BustytheSnowMaam Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 I thought it was about time I posted some pics/specs of my 10. This tank started as a habitat for a striped hermit crab that a friend "accidentally" brought home in some collected seashells from Florida. We bought a box of IO, mixed it up, added some dolomite substrate, and put some river rock in, and it became home to "Crabby" for several years. Then I got tired of having a crab-only habitat. So I found this site, posted a few dumb newbie questions (what does LR stand for?), and got some directions for setting up a nano. At first I intended it to be just a FOWLR tank. I purchased 22 lbs of LR at an LFS, cycled the tank with Crabby in it, and then I ordered a pair of clowns from Premium Aquatics. Here's my very first tank pic. And Crabby is in the middle there, he was huge. Please don't laugh. But then, of course, I wanted corals. And I wanted the tank to be as natural and self-sustaining as possible- I think that this is possible with some common sense practices- regular water changes, not overstocking/overfeeding, good light, and plenty of flow. Besides the fact I don't have time to test, dose, and fuss with the tank a lot. Aside from at the very beginning when I checked the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels, I don't test anymore. I've never had an algae outbreak or tank crash, and I still have the same clown pair and one original zebra hermit- 6 years later. I don't mix my own saltwater anymore- I fell in love with the convenience of box water at the store, so I don't even check the SG. It's a complete jungle right now- there are random capnella frags, mushrooms, anthelia, green zoas, red zoas, and GBPs growing evefywhere. The more I give them away, the faster they grow. Anyhow, here's a pic. I had just had my hand in there so a few things are p*ssed off: Equipment: 10 gallon AGA Current 80Watt PC hood Whisper 10-20 HOB filter, no floss or cartridge- used for flow/surface splashdown to prevent surface scum Sm powerhead in L corner for flow 22 lbs LR ? mix of about 1 inch of dolomite (bottom) and crushed coral on top (gives habitat for pods/stars/worms) Livestock: run-of-the-mill pair of oscellaris clowns sixline wrasse 1 emerald crab 1 peppermint shrimp Unidentified species of snails- self-propagating, best cleaners I've ever had 2 scarlet hermits, 1 red-leg hermit, and one zebra hermit Lots of mini-bristle starfish Corals: purple mushrooms GSP GBP lots of zoas Kenya tree coral Capnella coral neon toadie plain toadie anthelia (great clown host) 1 finger leather 1 unidentified leather Link to comment
Cuervo420 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Wow! That's a beautiful tank. It's so nice to see nano tanks with some age. Seems you rarely hear of nanos running for that long. Well done! Link to comment
91yota Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 very nice!!! care to ship some of those mushrooms to nc? Link to comment
JustReef Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 purple mushrooms (please don't ever pay for mushrooms- PM me!) Damn I just paid $10 for a single purple mushroom, lol! This tank is impressive. It's such a simple set up and it looks fantastic. I feel like a real moron now with all of the problems I've had. Link to comment
Captain Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 wow. This is a beautiful tank! Link to comment
91yota Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 pm replied... i cant find it in my sent items though so let me know if you got it Link to comment
sammy113 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Wow! theres a lot of cool mushrooms! Beautiful tank! Link to comment
spanko Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Man that baby is packed full. After 5 or 6 years you must have a few scheckles saved up for a bigger tank, maybe a 15 or 20 gallon. Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Great job. Simple and thriving! Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Thanks everyone! Yep, working on a bigger tank now- just trying to figure out where to put it. pm replied... i cant find it in my sent items though so let me know if you got it I got it! you have to check the little box if you want it to save to your sent items. Link to comment
c est ma Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 What success! Great story! Glad you posted. --Diane Link to comment
pattykat99 Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Beautiful tank, VERY colorful and pretty!! Link to comment
Joe b Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 5 years! That's awesome! Congradulations! Link to comment
got2envy Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Thats what I call patience..I upgraded from a 29g toa 40 in 2 months haha..I hope the 40 stays up as long as your 10 good luck with the tank upgrade Link to comment
Chebon Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Nice! I like the mushroom forest... how many mushrooms did you start with? Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted October 9, 2007 Author Share Posted October 9, 2007 Nice! I like the mushroom forest... how many mushrooms did you start with? Started with a branch that had 5-6 very TINY mushrooms on it- now I have probably over 100 and some of them are 6 inches across at midday. Link to comment
Toomin Posted October 9, 2007 Share Posted October 9, 2007 Started with a branch that had 5-6 very TINY mushrooms on it- now I have probably over 100 and some of them are 6 inches across at midday. godly. Link to comment
stingythingy45 Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Looks great Tasha. I couldn't see the pictures at work,had to check them out tonight. And just as I imagined.......beautiful. Link to comment
Mudfish Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Looks great Tasha. I couldn't see the pictures at work,had to check them out tonight. And just as I imagined.......beautiful. Me, too - me, too! I checked it out at work, but couldn't see the pics till I got home just now. That's a really pretty tank, Tasha. Very fertile. And shucks, I got a little bit of it in my tank! *scuffs toe in sand, smiles* Link to comment
Coleman4i Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 Me, too - me, too! I checked it out at work, but couldn't see the pics till I got home just now. That's a really pretty tank, Tasha. Very fertile. And shucks, I got a little bit of it in my tank! *scuffs toe in sand, smiles* Do the clowns host in anything? I was wanting to get a pair in my 10g and was thinking of a possible host for them. Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted October 10, 2007 Author Share Posted October 10, 2007 Do the clowns host in anything? I was wanting to get a pair in my 10g and was thinking of a possible host for them. ANTHELIA! I can't speak enough about how much my clowns love it. And it doesn't get irritated or retract when the clowns brush up against it. They're always hanging out in there. The only caveat is anthelia grows like a weed and can get all over everything if you don't keep it in check. Here's a pic: Link to comment
MrAnderson Posted October 10, 2007 Share Posted October 10, 2007 godly. +1 seriously, i'm in awe. that tank is completely solid with corals from top to bottom, side to side. and clearly HAPPY corals with mature morphologies... just... WOW. that gets my vote. Link to comment
musthaveitall Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 Looks awesome!! You never hear of a tank this small staying up this long!! Congrats! Is Anthelia related to xenia? I have never heard of it before... YGPM Clint Link to comment
BustytheSnowMaam Posted October 12, 2007 Author Share Posted October 12, 2007 +1 seriously, i'm in awe. that tank is completely solid with corals from top to bottom, side to side. and clearly HAPPY corals with mature morphologies... just... WOW. that gets my vote. Thanks Mr. A ! Musthaveitall- thanks for the compliments too- yes, I think anthelia is related to xenia, but it's not as sensitive and doesn't pulse. Did you send me a PM? Link to comment
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