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    Christopher Marks

    By Christopher Marks

    Congratulations to Junkitu for having his nano reef chosen to start off our monthly featured reef profiles! His 24 gallon reef aquarium is a great example of a diverse and mature system, and has inspired many of our members. Below he has written a profile of his nano reef, from the early beginnings to his tank today, along with some advice for beginners. Check it out and share your comments or questions in Junkitu's featured reef profile thread.

    2monthsthumb.jpg
    2 Months     9monthsthumb.jpg
    9 Months     20monthsthumb.jpg
    20 Months

    What an incredible honor to be asked to be the first Featured Reef Profile for Nano-Reef.com! Thank you Christopher and the moderators for selecting my Mushroom House.

    Tank Specs

    • Main Display: 24G Current USA Aquapod, 16.5"L X 13"W X 17.5"H
    • Lighting System: 20” Sunpod 150w MH fixture w/ 20K Giesemann Megachrome Blue lamp
    • Protein Skimmer: Sapphire Aquatics protein skimmer
    • Cooling System: Current USA Prime chiller - 1/15hp
    • Circulation: Hydor Selz L35 external pump (chiller/return), MaxiJet 900 (w/Hydor Flo), MiniJet 404
    • Controller: Premium Aquatics Lighthouse Controller managing the chiller, skimmer, and lights. Also monitors pH and temperature.

    Livestock

    clownfishthumb.jpg
    Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish     gobythumb.jpg
    Yasha Goby     livestock1thumb.jpg
    Coco Worm & Yuma

    • ORA B&W Ocellaris Clown
    • Flame Angel
    • Yasha Goby
    • Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
    • Orange Lace Purple Feather Duster
    • Coco Worm
    • Yellow Japanese Feather Duster
    • Purple Phonape Maxima Clam
    • Turquoise ORA Ultra Maxima Clam

    Coral

    livestock2thumb.jpg
    Purple Dream Zoanthids     livestock3thumb.jpg
    Reverse Pokerstar Montipora     livestock4thumb.jpg
    Florida Ricordea

    • GARF purple bonsai with green polyps
    • Orange montipora
    • Barney purple montipora digitata
    • Neon green bali slimmer
    • Reverse pokerstar montipora
    • Devil's hand with neon green polyps
    • Green polyped toadstool
    • 5 varieties of florida ricordea (yellow, neon green, army green, orange and blue)
    • Tangerine yuma
    • Green apple yuma
    • Blue rhodactis mushrooms
    • Pink Hairy mushrooms
    • Purple, brown, and blue rhodactis mushrooms
    • Mint rhodactis mushrooms
    • Red mushrooms
    • Green mushrooms
    • Hambali pulsing xenias
    • Neon green candy canes
    • Green Australian duncans
    • Red/green open brain
    • Assorted zoanthids and palythoa (Devil's Armor, Tub's Blue, RPE, Dragon Eye, Coco's Pink, Purple Dream, Terminator, Yellow Ultimate, Nuclear Green, Rainbow, Sunburst)

    Tank Parameters

    pH: 8.0-8.5
    Temp: 77 - 79 degrees Fahrenheit
    Ca: 450
    S.G.: 1.025
    Nitrates: 0
    Nitrites: 0
    Ammonia: 0

    Filtration

    A Sapphire Aquatics skimmer that runs in the right rear chamber. Live rock and live sand perform the only other filtration in my system. It's simple but effective.

    Photo Period

    150W 20K MH (8am - 5pm)
    White Moonlights (8am - 6pm)
    Blue Moonlights (always on)

    Feeding

    Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (3 days/week)
    Kent Marine Zoe (3 days/week)
    Cyclopeeze (2 days/week)
    DT's Phytoplankton (2 day/week)

    Maintenance

    Kent Marine Nano 2-part additive (Tuesday, Thursday)
    B-Ionic 2-part additive (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
    20% water change (C-Pure seawater) once a week
    Scrub and scrape algae once a week
    Top off with RO/DI daily

    My tank was inspired by Nano-Reef.com and its members

    I've had freshwater tanks throughout my life but I never thought I would be able to keep a saltwater tank until a friend at work offered to help me get started in April 2006. He was redoing his 80G reef tank at home and offered to give me enough live rock to help me set up a nano reef in my office. Excited by the opportunity, I read everything I could find online about nano reefing. I eventually found Icenine's aquapod 24 tank thread on Nano-Reef.com and became truly inspired. I was amazed by the rainbow of colors, the variety of textures, and the diversity of life that could be kept in a nano tank. I was hooked and Mushroom House was born!

     

    “Who would think a box of water could be so much fun?” – quote taken from the sig of fellow N-R.com member icenine

     

    The thing that I found most amazing about icenine's aquapod was that he was able to create such a beautiful and natural looking tank under stock PC lighting. Initially, my goal with Mushroom House was to use a variety of color and texture to create a PC tank that was just as beautiful. I started with the green mushrooms that covered the live rock from my friend's tank and began to add other colorful coral. My first addition was a bright yellow fiji leather and I continued to add shrooms, rics, zoas, palys, and other low to medium light species to build my color palette.

    tank1thumb.jpg
    Nano Reef In The Office     tank2thumb.jpg
    20" Sunpod 150w MH with 20K Lamp     tank3thumb.jpg
    A View From Above

    Along the way there were definitely some challenges. The first of which was keeping temperatures under control because my office would shut off the climate control system after business hours and over the weekend. In fact, I almost lost the entire tank to overheating temperatures during a series of hot days in July 2006. Thankfully, softies are incredibly resilient coral and although there were losses many of my favorite pieces like the yellow fiji survived.

     

    Ironically, my struggle to control temps eventually led me to remove the hood on my aquapod in April of 2007 in order to add a chiller. With heat no longer an issue I took the opportunity to upgrade to a 20” Sunpod metal halide light fixture, which further intensified the colors of my coral and opened up a whole new world of livestock to keep. After the upgrade I found new inspiration from another N-R.com member, ezcompany. I have admired the striking beauty of ez's SPS and tridacnid clam dominated tank since I first started frequenting N-R.com and I decided to try to incorporate some high-light livestock to Mushroom House. Over the last year I've added a few choice SPS frags and a couple clams to my tank. My hope is that as they grow they will help create a well balanced mixed reef with even more intense colors and richer textures.

    topshelfthumb.jpg
    The Top Shelf     topdownthumb.jpg
    Top-down View     shroomsthumb.jpg
    Mushrooms

    I'm not sure what the future holds for my little office nano. My coral continue to grow, which creates a myriad of mini turf battles for me to manage. I suppose I will either need to start learning how to frag or plan an upgrade to another, maybe larger, tank later this year. In the meantime, I'm trying to enjoy watching my tank mature and fighting the urge to add any new pieces...even though there always seems to be room for “just one more cool frag”.

    A few words of advice for the uninitiated

    I was a complete newbie to saltwater reefing when I started this tank 20 months ago. Nano-Reef.com has been an excellent resource to help guide me in my tank's journey and its members have been an inspiration. I still consider myself a newbie and hardly feel qualified to give advice on this hobby but here are a couple thoughts that I hope can help others in their own journeys.

     

    1. “Pay it forward”. I encourage people new to the hobby to embrace the spirit of the community on this site. I got my start from an experienced reefer sharing his knowledge as well as elements of his tank with me for nothing in return. I've tried to do the same with other local reefers that I've met and I hope they will do the same as they are able.
    2. Avoid the impulse. Everything is magnified in a nano so do your homework before making a move. It can be very enticing to buy that non-photosynthetic sun coral or cute baby tang for you nano at your LFS but you need to know what your getting yourself into before you make the purchase. Similarly, take your time and find the specimen that makes you say “Wow, I've got to have that!!!”. Don't settle for something similar or ordinary that will just end up taking up precious real estate in your tank.
    3. Try not to make the same mistake twice. You are going to make mistakes along the way. We all have in this hobby. If something doesn't work out the first time and you decide to try it again make sure you make the appropriate adjustments.
    4. Lastly, don't let people tell you that “it can't be done”. It may take more time and/or cost more money but most obstacles in this hobby can be overcome if you do your research and plan ahead. There are still people out there that believe that keeping saltwater tanks is too hard for newbies and that you need at least a 55G tank to start. I'm so glad that I was finally convinced to challenge this conventional wisdom and take the plunge into nano reefing.

    If I had 10 things to do over again...

    • I would have gone topless earlier
    • I would have upgraded to MH earlier
    • I would have bought the more expensive controller
    • I would have acclimated longer
    • I would have bought a stronger pump
    • I would have bought a chiller earlier
    • I would have paid less for the Australian duncans
    • I would have stopped at 3 fish
    • I would have moved my tank where it could get natural sunlight earlier
    • I would have tried nano reefing earlier!!!

    Acknowledgements

    Thanks again to Christopher and the N-R.com mods for selecting my tank to help start this awesome program. Special thanks to Behruz (the guy that got me started in this hobby) and Dan (the guy that keeps me going in this hobby) for all of their help, advice, and free stuff. Last but not least a big thank you to Ken for keeping an eye on my tank when I'm out of the office.

     

    I hope you enjoyed the pictures and write-up of my tank!

     

    @junkitu


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    Ocho Cinco

    Me too!!!! But I know it won't. :(Oh! I notice you have 2 clams. Do you have the stock 150 Watt bulb? I got one yesterday and placed it higher in the tank so it gets more light.

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    Ocho Cinco

    Do you have any pic of your tank before the corla was added? Like just the rock setup? Also how do you run your lights? Which lunar lights do you run and when and for how long?

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    junkitu
    Do you have any pic of your tank before the corla was added? Like just the rock setup? Also how do you run your lights? Which lunar lights do you run and when and for how long?

    This is the ealiest pic that I have. I got my rock from a friend and it was covered in these green mushrooms:

     

    2monthsthumb.jpg

     

    I swapped out the stock bulb for the Geisemann Megachrome Blue 20K bulb. Here's the info on my photo period from my write-up:

     

    Photo Period

    150W 20K MH (8am - 5pm)

    White Moonlights (8am - 6pm)

    Blue Moonlights (always on)

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    npkelly

    your tank's awesome man and very inspiring. i've been up and down with my 6 gallon nano for the last year or so and have finally got something going. i noticed the different feeds for your fish/coral and was wondering the cycle (like with your additives)....you mentioned how many days but not in what order...and also....with the additives...any suggestion on using them...i'm using kent marine tech CB A&B and have had problems in the past with it harming my coral...any tips would be great...i'd appreciate it...

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    junkitu
    your tank's awesome man and very inspiring. i've been up and down with my 6 gallon nano for the last year or so and have finally got something going. i noticed the different feeds for your fish/coral and was wondering the cycle (like with your additives)....you mentioned how many days but not in what order...and also....with the additives...any suggestion on using them...i'm using kent marine tech CB A&B and have had problems in the past with it harming my coral...any tips would be great...i'd appreciate it...

    Thanks npkelly.

     

    Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (3 days/week) - MWF

    Kent Marine Zoe (3 days/week) - MWF

    Cyclopeeze (2 days/week) - MF

    DT's Phytoplankton (2 day/week) - MF

     

    As for the additives, I'm using the recommended dosages on the bottle.

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    npkelly
    Thanks npkelly.

     

    Spectrum and Formula 1 marine pellets (3 days/week) - MWF

    Kent Marine Zoe (3 days/week) - MWF

    Cyclopeeze (2 days/week) - MF

    DT's Phytoplankton (2 day/week) - MF

     

    As for the additives, I'm using the recommended dosages on the bottle.

     

    thanks for your info. i don't mean to be annoying, but when and how many times on those days. i've just heard that you can raise your nitrate levels (etc.) by adding too much food to your tank. i just wanna do things the right way this time and any info along the way is greatly appreciated. thanks again. :)

     

    p.s. and if you don't mind, i might have other questions for you later..

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    junkitu
    thanks for your info. i don't mean to be annoying, but when and how many times on those days. i've just heard that you can raise your nitrate levels (etc.) by adding too much food to your tank. i just wanna do things the right way this time and any info along the way is greatly appreciated. thanks again. :)

     

    p.s. and if you don't mind, i might have other questions for you later..

     

    I feed only once on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I usually feed right before or right after my lights go out at 5pm.

     

    i've been up and down with my 6 gallon nano for the last year or so and have finally got something going.

     

    It sounds like you have begun to figure out what your tank needs. My recommendation would be to stick with what you've found works for your tank and livestock.

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    npkelly
    I feed only once on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I usually feed right before or right after my lights go out at 5pm.

     

     

     

    It sounds like you have begun to figure out what your tank needs. My recommendation would be to stick with what you've found works for your tank and livestock.

     

     

    cool. thanks again for your help.........and good luck on sunday. i'm more of a 9ers fan, but can't stand the patriots.lol.

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    Ocho Cinco

    I was wondering what kind of pumps/powerheads you use. I saw on you tank post that you use 3. Are you still using the stock pump? I was looking to add a powerhead what do you reccomend? What kind is under the built-in spout? I like the look of that.

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    junkitu
    cool. thanks again for your help.........and good luck on sunday. i'm more of a 9ers fan, but can't stand the patriots.lol.

    :)

     

    I was wondering what kind of pumps/powerheads you use. I saw on you tank post that you use 3. Are you still using the stock pump? I was looking to add a powerhead what do you reccomend? What kind is under the built-in spout? I like the look of that.

    I like the maxijet powerheads. The powerhead under the return is a MaxiJet 900 with a hydor attachment. In fact, I just added another MJ900 w/ hydor to the opposite side to add more random circulation to the tank, The only downsides to the MJs are that they're kinda big and can lose flow strength over time if you don't clean them periodically due to thier intake tubes gettitng clogged with stuff (corraline algae, etc.). A lot of people like the Koralias and Tunze nanostreams but I like the random wave motion that the hydors give you.

     

    I no longer use the stock pump because it definitely heated the tank up. I also don't need it because I have my chiller pump hooked up direcly to the stock return.

     

    Lastly, here is a PM that I received from another reefer with my response. I post it here just in case others can benefit from it or have an opinion.

     

    JUNKITU

     

    I'm a new reefer. Just bought a 28 Gallon JBJ NANO Cube HQI last weekend with B150-14k MH lamp, and 4 blue led night lights. The pumps are: 2 (2) Accela SP1-1000 in separate chambers in the back rated for 266gph. There are two directional nozzles in the display. The system also came with a skimmer which i wont even think of using for a long while, and a Ocean Pulse Wavemaker.

    Started out as a tank for my sons room and over the course of one week has consumed me . Literally a week in, and ive been voraciously reading all the information i could get my eyes on.

     

    This is my first attempt at with SW and your amazing thread has given me great hope.

     

    I feel as though i bought a good system (with the lighting being the crown jewel.)

    I have added about 18 pounds of cured FIJI live rock, and about an inch of live sand as my substrage.

    I have turned on the pumps and the heater, and have the filter box in place but removed a portion of the filter media. I've removed the Carbon and Ceramic Bags for now. (cut the black filter down a bit to allow proper flow)

     

    I'll add a little more live rock over time to get the base perfect. (can i add rock as i go? or does it all need to be in the tank now? during the first cycle?) How much is TOO Much?

     

    I want to be patient and take my time as you and so many others on N-R.com have explained.

    I'm planning on letting the tank cycle and then start with a small fish or two and a CUC.

    I'd then like to add a variety of coral, much like your setup. Love the zoo gardens, clams, Rics etc.

     

    Throughout your thread, ive been amazed at your ability to respond to every question and you've been so helpful to all that have taken the time to ask. Sure is nice to see somewhat who's been fortunate and has a great looking tank still willing to pay it forward.

     

    Just looking for any basic starting tips you might pass on. I know this is long, but i thought if you knew what equipment i was dealing with it might help you narrow down to a few good solid tips.

     

    Thanking you in advance,

    and please know that your tank is really somethign to see.

     

    Regards,

     

    I'm glad you like my tank and I'm flattered by your comments.

     

    It sounds like you're off to a great start with your equipment. Here are a couple things to consider:

     

    1) Start a thread - It's a great way tot track your progress as well as challenges. It will also allow you to get real time feedback. Probably more than you'lll want :) This forum is a great and I've learned so much from reading the posts of others.

     

    2) Live Rock - The general rule of thumb is 1lb of rock for every 1gallon of water in your display. It sounds like you can add some more. Get fully cured rock if you can. If you can, try and get rock from soneone else's establish tank. That's how I started my tank and I believe it's the safest route.

     

    3) Stocking - Once your params have stablilized, I'd add the clean up crew and see how they do. If the params remain stable then you add livestock after a week or so. I think it's best to add the least aggressive fish first and let them get used to the tank for a week or so, Then slowly add more and more aggressive tank members

     

    Enjoy the new tank. I'll be on the lookout for your tank thread,.

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    kooolaid

    Hi there,

    Your tank is breathless!!!! Keep it up!! Just wanted to find out some info on your chiller and that long pipe that is going up from the chiller to your tank. If you can be so kind and help me get a good chiller for my 24 gallon nanocube I will be very grateful to you. If it is easier to Pm please do so..

    Thanks

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    junkitu
    Hi there,

    Your tank is breathless!!!! Keep it up!! Just wanted to find out some info on your chiller and that long pipe that is going up from the chiller to your tank. If you can be so kind and help me get a good chiller for my 24 gallon nanocube I will be very grateful to you. If it is easier to Pm please do so..

    Thanks

    PM answered.

     

    I have the 1/!15 hp Current USA Prime chiller and it can be a little noisy when it turns on. I hear the JBJ nano chillers are really quiet.

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