Nano Sapiens 12g - Ye Olde Mixed Reef

[Nano sapiens]

Great new FTS and the little blenny looks like he's posing for the photo. The filled in look is wonderful! My tank is starting to get there and I'm really enjoying it. I'm having the attitude of letting the corals fight it out amongst themselves.

 

Yes, your tank is filling in very nicely!

 

I noticed over the years that some authors/experts proposed putting corals so far apart that they never contact each other (or won't for many, many years). While this is easy to achieve, the look of just a few corals here-and-there never seemed right to my eye and certainly doesn't jive with what we see on a healthy coral reef where only a few percent of the rock is available for new coral colonization.

 

Reefs are a competitive war-zone, but eventually most inhabitants do find a way to co-exist. If this wasn't true, then there would only be a very few hyper-aggressive coral species in nature.

[Narzyzz_12]

Believe it or not this is one of the few TOTM that is still running ,the reefing force is strong in you that's for sure.PS just starting reading your thread gotta learn for the best.

[Nano sapiens]

Believe it or not this is one of the few TOTM that is still running ,the reefing force is strong in you that's for sure.PS just starting reading your thread gotta learn for the best.

 

I must say that you are observant. I removed the TOTM link in my sig a while back since it was quite a few years ago.

 

Thanks for the kind words, but I would say that anyone can keep a nano-tank running long term with a good grasp of the basics, lots of patience/perseverence and a bit of luck.

 

I hope you don't find the 60+ pages too tedius

[Narzyzz_12]

I try to be haha,it might take a while but this gold mine of info is totally worth it

[metrokat]

Here you go

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFUIO_Dw-Zr/

[Nano sapiens]

Here you go

https://www.instagram.com/p/BFUIO_Dw-Zr/

 

It is likely that this 'Yay'or Nay' debate will go on forever. When discussing this topic, one thing I always do is post a warning, "Do not vaccum the SB all at once if you haven't touched it in a long time, if ever". Part of the "Don't touch the SB" lore comes from people going gung-ho on an unvacuumed tank and vacuuming everything in sight...which releases all the nasty stuff into the water column all at once and can potentially crash a tank.

 

In tanks with a BB and no filter media, most of the bacteria reside in the live rock. In tanks with a shallow sand bed, sand grains in sum total have a huge surface are, inside and out, and arguably have the highest concentration of bacteria. I believe that a lot of people don't realize that vacuuming is not just about detritus removal. Vacuuming a sand bed regularly also helps to manage phosphate by removing some bacteria (like all living things they contain phosphate), which triggers the remaining bacteria to quickly reproduce...which then sequesters phosphate. Also reduces nitrate by clearing out the detritus that can impede water flow through the substrate...which inhibits the nitrogen cycle.

 

Wash, rinse and repeat

[Nano sapiens]

8th Year Birthday:

 

I set this little 12g up in July 2008 and started posting in August. Still running minimal equipment, 10%/wk water changes, no mechanical/chemiical filtration, 'Pet Bottle' ATOs, Kalkwasser, and a few drops of Iodine/wk. All stony corals grown from mini-frags. Still have all the fish I put in a while back (Yellow Lined Cleaner Gobies, Green Banded Gobies, Two-Spot Bimaculatus Blenny) and the inverts (Venus Anemone Shrimp and the two Yellow-Striped Crinoid Squat Lobsters).

 

On to the photo-dump

 

2016 FTS:

 

 

 

Left side TS:

 

 

 

Right Side TS:

 

 

 

Right Side Top Closeup:

 

 

 

Right Side Bottom Rhodactis:

 

 

 

Left Side Coral Grouping:

 

 

 

Left Side Digi/Setosa Closeup:

 

 

 

Sunny D's:

 

 

 

Partial Rear Top-Down:

 

 

 

'Ironman' 'Whatchammacallit':

 

 

 

Overflow Guard with Plastic Mesh (installed):

 

 

 

As always, comments/questions welcome

[nickkohrn]

As always, comments/questions welcome

 

 

That is a beautiful tank. It is clearly very well maintained. I love how clean everything is and only your rocks are covered in coralline algae. That is an incredibly clean and inspiring setup! I absolutely love how filled-in your rocks are with corals, yet the tank does not look crowded whatsoever. Great work! Seriously, that's beautiful!

[teenyreef]

Happy eighth birthday! The tank looks beautiful as always. I really like the squat lobster filter, that's a nice way to to do it so it's removable for cleaning

[Nano sapiens]

 

 

That is a beautiful tank. It is clearly very well maintained. I love how clean everything is and only your rocks are covered in coralline algae. That is an incredibly clean and inspiring setup! I absolutely love how filled-in your rocks are with corals, yet the tank does not look crowded whatsoever. Great work! Seriously, that's beautiful!

 

Thank you and glad you like it. This aquascape resulted in live rock subtraction over the years. In a small tank like this, too much rock is an impediment to maintenance and also restricts flow.

Happy eighth birthday! The tank looks beautiful as always. I really like the squat lobster filter, that's a nice way to to do it so it's removable for cleaning

 

Thanks! As they say, 'Necessity is the mother of invention' as I had to do something to keep the flat little squatties out of the rear chambers. A piece of plastic mesh with rubberbands worked, but looked like rubbish so this is what I came up with.

[nickkohrn]

Wow, I just went to the first page of this thread and couldn't get over your level of details for every routine you have. This is a thread and system to be proud of. So much so that I added it to my bookmarks in Safari. I'll definitely be using this for inspiration and reference. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into this thread and letting the rest of us in on your successes.

[ninjamyst]

gets better and better as the tank matures. always an inspiration!

[natalia_la_loca]

Best tank on NR. So beautiful.

[Nano sapiens]

Wow, I just went to the first page of this thread and couldn't get over your level of details for every routine you have. This is a thread and system to be proud of. So much so that I added it to my bookmarks in Safari. I'll definitely be using this for inspiration and reference. Thanks so much for the time and effort you put into this thread and letting the rest of us in on your successes.

 

You're welcome

 

I see you are coming along nicely with your tank.

gets better and better as the tank matures. always an inspiration!

 

Thanks! Still need about two more years I think for it to reach that 'well matured' stage

[Nano sapiens]

Best tank on NR. So beautiful.

 

Kind of you, thanks

 

This is just a simple nano that happens to have aged rather well

[Deleted User 9]

Peace Nano sapiens,

 

Happy 8th BDay!!!!

Awesome set up and beautifully maintained.

Love the Corals, colors, arrangement.

Thanks for your hard work,dedication, and discipline

Reef keeping...Great Pics!! Thanks for sharing with All.

Much Success and Happiness...

Many more years Reefing...

 

Blessings All.

[Nano sapiens]

Peace Nano sapiens,

 

Happy 8th BDay!!!!

Awesome set up and beautifully maintained.

Love the Corals, colors, arrangement.

Thanks for your hard work,dedication, and discipline

Reef keeping...Great Pics!! Thanks for sharing with All.

Much Success and Happiness...

Many more years Reefing...

 

Blessings All.

 

Thanks, Maritza, and appreciate the response.

[gena]

Gorgeous . Happy 8th Birthday .

[Nano sapiens]

Gorgeous . Happy 8th Birthday .

 

Gosh, it's so nice be young again!

 

Thanks, Gena

[gena]

Gosh, it's so nice be young again!

 

Thanks, Gena

Tell me about it. Only a year old over here .

[Nano sapiens]

Tell me about it. Only a year old over here .

 

You have a lot to look forward to!

[dropped]

ahhhhh........... thats awesome!

 

Just goes to show you can have a awesome tank without it being a 100+ gallon SPS tank.

[Nano sapiens]

ahhhhh........... thats awesome!

 

Just goes to show you can have a awesome tank without it being a 100+ gallon SPS tank.

 

Guess one could say it's a 'Mini-Me' version

[Nano sapiens]

Just for kicks, PO4 and NO3 tests:

 

PO4 (Salifert) '0':

 

 

 

NO3 (ELOS) - 'Well under 1 ppm':

 

 

 

Feeding the fish/tank 2x/day allows me to get away with essentially 'untectable' levels since the corals are getting sufficient direct nutrition. Just have to keep up with export maintenance duties.

 

...lastly, tank under mostly actinic (just a touch of red and lime and using a yellow filter). I use a bit more true blue LEDs than typical these days to achieve a relatively bright looking tank while using a bit less of the white.

 

[jedimasterben]

8 years young

 

 

Have you thought about a small open water swimming, like one of the small Chrysiptera damsels? (springer's, talbot's, yellowtail)