12 Gallon Nano - Feat. Corals!

[Meech]

Finally got my lights!!! Woooot!!! Nova Extreme T5HO 2x24W... they're not top of the line but they're excellent value and for now they'll do the trick... They look great... but then I went and moved some stuff around in the tank and cleaned up some LR scraps so things are looking cloudy... pics will follow when things are cleaned up.

 

After 1 week of cycling my params look like this according to my API master test kit and my best reading ability:

 

Temp: 78

pH: 8.4 (this seems to me to be high but it seems to have levelled off here)

SG: 1.024 (this seems to be a little all over the map, ranging from 1.023-1.026 throughout the week)

Ammonia: 0.25 (highest its hit was .5 earlier in the week)

Nitrites: 0 (yet to register)

Nitrates: 0 (yet to register)

 

So far, so good. I'm loosing between half to a full gallon of water a day to evap... before I added my lights... its extremely dry here this time of year which isn't helping... I think that's accounting for my SG being a little fickle.

 

Since my rock was cured and everyone seems to have differing opinions, its difficult for me to tell where I'm at in my cycle... I'm okay with being patient for now though. $$$'s a little tight as I just paid for the last part of my setup. Its also exam time so I'm just as well off putting my energy and concentration elsewhere, beyond monitoring my params.

 

I'm still planning my initial clean up crew. As mentioned above I'm still thinking snails and a tuxedo urchin.

 

 

Please let me know what you think and what's next!

[Meech]

Here's the newest FTS:

 

I couldn't wait 'til it unclouded all the way... too excited.

[HeyLookItsCaps]

unloud uncloud! what are your stocking plans?

[Meech]

unloud uncloud! what are your stocking plans?

 

Fortunately, it unclouded.... unfortunately, the light stopped working an hour out of the box. Go figure... will be stopping into the LFS tomorrow to remedy things.

 

So far I'm just deciding on my CUC. Thinking a pile of snails and a Tuxedo Urchin to mix it up a little (debating what I want more though... coraline or an urchin). My rock is cured so there hasn't been much of a cycle so far... I'm worried they won't have much to eat. Hermit Crabs are kinda cool

 

I'm still learning about livestock and I've got a list of stuff I'd like to add but I'm in the midst of doing research here are some hopefuls:

 

Corals:

A Monti

Hammer/Torch

Brain/Maze

Toadstool

Sun

Elegance

Plate

Zoas

Rics

 

Inverts:

Tuxedo Urchin

Skunk Cleaner Shrimp

Nem (Maybe way down the line)

Scaled Clam

Fromia Star

Feather Duster/Coco

 

Fish:

Paired Clowns (I know... cliche...)

Longnose Hawkfish

 

While advice is welcomed...Please no flaming... as I mentioned I'm in the process of doing my research. Still excited about the newness and looking forward to learning as I go!

[Meech]

So I got the light all figured out and everything seems to be working fine.

 

It wouldn't be a trip to the LFS without spending $$$... so I decided to pick up a starter CUC:

2 Margarita Snails

1 Turbo Snail

2 Scarlet Reef Hermits

 

Here are the latest pics:

 

Latest FTS:

Left View:

Right View:

Margarita:

Crazy Eyes:

Hermit Pair:

 

Its great to have some ("advanced") life in the tank!

 

Next Steps: Clean Glass! Continue to monitor params. Keep researching Livestock.

As always, let me know what you think.

[shaner014]

Looking good.

 

You could probably get away with raising the water level another half inch or so. Though if your still in and out of the tank a lot, it might be better lower so you don't overflow.. learned that the hard way haha.

 

I'm gonna pick up a couple margarita's today myself, as my nass snails don't touch the glass. What was the issue with the light? Mine has been great out of the box... other than some weird rattle inside the actinic bulb (but it illuminates fine) I plan to get a couple ATI bulbs soon anyways

[Meech]

It wound up that the ballast in the Nova was a dud. I took it back and exchanged it no problem and this one works great!

 

My water level was low in the pictures.... I've been losing 3/4 -1 gallon a day and its starting to tick me off.... for now its not really the end of the world but when I get livestock I'm gonna have to do something about it in order to keep my parameters steady... I'm thinking DIY ATO... a notch against my attempt at keeping this system as simple as possible but its soooo dry here in the winters that I likely won't have much of a choice.

 

Both my margaritas and turbo have been pretty much glued to the glass since I got them yesterday... They're hanging out right at the surface too, actually half in and half out of the water most of the day yesterday.... hopefully this doesn't mean there's a problem with the tank

[Meech]

On my way to pick up my first corals! Super excited. I got some frogspawn, hammer and candy cane for a good deal (at least I thought so after looking around at the going prices) from a local reefer. Just headed out to get the stuff to do a drip acclimation and then get the corals.

 

I did my first big WC this morning too... about 40%. Tank looks good. Will post pics tonight when things settle and the new inhabitants are in.

[Meech]

So the corals are in! Tank looks great after the WC and clean up. Water's a bit cloudy... contemplating getting an HOB with floss for my post cleanings to clear up the water faster... this bio-only filtration makes for cloudy water requiring.... that's right.... more patience.

 

The placements aren't permanent. I'm having a hard time finding a spot low-flow enough for each of the frogspawn and the hammer to be protected enough to open right up. After moving them and my K1 around for a while I figured I'd leave the corals alone, let them get used to the new tank and figure out placement later. I know about their agressiveness towards other coral types and not each other, but any other thoughts on their placement would be much appreciated. The candy canes look solid.... I just sorta plunked them in a moderate flow area and will move them around later.

 

I'm sure you just really want pics... so I'll cut to the chase:

 

Latest FTS:

 

Frogspawn:

 

Candy Cane:

 

Hammer:

 

You scratch my back...:

 

Let me know what you think. I know they're stressed after the move so they're not opening up completely. If anyone with more experience spots something worth letting me know about please don't hesitate!

[Meech]

The good news:

Corals are looking amazing... healthy and colourful

 

The bad news:

Looks like I've got a diatom bloom on my hands... happened sometime today. Parameters seem to all be in check. Must've been something in/on equipment I used to do RO/DI water change on sunday...

 

Hmph... I thought the WC was supposed to help prevent blooms... oh well... food for my CUC

[shaner014]

Nice looking coral! I had the same evap problem, as im in buffalo, ny we probably have a similar winter. I got a piece of 1/8" thick glass cut at the local picture framing shop. I have it cut to exact length and 3/4 width of the tank. This has REALLY helped with amount of evap. I do get condensation on the glass lid, but i dont know how much that effects light transfer... its a good tradeoff for more stable sg IMO. I have four small rubber feet superglued to the lid to keep it from being a glass resting on glass connection. This keeps salt creep at a minimum. Cost $6 bucks to boot. cant beat it. If you look back through my thread you can see it doesnt really take away from the rimless look either....

 

Just an idea, let me know how the diatom bloom goes. I got mine long after the cycle ended as well. its clearing up nicely now and the margarita's surely helped.

 

Good luck and nice tank!

[Meech]

Hm... never noticed your glass lid in your pics before... nice clean look... I imagine this would solve a bit of the problem... Don't know if I'm too keen on another surface to keep clean and I'd be pretty worried about blocking the light... but despite my concerns I'll likely wind up doing something as I'm eventually going to have to worry about jumpers.

 

Also I like your ric... I think its next on my list...

[ribbie]

The tank is looking really sharp man, congrats. I like the two island look with your aquascape I think it really takes advantage of the horizontal tank!

 

The corals look very healthy as well. The frogspawn and the hammer both look like great specimens. I've never really seen a purple/blue candy cane but they look awesome too! I think my candy cane is doing better now that I've placed it higher in my tank and it's in pretty high flow basically direct stream from my K1. I think you have your frogspawn in a good place as I imagine that rock does a good job of sheltering it and letting it stretch out. I started mine off right beneath the k1 because that seemed to be where the least amount of flow was and then gradually moved it across the tank.

 

So what's next? I want to get some ricordea and maybe a few mushrooms. I didnt like them at first but I think I have a good spot for some nice purple/blue ones I saw in a local reefers tank. She also has a green ric that she's going to frag. I'd just buy one from the LFS but they're so expensive! I saw a sweet blue/orange ricordea about the size of silver dollar and it was $95! I couldn't believe it! Hopefully you'll get some better deals out on the east coast.

[Meech]

Thanks for the props Ribbie, I'm really happy with it too...

 

Both the hammer and the frog spawn seem to be doing really well. I struggled to find a low enough flow spot for them and I wound up moving my K1 and them all around the tank. Finally they seem to have opened right up.

 

The candy cane is actually red and green... I guess its the lighting and my poor photography skills that has them looking a little off colour. Also, they're a little washed out since their move. Thanks for the flow advice for them. They're on a funny shaped rock right now and I want to move them up into a bit higher light spot with more flow. But, like the other two, I kinda just wanted to let them settle before stressing them out with glueing them and all that.

 

As for what's next...

 

Well there are a few things going through my head. I had the start of what appeared to be a burgeoning algae problem. I think the introduction of the new corals, moving my powerhead around and doing my first waterchange (kinda sloppy though I tried real hard) may have caused it. So first I'm planning on rearranging the coral and adding to my presently limited CUC. I want a Tuxedo!!! I need some sand cleaners as I don't have any right now. I think fish are on the horizon too. I really like longnose hawkfish so that may be in the books. I've read a lot of mixed reviews on how well they get along with reefs. I also want to get some rics but not only are they really expensive, they're really hard to find around here. I'm pretty broke after the Christmas season so that'll likely play a big role in my tanks evolution.

 

Fortunately....

 

No $ = Easy to be patient.

[Meech]

Some things I'm happy about:

 

I physically moved my snails onto my live rock and they got right to work. I previously didn't want to interfere with them but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try and move them to where the problems were... They've been cleaning my rock really well!

 

I've got pods! And tons of them! A great sign that my system is establishing itself nicely. I suppose I thought (naively) that it was more established than it actually was when I added coral, but everythings healthy seems to be coming along nicely.

 

Will post some pics tomorrow after I make a couple changes.