sam_the_reefer Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 This tank has been running for a while and has been through a few natural disasters (magnitude 7 quake and super typhoon Yolanda). Current plan is to see if I can maintain the carpet nem to a small size, while letting the rest of the corals grow. SPECS: Lighting: AI Prime HD Flow: Hydor Koralia Nano Jebao SLW10 Filtration: live rock + Eheim Liberty 2042 with denitrate, activated carbon and Purigen Seachem Tidal 55 with Seachem Matrix bio rocks + Bubble Magus QQ1 HOB skimmer Tank: Naked Eclipse 12 Local Made Custom Glass Cube (20" x 20" x 15.5") FTS PIC DUMP: January 2023 August 2020 January 2020 September 2019 December 2018 October 2017 March 2017 Dec 2015 DSC00770 by sc0lex, on Flickr Oct 2015 DSC00478 by sc0lex, on Flickr Sept 2015 DSC00467 by sc0lex, on Flickr Aug 2015 DSC00212 by sc0lex, on Flickr Jul 2015 DSC00139 by sc0lex, on Flickr May 2015 DSC00057 by sc0lex, on Flickr March 2015 DSC06979 by sc0lex, on Flickr Feb 2015 DSC06829 by sc0lex, on Flickr Jul 2014 DSC06245 by sc0lex, on Flickr Sept 2013 DSC04307 by sc0lex, on Flickr Jun 2013 DSC04081 by sc0lex, on Flickr Oct 2012 DSC02324_1 by sc0lex, on Flickr Feb 2011 front view by sc0lex, on Flickr 4 Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 2 weeks after rescape/reset: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/8993133811/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/8993133811/'>June_2013 by http://www.flickr.com/people/59293500@N07/'>sc0lex, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/8994323732/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/8994323732/'>June_2013_2 by http://www.flickr.com/people/59293500@N07/'>sc0lex, on Flickr 3 Quote Link to comment
Angel<3Nanos Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Nice tank you got there! Quote Link to comment
thekookie Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Nice job. And great pictures too. Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted June 9, 2013 Author Share Posted June 9, 2013 Thanks Angel<3Nanos && thekookie! It's really hard to take good pics with the LEDs. Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted June 21, 2013 Author Share Posted June 21, 2013 Dealing with high nitrates. Trying to keep it below 20ppm through water changes. DSC04069 by sc0lex, on Flickr Diatoms DSC04068 by sc0lex, on Flickr Palythoa Caesia under LEDs Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 New Frags: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9134639718/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9134639718/'>DSC04080 by http://www.flickr.com/people/59293500@N07/'>sc0lex, on Flickr a different kind of toadstool with slightly green tinged short and dense polyps. http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9132422531/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9132422531/'>DSC04079 by http://www.flickr.com/people/59293500@N07/'>sc0lex, on Flickr galaxea (taking risks). So far, it hasn't put out any long stinging tentacles. But I placed it where hopefully it won't be able to sting anything. http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9132421233/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/59293500@N07/9132421233/'>DSC04081 by http://www.flickr.com/people/59293500@N07/'>sc0lex, on Flickr another crappy/blurry tank shot. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Dealing with high nitrates. Trying to keep it below 20ppm through water changes. Welcome and nice nano tank. You'll likely find that the nitrates keep rising since WC's are only temporarily effective. I ran into this same issue with my 12g after about 8-10 months as well as the brown diatoms on the SB. The problem is that over time the SB and LR gets over loaded with detritus which leads to all kinds of issues with nitrate and phosphate. Nitrate slowly rises because the SB and LR are clogged and they are no longer working efficiently as denitrification zones. The fix is simply to vacuum your SB, use a turkey baster or a small powerhead to blast your LR and remove any other detritus pockets in the system. However, start off doing only small sections of the SB at a time with each WC or else you'll end up with a very large and nasty algae bloom. Once the majority of detritus has been removed you should see nitrates and phosphates significantly reduce (nitrate and phosphate is undetctable in my 5 year old tank...and that's with 2 Clownfish fed 4-5x/day). All the animals should benefit from the cleaner environment. I would keep the Galaxea out of any high flow areas to minimize sweeper tentacles. In high flow they can develop 12" long sweepers! 1 Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted June 25, 2013 Author Share Posted June 25, 2013 Welcome and nice nano tank. You'll likely find that the nitrates keep rising since WC's are only temporarily effective. I ran into this same issue with my 12g after about 8-10 months as well as the brown diatoms on the SB. The problem is that over time the SB and LR gets over loaded with detritus which leads to all kinds of issues with nitrate and phosphate. Nitrate slowly rises because the SB and LR are clogged and they are no longer working efficiently as denitrification zones. The fix is simply to vacuum your SB, use a turkey baster or a small powerhead to blast your LR and remove any other detritus pockets in the system. However, start off doing only small sections of the SB at a time with each WC or else you'll end up with a very large and nasty algae bloom. Once the majority of detritus has been removed you should see nitrates and phosphates significantly reduce (nitrate and phosphate is undetctable in my 5 year old tank...and that's with 2 Clownfish fed 4-5x/day). All the animals should benefit from the cleaner environment. I would keep the Galaxea out of any high flow areas to minimize sweeper tentacles. In high flow they can develop 12" long sweepers! Thanks for the advice. I've never cleaned detritus off my rocks so I will do that. I think the high nitrates are also due to my removing some of the LR that was originally in this tank to give the fish more water volume/swimming room. My damsel also likes to dig everywhere so she stirs up the sand often. I found a shop here that sells Seachem products so I'm experimenting with Matrix and de-nitrate to make up for the LR I removed. The flow is not so strong where they are so I guess that's why the Galaxea have been behaving (for now). Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted June 25, 2013 Share Posted June 25, 2013 Honestly, you have plenty of LR and LS for the nitrogen cycle, but the water needs to have access into the pore spaces for the cycle to work efficiently. It's your choice to be stuck on buying expensive additives for denitrification, but I prefer to use the simple no cost 'cleaning of detritus principle' to hold nitrate and phosphate in check. This sums it up: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/327364-maintenance-and-the-nano-reef-tank/ Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted September 12, 2013 Author Share Posted September 12, 2013 Good News: Moved into new house. Bad News: Found out I had a broken lamp for the past year possibly. Attempted to have it fixed by a local shop but they said 'di na madala'. Anyone with soldering skills want to experiment replacing leds? DSC04289 by sc0lex, on Flickr Galaxea didn't make it. DSC04309 by sc0lex, on Flickr Neutral News: Despite the broken lamp, the new toadstool grew. But it lost the green color. DSC04284 by sc0lex, on Flickr Current FTS under temporary t5 lighting: DSC04307 by sc0lex, on Flickr I think my best option would be to get PAR38 lamps. And this time, use a fan. Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted September 13, 2013 Share Posted September 13, 2013 Sorry about the LED going out. Due to the high heat/humidity where you are a fan would be wise. Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted October 7, 2013 Author Share Posted October 7, 2013 Finally got these: http://www.aliexpress.com/snapshot/266998667.html. It was the best option for me budget-wise. It looks more disco-ish compared to the boostleds, but maybe it's just me not being used to them. Keeping up on the water changes too, so we'll see how things go with these lights. Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted October 14, 2013 Author Share Posted October 14, 2013 Under the new lights. The greens don't really pop under these lights. But hopefully being full spectrum, this will be better for the corals long term. http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258727383/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258727383/'>DSC04614 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258567666/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258567666/'>DSC04620 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258424054/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258424054/'>DSC04624 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258480286/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258480286/'>DSC04626 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258447935/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258447935/'>DSC04627 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258374886/'> http://www.flickr.com/photos/76605936@N08/10258374886/'>DSC04628 by http://www.flickr.com/people/76605936@N08/'>eizzel, on Flickr Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 So after having a crazy year full of natural disasters (Magnitude 7 quake and super typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan) since my last post, I'm glad to say that my tank is still up. Latest fts: DSC05829 by sc0lex, on Flickr But now I have a new challenge. It looks like my other toadstool is dying. For some unknown reason, It started retracting it's polyps after I managed an algae problem. I took out the sponge in my filter and I think that reduced the nitrates in my tank.But since then it hasn't put out it's polyps and algae has started to grow on it. I've done some research and have also been through a couple of times where it shed and this is different. So, right now I'm just giving it some extra flow and seeing if it will pull through. I've had it for 3 years and grew it from a fingernail sized frag. I've also changed the media (seagel) and purigen in case it's some kind of chemical war. But it's still not looking good. The snails have been helping it a bit by eating the algae. It has always had a thin film of green algae on it's base and I didn't think that bothered it. DSC05834 by sc0lex, on Flickr DSC05828 by sc0lex, on Flickr Everything else in the tank is doing great: DSC05838 by sc0lex, on Flickr DSC05843 by sc0lex, on Flickr DSC05849 by sc0lex, on Flickr 1 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 The good news is that it hasn't flopped over on it's side. It's hard to see in the pic, but it looks like markings on the head. Have you checked at night with a flashlight to see if anything is pestering it and preventing it from opening? 1 Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 6, 2014 Author Share Posted March 6, 2014 Yup. I did see a hermit crab on it once when it still put out it's polyps but that was just one time. Also, the clownfish peck on it from time to time. (probly coaxing it to open up). But they've been in the tank since I started growing the coral so I'm not sure if they're the cause. The brown parts on the cap are actually algae and the pinkish part on the bottom right of the cap is where I think a snail snacked on some. It normally looks pinkish. Quote Link to comment
gena Posted March 6, 2014 Share Posted March 6, 2014 Happy to see it survived those disasters! I hope the toadstool can pull through!!!! Can you share how you were able to keep the tank alive through the earthquake and typhoon? Did you have battery pumps? How many days without power? Living in earthquake country myself, I'm hoping your successful experience might help me someday in the future . 1 Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Happy to see it survived those disasters! I hope the toadstool can pull through!!!! Can you share how you were able to keep the tank alive through the earthquake and typhoon? Did you have battery pumps? How many days without power? Living in earthquake country myself, I'm hoping your successful experience might help me someday in the future . The worst was a 4 day power outage after the earthquake and I think it was able to survive that because it was in an area in the house that had a lot of indirect sunlight (it gets direct sunlight for around 30 mins in the late afternoon). I am not sure how it survived the lack of flow. The only source of water movement at that time was fish fins. After that, there were intermittent 1-2 day power outages and it survived those days too. I just kept with weekly water changes through the days with no power. I've moved the tank into a corner since then though. It still gets some indirect sunlight but not as much, and I can control it with curtains in this corner. I think the indirect sunlight from that part of the house was causing algae problems. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 Without power...no aircon! How warm did the tank get? Quote Link to comment
gena Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 The worst was a 4 day power outage after the earthquake and I think it was able to survive that because it was in an area in the house that had a lot of indirect sunlight (it gets direct sunlight for around 30 mins in the late afternoon). I am not sure how it survived the lack of flow. The only source of water movement at that time was fish fins. After that, there were intermittent 1-2 day power outages and it survived those days too. I just kept with weekly water changes through the days with no power. I've moved the tank into a corner since then though. It still gets some indirect sunlight but not as much, and I can control it with curtains in this corner. I think the indirect sunlight from that part of the house was causing algae problems. Wow...that's incredible that it survived with no water movement! Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 7, 2014 Author Share Posted March 7, 2014 Without power...no aircon! How warm did the tank get? I didn't measure, but the tank was in a well ventilated area. I don't use a chiller so my tank stays around 29-31 degrees celsius (according to my probably not so accurate thermometer). It helps that it's acrylic so the temp doesn't swing around too much. Wow...that's incredible that it survived with no water movement! I was surprised too. It didn't look pretty when it went through that though...lots of algae and the corals closed up. 1 Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted March 7, 2014 Share Posted March 7, 2014 However it did it, glad to hear it survived Quote Link to comment
sam_the_reefer Posted March 18, 2014 Author Share Posted March 18, 2014 It's flopped over to it's side now. I think it's a goner. Quote Link to comment
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