano-reef falls through I'll either buy new or find something else. Link to comment
BRADYBUNCH7 Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 This looks SUPER promising following! Link to comment
ImNew:] Posted January 5, 2015 Share Posted January 5, 2015 Thanks brotha i appreciate it. No man it's supposedly on the way, we'll see if it shows up. Any other suggestions for an ATO other than the Tunze nano? Would a DIY with a float be better or will the tune nano suffice? If this buy here on nano-reef falls through I'll either buy new or find something else. I currently have a tunze nano ato, it was easy to set up and its been working great so far. I did see on other sites such as Socalireef and Socal Reef central that they have the Tunze ATO for cheap. I'll try to get the links for you bro. Smart ATO is also a good one as well as Elios ato. Btw didnt know you were a nursing student. Nice to see a fellow nursing student into reefing! Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 This looks SUPER promising following! Thanks man!! I appreciate it I currently have a tunze nano ato, it was easy to set up and its been working great so far. I did see on other sites such as Socalireef and Socal Reef central that they have the Tunze ATO for cheap. I'll try to get the links for you bro. Smart ATO is also a good one as well as Elios ato. Btw didnt know you were a nursing student. Nice to see a fellow nursing student into reefing! Alright, your post gives me more confidence with the tunze nano. Still waiting to hear back from the seller in regards to tracking information.... I sent the payment 3 weeks ago. Going to have to join both forums tonight too! Thanks for the heads up, both seem to be pretty active for local stuff. BTW I love the look of your 'Simplicity' pico. Definitely following. 2 more years and I'm done with school.... finally (been at it for 4 and a half so far) Link to comment
ImNew:] Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hopefully you'll hear from them soon. A ato makes things so much easier. And those 2 years will fly trust me. im 5 months away from graduating with a bachelors in Nursing. Link to comment
Cove Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 This is looking great! Can you provide a little more info on the screen kit you used? Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 6, 2015 Author Share Posted January 6, 2015 Hopefully you'll hear from them soon. A ato makes things so much easier. And those 2 years will fly trust me. im 5 months away from graduating with a bachelors in Nursing. Just filed a claim with paypal, so I'll probably be looking elswhere for another ATO... But it's going by pretty quickly, especially now that I'm getting a degree in something I'm passionate about. I have my BS in Computer Science, because I couldn't be in a nursing program while playing football. Where do you go to school? This is looking great! Can you provide a little more info on the screen kit you used? Thanks Cove, I appreciate it man. The screen itself was ordered from a member here, he/she sells different dimensions of clear 1/4" screen. I bought a 2'x2' piece for less than $10. I then went to lowes and purchased the white window screen kit for around $10 http://www.lowes.com/pd_172289-15369-72295_0__?productId=3092635&Ntt=window+screen&pl=1¤tURL=%3FNtt%3Dwindow%2Bscreen&facetInfo= When I was a kid I had helped my dad replace the screens in our screen doors and windows so I was somewhat familiar with the process. I basically cut each piece an inch shorter than I wanted using a chop saw (which works much better than a hand saw in this application.) I cut each piece shorter due to the size of the elbows that hold it together. Every time I made a cut I did it a little bit longer than I had measured, then I would put the corners in and walk inside to my tank and fit it, if it was too big I'd cut a smidge off. I did this because I wanted it to be as snug as possible. Link to comment
ImNew:] Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 dang that degree will come in handy, specially with all the techy stuff coming out. Im currently in Loma Linda University in Loma Linda next to Redlands. We also have a hospital out in Muretta too. Btw how do you like the Nanobox, and what did you set your channel1 and channel 2 too? i just set mine up last night and im still trying to play around with the storm controller. Love the rockscaping bro. Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 7, 2015 Share Posted January 7, 2015 I have a Tunze Nano too and it works great. Just make sure the snails can't get into it and get the float stuck open. Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 8, 2015 Author Share Posted January 8, 2015 So the redsea test kit came in... Just measured out at about: .2 ammonia .1 nitrite 10 nitrates So the cycle has started... Going to add in some more of the Dr. Tim's ammonia now and will retest Friday. dang that degree will come in handy, specially with all the techy stuff coming out. Im currently in Loma Linda University in Loma Linda next to Redlands. We also have a hospital out in Muretta too. Btw how do you like the Nanobox, and what did you set your channel1 and channel 2 too? i just set mine up last night and im still trying to play around with the storm controller. Love the rockscaping bro. Oh I'm super familiar with Loma Linda, I was going to apply there, but the cost pushed me towards UCI. I absolutely love my nanobox. Currently have the Blues at 140 and the whites at 80. I play around with the numbers daily and it constantly changes.... Sometimes I'm really into the blue look and some times I'm into the 6500k look. I have a Tunze Nano too and it works great. Just make sure the snails can't get into it and get the float stuck open. How do you go about protecting the float from snails?? Link to comment
teenyreef Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 How do you go about protecting the float from snails?? Great question, wish I had a good answer My snails don't go back in the pump chamber very often at all, so it hasn't been an issue in my 4g tank until just last night when one crawled in. It was a huge problem when I had the float in my display tank, though. I may try to make something like this: http://www.aquahub.com/store/product15.html Link to comment
Allathlete5 Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Tunze nano ATO came in today. Pumped to get this thing in tomorrow. Hopefully i'll be able to get it in with just clipping the ledge on the black trim. The trim is super thin and so we'll see how high i'll be able to keep the water level. Any recommendations on a water storage? Looking for something 3ish gallons that I can keep under my desk next to the stand. Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Figure out your water reservoir? Hows your cycle percolating along? Link to comment
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