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10g Rimless Nano Reef


dtum

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Having kept freshwater fish for 10+ years, my latest challenge this year was to have a planted tank with lots of light and CO2. I started off with a 10 gallon and very quickly upgraded it to a 25 gallon tank, ADA-style rimless. I certainly have fallen in love with this new breed of clear glass and rimless tanks.

 

Now that my 10 gallon is free again, I've contemplated keeping a pair of dwarf cichlids in it, but at the end decided to get into saltwater. I had a 10 gallon saltwater tank, fish only, a few years back, but this time I want to have corals as well.

 

So there you go, the journey begins.

 

I started with the Tunze 6015 powerhead, but I thought it was too loud, so for now I am using Koralia Nano.

 

Lighting is a single fixture of 24w 50/50 pc. I plan to add another fixture of the same kind later this week.

 

As for the rock, I've been persuaded by the LFS staff to get Marco rock (dead) and seed it with some live rock rubble. I probably should've used more live rock because I would certainly be happy to see some hitchhikers in the tank at this point.

 

I've also added two hermit crabs and a single snail. Snail tried to get out of the tank (I've found it stuck on my home wall) and one crab died 2 days later. I have no idea why.

 

Here's a video of my tank. Would really appreciate comments and suggestions.

 

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How long as your tank been set up? And how long has it been seeded with live rock?

 

I've setup the tank last Saturday, so 5 days ago. Same day I've added the live rock. But hermit crab and snail died two days later, I don't think that ammonia had peaked at that point yet.

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wait two weeks, keep lighting period short, then re-test the water. if everything is ok then proceed to try the CUC one more time assuming you grew some algae in the tank.

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I've setup the tank last Saturday, so 5 days ago. Same day I've added the live rock. But hermit crab and snail died two days later, I don't think that ammonia had peaked at that point yet.

 

Hmmmm....I would think you had some. I'd test to be sure.

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wait two weeks, keep lighting period short, then re-test the water. if everything is ok then proceed to try the CUC one more time assuming you grew some algae in the tank.

Thank you for the advice. Why should I keep the light period short?

 

Hmmmm....I would think you had some. I'd test to be sure.

I am also adding Seachem Stability, 1 cup per day (as per instructions). Not sure if this helps.

Still, one or two days for ammonia to spike with almost no life present in the tank sounds a bit weird.

 

Thank you for all the help, guys!

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keep light period shorter to avoid too much algae growth but you do need some to indicate the finish of the cycle and readiness for the first animals in the tank - CUC.

 

you did not need Stability if you used live rock..

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What kind of tank is that?

This is a 10 gallon tank that I bought from aquainspiration.com. These guys are local to Toronto and they specialize in planted freshwater tanks. The tank looks like an ADA, has starphire glass and is 40 by 30 by 30 cm.

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Good news, the tank seems to be fully cycled. I am going to introduce my first fish tomorrow.

 

I've put the snail back in the tank but it still tries to get out. Will be posting video of my tank today.

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Well, all parameters are good, there's lots of green algae on the walls. I've tried scraping it off and now the walls are good, but the water has this greenish cast and does not seem to be as clear as before.

Should I be concerned about this or will the water become clear in a few hours?

I am not running a filter on this tank, mostly relying on the biological filtration by live rock. Any help?

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Don't worry. the greenish tint in the water is just freeflowing green algea (probably mostly from you scraping the walls...). When the freeflowing green algea settles and your CUC starts duing their shizzle, your water will be clear again :)

 

Have enough CUC and wait for a couple of weeks more. If you still have green water and algea visible on the rocks and glass, then maybe you are introducing to much phosphates into your tank, or maybe the light cycle is to long, or maybe the tank gets direct sunlight a period of the day, or maybe etc...

 

Life is full of worries, don't worry about this also. If a problem arises, see it as a challenge and try to figure it out. Remember that almost everything should be done or are happening slower in saltwater tanks than in freshwater tanks ;)

 

Nice aquascape and good luck!

Hang loose! :happy:

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Don't worry. the greenish tint in the water is just freeflowing green algea (probably mostly from you scraping the walls...). When the freeflowing green algea settles and your CUC starts duing their shizzle, your water will be clear again :)

 

Thanks. The green has settled, it is now certainly better. Appreciate your support.

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But as you can see, I have a few additions! And changes.

 

I've figured out the mystery of the escaping snail. After finding it wandering outside of the tank for the 5th time I decided to bring it to the LFS. Turns out that this is a margarita snail and this behaviour is quite common.

 

As for the additions, I've brought in three types of snails:

1) turbo snail

2) trochus snail

3) another type that I am not too certain of yet

 

Snails went straight to cleaning, but only one of them is actually cleaning glass, so I plan a few of more of the same kind.

 

I've also added a false clownfish, he seems to be fine and have received feeding today.

 

Could not help myself and got my first coral - ricordea. Placed it on the sand.

 

Finally, my powerhead nano is rated for 245gph. So I got a second Koralia Nano 425gph and now have both of them running. Definitely like both of them better than the Tunze, since they are virtually silent. But now I am worried whether this is too much flow for the tank (does not feel this way). Thoughts?

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A few pictures:

 

The clown and the snail

 

3ec3f0e7.jpg

 

Two other snails (can someone help identify all three of them?)

 

2d96f8ee.jpg

 

Ricordea (help identify?)

 

499dbcbd.jpg

 

One more picture of clown/snail

 

ae5abeab.jpg

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My ricordea started to shrivel up, it is getting smaller and smaller.

The clown refuses to eat NLS pellets.

 

Checked the water - all parameters are normal. What can be the problem here?

 

 

Here is the picture of my shrivelled ricordea

 

dc904e73.jpg

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