5g ADA Rimless - 24 Months in

[CL_]

Wow, I was going to go to bed, but read this for the past hour instead.

Wonderful job. One of the best, if not the best aquascaped reefs that I have ever seen. You definitely showed your planted tank aquascaping skills well here, and make me proud to have come from planted tanks as well.

lol.

[Karimi]

Amazing tank ! How do you keep the sand so clean ?

[Bondrake]

Thanks for all of the compliments.

 

Work and family life has forced the hobby into the background a little bit for the last several months. The tank is still doing pretty well, despite quite a bit of neglect. I hope to receive a new Vortech MP-10 next week (I heard somewhere that they started shipping yesterday - ordered mine last week), which will be the kick in the pants I need to clean the tank up and get it this thread updated.

 

I can't wait to see how much water I can put on the floor with this thing

Would like to know how the Vortech setup is working out for you now!

[dapellegrini]

Hand Feeding the Palys tonight - In Fast Motion

 

[sammy113]

cool never though palys would take pellets like that

[dapellegrini]

I thought it would embed the video in the post... oh well.

 

Here are some shots of the MP-10. Huge upgrade in flow, but it is NOT silent. Quiet, yes... silent, no. For a bedroom tank that was a problem, but I have decided to compromise on the sound.

 

 

 

 

 

[dapellegrini]

For some reason my zoa colonies have always suffered - definitely not spread as fast as I would like...

 

 

 

 

 

Meanwhile, my SPS and Palys have been doing great

 

 

 

 

I also just added a Green Hammer Coral freebee to see how it goes... I dropped it right in the middle of my Xenia to see if it would kill off some of it, and so far, so good.

 

 

I also just added a few more mini carpet nems. they are still wandering around trying to find their place... currently bothering my larger colony of Green Palys

 

 

 

 

and the GSP is finally starting to get annoying. I thought maybe I would be able to peel it back, but that has proven to be impossible. It is currently over running some of my Green Birds Nest and Orange Monti. I have moved some of the Birds Nest up a little higher for now. You can kinda see what it is doing here.

 

 

 

Hmmm... and let's see. I still have a number of macros growing randomly. This stuff is the most annoying:

 

 

The scroll algae is pretty cool, but I think it is bothering my zoas

 

 

as well as this mini bubble algea, which I think is kinda cool:

 

 

 

and the gorgonia are doing really well. i need to frag them both and mount them a little better, but I have been remiss in keeping up with this tank

 

 

 

and here are a few more FTS

 

 

 

 

[sammy113]

Sweet! I love who the water level is just like 1/2" under the border. Must be a paint for maintenance though, lots of spills unless you took out some water but looks sick!

[divecj5]

Fantastic as always....just wish you would post on here more often . I just love how big this tank looks for just a 5g.

 

What sort of noise are you getting from your MP10? Is it just the sound you can hear when the speed/power ramps up during different times? Just wondering as I've had my MP20 for almost a year now, and although it's not dead silent, there really isn't too much noise unless I get close to the tank. Then again, my tank isn't in my bedroom or in an ultra quiet environment to begin with.

 

I've had some of the same issues in my last two tanks with palys and zoas. Although I'm getting fantastic coloration and growth from my SPS, the Z's and P's always just maintain in my tank instead of grow. I've just resolved myself to the fact that I can't keep them in my current tank. Not sure if it's because of the lack of nutrients, the amount of flow, or lighting....but I guess I would rather keep SPS and LPS instead anyways

 

Look forward to more pics in the future.

[dapellegrini]

Thx. I will try and update this more thread more often.

 

Here is a thread I jumped on last night about the MP10 Noise:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=210963

[Weetabix7]

That "annoying" macroalgae is Dictyota, and you're right, it can be EXTREMELY annoying.

Do what you can to keep it in check with manual removal, it grows quickly and can overrun stuff.

I don't believe there's anything that will eat it either due to some chemical compounds it has to deter predators.

Keep an eye on the bubble algae too.

I have the same stuff, and it can get out of hand, although not as bad as the Dictyota.

[Sushi]

+1 on keeping an eye out for the bubble algae... it looks cool in a small cluster but it gets nasty pretty bad if things start popping. i love your tank BTW, it's absolutely stunning and the gorgonian adds that extra touch to complete the look. I was toying around the idea to setup my ADA 60F in a similar fashion as your tank... gotta get around to doing it though.

 

Also, add the pad for the MP10, I think some people have already suggested it in your thread but it does help a bit with the nosie.

[adolfo425]

Looks good with that MP10.

[Paleoreef103]

Wow, just read your thread from top to bottom. I saw it in the TOTM listing, but not the actual thread associated with it. Amazing job with it! I gotta admit I have the same problem with Zoas as you do. With a few exceptions they just stay the way they are and don't spread. Kind of annoying, but if everything else is doing fine then I don't sweat it too much. Awesome tank.

[dapellegrini]

Thanks all.

 

That bubble algae is really small and has been spreading very slowly. I am hoping that it creates a barrier with the GSP, but that remains to be seen. The Dictyota was scrubbed off of my rocks with a plastic brush, but it has all come back. At first I thought it was cool, and I still like the Macros in the tank, just that this one is particularly annoying.

 

I also recently increased the lighting from 5 hours a day to 7. Shortly there after all of my SPS went white and I thought I had somehow killed them (was a sad day). Thankfully a couple weeks later they got all of their color back and now seem to enjoy the extra light quite a bit.

 

At some point I would like to upgrade this tank to the new low-lead ADA Mini-M and redo the layout, but I hadn't anticipated or fully captured the idea that I would have all kinds of things firmly attached to the rocks... which means that thought will remain tabled for at least the foreseeable future.

[pismo_reefer]

great little tank....

 

 

i always like the gorgonian/ macro look.

 

and that orange monti is insane!

 

[1337TANKHAX]

Thanks for the pictures

 

I love the look of ADAs

[Rehype]

Your tank is awesome. Love the aquascape.

[phorensic]

Freakin' awesome tank man. I have a question, though. Why were you only doing a 5 hour light cycle, and why only 7 hours now? Is it to keep the algae growth down? Because I run a 12 hour cycle and I haven't had any algae problems that I couldn't take care of with less feeding/more water changes.

[dapellegrini]

Thanks

 

5 hours seemed like a good starting point and then I just kinda forgot about it. Thought maybe 7 would be better now that everything is settled in. 12 seems like a lot for my little system with no filter/skimmer, etc.

 

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some flash photography from moments ago... first of the new bam bams

 

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and the bad

 

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i also noticed a strange looking colony of something in the back of the tank, under the monti caps. upon further inspection (what was really just sticking my had behind the tank and taking some pictures to examine) i believe the mystery coral is infact a small piece of my purple gorgonia that used to be over here... i wasn't expecting it to start as a little ball like this... who knew?

 

...

 

 

[dapellegrini]

Another first (for me) tonight... the Mini Carpet Nem I posted photos of last night, decided that the top could no longer stand the bottom and they decided to split ways with no provocation on my part, and in a perfect spot for some quick photos.

 

First I thought it was odd that I had this little guy out of the blue:

 

 

 

Then I realized that the other half was down here:

 

 

 

Here they are about 3 inches apart:

 

 

 

When the Vortech slowed down a little I got a few shots of the split - which looks like it was right in the middle of the mouth:

 

 

 

[adolfo425]

That is a nice set of photos showing the mini nem split.

 

Very nice tank you got there.

[Nano sapiens]

Stumbled across this tank thread and I must say that your fresh water and salt water tanks are very, very nice!

 

Right off I noticed that you didn't have a surface skimmer which is nearly ubiquitous on all modern reef tanks. I read that you skim the surface when you do water changes. If you get scum occurring in between your changes an old trick to remove it is to get a sheet of paper and carefully drag it over the surface (without letting the top surface go under). The scum will adhere to the paper like magic.

 

Your difficulties with Zoos reminded me of my situation. When my tank was new they did fine, then after a few weeks I started to have colonies that wouldn't open and then I started to loose some. At around the same time I started to see a lot of very large amphipods, but few smaller ones. Grabbing a flashlight at night I noticed that the large 'pods were always hanging around the Zoo bases and I could see them snacking on certain types of Zoo tentacles (typically the fleshy types). I think the Zoas get stressed to the point that they eventually give up. I also wonder if the 'pods aren't spreading infections from colony to colony with their munching. A small nocturnal 'pod eating fish such as the 'Circus Goby', (Priolepis nocturnus) might be one solution to slow or eliminate the predation..

[dapellegrini]

funny you should mention the pods. I did have that problem a while back:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=152243

 

i now feed pellets to the tank and it seems to keep the pods calmed down. Maybe I should get another fish... any good recommends for a 5g? I might get a GBG again.

[Nano sapiens]

funny you should mention the pods. I did have that problem a while back:

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=152243

 

i now feed pellets to the tank and it seems to keep the pods calmed down. Maybe I should get another fish... any good recommends for a 5g? I might get a GBG again.

 

I also feed pellets for my Fire Shrimp, but it hasn't helped the 'pod problem. Half of my Zoa/Paly types seem to be immune to 'pod grazing while the other half (especially the 'People Eater' types) are at their mercy.

 

The 'Circus Goby', (Priolepis nocturnus) is a small goby and should do fine in your small tank. More info.:

 

http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/blennygob...ackbarredgo.htm

http://www.themarinecenter.com/fish/gobies/circusgoby/

 

I'm trying to locate one myself since my favorite LFS can't seem to get one in.