rbeirne Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 This tank has been through a lot, and I wanted to document the entire life of the tank, so here is a little background history: The tank was received on 11/14/08 and immediately I unpacked everything and started to get to work. The photos below were taken back in November 2008. Receiving the long awaited package Unboxing the tank and sump - Look at the low iron glass! Setting up Then, the trouble started. The live rock that I had in the tank had some caulerpa racemosa that I could never quite rid myself of. As time passed, I simply just gave up on the tank. Laziness and inactivity led the tank to eventually become an insane forest of caulerpa racemosa riddled with pink coralline algae and two very unhappy RBTAs. For about 9 months, the tank wasn't very well maintained and the pictures that you see below will give you an idea of what happens to a tank when caulerpa racemosa is left "unattended". Caulerpa Racemosa infestastion Full tank shot of Caulerpa Forest - October, 2009 After getting inspired by some of the TOTMs over here and at RC's nano subforum, I decided that I should finally get off my lazy ass and give this lovely setup the proper care and attention it deserves. I took out ALL the live rock, and siphoned out about 15 gallons of muddy, detritus filled water. I cleaned all panels of the glass and with some elbow grease managed to get most of the coralline algae off as well. During the cleaning process, I switched out my Vortech MP40W for the MP10 (the MP10 was not available when I first setup the tank). I am much happier with the MP10 as the size is much less noticeable while maintaining a great deal of water flow in the tank. Vortech MP10 - "Downgrade" from MP40W Giving the tank a good scrub down - 09/01/09 Finally, 6 hours later and about 15 gallons of fresh salt water later... I re-scaped my tank. When the dust settled, this was the end result, and where I plan to make my "come-back" into nano-reefing. FTS - 09/14/09 Corner Shot of my system on 09/14/09 Layout of ELOS System Mini Sump Area Close-up of Sump Lighting and Mounted Equipment Hope you guys like the transformation... sure makes me feel better now that it's clean. I'll be documenting the progression and growth of the tank as time goes on, let me know what you think! That is a sweet LED unit you are using for your sump. Can you post a link as to where others can purchase this light? Link to comment
thatoneazn Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 wow, very clean tank ...i will be following...trying to decide between this or just an 30 gallon cube...that i can put MH on.. Link to comment
Sushi Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 That is a sweet LED unit you are using for your sump. Can you post a link as to where others can purchase this light? It's called a "LED Grow Light Panel" and you can find them on eBay. Here's a LINK to eBay's search... I believe I bought mine for around $25 or so. wow, very clean tank ...i will be following...trying to decide between this or just an 30 gallon cube...that i can put MH on.. Thanks! The tank does have a lot of tweaking that comes along with it... microbubbles are a pain in the butt and the sump is annoyingly claustrophobic to work in. Other than that, it's an awesome nano! for rroselavy, I haven't gotten around to taking pics of the skimmer cup yet... it's skimming kinda wet so there's not really much to see. I don't have much livestock in the tank besides a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp, two tiny gobies, and my CUC so the tank doesn't really have much of a bio-load. Debating between a 6-line wrasse or 4-line wrasse as my only fish (besides the gobies) but haven't made a decision yet. I would like just one "medium-sized" fish for the tank... Don't really want to get a clown, and a lot of the other fish I was thinking about are too shy or are prone to "jump" so I'll have to think about my choice carefully. Link to comment
rroselavy Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 It's called a "LED Grow Light Panel" and you can find them on eBay. Here's a LINK to eBay's search... I believe I bought mine for around $25 or so. As an experiment, I was thinking of buying one of these panels a while back to illuminate my chaeto through the side of my sump's narrow chamber. Are they well sealed to protect from moisture and/or splashes? for rroselavy, I haven't gotten around to taking pics of the skimmer cup yet... it's skimming kinda wet so there's not really much to see. I don't have much livestock in the tank besides a pair of skunk cleaner shrimp, two tiny gobies, and my CUC so the tank doesn't really have much of a bio-load. Thanks for remembering...no worries. I know what wet skim looks like... Debating between a 6-line wrasse or 4-line wrasse as my only fish (besides the gobies) but haven't made a decision yet. I would like just one "medium-sized" fish for the tank... Don't really want to get a clown, and a lot of the other fish I was thinking about are too shy or are prone to "jump" so I'll have to think about my choice carefully. Great fish, but both of those wrasses have been known to jump. In fact, I've had one of each in my rimless and one jumped and the other got caught between my overflow cover and the rear glass. I was quite saddened. I liked the sixline a bit better. The fourline was a bit more aggressive and a bit less striking in appearance. The sixline seemed to have a very graceful way of swimming about while the fourline was a bit less svelte. He once got his entire nose stuck deep in a Astraea shell after he tried to nip at the snail when it retracted. Freakshow. I literally had to carefully crush the poor snail's shell in order to get the fourline freed. Link to comment
DaveFason Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Sushi - Great tank! I almost picked up the Mini before I ended up with the DIY tank. I think a couple other fish that would look great would be... Yasha/pistol pair Longspine Cardinals yellow assessor basslet ( Ive been on the hunt ) Sixline or Possum Wrasse Keep up the great work! -Dave Link to comment
Sushi Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 The LED grow light panel isn't the brightest thing out there, but for $25, it's good enough for growing chaeto. The actual fixture itself isn't sealed very well. I can imagine that it could take a few splashes that can be wiped off, but anything that seeps inside will most likely render it defective in the long run. If it stays dry though, it's the perfect sump light in my opinion. As for fish, yea... I had a 6-line in a nano-cube before, and some way or another, even with a closed hood it managed to jump into the back chambers. That's why I'm still wary of adding a 6-line into a pretty open rimless setup. I love the fish, but I really don't want to come home one day to find 6-line jerky on the floor. Thanks Dave for the recommendations, I really do like the yellow assessor basslet and the longspine cardinalfish, I'll have to do some reading up on them. I also thought about a blenny as well (midas to be exact); they are pretty neat fish to watch swim in and out of crevices and holes in the LR, but they seem kinda skiddish to me. I'm finding myself really liking the Orange Lined Cardinalfish (Apogon cyanosoma) I'm thinking a trio of these guys will be pretty neat to have. Link to comment
DaveFason Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Yep. Check my thread out! I used to have a small amount of red spotted cardinals just like the orange lined. Only problem is they dont do very well in captivity. I only have two left out of 10. Maybe some cool inverts too? Lately I've been in a invert mode... -Dave Link to comment
Sushi Posted September 25, 2009 Author Share Posted September 25, 2009 The red spotted cardinals (Apogon parvulus) are pretty nice looking... sucks to hear about them not doing well in captivity, they're beautiful fish. The mini dart goby (Aioliops megastigma) is also a nice nano fish. They seem kinda hard to find but if I can source some I think I'd love to try them out. Wonder if they're jumpers though... Link to comment
Weetabix7 Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 That little dart goby looks cool. Link to comment
Maeda Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 The red spotted cardinals (Apogon parvulus) are pretty nice looking... sucks to hear about them not doing well in captivity, they're beautiful fish. +10 here. I had 12 and now I have 3. :\ Link to comment
DaveFason Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 Sushi - The best vendor for the smaller gobies like that is Quality Marine. Ive been trying to get Blue Eye Dart Gobies ( tiny like that ) for a while now. Link to comment
BumbleBeeJBG Posted September 25, 2009 Share Posted September 25, 2009 The red spotted cardinals (Apogon parvulus) are pretty nice looking... sucks to hear about them not doing well in captivity, they're beautiful fish. The mini dart goby (Aioliops megastigma) is also a nice nano fish. They seem kinda hard to find but if I can source some I think I'd love to try them out. Wonder if they're jumpers though... Tell me I'm wrong heh. Link to comment
Sushi Posted September 26, 2009 Author Share Posted September 26, 2009 lol... neon tetras is the look i'm going for! small... nano sized, vibrant fish. Link to comment
Uhuru Posted September 26, 2009 Share Posted September 26, 2009 I ordered two of those A. parvulus. One was DOA, the other was doing great. Eating very well. Then, one day it just stopped eating, starved to death. I have no idea why. Link to comment
nibs Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Can you put Cardinal Tetra's in SW??? Link to comment
Sushi Posted September 28, 2009 Author Share Posted September 28, 2009 Can you put Cardinal Tetra's in SW??? Nope... that's why people go for the A. parvulus (red spot cardinal), A. leptacanthus (longspine cardinal), or for those who can buy them, the Aioliops megastigma (mini dart goby) to mimic that "schooling tetra" look in SW aquariums. I ended up choosing the 6-line wrasse since it is probably on the top of my list as one of my favorite reef fish. I don't think I'll be able to find another fish as vibrant, curious, and active as the 6-line wrasse. I picked up a small 2" 6-line, it's acclimated and already finding the little nooks and crannies in the live rock to weave in and out of. I won't be adding any more medium-sized fish so he'll be the only mid-size fish in the tank. I'm also thinking about adding a few more gobies like the Red Head Goby (E. puncticulatus) and the Neon Blue Goby (E. oceanops), but I'm not decided yet. I'll probably get an update of the tank later this week. A lot has changed the past 2 weeks, added a lot more coral picked up from some locals and some from members on the boards. I also did a little re-aquascaping to reinforce and bulk up the cave structure. It literally looks like a large cave now. I have mixed feelings about the aquascaping because I still love the minimal rock - two island style tanks that everyone's going for these days, but with a cube tank it's hard to accomplish that look especially with such limited horizontal space and more vertical space to fill. Link to comment
BumbleBeeJBG Posted October 1, 2009 Share Posted October 1, 2009 lol... neon tetras is the look i'm going for! small... nano sized, vibrant fish. Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be cheaper to just have a FW tank with Neons? lol Link to comment
schgr.cube Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Call me crazy, but wouldn't it be cheaper to just have a FW tank with Neons? lol Freshwater is so 1999 Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Freshwater is so 1999 actually made me LOL @ BumbleBeeJBG: Um, yea it'd be cheaper than a SW setup with a bunch of red-spot cardinals... I'm into the whole FW planted scene as well but never really wanted to spend the cash for a large system to specifically house a school of neons... IMO to make it impressive you'd have to have like a school of 50+ for it to be magnificent. As a result, I always felt the cash allocated to the hobby was better spent on improving my SW tanks. Since we're talking a bit of freshwater, I wanted to share a few pics of my FW planted tank from back in 2007/2008 (for those who frequent plantedtank.net and aquaticplantcentral - my username on those boards is Yoshi) FW Planted - 1 FW Planted - 2 FW Planted - 3 Link to comment
BumbleBeeJBG Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Nice, missing Tetras though! Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 Beautiful. Thank you Nice, missing Tetras though! Ya... but it'd throw everything out of scale, but I know what ya mean Link to comment
travisurfer Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 SeaLifeInc. sells mated neon goby pairs for $30. Link is in the pic. Link to comment
airman_verde04 Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 really sweet tank! I and really like your FW planted tank.. I like planted, I dont know if I would do so well with them.. eh.. maybe I'm just lazy. Link to comment
Sushi Posted October 2, 2009 Author Share Posted October 2, 2009 SeaLifeInc. sells mated neon goby pairs for $30. Thanks for the tip... I think I might add a pair later on, I just added some E. pellucidas (Gold Neon Eviota Gobies) to my tank, gona let them establish a bit for now. really sweet tank! I and really like your FW planted tank.. I like planted, I dont know if I would do so well with them.. eh.. maybe I'm just lazy. Thanks FW planted need a lot of attention in the first few weeks (1-2 months) within setting up, then after that it's a breeze! Maybe a 20% water change monthly with some supplements... scrape the glass and you're good to go until the next month Link to comment
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