Newbie w/ 7 Gal Bowfront Nano - Live Rock added, want comments...

[Henna Ojisan]

I just finished adding the live rock and I think I have it set up pretty good, but have never done this before. I have about 10 lbs of Live Fiji, Indo, Tonga mix with a 2.5" DSB of Live Argonite sand (about 14 lbs.) I was wondering if all the rock needs light or if my setup is ok. I have a cave area that I thought would add character to the current pile of rock and also provide a lower current flow area if needed. I only plan on getting one fish (a Percula Clown) for the wife, a month or two down the road.

 

I also noticed a couple hitch-hikers on the rock. I did a search and found out they were Amphipods which are good (they eat Detrius). I also noticed a group of about 6 or so tubeworms @ ~1 cm in length.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated, I also have some basic newbie questions but will post them in a different category...

 

Thanks for any input, comments, suggestions!!! - also, if I am totally hosed, let me know now so I can fix it if necessary (ie. rock too high and critters crawling out, etc...)

 

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My setup:

- AGA 7 Gal. Bowfront

- TetraTec PF 150 Power Filter w/ no media (waterflow only) and not using siphon function.

- TetraTec HC 100 (100 Watt) - Overkill, but if fits in the PF very nice.

- Mini-Jet 404 Pump

- CSL 32 Watt Retro-Fit Kit w/ 10k and Actinic 50/50 Light

- Custom Fan Cooling for Light (30mm DC fan on variable DC Power Supply to adjust RPM/dB Level)

- 10# Cured Live Fiji / Indo / Tonga Rock

- 14# Live Argonite Sand (sugar diameter)

[trevor7]

your setup looks great! i'm really impressed.... wished i had that kind of layout. no *all* you rock does not need light. i wouldn't touch that layout at all

[Spencerx]

i LOVE the aquascaping. Your setup sounds very nice too. I dont know what to tell ya other than take it slowly with stocking it and it should turn out beutifully. Have you been to Gil's mini-bow site? It is a good resource for you bent glass all in one type people

[cliffrouse11baseball]

Can you post some pictures of the fan in your light setup thanks

[LIVEROCKER]

DAMN! i love that aquascaping!<------once again, big aquascaping fan here!

[Henna Ojisan]

Thanks for the positive feedback all, it's reassuring that I am starting off right.

 

Spencerx - Before I started I was browsing and saw Gil's site, it kind of inspired me to give it a try!

 

trevor7 - Thanks for the feedback!

 

cliffrouse11baseball - Here you go... I picked up a 30mm 12vdc fan built for a Pentium 3 Computer Processor - it was actually screwed to the heatsink. It is made by Cooler Master and the PN is DP5-5G11A, I picked it up at Fry's Electronics out here. ($8.99) The Power supply is a AC/DC Adapter (300 ma) and variable DC output (3,4.5,6,7.5,9, and 12 vdc). ($6.99) They sell everywhere, but I got it at Fry's too. Let me know if you want more pics and I can e-mail them to you, took about 1 hour to do the install with a Dremel the other day... Total cost: $15.98 + tax, not bad to keep the heat down, the glass in the hood doesn't even get hot anymore!! The good thing about the DC adapter is the adjustability of it, I can kick up the speed if it is hot in the house or drop it down to keep it quiet or if it is cooler in the house.

 

Here is a link to my site and the latest pics - I believe the Canopy fan stuff is on page 2 & 3.

Link to my Nano-Reef Pictures

Nano-Reef

[cliffrouse11baseball]

Real clean looking setup nice pictures and good luck with the tank. What do you plan on keeping in there??

[Henna Ojisan]

Not totally sure, would like some colorful zoos, frogspawn, Mushroom, etc... I'm totally new so I am learning as I go, so I'm taking it slow and easy (everyone says patience is the key). The wife wants a Percula Clown and I'm not sure if I can do an Anenome, (still learning), but it would be cool to get a Clown that finds a compatable host Anenome and have it in there... I keep seeing other's tanks and with each one I see I get a new picture of what I want my tank to move towards (I've still got to learn the compatability issues with everything).

 

It's just so - much - info...8)

[Acoustic]

Very nice rock work Henna Ojisan!

 

And kudos for the skills with the camera!

[caja]

Great aquascaping, I wouldn't change a thing.

[dchisenh]

Looks awesome so far.

 

Though, I noticed that you aren't using the siphon function of the TetraTech filter...why is that? For my little 5.5 gallon, the surge action it provides is awesome, all the corals and critters just love it. You should give it a try. The random water motion is great for many corals, as opposed to the unidirectional lateral flow out of most powerheads.

 

All in all, awesome looking little tank.

 

-Dan

[Henna Ojisan]

The siphon function was causing too many bubbles (good for O2) but bad for salt creep, I tried it for a few days and found that too many bubbles were popping and hitting the hood. I have the larger PF300 in a FW tank of mine and I liked the surge action, plus the filters are interchangeable for both so I went with it. (I like to buy some things I use often in bulk...) I may use it later but I'll need to dial in the surge a little bit more. I was also talking to a local nano-reefer who said he took the siphon cap and turned it upside down and drilled a hole in the middle. He ran an airstone down the surge tube (not into the tank, but down a little bit and uses the tube as a custom skimmer). I guess he gets enough flow with the bubbles and it works pretty good to catch the foam/crud. I'm trying to get him to take some pics so I can see, but it seemed like a possibility.

 

Thanks all for the replies!!!

 

The tank is cycling nicely, though I have really high levels of phosphates (zero before the rock and now at .4 ppm which I believe is too high). I'm not adding anything additives wise to lower it, but I will take some of the water into a LFS to have them check the levels - my test kit may be off. I got a Red-Sea Reef test kit from a co-worker for free (kit not expired yet), but have been replacing some of the test kits with Salifert kits. I know that the water will do some crazy things while cycling (low Ph, etc..) so we'll see.

 

I did notice more growth on one of the rocks - it's not algae and looks like some type of coral - will have to let it grow some more to identify...