First Reef tank Progress and Help thread

[albertthiel]

So i am getting a little algae buildup on one part of the tank. purplish or pinkish looking

This normal? ok? bad? coralline algae?

Should i clean it off?

i am down 1 snail and just haven't replaced him yet.

all water parameters are good.

pics

 

Cyanos and diatoms apparently.

 

Excess nutrients in the water and silicate that gives rise to the diatoms.

 

CUC's should take care of the diatoms or you can siphon them out. Water changes and changing carbon and nitrate and phosphate absorbing compounds should get rid of the cyanos (siphon out those that you can)

[ny300z]

Cyanos and diatoms apparently.

 

Excess nutrients in the water and silicate that gives rise to the diatoms.

 

CUC's should take care of the diatoms or you can siphon them out. Water changes and changing carbon and nitrate and phosphate absorbing compounds should get rid of the cyanos (siphon out those that you can)

 

ok thank you. cleaned some up last night using the magnetic glass cleaner and a siphon

[albertthiel]

ok thank you. cleaned some up last night using the magnetic glass cleaner and a siphon

Way to go till you get it cleared up ...

 

A few water changes will of course help as well

 

A.

[ny300z]

Way to go till you get it cleared up ...

 

A few water changes will of course help as well

 

A.

 

very good, ive been doing 15% a week and all my water parameters have been perfect so i will continue to do so.

[albertthiel]

very good, ive been doing 15% a week and all my water parameters have been perfect so i will continue to do so.

Sounds like a good plan indeed ny300z.

 

My tank looks great except for a second outbreak of diatoms but all the corals look very healthy and extended.

 

I'll be posting some pics on my thread a little later ... I have the pics now I just need to reduce them somewhat and then upload them to my ISP's server and then post them on the forum

 

Albert

[ny300z]

Sounds like a good plan indeed ny300z.

 

My tank looks great except for a second outbreak of diatoms but all the corals look very healthy and extended.

 

I'll be posting some pics on my thread a little later ... I have the pics now I just need to reduce them somewhat and then upload them to my ISP's server and then post them on the forum

 

Albert

 

looking forward to seeing your pics

[albertthiel]

looking forward to seeing your pics

 

I posted them and they are on the page before the last one right now. Have a look and let me know what you think.

 

Have some diatoms but am dealing with that right now.

 

Thanks

[SUNYSoCal]

Hey Nick,

 

I've read this entire thread twice over (in addition to hours of reading different articles, etc.) as I too am interested in beginning a nano reef. I really appreciate you taking the time to walk through your process step by step and posting weekly pictures.

 

I too will be taking the process VERY slowly when I plan to start in a month or two. I noticed on a couple posts in your documented process, there seemed to be certain "frustration points" (tank size, sand bed, crazy summersaulting shrimp!, etc)...that said, if you could do it all again knowing what you do now, would you change anything? i.e. What advice would you give to an aspiring nano-reefer looking to startup with a similiar/same sized pico. Anything would be really appreciated.

 

Also...reading how much help given by the community here is a true testament to nano-reef. Keep up the good work everyone!

[ny300z]

Hey Nick,

 

I've read this entire thread twice over (in addition to hours of reading different articles, etc.) as I too am interested in beginning a nano reef. I really appreciate you taking the time to walk through your process step by step and posting weekly pictures.

 

I too will be taking the process VERY slowly when I plan to start in a month or two. I noticed on a couple posts in your documented process, there seemed to be certain "frustration points" (tank size, sand bed, crazy summersaulting shrimp!, etc)...that said, if you could do it all again knowing what you do now, would you change anything? i.e. What advice would you give to an aspiring nano-reefer looking to startup with a similiar/same sized pico. Anything would be really appreciated.

 

Also...reading how much help given by the community here is a true testament to nano-reef. Keep up the good work everyone!

 

thanks for the kind words man. Were all here to help eachother.

 

Sorry i took so long i havent checked this thread in a month.

 

If i were to do it all over...........

 

1. id def start with a bigger tank. But people choose small ones like this because thats what they want. Me? after 3 months of having this i now want a bigger tank that i can put more fish in and more room add things/scape rocks/etc.

 

2. the sand bed thing. Id def go with a smaller one then i started with. In such a small tank a big sandbed takes up more room. Also since this small tank dont have powerful powerheads a lot of crap gets stuck in the bed. I have removed a decent amount of the sand with each water change.

 

3. Take your time even more when adding livestock. I knew this and still fell victim to me WANTING that fire shrimp when i saw it. With more research i wouldve realized they are a little big for my 4g tank. But u live and u learn.

 

4. Dont cheap out. This is a funny one because i read that tip a hundred times on here before i bought a thing and still ended up cheaping out here and there. For instance i bought the 4g version of my tank because it was $50 compared to the 8g version at $80 or so. Which at this point would of been well worth it.

 

Also if i didnt wannastart cheap i wouldve just went with a even bigger tank then those from the get go because currently i am setting up a 20 Long and will be transferring this pico tank to the 20 L

 

If you have any other questions just ask!

[ny300z]

Sorry i fell off on updating this thread with progress. Had a very busy end of summer.

 

Tank update

 

Tank is now 3 months old.

 

Havent added much of anything lately. Just been maintaining it.

 

Everythings been good, no problems just a few dead snails if anything.

 

Only bad thing that happened was I was in a LFS and i saw what i thought was a peppermint shrimp which the employee confirmed. Added him to the tank and it turns out this was NOT a peppermint shrimp and was a camel back shrimp. Which turns out likes eating corals. He picked at a bunch and destroyed/ate my nice purple 2 polyp zoa frag. The buds of the corals are still there so im not sure if they will grow back or not.

 

I brought him back to the LFS.

 

Only other deaths were 2 astrea snails. Im not sure what happened but both times the hermit crabs kept attacking them. Not sure if the snails turned over, hermits got at him and then stalked him after that. No matter how many times i would pull the hermit crabs off once they start they go right at him. At which point i just remove the snail before he was ate alive.

 

PICS

 

The corals on the right are the ones the shrimp ate.

This is the camel shrimp that ate my corals

[albertthiel]

Sorry i fell off on updating this thread with progress. Had a very busy end of summer.

 

Tank update

 

Tank is now 3 months old.

 

Havent added much of anything lately. Just been maintaining it.

 

Everythings been good, no problems just a few dead snails if anything.

 

Only bad thing that happened was I was in a LFS and i saw what i thought was a peppermint shrimp which the employee confirmed. Added him to the tank and it turns out this was NOT a peppermint shrimp and was a camel back shrimp. Which turns out likes eating corals. He picked at a bunch and destroyed/ate my nice purple 2 polyp zoa frag. The buds of the corals are still there so im not sure if they will grow back or not.

 

I brought him back to the LFS.

 

Only other deaths were 2 astrea snails. Im not sure what happened but both times the hermit crabs kept attacking them. Not sure if the snails turned over, hermits got at him and then stalked him after that. No matter how many times i would pull the hermit crabs off once they start they go right at him. At which point i just remove the snail before he was ate alive.

 

PICS

 

Those shrimp are not considered reef safe by many as they will bother and harass and nip at some corals.

 

I would try to trade it or bring it back to your LFS and get credit for it and buy something else ... FWIW

[ny300z]

yes Albert, i learned that the hard way. I brought him back to the LFS for credit the next day. Lost the 2 polyps thats it.

[albertthiel]

yes Albert, i learned that the hard way. I brought him back to the LFS for credit the next day. Lost the 2 polyps thats it.

 

Sorry to read it but at least you got credit for the shrimp and you must have caught it real quickly so you did not lose more than 2. They can be quite aggressive ... wonder why stores don't tell hobbyist more about them before selling them.

 

Guess I should do a post on them on my thread ... added a lot of pics today including some of Huge Anemones from a dealer in Thailand, work looking at

 

Here's the link to the Giant Anemones : http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=4029899

[ny300z]

wow those anemones are beautiful!

[albertthiel]

wow those anemones are beautiful!

 

Yes they sure are indeed ... and large ... pity that they are too large for most of our nanos ...