Nixperience Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 That's cool. I like the cheapness of Kalk and find it easy. We all do what works for us 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 So a couple of thoughts that might help, or might not help. I'm not sure anyone can give you definitive information on how corals will behave or what you should do with your tank so I'll just relate my experiences and thoughts. Acropora are one of the fastest growing corals and if you make them happy they will use an unbelievable amount of 2 part daily. Keeping them in a small tank is something I've never been able to do due to the rapidly changing conditions they can create. I urge you to think of these corals as little mouths that are sick so won't eat much as you start dosing but if you improve conditions they will continue to consume more until they are fully healthy. You will need to test daily IMO and keep on top of things until you hit that stable point, then test Alk weekly as the corals grow to maintain the right Alk dosing. If you are dosing 2 part each part should be the same. I rarely test calcium, only Alk, and I make sure my two part dosing is based on how much of the Alk part I need. As far as Kalk is concerned, I like it on my large tank because it helps reduce the need for 2 part (which is currently 80ml each part daily) but in my opinion should not be on a topoff system that utilizes floats. I used timed topoff for both tanks and adjust for evaporation by either running a fan if water levels increase or manually topping off if I need more water. I've never run a 12 gallon tank so my experience doesn't help much here. All this said, different acros respond to tank conditions, and poor conditions, differently. This is why you hear some people running ok with just water changes while others can't do it. In my experience if your Alk is jumping around or goes out of range acros will suffer and some will die. I've had two Alk accidents. In the first my Alk jumped from 7 to 10 over 4 days and I lost half my acros and it took months to get the survivors healthy again. My second accident was Alk dropping too low and running at 6.3KH for over a month. Most of my acros had slow growth, which to an extent regulated Alk usage, but I lost two over two months even after correcting the issue and had some recession on a few others. I like to run my SPS tank at 7KH or as close to natural levels as I can. I'm not sure if this is a good idea for a small tank or not. KH at natural levels will avoid tip burn on acros if your nutrients get too low, but you can drop too low quickly if you're not monitoring everything on a regular basis. Ramble ramble ramble. I love the look of this little tank, good luck! 5 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 New test results today after the initial 24 hours dosing 2-part. CA: 440-450 ALK: 5.6 So it looks like I'll be dosing 10mL per day of each part CA and ALK. Boy this is fun!! Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 58 minutes ago, markalot said: So a couple of thoughts that might help, or might not help. I'm not sure anyone can give you definitive information on how corals will behave or what you should do with your tank so I'll just relate my experiences and thoughts. Acropora are one of the fastest growing corals and if you make them happy they will use an unbelievable amount of 2 part daily. Keeping them in a small tank is something I've never been able to do due to the rapidly changing conditions they can create. I urge you to think of these corals as little mouths that are sick so won't eat much as you start dosing but if you improve conditions they will continue to consume more until they are fully healthy. You will need to test daily IMO and keep on top of things until you hit that stable point, then test Alk weekly as the corals grow to maintain the right Alk dosing. If you are dosing 2 part each part should be the same. I rarely test calcium, only Alk, and I make sure my two part dosing is based on how much of the Alk part I need. As far as Kalk is concerned, I like it on my large tank because it helps reduce the need for 2 part (which is currently 80ml each part daily) but in my opinion should not be on a topoff system that utilizes floats. I used timed topoff for both tanks and adjust for evaporation by either running a fan if water levels increase or manually topping off if I need more water. I've never run a 12 gallon tank so my experience doesn't help much here. All this said, different acros respond to tank conditions, and poor conditions, differently. This is why you hear some people running ok with just water changes while others can't do it. In my experience if your Alk is jumping around or goes out of range acros will suffer and some will die. I've had two Alk accidents. In the first my Alk jumped from 7 to 10 over 4 days and I lost half my acros and it took months to get the survivors healthy again. My second accident was Alk dropping too low and running at 6.3KH for over a month. Most of my acros had slow growth, which to an extent regulated Alk usage, but I lost two over two months even after correcting the issue and had some recession on a few others. I like to run my SPS tank at 7KH or as close to natural levels as I can. I'm not sure if this is a good idea for a small tank or not. KH at natural levels will avoid tip burn on acros if your nutrients get too low, but you can drop too low quickly if you're not monitoring everything on a regular basis. Ramble ramble ramble. I love the look of this little tank, good luck! Thanks for the tips. You know what they say about being impossible to keeping a reef system in a small tank? well I'm up for making the impossible possible It looks like I'll be testing ALK daily from here on to see if there is any drastic changes as they start to grow. I plan to keep mine around 7.8dKH. I spot feed my tank once or twice a week so it won't be low on nutrients, if anything im afraid it might be too high. I plan on making and running nano biopellet reactor so I can continue spot feeding, I really enjoy feeding the tank but afraid it will bring up nitrate and phosphate. 1 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted June 22, 2017 Share Posted June 22, 2017 Careful with the biopellets. Acros like food and many times tanks are too clean for them ... clean as in no food particles in the water combined with low PO4 and NO3. Some of the best aquacultured acros are those that have adapted to elevated nutrients since feeding can be touch and go, especially in a small tank. Unfortunately you can't have a lot of herbivores in a small tank so it is nice to run low nutrients. So yea, good luck! I think you can do it, you've come this far. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 22, 2017 Author Share Posted June 22, 2017 32 minutes ago, markalot said: Careful with the biopellets. Acros like food and many times tanks are too clean for them ... clean as in no food particles in the water combined with low PO4 and NO3. Some of the best aquacultured acros are those that have adapted to elevated nutrients since feeding can be touch and go, especially in a small tank. Unfortunately you can't have a lot of herbivores in a small tank so it is nice to run low nutrients. So yea, good luck! I think you can do it, you've come this far. Oh yes I've done some research on bio-pellets, it seems like starting with a little amount is wise. In fact being able to feed the tank while keeping PO4 and NO3 low is the only reason I want to add a biopellet reactor . It also allow me to do less water change (I assumed) with my busy work that will help a lot. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 Just set this up at 12am last night, took me about 35min from making the dosing container (stickers removal and drill hole on cap), cutting tubing to size, installing the tubing, calibrating the doser, and programming the doser. You must be thinking why didn't I make one of my fancy acrylic dosing container? Well I needed this up and running right away so I don't have to manually dose anymore before I go to bed and these coffee glass jugs I stole from my mom's kitchen look sleek enough . Prior to that I was manually dosing 1mL 2-part every 3 hours and now that is over I just need to test for CA/ALK daily to see when it gets to a stable point. This is getting more fun and fun every day! LOL Happy Friday all! 8 Quote Link to comment
Nixperience Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 Are this plants in your dosing containers? Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 1 hour ago, Nixperience said: Are this plants in your dosing containers? What plants? I was a little less confused this morning lol Quote Link to comment
Nixperience Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 1 hour ago, MrNanoReef said: What plants? I was a little less confused this morning lol What's the green stuff in the dosing containers? Quote Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 On 6/22/2017 at 0:34 PM, MrNanoReef said: You know what they say about being impossible to keeping a reef system in a small tank Darn! I wish 'they' had warned me about that... Good luck with the dosers. Oh, and I found Acros to be a pain in a small nano once they really take off. I have one granulosa that I left in my 12g. It's getting stung by other stonies and half buried by Zoas, so it's too busy to cause much trouble 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 17 minutes ago, Nixperience said: What's the green stuff in the dosing containers? That's just reflection from my toxic green wall lol 2 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 23, 2017 Author Share Posted June 23, 2017 7 minutes ago, Nano sapiens said: Darn! I wish 'they' had warned me about that... Good luck with the dosers. But then I realized all they just want to take away all my fun lol No no!! Not falling for it! Thanks! For now I'm going keep testing daily for a few days and see if it is is able to hold steady. I feel like this tank is about to take off, just need a little kick. 2 Quote Link to comment
Nixperience Posted June 23, 2017 Share Posted June 23, 2017 8 minutes ago, MrNanoReef said: That's just reflection from my toxic green wall lol Lmao Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Just another box of Friday excitement ?? 2 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 Had a delayed message this morning from UPS but both boxes arrived on time. Thank god all the critters made it alive!! Who want to know what I got? HINT: not corals 3 Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted June 30, 2017 Share Posted June 30, 2017 (edited) Boxes say fish. I want to know. I see a Tank but live aquaria shipment may be separate. Maybe sand and live rock? Edited June 30, 2017 by debbeach13 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted June 30, 2017 Author Share Posted June 30, 2017 4 hours ago, debbeach13 said: Boxes say fish. I want to know. I see a Tank but live aquaria shipment may be separate. Maybe sand and live rock? A couple of tiny fishes and CUC replenishing critters. Tank and ATO container in the background are for my customers This poor guy didn't make it so I've contacted Live Aquaria for credit. Taking a closer look he is rather thin and weak in the first place, not surprised he died from shipping stress. The one thing I love about LiveAquaria, they have 14-day stay alive guaranteed, better than no guarantee at LFS. He's suppose to be a new friend to the tail spot blenny in the pico, sorry blenny! Quote Link to comment
debbeach13 Posted July 1, 2017 Share Posted July 1, 2017 Sorry the fish did not make it. Live Aquaria will take care of you. Are you going to try again if they have a replacement? 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 On 7/1/2017 at 8:20 AM, debbeach13 said: Sorry the fish did not make it. Live Aquaria will take care of you. Are you going to try again if they have a replacement? I think im gonna go with something else, these fishes are just too small to endure shipping. Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 The Reef is looking wonderful this morning! I thought I'd try something different with this shot, how do you like it? All my fishes are out and about, can you locate them all? Have a wonderful week and keep up with your beautiful reef! Also I'm happy to finally see PE like this on one of the acros that has been in my tank for a long time but didn't do too well. The one in the background is coloring up nicely as well so I must be doing something right 3 Quote Link to comment
teenyreef Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 I'm glad you figured out the dosing. Even in a small tank, if you have heavy consumers of calcium and alkalinity, you can't replenish with water changes alone. The tank looks great now! What are your nitrates and phosphates at now? 1 Quote Link to comment
Lula_Mae Posted July 3, 2017 Share Posted July 3, 2017 2 hours ago, MrNanoReef said: The Reef is looking wonderful this morning! I thought I'd try something different with this shot, how do you like it? All my fishes are out and about, can you locate them all? Have a wonderful week and keep up with your beautiful reef! Also I'm happy to finally see PE like this on one of the acros that has been in my tank for a long time but didn't do too well. The one in the background is coloring up nicely as well so I must be doing something right What an amazing and beautiful shot of your tank! I vote you use those light settings for all your pics! It is really gorgeous, for real! 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 44 minutes ago, teenyreef said: I'm glad you figured out the dosing. Even in a small tank, if you have heavy consumers of calcium and alkalinity, you can't replenish with water changes alone. The tank looks great now! What are your nitrates and phosphates at now? Thanks! To be honest I was kind of neglected on the water testing part for months and assumed water change alone would be enough. I'm surprised 2 of my acros have held on for so long, these must be very resilient specimen that I got, i don't know their ID or name. Right now I'm dosing down to 1.3mL per day and keeping it around 7.7-8dKH on the Alk. Nitrate is 0-2ppm, probably closer to 0 with Salifert (color looks almost clear) and Phosphate is 0.00 on Hanna LR checker, I know it can be higher because of the reading error but I made sure my checker was at least reading correctly by testing twice in a row and used 2 different batch of reagents with the same result. Everything seems to be doing much better than before now so I'm very happy. 1 Quote Link to comment
MrNanoReef Posted July 3, 2017 Author Share Posted July 3, 2017 9 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said: What an amazing and beautiful shot of your tank! I vote you use those light settings for all your pics! It is really gorgeous, for real! Thanks so much! Trust me every time I take pics I had to mess with the settings on the light, camera, filter, and post processing altogether. It's never simple for me and I'm never settle for just one setting lol 2 Quote Link to comment
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