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.5 gallon bowl mini reef


chemikalzsky

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chemikalzsky

Hey Everyone! I'm new to the site and new to reefing. I've had freshwater tanks before in the past, but was never quite adventurous enough to venture into the world of reefs until I got a new roommate who opened my eyes to this wonderful hobby.

 

My adventure started when the roommate saw my old Betta bowl sitting on my end table and started putting ideas in my head about getting a tank. I said to myself, why buy a tank when in have this bowl? And it's been continuing ever since.

 

The bowl has been setup for about 2 months with a small airstone for flow and consists of one rock and about 3 handfuls of sand. I wasn't able to find a pump small enough, but stone seems to be working great.

 

On the rock, I have some red mushrooms and a superman mushroom (with 2nd tiny one starting to grow!), a small colony of green star polyps, some eagle-eyes I think the other zoas are Merry Christmas zoas, but I haven't been able together a positive I'd on them, and my little Aussie Gold Torch. Fora Clean-up crew, I have 4 small hermit crabs and a snail. So far, everyone has been pretty happy.

 

I got two new additions to my bowl yesterday, the Peterson shrimp and candy canes. The candy canes don't look happy after shipping. I hope they start to look better after a couple of days.

 

Here's a pic. Let me know what ya think!

 

post-88598-0-71626600-1436655534_thumb.jpg

Here's a better pic of the inhabitants!

 

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NinjaReefer

Welcome to Nano Reef. Thats a nice little setup. Love the Peterson shrimp. In my experience candy canes are pretty hardy. It should come back.

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Hey Everyone! I'm new to the site and new to reefing. I've had freshwater tanks before in the past, but was never quite adventurous enough to venture into the world of reefs until I got a new roommate who opened my eyes to this wonderful hobby.

My adventure started when the roommate saw my old Betta bowl sitting on my end table and started putting ideas in my head about getting a tank. I said to myself, why buy a tank when in have this bowl? And it's been continuing ever since.

The bowl has been setup for about 2 months with a small airstone for flow and consists of one rock and about 3 handfuls of sand. I wasn't able to find a pump small enough, but stone seems to be working great.

On the rock, I have some red mushrooms and a superman mushroom (with 2nd tiny one starting to grow!), a small colony of green star polyps, some eagle-eyes I think the other zoas are Merry Christmas zoas, but I haven't been able together a positive I'd on them, and my little Aussie Gold Torch. Fora Clean-up crew, I have 4 small hermit crabs and a snail. So far, everyone has been pretty happy.

I got two new additions to my bowl yesterday, the Peterson shrimp and candy canes. The candy canes don't look happy after shipping. I hope they start to look better after a couple of days.

Here's a pic. Let me know what ya think!

attachicon.gif_20150711_152152.JPG

Here's a better pic of the inhabitants!

attachicon.gif_20150711_190459.JPG

This is really cool! Especially for a first time setup,very nice.
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chemikalzsky

Welcome to Nano Reef. Thats a nice little setup. Love the Peterson shrimp. In my experience candy canes are pretty hardy. It should come back.

 

Thanks! I fell in love with him when I saw him. He was the only one that had racing stripes down his sides. He's a feisty little guy too! Definitely fun to watch. I have moved the candy canes to my roommates tank for now. I didn't want to stress it out more with the frequent water changes I have to do. The poor thing has been through enough.

 

This is really cool! Especially for a first time setup,very nice.

 

Thanks! It's a challenge that's for sure. I figured a small bowl would be so much easier than a large tank, but boy was I wrong!

 

Pretty sweet. What for light?

Thanks!! I am using 6" 12w Wave Point Blade LED with white and blue. At first, we were worried this would be too much, but everything is loving it.

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chemikalzsky

I got a couple of new additions for the bowl today. A mushroom, a Duncan, and a couple of nerite snails to keep the place tidy. I'll throw up some pics once they are acclimated.

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chemikalzsky

I was finally able to get a good pic of the Duncan and mushroom. The mushroom's color looks better at home than in the store. The next step is finding a home for them and gluing them down.

 

My shrimp decided he wanted to photobomb me.

 

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chemikalzsky

I finally glued down my new mushroom and zoa's! The bright green fiji's were a gift and I picked up a new zoas from the LFS today. It's still a little mad. I'll post up some pics once it decides to open more. They didn't know the name of it, but it looked like a little galaxy and I had to have it.

 

I also picked up another Torch today. That one isn't staying in here though. I am waiting for my IM 10g to finish cycling then it's going in there. I loved the color on it and didn't want someone else to snag it.

 

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chemikalzsky

Wow your tank looks amazing!. How hard is it to maintain?

 

Thanks!! :D The maintenance isn't too bad. I give it some daily love cleaning the dust off the glass from the sand, but nothing too extensive. I found a little plastic lid from a cheap Betta bowl that helps with the evap. I'll feed my Duncan, snail and shrimp a mysis twice a week and about 3 drops of Fuel to the bowl once a week.

 

And how often do you do water changes? Looking awesome :)

 

Thanks for the compliment! Water changes happen everytime I buy a new addition for the bowl. Hahaha! Because it so small, when I acclimate them, I take out about 2 cups which is about 20% of my water volume. If I don't buy anything new, I changes the water about once a week.

 

Nice little tank bro. How often do you have to top it off with ro/di water

Thanks Pico! I normally don't get enough evap to have to it off with RO/DI. If I do, it might be a half a cup.

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chemikalzsky

I lost my two Torches this past week. They will be missed.

 

I moved them from my bowl to my bigger 10 gallon thinking they would be happier and they weren't. I think the flow was too strong for them since they were used to the low flow (bubbler) in my bowl.

 

RIP

 

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I lost my two Torches this past week. They will be missed.

 

I moved them from my bowl to my bigger 10 gallon thinking they would be happier and they weren't. I think the flow was too strong for them since they were used to the low flow (bubbler) in my bowl.

 

RIP

Did those want a more medium flow? Maybe you should consider a small pump with all the livestock in your bowl.

 

I got this one in case I want to do something needing more flow - I gave it a test run in a small bowl of water and it seems to circulate it well when you have a small tank and can adjust it:

 

http://www.amazon.com/CNZ-Aquarium-Submerisble-Hydroponics-HJ-111/dp/B00QFPCUBG/

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chemikalzsky

Thanks for the recommendation GK. I have been trying to find a pump that won't turn the bowl into a whirlpool an is small enough to fit in it.

 

Real estate in the bowl is limited.

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The description says

Suitable for both fresh and saltwater tanks

Powerful Compact Design; Dimension: 1.5" x 1.5" x 1.2"

Quiet Operation, adjustable flow

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chemikalzsky

The description says

Suitable for both fresh and saltwater tanks

Powerful Compact Design; Dimension: 1.5" x 1.5" x 1.2"

Quiet Operation, adjustable flow

Yep! I will probably order it an see how well it does.

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chemikalzsky

I ordered the pump today. Thanks again for the recommendation!

 

While I was out and about today, I decided to swing by my LFS to see what they had. There was this rock with a bunch of different zoas on it and the guy sold it to me for $40. There are so many different colors on it, I couldn't pass it up. I'm not sure what zoas are on there. The large poly on the right side is pink with a bright blue eye under my blue light. It's crazy awesome looking. I have a couple of those intermingled through the rock.

 

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chemikalzsky

Wow this tank looks really great! And that shrimp is perfect for this tank

 

Thanks Yoshii! He has a lot of personality that's for sure. I'm glad the guy at the LFS suggested him to me. He was in a large tank and i would have never seen it in there.

 

Nice find bro and for a great price, very colorful

I'm super stoked. I should post up pics of my 10 now that it's up and running.

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chemikalzsky

Here's a couple quick snaps of the 10g. I'll try to get better ones tomorrow. It's still a work in progress. I'm heading to Orlando tomorrow to go see what I can find to stick in here.

 

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One with the whites on..

 

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