naturalwonders Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hi all, I signed up for the forum for a while now but haven't had time to properly introduce myself my and little reef to everyone. I'm keeping both fresh water planted tank (a current member of SCAPE ) and this little reef of mine. Working on setting up a small macroalgae with some inverts since I can't fight the urge anymore . Hope to learn from everyone here and perhaps share a thing or two of what I've learned about reef keeping. Well, here it is. It's a very simple nano reef. SUPER low maintenance. I believe in a constant water change schedule and balanced feeding, LR for biological filtration are the keys. (Or maybe I just have been lucky ) The tank has been running for a little over 4 years now. Corals (mostly mushrooms) get trimmed frequently since they tend to take over fast. I change about 20% of water (about 2.5 gallon) every week. No reef additives. Clean algae on glass whenever I see it. That's all the work I have to do on this tank, besides the daily feeding of course. There are some real beautiful starfish in the tank but they are all hiding. And there's also a cute looking chocolate colored crab that appeared from nowhere. I got the pair of clownfish when they were pea size about 2.5 years ago. They spawn constantly but I get too lazy to collect the frys. I absolutely love Fire fish. This pair have been here for about 2 years. And Mr Cleaner Shrimp came in when he was about 1 inch small (about 3 years ago) Link to comment
gena Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Oh my! LOVE this! I especially like that last shot. This is what I'm going for. I'm a huge mushroom fan! Do you feed just once a day or twice? When you trim the mushrooms, do you use just a sharp blade right in the tank? That's what my plan is eventually. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous tank Link to comment
mmcguffi Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 holy mushroom garden batman! amazing tank! thanks for sharing! Link to comment
yoshii Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Awesome! Great tank, loving the mushrooms! Link to comment
Squared Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 that's a lot of shroomage . Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Oh thanks for the kind words guys. Gena, I don't really trim the mushrooms. They grow and compete for space and often they detach themselves from the rocks then I'll collect them out. Somtimes they attach to the side glass then I'll use a sharp razor blade to scrape them off carefully. Mushrooms are aggressive though. There were some real nice polyp colonies in the tank before but the mushrooms over the year have taken over and "terminated" others for space. Oh my! LOVE this! I especially like that last shot. This is what I'm going for. I'm a huge mushroom fan! Do you feed just once a day or twice? When you trim the mushrooms, do you use just a sharp blade right in the tank? That's what my plan is eventually. Thanks for sharing this gorgeous tank Link to comment
Chyendra Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Love it! and I love those blue shrooms, I've never seen ones with stripes like those before. I would love a frag of those too bad we're not closer. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Stunning! I like the mushrooms and your firefish pair. Link to comment
Captain Hook Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 sweet looking shrooms!! Link to comment
lgreen Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 This tank is great. What kind of lighting and equipment are you using? Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Oh thanks , Here is a quick run through of things that I'm using for this tank: - Tank : 15G tall, same foot print as a regular 10G, just taller. - Filter : Skilter 250 (been running well for the past 6+ years). - Heater : a small glass 50W heater. - Power head : a small power head to give extra water circulation. I turn this power head up side down and attach a cut out water bottle to function as a surface skimmer as well. You can see this at the upper left corner, first pic. - Light : Jebo 2x36W 50/50 PC. - Sand : live sand, about 1.5 inches. - Live rocks : can't tell how many lbs, must be 25+. This tank is great. What kind of lighting and equipment are you using? Link to comment
gena Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I know at some point my mushrooms will overtake some/most of the polyps I have going. Already I have a giant striped mushy that's shading some pink zoas from the light. The mushroom has a new baby growing too. I'm just letting nature take it's course. Whatever may be, may be What do you feed your fish and how many times per day? edit: oh and I'm glad to read you're using PC lighting. I personally am a fan. I'm getting great color from my corals...just like you Link to comment
phattypeeps Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 Amazing looking, very healthy and full. Glad to see your firefish are happy in your 15 G. I was thinking of adding a pair to my 17 G but wasn't sure if they would be happy in that amount of space. Whats the minimum amount of space they would need do you think? Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 17, 2011 Author Share Posted April 17, 2011 Hehehe, Yes, I love the idea of letting things grow and progess as they should, this will give you a natural look. Oh, I feed my fish once a day with marine pellets, then once a week with mixture of frozen brine shrimps+rotifers, and some soft krill every other week or so whenever I remember . I know at some point my mushrooms will overtake some/most of the polyps I have going. Already I have a giant striped mushy that's shading some pink zoas from the light. The mushroom has a new baby growing too. I'm just letting nature take it's course. Whatever may be, may be What do you feed your fish and how many times per day? edit: oh and I'm glad to read you're using PC lighting. I personally am a fan. I'm getting great color from my corals...just like you Link to comment
gena Posted April 17, 2011 Share Posted April 17, 2011 I was feeding twice a day when I had my clown goby. Now that I lost her (mp10 accident), I'm back to once a day feeding. This is my new favorite tank to look at on NR I think it rivals any of the super complex, high-end, sps tanks. The simpler the setup, the better...IMO! Excellent idea with the powerhead/surface skimmer. If I still had my 10g running...I would definitely give that a go. Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 thanks so much. You know that frog spawn started as a small one head frag, after 2 years it now has around 12 head LOL... I was feeding twice a day when I had my clown goby. Now that I lost her (mp10 accident), I'm back to once a day feeding. This is my new favorite tank to look at on NR I think it rivals any of the super complex, high-end, sps tanks. The simpler the setup, the better...IMO! Excellent idea with the powerhead/surface skimmer. If I still had my 10g running...I would definitely give that a go. Link to comment
lgreen Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 This is my new favorite tank to look at on NR I think it rivals any of the super complex, high-end, sps tanks. The simpler the setup, the better...IMO! Agreed. Your tank reminds me of the simple nano reefs everyone used to have back in the beginning days of nano reefing. I honestly still prefer these simple setups vs. all these newer modern style tanks. I just wish I could get my hands on a 1x18w or 2x18w 12" power compact fixture so I can finish setting up my new simple old-school style tank. Is that an aquarclear powerhead? Link to comment
gtmaus Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 Amazing tank! Thanks for sharing. Those blue shrooms are sweet, never seen any like those Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 I have this tank and several other fresh water tanks, if I don't keep them simple I'll be dead meat LOL Oh, I don't know what kind of powerhead that is since a friend gave it to me. Agreed. Your tank reminds me of the simple nano reefs everyone used to have back in the beginning days of nano reefing. I honestly still prefer these simple setups vs. all these newer modern style tanks. I just wish I could get my hands on a 1x18w or 2x18w 12" power compact fixture so I can finish setting up my new simple old-school style tank. Is that an aquarclear powerhead? Link to comment
naturalwonders Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share Posted April 18, 2011 I've been wanting to get some Pom Pom Xenia for awhile now. It's so cute. Perhaps I'll look for a small frag this weekend . Link to comment
Fishnewbie27 Posted April 18, 2011 Share Posted April 18, 2011 +1 all I can say is WOW and I want lol Link to comment
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