[ ten gallon nano ]

[flick]

Ok so I purchased some more things today from my LFS:

 

- activated carbon insert (for hob)

- python vaccum + pipe (I know I don't use the vacuum like a freshwater scenario) for WC's

- small tubing (for drip-acclimating future inhabitants)

- KH test kit (as suggested by burt)

 

I just tested my water (before todays water change) for KH and it's at: 11 (which is good, slightly high but ok) for a fish only tank.

 

I later did the water change with new distilled water I bought and will check the other params once the storm has calmed down in the tank..

 

Questions:

 

I saw some interesting fish today at the LFS (Big Als) and am wondering if I could have them in this tank. Not now of course, this is just some thoughts regarding my stocking plan(s) and I'd only chose 2 fish total:

 

- Firefish - I've never actually liked them until today. These were 2"-3" long and both looked and acted healthy.

- Potters Angel - Obviously I havn't done research yet (plus some people don't suggest an angel for a 10g) but it caught my eye. Even if I can't have one in this tank I'd love to hear what other people think of them, especially fellow reefers that own one.

Yellow wrasse - Long elegant yellow body was beautiful. Seemed to be peaceful and casually stroll around the tank. It was in the same (small) tank as occellaris clowns and they were not aggressive to one another. It was about 2.5" long and was beautiful! Possible replacement for the yellow clown goby idea (???).

 

Last but not least, can anyone reccommend a CUC for me? There were astria snails and blue legged hermits on sale, 4 for $10 CAD. A lot to chose from, and they seemed healthy. My tanks getting a good amount of diatom & algae on the rock and if water params are good as of next week I will be purchasing the CUC at that time.

 

Cheers,

 

Edit: For this carbon I have washed it and placed it in my HOB. Do I keep it in there forever, with occassional rinses? Or do I only use it for a suggested amount of time then take it out..? It's going to help clean/purify the water, but it is also sold as a nitrate (or any other "chemical") reducer?

 

Flick

[flick]

DAY 9

 

Tank params as to what I think:

 

pH 8-8.1

Nitrate 5-10 (?)

Nitrite 0 ppm

Ammonia 0.10 ppm

KH 11

Temp 80 degrees

Salinity 1.023 - 1.024

 

I'm finding it hard to tell the correct colour becuase if you hold the test tube off the colour chart/sheet (even if its slightly lifted off, less than 1cm even) it is one colour, then if you place it directly against the sheet the shape of the rounded tube adds such a dark colour and changes the colour of the tube contents. In the directions it says to hold it against the sheet, but even in good lighting I'm getting 2-3 different colours per tube (especially nitrate) It definately looks yellow/pale orange until shoved against the card, then it goes dramatically different (bright orange)... so I'm not sure which to believe..

 

Flick

[flick]

Water results today:

 

Ammonia 0 ppm

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate 5 ppm

pH 8

KH 11

Temp 80

Salinity 1.024

 

Off to get my clean up crew (I guess i'll decide when I get there) and pick up my new 50/50 bulbs which arrived today as well.

 

Flick

[flick]

Heres a FTS with the new 50/50 bulbs. Cannot believe the amazing difference, totally pumped I bought them. May not be strong enough for coral but better none the less.

 

ps- LFS did not have a good enough selection of CUC. They had a stunning clownfish (2" dark occellaris female) but the tanks not ready to risk with a fish. The params are good, but i'm still going to wait a while for fish. I'll head to the other LFS tomorrow, see what they have. I just so happen to have worked there before so I might even get a discount on whatever I purchase.

 

Let me know what you think of my tank so far .. please

 

Flick

[flick]

Need some help on mysterious bugs I saw in the tank today...

 

They look like lice (same colour and tiny size) and are crawling on the tank glass. Theres a group of about 5 that I saw, running around on the glass. I'm sure theres more in the tank though..

 

What are these lilttle creatures!?!

 

ps- does anyone have any feedback for anything I've done yet? I'm discouraged to see such a lack of interest in this build. It's ####ty to be honest.

 

Flick

[Guest eBloom719]

The bugs are copepods. And I really like this setup, the rocks look very nice. As for stocking, the wrasse and the angel will definitely get too big for this tank, but a firefish and clown would be great, imo. I am also working on a 10 gallon and am sticking with a single clownfish, but mine is open-top so stocking is limited.

[flick]

Thanks eBloom Are copepods a sign of something, or are they common in SW tanks? Thats awesome, is it a new tank you've just started as well?

 

I ended up researching those fish (yellow wrasse and potters angel) ans yes they aren't suitable for this tank. Story of my life! I'm already thinking of my summer plans and when (and what) I can upgrade to. I'm thinking I want a 4' tank, so maybe a 55g or 75g would be a awesome upgrade IMO.

 

Flick

[Guest eBloom719]

I have tons of copepods in my 20, I think I read somewhere that they eat diatoms but I know they eat detritus and leftovers. They are a good sign and I have noticed that sometimes I have very few, and sometimes I can hardly see past them in some areas of the glass.

 

Yeah, my 10g is new, too! I started it about a month ago and just got my snails and mangroves from reefcleaners today. I would definitely recommend getting your CUC from reefcleaners.org, can't beat the prices or the customer service.

[flick]

I've heard numerous positive comments regarding them, maybe I should check them out. Where are you located, in the states I assume? Best of luck with your tank, I like this 10g size for what I was looking for (small room sized tank). What did your oder of CUC consist of?

[Guest eBloom719]

I just checked and found they don't ship to Canada- my apologies. I live in Southern California, and no one around me carries cerith or nassarius snails, which are the best, in my opinion. Hopefully you have a better-stocked LFS than me.

Have you considered your fish options further?

[flick]

Ah crap, most of them don't. Although I think I'm going to special order some from my good LFS (the one I used to work at). They ship every other friday, so since they get this weeks shipment tomorrow... I'll call this week and be on the next order.. unless I can find some other LFS close by that has some in stock.

 

As far as fish, not sure. I still want a clown but think my second fish will be something I see the day I go to buy my 2nd fish. Its hard to plan on exact fish species, seeing as they aren't always available and yes, I am impatient. I like the clown and yellow clown goby pairing, so thats probaly my first option. Another goby or bleny would be my 2nd option though. Maybe a firefish though, they are awesome!

 

Flick

[flick]

DAY 13

 

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 10-20ppm

pH 8-8.1

Temp 80

Salinity 1.024

KH 11

 

Just did a 2g water change as well.

 

Diatoms and brown hair algae is booming on the rocks, almost noticable growth everyday. My hitch hiking feather dusters and getting much bigger, although they are still smaller than a penny.

 

As far as picking up my CUC, have not been satisfied with what my LFS have lately. I'm waiting till the nitrates go lower, and am on the look out for some cheato for the hob (or even to wedge between the rock and the back wall of the tank)..

[CollegeNano]

Hey Flick,

 

The new light looks MUCH better. I hate that ugly yellow the standard bulbs in AGA hoods give off.

 

I see you're still deciding on fish and aren't having much luck with your ideas so far. It may be helpful to check out liveaquaria's nano fish section for inspiration. (http://liveaquaria.com/product/aquarium-fish-supplies.cfm?c=15+2124)

 

I see you have two thermometers, one which you could probably do away with. You may want to purchase a digital thermometer, which I believe Coralife makes for around $10. This lets to keep the display less cluttered because it only requires a small probe to sit in the tank which you can usually hide.

 

Finally, like you I was purchasing water from the store (for about 2 years) before I bought a filter unit. The filter definitely pays for itself in my experience (with both a 12G and definitely a 46G). The one is currently use is the mighty mite by airwaterice (http://www.airwaterice.com/product/1MMDI/Mighty-Mite-50GPD-with-DI-Added.html) which runs around $110. The filter replacements are ~$30 but it's been over a year and I still am reading 0 TDS on the original filters (and this is to top off a 46 bow). Anyways, you may want to consider it for convenience and economics sake!

 

That's all for now, good luck with starting back and all of the excitement that ensues.

[flick]

Hey CN, I have to agree with ya. I didnt realize how bad the yellows were until I got these, and wow what a difference! Thanks a bunch for the link, thats so helpful! The tanks been cycling for (a long) 16 days so far, and I'm about to do a 2g wc and check params afterwards (this evening probably). The one therm is my hydrometer (yes, not as good as a refractometer) and I've taken it out. I've seen those digital ones, they do seem more accurate and less hideous. I should have got one, but the current one I have doesnt bother me, so I might as well stick with it.

As far as water, UGH! You/everyone is right, I should invest in an RO unit. This probably isn't the time though, as it's not my house (renting) and I don't think this tap water is any good anyways. Although, would the filter unit remove ALL impurities and make quality water in all aspects of sw nano tank use? I might look into the small tap "clip-on" version perhaps, if thats the case

 

Off to do my wc now!

[flick]

tank test params (before wc):

 

DAY 16

 

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 5ppm (*maybe a little more*)

pH 7.8-8

Temp 80

Salinity 1.024

KH 12

 

I havn't touched the tank (water wise) in 3 days, and I'm pleasantly surprised by the results Still doing the wc now though... to get those Nitrates down.

 

Also thinking about my fish list (from collegenanos link) and I'm thinking about a firefish (standard orange) and black occellaris. I think that couple would look rather good.

 

Flick

[flick]

Heres a fts..

 

Forgot to add... I went away from monday morning until tuesday night, so I left the lights on over that night. I just realized now that a lot of my brown hair algae has vanished and theres a lot more green hair algae. Pictures don't really show much of the algae, but I like how the tanks coming along

 

Flick

[CollegeNano]

Flick,

The RO/DI unit I showed you will remove all realistically measurable impurities from your tap. To test this you can buy a TDS meter ($20, I know this adds up!) which will tell you the "total dissolved solids" in the water. Test your tap, then test the RO/DI water and watch the magic. I regular clip-on filter (like Brita in the US, do they have that in Canada?) on the other hand will not filter the water correctly for use in SW. It will only partially remove the dissolved minerals in the water that will really throw off your tank over time.

 

From the clip-on (Brita) site:

"The BRITA water filter cartridge only partially removes the hardness from drinking water. This part is temporary hardness, which causes scale deposits during cooking. It does not remove all of the minerals from the water. It reduces the concentration of calcium and magnesium with cation ion exchange resins, but theses substances are not completely removed as in desalination systems or industrial plants that use reverse osmosis or distillation processes, for example."

 

Anyways. I had the opposite (from your lighting incident) occur on my tank while I was on vacation. Lights were off for at least 4 days and almost all of my algae died off but my corals almost bit the dust as well!

[flick]

Right on, thanks for the info dude. Appreciate it and will be looking into that for my next tank investment So much more reliable and handy!

 

Weird about the lights isn't it? I also just realized now (must be delayed) that a LOT of the sediment that once covered the inner tank walls, have vanished. There was sand and other debris "stuck" on the glass from adding the live sand and rock, until today. I don't see any hitch hiking snails or crabs, just those small bugs (copeods or something? forget as of this moment..) so not sure why the glass, heater, and thermonitor have becomg sparkling clean. Do those small copeods clean stuff like that? I do notice green hair algae forming on the one side and back wall of the tank, as well as on the rock (as mentioned before). I also don't have any diatoms/algae on the sand. I've got debris thats settled in certain locations, but it's not growing like algae. Weird set of occurances have been happening lately, not sure what to think of them though..

 

I am getting that deep brown/reddish diatom algae forming on the koralia, hob intake and outake parts, as well as the rock. Although most of the brown hair algae on the rocks have also vanished, and theres mostly green hair algae remaining. Is this a sign of some sort?

[flick]

DAY 17

 

Got the beginning of my CUC and am drip acclimating them as we speal. They consist of 4 crabs that weren't marked on the tank, but look like the (safe) ones I had in my other tanks. That LFS had hardly any SW in stock, but I found these guys hiding in the coral display tank

[cameraman_2]

I love the rock work and you will really enjoy that tank.

[flick]

Thanks, so far I definately am. Can't wait to add fish now, but I think I won't do so for another week or so.

 

Added the crabs and all 4 are happily roaming around. They stayed on the floor for the first bit but are all on the rock. I also found a few tiny green bubble algaes on a section of the rock. I remember there was a hype about these guys, should I take percaussions or will my crabs take care of them?

 

ps- my crabs look like blue legged, as they all have blue legs lol.

[flick]

DAY 18

 

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 5ppm

pH 7.8-8

Temp 80

Salinity 1.024

KH 12

 

 

Bubble algae, green hair algae, and most of the fuzzy brown algae are all gone as of this morning Yay cuc!

[flick]

DAY 22

 

Ammonia 0ppm

Nitrite 0ppm

Nitrate 0-5ppm

pH 7.8-8

Temp 80

Salinity 1.024

KH 12

 

Tanks going along great Most of the algae within the rocks and sand surface have cleared and they look much more established, since they are now smoother and darker in colour. My glass is (quickly) getting covered with green hair algae, brown smooth algae, and even some fuzzy burgundy (type of coraline) algae. Time to get some snails in there!

 

On tha note, I've been surprisingly patient and have not added anything else to the tank as of this time. I aim to do a wc tonight to lower the nitrates and will be adding my first fish sometime in the next few days. I'm still planning on adding 1 clownfish and 1 other small fish, which yes, is yet to be determined (sorry!).

 

Flick

[flick]

Heres a fts notice the hair algae on the side of the tank and the progress the rock has taken over the weeks of cycle..

[flick]

Hey gang,

 

After checking out my LFS's website I came accross cleaner shrimp as an option for livestock. I've had one in my 46g and it was awesome. Do we think I could get away with 2 small fish (one clownfish and one _____) and a cleaner shrimp? Or just a cleaner and clown?