Gilman Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Hard to believe I setup our Minibow Nano Reef over a year ago now! Since then, our little reef has come a long way with the help of folks here at N-R.com and local reefers who are have all turned out to be very cool people. As some of you may know, I have taken the hands off approach to reefing, and consider myself a lazy reefer. I do not dose our tank with any chemical supplements, but instead rely on weekly one gallon water changes using premixed RO water from the LFS. I have been using this water, which is mixed with Tropic Marin salt, since the beginning of our Nano Reef. Here is a list of our current tank specs.... 7 Gallon AGA Bowfront 32 Watt CSL Smartlight PC Retrofit CPU Fan for cooling light fixture Tronic 50watt heater Whisper 5-15 HOB Filter Mini Jet 404 Powerhead 8.75 lbs Fiji Live Rock 8.5 lbs Live Sand Invertebrates and Macros Squamosa Clam Bubble Tip Anenome 4 Tulip Anenomes 3 Blue Legged Hermit Crabs Numerous Stomatella Snails Bristle Worms (Lost Count) Tiny Hitch Hiker Brittle Stars Small Green Pest Anenomes Small Peppermint Shrimp Purple Macro Small Halimeda Corals Orange Ricordeas Candy Cane Coral Yellow Polyp Rock Green Montipora Digitata Assorted Mushroom Corals Red Sea Xenia Small Tree Leathers Green Star Polyps Orange/Yellow/Green Zooanthids Orange/Yellow Zooanthids Orange/Brown Zooanthids Peach/Green Zooanthids Peach/Brown/White Zooanthids Brown/White Zooanthids Light Blue/Dark Blue Zooanthids Turqoise/Blue Yellow Zooanthids Mint & Chip Zooanthids Green/Blue Zooanthids Green/White Zooanthids Yellow/Pink Zooanthids Multi Colored Zooanthid Rock Fish 1 Green Banded Goby Here are some photos of our tank........... Candy Coral when introduced Candy Coral today Candy Macro Green Montipora when introduced Green Montipora today Another angle Some of our Zooanthids Our Squamosa has been growing nicely So after one year I can say our reefing experience has been a true success, and I am looking forward to another year in this great hobby! Gil Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Happy Anniversary Gil! Link to comment
deacon hemp Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Stunning Gil stunning,best minibow on here imo! Youe candy is amazing to say the least,and ditto with your zoo's Link to comment
adinsxq Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 :love: :woot: oh my golly. :woot: :love: Link to comment
Xwhite Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Wow, all that with 32 watt of PC light and a few gallons of saltwater. Beautiful tank Gil. Here's to another year! John Link to comment
Kalanianaole Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Where did you get the variety of zoos? Top gear. That's one of the nicest candy canes I've seen too. Link to comment
Korbin Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 That's an awsome tank. I remember looking at pics of when you were setting it up. It just keeps looking better and better. Link to comment
danano Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Gilman... two thumbs up dude! Happy birthday! Dan Link to comment
caja Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Your corals are so vibrant and healthy - love those zoos! Beautiful tank Gil! Link to comment
jawarden Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Thanks for sharing your progress Gil. Your tank was one of the ones that inspired me to start a nano of my own. I like your low-tech approach, and I'm following suit with mine. Question for you: Were you a "fast stocker", or a "slow stocker"? I am stocking my new nano now and I'm undecided about how long to let the aquarium settle in after adding corals before adding more. Cheers, Jeff Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Congrats, Gil. The tank looks terrific, the corals are amazing. God, I wish I had your luck. Maybe next time around! Happy Birthday. Best of luck for year two! Link to comment
Gilman Posted June 9, 2003 Author Share Posted June 9, 2003 Hey, thanks for the nice comments folks! My email notification isn't working, so I didn't realize that anyone had responded till this morning! Where did you get the variety of zoos? We have gotten our Zooanthids from a few different sources, namely Bryan at TheLogicalReef, Anthony at AquaDesignz, and local reefers. Were you a "fast stocker", or a "slow stocker"? I am stocking my new nano now and I'm undecided about how long to let the aquarium settle in after adding corals before adding more. My "rule" when starting was that I didn't really ever want to add more than one coral to the tank in any weeks time. There were times however that circumstance had me adding more than one coral at a time. If you look at my site , you can go through the news archive to see almost exactly how often I was adding corals. God, I wish I had your luck. Maybe next time around! Fly, sometimes I feel like the tank is going to explode. I read some of the posts here about stuff like heaters failing and think my number just hasn't been pulled yet. I am quite sure that I am in line. I have actually been considering getting all new equipment for the next year. It wouldn't cost too much to replace the heater, HOB filter, and PH, and may be worth the peace of mind. On the other hand the equipment that is in there has been running great. Any thoughts on this? Gil Link to comment
Pikelet Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 A classic lesson on how to do it right the FIRST time. Best tank of its type(no additives) I've seen and beautifully photographed. Link to comment
FlyGTI Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 I think that if you've taken good care of your equipment and cleaned it regularly that you'll be okay. I don't know if you have a backup plan just in case something goes awry, but that would probably be the best plan of action. Have something either set up, or able to be set up at a moment's notice in order to dump everything in if you come home from work one day and your tank is starting to selfdestruct. Honestly though, I think that the fact that you're pretty religious with your water changes and that you don't add anything is something that's very much in your favor. Ron Shimek wrote an article a few years ago about how tanks will crash from time to time, and he discusses how it might be due to all the additives we dump into our tanks. I think you'll probably be able to find the article at www.reefkeeping.com. Search the back issues. Either way Gil, I think you'll be fine. Keep your equipment in good shape, underheat your tank, and life will be good. Again, kudos on a job well done. Link to comment
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