Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[Nano sapiens]

Recently ive been running the T5's as well

 

Now that would make for an interesting spectra!

[Nano sapiens]

DIY Spectometer: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/338803-diy-spectrometer/

[RICKMAXX17]

Is your fuge empty?

[Nano sapiens]

Is your fuge empty?

 

I assume you mean the back chambers...just a return pump, heaters and a thermometer. No chemical or mechanical filtering media, so the water just circulates freely.

[RICKMAXX17]

Yes that's what I ment. I was thinking about doing that since it's more natural.

[Nano sapiens]

Sure, go for it

 

With this type of system you are relying on LR, LS plus the micro and macro flora and fauna that develop over time. A bit of extra patience is required in the beginning until the system stabilizes, but after that it's just a matter of keeping up with tank maintenance, regular testing of a few parameters and regular tank observation to spot any potential issues.

 

Hint of the Day: Regular detritus removal is your best friend for keeping excess nutrients in check.

[MyLiquidBlue29BC]

Since you have a very mixed reef and only biological filtration, I was wondering how you deal with allelopathy. Just water changes and careful planning/placement?

[Nano sapiens]

Most of the corals that I have rely on physical means (toxins contained in the mucus, sweepers, mesenterial filaments or over-topping) to do their dirty work

.

The only corals with obvious remote chemical warfare (terpentines, terpenoids, etc.) over any distance are the Acroporas and the Monitoporas. The chemicals used seen to only disturb a very localized area so they must dilute and dissipate rapidly. I've never seen a tank wide reaction from any toxin release.

 

If you look at my stocking you'll notice no Sarcophyton, Sinularia, etc.due to the fact that the soft corals get large quickly and are known to release chemicals that can injure hard corals at a fairly good distance.

[metrokat]

I won't last a hot minute without my skimmer, two reactors, filter sock, purigen, macros.....

[MyLiquidBlue29BC]

If you look at my stocking you'll notice no Sarcophyton, Sinularia, etc.due to the fact that the soft corals get large quickly and are known to release chemicals that can injure hard corals at a fairly good distance.

Thanks so much for answering my question. There is always so much to consider. I'm hoping to have a relatively low tech tank and just had some problems that were initially blamed on alleopathy. The only corals I have are rics, shrooms, acans, and a wall hammer. The hammer lost an entire head shortly after adding some new shrooms and the acans. When someone suggested running a carbon reactor I immediately thought of how successful and beautiful you tank is with its myriad of corals and not a bag of carbon in sight. I will have to review my stocking plan again and cross off anything too aggressive.

 

I know you have zoas and rics, are there any palys in your tank?

 

I won't last a hot minute without my skimmer, two reactors, filter sock, purigen, macros.....

I have my first macro coming in the mail next week from Reef Cleaners along with some pods.

[Nano sapiens]

I won't last a hot minute without my skimmer, two reactors, filter sock, purigen, macros.....

 

I don't know how you keep up with all that

[Nano sapiens]

Thanks so much for answering my question. There is always so much to consider. I'm hoping to have a relatively low tech tank and just had some problems that were initially blamed on alleopathy. The only corals I have are rics, shrooms, acans, and a wall hammer. The hammer lost an entire head shortly after adding some new shrooms and the acans. When someone suggested running a carbon reactor I immediately thought of how successful and beautiful you tank is with its myriad of corals and not a bag of carbon in sight. I will have to review my stocking plan again and cross off anything too aggressive.

 

I know you have zoas and rics, are there any palys in your tank?

 

 

I have my first macro coming in the mail next week from Reef Cleaners along with some pods.

 

'Shrooms are nearly unstoppable if they can touch their neighbors, but they aren't long distance annihilators. Unless the 'Shroom was in contact with the Hammer, it is unlikely that it was the culprit.

 

Plays and Zoas...quite a few different types. Their method to conquer is mostly to shade the coral growing around them with their skirts and then reproducing in the shaded area. This way they can out compete even fast growing SPS given the right conditions. They also seem quite resistant to SPS chemical warfare.

[MyLiquidBlue29BC]

 

'Shrooms are nearly unstoppable if they can touch their neighbors, but they aren't long distance annihilators. Unless the 'Shroom was in contact with the Hammer, it is unlikely that it was the culprit.

 

Plays and Zoas...quite a few different types. Their method to conquer is mostly to shade the coral growing around them with their skirts and then reproducing in the shaded area. This way they can out compete even fast growing SPS given the right conditions. They also seem quite resistant to SPS chemical warfare.

The mushrooms have their own little rock island and the rics have an island of their own as well. (Though it is much bigger because I love them more, lol ) I'm glad I dont have to take palys off my list. I'm hoping to add one if the larger morphs.

 

I don't think I'll ever narrow down what happened with the hammer, but at least it made me learn more about chemical warfare. The remaining parts of the hammer are looking better today...water changes are my friend this hobby is fun, right? lol

[Nano sapiens]

The mushrooms have their own little rock island and the rics have an island of their own as well. (Though it is much bigger because I love them more, lol ) I'm glad I dont have to take palys off my list. I'm hoping to add one if the larger morphs.

 

I don't think I'll ever narrow down what happened with the hammer, but at least it made me learn more about chemical warfare. The remaining parts of the hammer are looking better today...water changes are my friend this hobby is fun, right? lol

 

Palys are a very nice addition, but some tanks grow them like weeds and others don't. The more I feed the tank, the better they do so having enough dissolved nutrients, and direct feedings if they will take the food, is important.

 

There can be many different reasons for losing a coral head. If there was nothing within a few inches of it, then it could have been a bacterial or viral infection. The rest of the coral either didn't get infected or was able to fight it off.

 

Reef keeping can be fun and very interesting, but can also be frustrating when it doesn't all go well...

[ninjamyst]

what's your main source of nutrient export? I remember you said you do feed regularly. I am getting an algae outbreak after adding a small clown and damsel. I feed a SMALL amount of pellets (like 5-10 smallest size NLS). Your FTS from TOTM is still my favorite out of all TOTMs. Everything looks stunning.

[Nano sapiens]

what's your main source of nutrient export? I remember you said you do feed regularly. I am getting an algae outbreak after adding a small clown and damsel. I feed a SMALL amount of pellets (like 5-10 smallest size NLS). Your FTS from TOTM is still my favorite out of all TOTMs. Everything looks stunning.

 

Export = Detritus removal (major) and water changes (minor).

 

What is not all that well understood in this hobby is the physical and chemical effects of removing detritus.

 

When the live rocks are regularly blown out and the sand is vacuumed you are allowing the water to bring oxygen to the nitrifying/denitrifying bacteria. Contrary to older published information, both nitrification and denitrification occur within close proximity to each other and water flow (oxygenation) is key. Removal of detritus allows the bacteria to be as efficient as possible, so ammonia and nitrite should be undetectable and nitrate should also remain quite low. Both ammonia and nitrate are known to be used by algae as a nutrient source (fertilizer), so it's best if they are not available in quantity (as we all know, especially not ammonia!)

 

Detritus also contains a good deal of phosphate, so it makes a lot of sense to remove it frequently so that it doesn't become another source of nutrition for algae. There is much more to phosphate which includes phosphate solubilzing bacteria (PSBs) and how they interact with a calcareous substrate, but the take-away is that a 'clean' (not sterile) substrate is all positive.

 

There are so many excellent TOTMs, but I appreciate that you like my little tank. Looking at each month's winners, it's amazing to see the vast variety of tank sizes and shapes, landscapes, stocking and equipment choices.

[jSully]

Hint of the Day: Regular detritus removal is your best friend for keeping excess nutrients in check.

 

Since you don't have any mechanical filtration (filter sock or sponge type media), how do you remove said detritus? Blast it off the rocks daily then suck it up and have spare saltwater ready?

 

What kind of macro algae do you have growing, if any?

 

Awesome tank. I'm a big fan of the minimalist, natural approach. Would you handle everything the same if this was a sips dominant tank?

[MyLiquidBlue29BC]

 

Palys are a very nice addition, but some tanks grow them like weeds and others don't. The more I feed the tank, the better they do so having enough dissolved nutrients, and direct feedings if they will take the food, is important.

 

There can be many different reasons for losing a coral head. If there was nothing within a few inches of it, then it could have been a bacterial or viral infection. The rest of the coral either didn't get infected or was able to fight it off.

 

Reef keeping can be fun and very interesting, but can also be frustrating when it doesn't all go well...

One of the things all the TOTMs that I like have in common is that they feed their tanks multiple times a day. So I'm trying to immulate that and not be afraid of feeding everything.

 

I few people with experience with wall hammers along with my LFS said they will look great for a while and then one day they just take a dive. I'm hoping good husbandry will help it pull through.

 

Everything else is looking happy, so I'm trying not to let the hammer coral get me down.

[ninjamyst]

One of the things all the TOTMs that I like have in common is that they feed their tanks multiple times a day. So I'm trying to immulate that and not be afraid of feeding everything.

 

that's what i tried doing and boom...algae outbreak =(.

[Nano sapiens]

Since you don't have any mechanical filtration (filter sock or sponge type media), how do you remove said detritus? Blast it off the rocks daily then suck it up and have spare saltwater ready? What kind of macro algae do you have growing, if any? Awesome tank. I'm a big fan of the minimalist, natural approach. Would you handle everything the same if this was a sips dominant tank?

 

Before each WC (2x/wk) I blast the LR, so some suspended material is removed. Most of the time I'll vacuum the SB with the WC, but every month or so I'l clean out the back chambers of detritus. Every few months I vacuum under the LR. The main idea is to seek out and remove detritus where ever it is hiding.

 

I don't grow macro algae, at least not on purpose . The only macro algae in the tank are a few tiny puffs here and there on the LR. One hermit crab is enough to keep it cropped low so it's barely noticeable.

 

By design, this tank's flow approximates more of a back reef 'lagoon' since there is only a single return pump (250gph) with a Hydor rotating flow device attached. The idea was to keep the system as simple, reliable and energy efficient as possible. As time has gone by the Rics have grown so well that they are actually impeding water flow around the tank, so I am faced with thinning the Rics or adding a small stream pump. Since I like the full look of the tank, I'll likely just add the extra pump.

 

If this were an SPS only tank with mostly fore-reef Acropora, the only real change I'd make would be the addition of a higher velocity stream pump to at least double the flow. Other than that, *possibly* a small, efficient skimmer that could be installed in one of the back chambers. As it is the Montipora and Pavona grow like weeds. Currently, the Acropora encrust well and one is splaying out branches, but more flow would assist the growth process by providing additional oxygen, nutrients and removal of waste products.

[Nano sapiens]

that's what i tried doing and boom...algae outbreak =(.

 

A system needs to gradually adjust to additional food input just as it would to increasing alkalinity, calcium, salinity, etc. If too radical a change is made too quickly, the bacteria that process the waste products will be overwhelmed and algae will find a bonanza of nutrition. The best practice is to gradually increase feeding over a couple of weeks and observe the tank closely. If nuisance algae start to multiply, but the corals look healthy and have good color, keep the feeding level and concentrate on additional/more frequent export of detritus/nutrients. Once you have achieved a balance between import (food) and export (detritus removal/WCs), then the animals and you will be happy campers.

[Nano sapiens]

One of the things all the TOTMs that I like have in common is that they feed their tanks multiple times a day. So I'm trying to immulate that and not be afraid of feeding everything.

 

I few people with experience with wall hammers along with my LFS said they will look great for a while and then one day they just take a dive. I'm hoping good husbandry will help it pull through.

 

Everything else is looking happy, so I'm trying not to let the hammer coral get me down.

 

Feed multiple times in small quantities. This is the natural pattern in the ocean where daily plankton blooms are heavy in the morning and afternoon. Many corals open their polyps at night as this is a time for swaths of plankton to emerge.

 

I had various Euphyllia for years in my old 50g. Once in a while I'd loose a Torch head for no apparent reason while the rest of the coral(s) looked fine, so it's not a big deal IMO.

[jedimasterben]

A system needs to gradually adjust to additional food input just as it would to increasing alkalinity, calcium, salinity, etc. If too radical a change is made too quickly, the bacteria that process the waste products will be overwhelmed and algae will find a bonanza of nutrition. The best practice is to gradually increase feeding over a couple of weeks and observe the tank closely. If nuisance algae start to multiply, but the corals look healthy and have good color, keep the feeding level and concentrate on additional/more frequent export of detritus/nutrients. Once you have achieved a balance between import (food) and export (detritus removal/WCs), then the animals and you will be happy campers.

This, this, and more this. The best example of this is the NPS/sun coral tank at the California Academy of Sciences. The tank is around 250g, iirc, and gets fed a four liter mixture of chipped squid, clam, capelin eggs, fresh hatched brine shrimp, and water per day. Matt Wandell has worked up to that, I think he started with around 500mL per day two years ago and has slowly been increasing it, and N/P levels haven't changed and there were never algae explosions. Phosphate always measures around 1.0ppm, too

[BRADYBUNCH7]

Love your tank and your ricordea

hey check out my thread/build!

[ninjamyst]

Mods should just sticky this build thread...I learn more here than hours of combing through other forums / threads =)