Jump to content
SaltCritters.com
  • Christopher Marks

    Congratulations to community member uwdanno and his 20 gallon reef aquarium for being selected for our October Reef Profile! This nano reef aquarium features a vivid collection of coral and fish, each carefully selected and placed to compose a vibrant aquascape. Below is the aquarium profile uwdanno has written for us sharing his experiences in the hobby and his aquarium's progress over the past year and a half. See what he's been up to and share your comments and questions in uwdanno's featured reef profile announcement, or in the comments section below. Be sure to also check out his aquarium journal in the members aquariums forum for more information about this reef tank.

    fts.jpg

    Tank Specs

    Display: Innovative Marine Fusion 20 Gallon
    Lighting: EcoTech Marine Radion XR30 Gen 2
    Heater: Finnex HMO-100wa Heater
    Circulation: Sicce 1.5 Return Pump, EcoTech Marine MP10wES Powerhead
    Skimmer: None
    Filtration: Innovative Marine Desktop Reactor
    Filter Media: Alternate between GFO and BRS Carbon Rox
    Top Off: Tunze Osmlator Nano 3152
    Dosing: Bubble Magus
    Controller: EcoTech Marine ReefLink to control the MP10 and Radion

     

    Established April 2015

    Maintenance Routine

    • Water Changes: 10% - 15% 1-2 times per week with Instant Ocean.
    • GFO & Carbon: Swapped out as nutrients shift. Typically every 3 weeks.
    • Filter Floss: Changed with weekly water changes.
    • Tests: Weekly for Alk, Ca, Mg. Occasionally PO4 & NO3.
    • KZ Coral Snow: Anytime the water gets a haze.
    • MicroBacter7: 3-5 drops once per week.
    • Vinegar Soak: Anytime coralline algae builds up on equipment.
    • Fish Foods: Daily with Pellets, Mysis or Larry's Reef Frenzy Nano.
    • Corals Foods: Couple times per week with OysterFeast, RotiFeast KZ Coral Vit or NutriCell.
    • Algae: Scrape the glass and manual removal for anything on the rocks.

    Fish

    • Midas Blenny
    • Black Percula Clownfish
    • Wheeler Goby

    Soft & NPS Coral

    • Jawbreaker Mushroom
    • Various Zoanthid sp.
    • ORA Grubes Gorgonian

    LPS Coral

    • Various Favia sp.
    • Ice Blue Leptastrea
    • Various Euphyllia sp.
    Fungia Repanda

    SPS Coral

    Cyphastrea sp.
    Leptoseris sp.
    Acanthastrea
    • Mummy Eye Chalice
    • ORA Kelly Green Psammacora
    • Various Birdsnest sp.
    • Various Acropora sp.
    • Various Montipora sp.

    Invertebrates

    • Fighting Tiger Conch
    • Pistol Shrimp
    • Snails
    • Brittle Stars
    • Maxima Clam
    • Money Cowrie

    History

    Growing up I had various freshwater tanks ranging from Neon Tetras to Red Belly Piranhas. Money, time and knowledge limited those tanks from being anything lasting. I joined Nano-Reef.com in 2004 and read about every tank I could, but remained hesitant to make the leap.

     

    In 2014, my best man bought me an IM Nuvo 4 gallon as a wedding gift and I was finally salty with the rest of you! My pico tank lasted just shy of a year before I found a great deal on a Fusion 20 gallon from a local reefer. Having success with a mixed reef pico, I was confident I would enjoy a nano and the challenge of SPS.

    The 20 gallon was setup for about 7 months before being moved to a new house across town. The physical move was seamless with no major losses, but the nastiness that came out of the sand, back chambers and rock was alarming. The parameter swings stalled growth and took me a couple months to get back to stability. The tank has been in its current location for about 10 months now.

     

    In the new house, I drilled through the wall behind the tank, ran some tubing connected to a 5 gallon pail and created a semi-automatic water changing system. This system requires no moving parts and relies on siphons and gravity to either pull water out of the tank or replenish new. This has made very frequent water changes easy and clean.

    One of my earliest coral purchases was from local reefer Scorched (Eric). He fragged an ORA Kelly Green Psammacora and invited me in to see his tank. I was beyond amazed. Every coral was intentional in species, color and placement – making vast impact in limited space. This set the benchmark for how I wanted to select and scape coral going forward. Leveraging primary colors and patience, I have enjoyed the journey to find the right corals to fit a specific spot.

    Inspiration

    My favorite moments are when my daughter, nieces and nephew run to press their faces against my clean glass. I don't know how many times my phosphates have spiked from little fingers adding large pinches of pellets but every time is worth it. What's that? Can I touch that? Can I feed it again?...A Midas Blenny... sure...yep! It's because of them I've tried to add fish and inverts that are interesting to look at and learn about – creating a mini ecosphere for them to explore.

    Words of Wisdom

    Be intentional. Have an end game plan and stick to it. The urge to impulse buy livestock is strong but only leads to poor use of limited real estate. You will be pleased with the outcome if you stick to a plan.

    Advice For New Hobbyists

    Don't give up on a coral because it's browned out or doesn't look like you hoped in that particular moment. Coral is a living creature worth more than visual appeal. Some of the more rewarding moments come from recovering a coral that was struggling.

    Thoughts On Dosing

    I'm skeptical of magic potions but want to know more. Exploring trace elements are next for me. I'm anxious to see if iron, iodine and potassium impact colors and growth as advertised. I've recently started water changes with RedSea Coral Pro Salt to see if there is any advantage over basic salts. Could be gold, could be snake oil. Eager to find out.

    Acknowledgments

    Nano-Reef.com is an amazing wealth of knowledge and support. Thank you to Christopher Marks and all of you for continuing to make this such a great environment to learn. I find myself on this site daily and it's still as interesting as day one.

     

    Dan @uwdanno

    • Like 1


      Report Aquarium



    User Feedback

    Recommended Comments



    Thanks guys!

     

    Awesome! Remember seeing this tank at inception and man has it come a long way! Great job!!

    Thanks! You were an earlier follower. Thanks for the push to stick with it.

    Link to comment
    Share on other sites

    Thanks guys!

     

     

    Thanks! You were an earlier follower. Thanks for the push to stick with it.

    of course bro! Your tank honestly almost made me push for the nuvo 20 before I went to a sumped system, I remember you having all those sps frags on the left side waiting to encrust on the rock and now your tank is a piece of art man! Keep it up!
    Link to comment
    Share on other sites




    Join the conversation

    You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

    Guest
    Add a comment...

    ×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

      Only 75 emoji are allowed.

    ×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

    ×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

    ×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.


×
×
  • Create New...