Break Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 Current FTS - 8/1/15Tank Specs Established: 6/30/15 Display: CrystalVu 30cm x 18cm x 24.5cm (13.2L / 3.4 gallons) Circulation: Aquaclear 70 w/ InTank mod - Filter floss, Purigen, Chemi-Pure Elite + Nano-Glo & Chaetomorph Refugium Lighting: Coral Compulsion 35w PAR38 LED 18k TruColor Heater: 25w Hydor Theo LivestockCleaning Crew Dwarf Planaxis Dwarf Cerith Dwarf Cowrie Florida Cerith Nassarius Vibex Lenny the Limpet Corals ZoanthidsRainbow Sakuras Pastel Orange Rainbows Pink Panthers Pink Zippers Red Velvets Sunny-D's Wild Eyes Green Nebula RicordeaOrange Ricordea yuma Ricordea yuma Rainbow Ricordea florida Green Ricordea florida Blue Ricordea florida Orange Ricordea florida Sun Coral Red Montipora Setosa Superman Montipora Ultra Acan Lord Vivid's Rainbow Delight Yellow/Purple Eco-Gorgonian Blue Bali Sea Fan History/About Reef keeping has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember; I bred fish as kid, have had dozens of tanks, and even worked in at a few local fish stores back in high school and college. Though I have been out of the hobby for a few years due to a demanding work schedule and living in an insanely expensive urban area, I recently decided to return to the hobby. For the past two years this 3.4g tank was a freshwater planted setup which housed a newt, named Sir Isaac Newton...until one fateful day he decided to test out his theory of gravity. Unfortunately, his hypothesis proved accurate and the tank stood empty for a long while. I am now converting it into a pico reef tank -- I have never kept a reef tank this small before, especially not one I plan to house SPS in, so this should provide a fresh challenge. After having quite elaborate systems in the past, I am looking to keep this tank simple, minimalist and easy to maintain. This means no skimmer, controller, doser, etc. As I share a studio apartment with my girlfriend and our very large, very fluffy cat, the system must run quiet and have an extremely small footprint. The overall vibe of this tank is a volcanic Hawaiian/Pacific reef as mandated by my girlfriend, the chief designer. We wanted to keep the tank bright with an open feel since it's up near face level. Full Set-up Link to comment
k4ndyk1ng Posted July 26, 2015 Share Posted July 26, 2015 This is going to be sick, what is the turnover in this tank if you are considering sps? Link to comment
Break Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 The Aquaclear70 running with the impellers from the Aquaclear20 probably puts the return turnover between 100 and 200 gph depending on how the filter's flow adjuster is set. I have a Koralia nano rated at 240gph that I will probably place in the bottom right of the tank, hidden behind the larger rock. Between both of them, the tank should land between 70x and 100x turnover. Link to comment
RK_tek Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Love where this is going. Can't wait to see it sticked Link to comment
Break Posted July 27, 2015 Author Share Posted July 27, 2015 I did a water change and installed the Koralia Nano in the back right corner. Tank definitely needed more flow and I finally found the right angle for the Koralia such that it isn't too much for this tiny tank. Corals have been ordered and should arrive next Saturday 8/1. Tank will pretty much be fully stocked at that point Link to comment
Langer6 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Looking forward to following your progress. Where did you order your corals from? Link to comment
Break Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 I made an order from both Vivid Aquariums and Legendary Corals...probably went a little overboard, haha. Thankfully, both are in California which means they won't have to ship very far. I have ordered from Vivid before for previous tanks and have visited their brick-and-mortar location as well. Always very pleased with their quality and health of their specimens. Orders Include: Multiple Zoanthis (Hand picked by my girlfriend -- one of her favorites) Sun Coral Ricordea florida Ricordea yuma Montipora Setosa Montipora Superman Yellow Gorgonian Rainbow Acan Lord Vivid's Rainbow Acropora Probably will only need to pick up one or two choice corals after this and maybe a fish. Just changed out the filter media. Giving Chemi-Pure Blue a try over the usual Chemi-Pure Elite. My reefing instincts are pushing me to consider some GFO or something to keep phosphates in check, but I think the phosphate filter pads I'm already using are all I am going to need in this little tank. Link to comment
Tkpico Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Your tank is gonna be awesome! I just visited Vivid for the first time earlier in the month, great store with quite the selection. Link to comment
Cameron6796 Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Can't wait to see this full of life Link to comment
schgr.cube Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Awesome, can't wait to see this stocked. Do you feel that the light might be overkill? I just got my coral compulsion par30 18k Link to comment
Break Posted July 30, 2015 Author Share Posted July 30, 2015 No, I'd use it on anything from 2 to 20 gallons. That being said, running this light at 100% on my tank would be overkill given the distance from the tank to the light. Fortunately, the goose neck makes it extremely easy to adjust the angle and I was sure to purchase the dimmable bulb and the corresponding dimmer. It will be running in the 60%-80% range. I do wish the bulb had a wider spread, but that's only because I'm used to halides. Link to comment
Break Posted August 1, 2015 Author Share Posted August 1, 2015 Corals have arrived ZoanthidsRainbow Sakuras Pastel Orange Rainbows Pink Panthers Pink Zippers Red Velvets Sunny-D's Wild Eyes Green Nebula RicordeaOrange Ricordea yuma Ricordea yuma Rainbow Ricordea florida Green Ricordea florida Blue Ricordea florida Orange Ricordea florida Sun Coral Red Montipora Setosa Superman Montipora Ultra Acan Lord Vivid's Rainbow Delight Yellow/Purple Eco-Gorgonian Blue Bali Sea Fan I received the Blue Bali Sea Fan due to a miscommunication, but it looks great in the tank. Keeping it alive in the long-term will be the challenge -- time to stock up on plankton, lol. And here is Lenny the Limpet checking out the Montiporas, he is definitely the most adventurous little limpet I have ever encountered. And for now, he is king of the jungle I am going to perform a water change later tonight, I will post more photos after the corals settle in and open up. Link to comment
fishfreak0114 Posted August 2, 2015 Share Posted August 2, 2015 Looks nice, can't wait to see al those zoas once they're open? Link to comment
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