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Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef


Nano sapiens

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Nano sapiens
5 minutes ago, Polarcollision said:

Wow, almost 10 years. Does this make your tank the longest-lived on NR?

I honestly have no idea.  A good while back I did see a few older systems, but I haven't see any recent updates.

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Nano sapiens
3 minutes ago, Travis said:

10 years!? Details on you majic please!

Psst, finest wand in 'Ollivander's' (Hogwarts) that you can afford  ;)

 

Seriously though, a certain amount of good fortune ("Yay, we have power, the pump is still running and the heater hasn't cooked the tank today!") and the rest is just enough knowledge to be dangerous mixed with a certain amount of stubbornness and OCD  :rolleyes:

 

Geez, you joined in 2004?  Old time nano reefer, indeed!

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13 minutes ago, Nano sapiens said:

Psst, finest wand in 'Ollivander's' (Hogwarts) that you can afford  ;)

 

Seriously though, a certain amount of good fortune ("Yay, we have power, the pump is still running and the heater hasn't cooked the tank today!") and the rest is just enough knowledge to be dangerous mixed with a certain amount of stubbornness and OCD  :rolleyes:

 

Geez, you joined in 2004?  Old time nano reefer, indeed!

Haha, us old timers need to stick together!

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Nano sapiens

"And now for something completely different"

 

I've spent a lot of time taking pics of coral and fish, but sad to say that my algae patch hasn't gotten it's 'day in the sun' (or LEDs, in this case):

 

5a4ab3a780ccf_12gAlgaePatch_010118.thumb.jpg.98ac2caa6c6d907ebfeceee38e6293d8.jpg

 

This little stubborn patch has been a part of this tank since the beginning and it is a bonanza of biodiversity hosting cyano, hydroids, various tiny amphipods and who knows what else.  It doesn't spread much since nearly all the tank surfaces are covered with some type of organism that excludes settlement.

 

What I find especially interesting is that the coraline algae is sloooooowly, but surely, outcompeting the green algae (the purple patch on the left side started as a tiny nub over a year ago, the coraline under the Ric within the last few months).  Perhaps the occasional hermit crab's munching is helping to tip the balance, but it's interesting to watch the progression (okay, it's kind of boring, but what else am I going to take a pic of - that hasn't been featured before - with a near 10 year old tank?)  :rolleyes:

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Nano sapiens
29 minutes ago, Lalani said:

Great little tank, man!

Thanks, Lalani!

2 hours ago, Big E reef said:

Amazing tank! Crazy to think soon this tank will have more years then gallons, happy New Year's!

Thanks, and Happy New Year to you, too.

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This tank looks beautiful (as always!) Sorry to hear about the Panama Blennies, maybe it's old age? But weird it happened to both at the same time.

That Hasselt Goby is so cool!! I've never seen one before and now I really want one haha

 

Happy New Year! Also, I don't find your slow algae battle boring, but I do like algae more than most. Interesting that those hydroids haven't spread to other parts of the tank. In my old pico they really became a problem after ~4 years

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Nano sapiens
On 1/4/2018 at 9:25 PM, yoshii said:

This tank looks beautiful (as always!) Sorry to hear about the Panama Blennies, maybe it's old age? But weird it happened to both at the same time.

That Hasselt Goby is so cool!! I've never seen one before and now I really want one haha

 

Happy New Year! Also, I don't find your slow algae battle boring, but I do like algae more than most. Interesting that those hydroids haven't spread to other parts of the tank. In my old pico they really became a problem after ~4 years

Hi Yoshii!  Happy New Year to you, too!

 

Regarding the Panamic Blennies, I had one a few years back that exhibited the same symptoms after just a few months in the tank as these two.  I believe Jedimasterben had mentioned that he had difficulties keeping them for any length of time, too.  The Eyebrows, on the other hand, are thriving so that the species I could recommend if anyone wanted a Barnacle Blenny.

 

I never get tired of seeing the Hasselts Goby, maybe because it's not out all the time.  At any rate, it's just such a cool customer (the only fish that bothers it a bit is the Yellow Striped Cleaner Goby since the Hasselts stole it's burrow).  The way they find food during the day is via a combo of mediocre eyesight and a bunch of sensory frills ('papillae ridge') around the mouth area.  Since they are active at night they would then rely on their frills for the most part.  I'd imagine that given a few million years they might develop full length barbels like a catfish :).  It also has this ability to turn on it's own axis, which is really impressive.  Turns out they have a lot more vertebrae compared to a typical reef goby live a GBG, so this gives them amazing flexibility.  And then there are those oversized billowing pectorials...mesmerizing!  Found in Marine; freshwater; brackish; reef-associated; amphidromous (typically, larger juveniles return to fresh water, mature and breed).

 

As for hydroids, I battled them like a crazed reefer in the beginning years, but around year 5 or so they ceased being overly invasive.  I stopped trying to eradicate them around that time and also stopped feeding fine foods like baby brine shrimp and cyclops.  This seems to be one of those organisms that the more one tries to get rid of it the more it proliferates (any tiny fragment can form a new colony).  IME, when a system is mature and all rock surfaces are covered by other organisms, that's when they have difficulty spreading.

Edited by Nano sapiens
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Your tank is as beautiful as always nano!  Such an inspiring feat to have a smaller tank be so long lived. Kudos to you and your husbandry skills.  May 2018 be a good year!

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Nano sapiens
3 hours ago, vlangel said:

Your tank is as beautiful as always nano!  Such an inspiring feat to have a smaller tank be so long lived. Kudos to you and your husbandry skills.  May 2018 be a good year!

Thank you and  may 2018 be good to you, too.

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Nano sapiens
1 hour ago, debbeach13 said:

This tank is a true inspiration for new and long time reefers. Love the progress FTS in the first post. I hope 2018 is a continuation of your love for the hobby.

Thank you!  Hope we all continue enjoying our reef aquariums in 2018.

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  • 1 month later...

Changes...

 

Removed large centerpiece Setosa and neighboring Purple Stylo colonies.  The 9 year old Setosa colony was growing upwards too fast and blocking flow, shading out too many lower level corals, was getting very dense and tough to trim properly and had to be glued back onto it's rock too many times (due to the trimming difficulties).  Young Setosa typically has a very brittle and porous skeleton, as this one did a few years ago, but like an old tree it seems to get denser with time.  The Purple Stylo was just a super fast growing vertical specialist blocking flow and trimming every month or two without breaking it off it's base rock was an issue.

 

So, now I have a 'Low Boy' nano tank, but at least I can now see the corals on the rock behind :)

 

12g 'Low Boy' (Setosa & Purple Stylo Removed_021718.jpg

 

 

This change opens up all kinds of possibilities for the existing coral:

 

12 'Low Boy' (Setosa & Purple Stylo Removed) Closeup_021718.jpg

 

Mounted a small colony of 'Shadow Prince' Zoanthids to make things interesting.  Will be interesting to see how they all interact as they attempt to colonize the cleared space.

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2 hours ago, Indiana Reefin said:

Really nice tank! 

It looks so clean! I love the ric garden

Thank you.  Can't go wrong with Rics  :)

 

It's a small system so it's pretty easy to keep it relatively clean.

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It's amazing how this tank always looks brand new! Im OCD about cleaning, but I feel like my tanks never look this clean after they've been established for a while. I'm sorry to see the SPS go, but I'm excited to see how the empty space fills in! The colors in this tank are so bright and stunning!

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Nice change nano!  I like it.  It will be fun to see what the existing coral do with the new space.  I think there comes a time when even a beloved coral should go when it is constantly troublesome.  Otherwise it can rob the joy of keeping a reef.

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On ‎2‎/‎18‎/‎2018 at 12:17 PM, Felicia said:

It's amazing how this tank always looks brand new! Im OCD about cleaning, but I feel like my tanks never look this clean after they've been established for a while. I'm sorry to see the SPS go, but I'm excited to see how the empty space fills in! The colors in this tank are so bright and stunning!

Thanks, Felicia.  I've found over the years that the branching type SPS, in particular, can become problematic as there just isn't enough real estate in a small nano to support their typically fast growth without constant pruning.  The Setosa wasn't exactly branching, but at 6" across and nearly 4" high it just got to the size where it needed larger quarters.  Of the two remaining branching SPS, the one Birdsnest 'Phonape' coloration type forms a tight ball formation with intricate branching that is just perfect for a small nano.  The other is a 'Bird of Paradise' type BN that is exactly the opposite forming sprawling branches.  The polyp extension is so long and flowing that I want to keep it, so will have to prune it every month or two.

 

Being a typical reef keeper, I just have to fill in blank space so I went looking around the tank this morning and found some languishing Zooanthids (mostly under my huge Rhodactis).  I even found two tiny nubs of the Petroglyph Zoas that I thought had been wiped out, so high hopes I can bring them back again.  In a few weeks, I should have a nice little Zoa garden growing up top :)

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33 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Nice change nano!  I like it.  It will be fun to see what the existing coral do with the new space.  I think there comes a time when even a beloved coral should go when it is constantly troublesome.  Otherwise it can rob the joy of keeping a reef.

Thanks, Dawn.  Very true about keeping the tank manageable and enjoyable.  It's really nice to have the tank fill up with all kinds of coral growth, but after many years that growth can lead to issues that need to be dealt with.  When I ask myself the question "Am I still enjoying their maintenance", and the answer is "Not so much", then it's time to change things up to lower the work/frustration level.

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8 hours ago, Nano sapiens said:

Thanks, Felicia.  I've found over the years that the branching type SPS, in particular, can become problematic as there just isn't enough real estate in a small nano to support their typically fast growth without constant pruning.  The Setosa wasn't exactly branching, but at 6" across and nearly 4" high it just got to the size where it needed larger quarters.  Of the two remaining branching SPS, the one Birdsnest 'Phonape' coloration type forms a tight ball formation with intricate branching that is just perfect for a small nano.  The other is an 'Orchid' type BN that is exactly the opposite forming sprawling branches.  The polyp extension is so long and flowing that I want to keep it, so will have to prune it every month or two.

 

Being a typical reef keeper, I just have to fill in blank space so I went looking around the tank this morning and found some languishing Zooanthids (mostly under my huge Rhodactis).  I even found two tiny nubs of the Petroglyph Zoas that I thought had been wiped out, so high hopes I can bring them back again.  In a few weeks, I should have a nice little Zoa garden growing up top :)

Yeah, some of the faster growing SPS can become a pain to maintain.  I remember one of the birdsnests I had in my 30 gallon became such a chore to take out of the tank to prune and then have to re-epoxy it to the rocks.

 

I was wondering if you could resist sticking other corals in the empty space.  A nice little zoa garden up there will look great!

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9 hours ago, Felicia said:

I was wondering if you could resist sticking other corals in the empty space.  A nice little zoa garden up there will look great!

Already done yesterday :)

 

I relocated a few types of Zoas that were in the process of being slowly killed off by my Rhodactis.

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8 hours ago, xellos88 said:

The scape will look awesome once the SPS branches out.

Spreading SPS do look really nice, but they do make cleaning a small tank quite difficult as there is not much room to maneuver.  I'll be keeping the BNs well pruned for that reason.  Going with a Zoa garden up top :) 

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  • Nano sapiens changed the title to Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

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