15L by seabass

[seabass]

It's been awhile, so I thought I'd post a picture of my AGA 15L. Here it is:

Click for larger image

 

__________________

 

 

Last June I setup a Mini-bow 7:

 

 

Three months later it looked like:

 

 

In November I moved it to a 15L:

 

 

The 15L has a 150W VHO retrofit:

[impur]

Sweet tank, so clean!!!!

[seabass]

Thanks impur!

[Neon]

lookin goodB)

[Kool-cat]

What type of ro unit do you have? Brand name? I have a tfc 10gpd ro unit and add on di and its made by kent marine, Im starting to think kent marine doesnt carry good ro units beacuse my tank still has cyanobacteria and its growing on the glass and on my polyps. I had the di unit for a week and did a water change, the di pellets turned blue already. I had the kent marine ro unit for 5 months.

[seabass]

Thanks Neon.

 

Kool-cat, I don’t own an RO system. I buy my RO/DI water from my LFS. Before that, I tried the RO refill stations at Wal-Mart, but it contained nitrates. You should test for nitrates on a freshly mixed batch of saltwater. Check your phosphate level in your tank too, it might also be high.

 

Getting your nutrients under control (along with proper flow) will usually keep Cyano away. If you have a bad case, you might need to use some Chemi-Clean to prevent it from suffocating your corals.

 

I’m not a proponent of chemicals (it’s best to solve the problem and not the symptom), but sometimes we need additional help. I wouldn’t let my corals die because I wanted to be able to say that I’ve never used chemicals. Siphon out as much as possible, follow the directions on the package, and siphon out the junk afterward.

[bobioden]

Looks great Seabass. I love the 15L, it was the best move I ever did when I went for a 12 Eclipse to the 15L. I think it is the perfect nano size.

 

 

Bob

[Von digity]

That is a very clean retro. Looks good. Whats the heat like? I noticed your running to small fans above em.

[tam]

Awesome setup, I love how everything is custom done to retain the stock look of the tank. I also noticed the "Glass piece" It looks so awesome with the custom cut outs for your HOB items.

 

Tam

[seabass]

Thanks Bob, I think your 15L rocks! They are great nano tanks for sure.

 

Von digity, The heat isn’t bad at all. I routed some vents toward the bottom that you can’t really see in these pictures (this might help). I could run it without the fans if needed, but I think the bulbs will last longer if they are allowed to run cooler. The bulbs are just warm, I can hold my hands on them even after being lit for hours (I use a Coralife ballast; I think that a quality ballast like IceCap or Coralife makes the bulbs run cooler).

 

Tam, thanks! I keep gobies so I wanted to cover the tank. Plus, this is an office nano, so I was concerned that cleaning products might get into the tank, so it is almost completely covered. The VHOs keep it cool enough for this setup. The glass top is a Versa-Top that I had the front panel cut to allow room for my custom cut Lucite Tuff cutout that I made for the back. The front is hinged so I can feed, test the water, and do water changes without raising the hood.

[ReefDiver]

Nice tank, very clean and nicely aquascaped.

[seabass]

Thanks ReefDiver!

 

Check out this baby Wellsophyllia:

[seabass]

Here is my latest addition. I bought an Orange Sea Star (Echunaster sp.) from LiveAquaria.com.

 

 

I purchased some Aqua-Yums frozen clams at my LFS to help supplement its diet.

[ChloroPhil]

That's a very pretty aquarium. Great job on those refits too. How's that starfish working out? I've thought about adding one to may 20g when it's ready.

 

Best,

Phil

[seabass]

Thanks Phil! I got the starfish Tuesday afternoon so it is still very new. I know that these are sensitive creatures so I took extra time acclimating him (I’ve always had excellent luck with the float method).

 

I floated the bag for about 20 minutes for temperature and started turkey basting new water in and discarding water out a squirt at a time (waiting around 10 minutes between each series). I continued this for around two hours before letting him go.

 

Since you can’t expose them to air and I didn’t want to release a lot of the bagged water into my tank, I turkey basted out the majority of the water from the bag before I released him (being careful not to remove enough water for the bag to collapse on the sea star). Then I submerged the bag and removed the sea star (I tried not to disturb the bag too much so that the majority of the original water would remain in the bag as I removed it from the tank).

 

My star has been very active and appears to have arrived quite healthy. The Echunaster Sea Stars are hardier than many other small stars (like the Fromia and Linckia stars) and hopefully will not exceed 3”. Often this star is identified as an Orange Linckia star.

 

Although I’m a little concerned that my tank is small for this starfish; it is a relatively mature tank (which helps provide food and good stable water conditions) with a macro algae refugium (which helps stabilize pH, maintain oxygen levels, and lower nitrate levels). Although it will be able to find food on the reef, I will be supplementing his diet with frozen clams and Seaweed Selects (I feed my reef DT’s, Golden Pearls, and Cyclop-eeze which should also help).

 

Stable water conditions and water chemistry are important to sea stars, so it is important to have a mature tank, use a quality salt mix, carefully perform water changes and top offs, and make sure not to overdose supplements.

[ReefDiver]

Beautiful starfish let us know how he does over the coming

weeks. Are you a member of the Greater Iowa Reef Society?

I was thinking of joining, but this has been a very busy summer.

[seabass]

Thanks ReefDiver. I’ll post an update in a few weeks as to how it is doing.

 

No, I’m not a member of the Greater Iowa Reef Society, but I did a short presentation of nano reefs to them in July (so I got to meet a few of the members then, plus I got to show off my tank). They seem like a good group which covers a number of topics. I’m sure that it would be beneficial, but like you, I’ve been very busy. It is about all I can do to check this forum once in awhile and post a couple of messages now and then.

[StephG]

Hey seabass ... I've got your tank on my background ! I love the valley look!

[seabass]

Sweet! Thanks StephG, I’ll try to post some more pictures sometime in October.

[TiGs]

I like the seperated island in your aquascaping, but the HOB intake is so visible.

[OxInYourBox]

Looking good Seabass. Love the VHO retro and the acrylic covering as well. I may have to do both for my 20L as my hood skills suck.

[seabass]

Thanks OxInYourBox, the dual 75W VHO bulbs seem about right for this tank. BTW, your tank is sweet.

 

TiGs I agree with both of your comments. It would have looked nicer if I could have hid it a little better, but the rocks are placed all the way against the back glass (so the valley is where I had room for the intake and room to service it); plus, the intake does create good flow between the rocks. For better or worse, I’m kind of stuck with it now. I might try a shorter intake and see how that works/looks.

[TiGs]

It still looks good. Better than my tank so I shouldn't be talking.

I know this is more work but what if you swap places with the back pak.

 

nevermind that would put the return in the mid.

[seabass]

Thanks TiGs, bobioden has it setup like that and it looks good. Although my tank looks like there are just two rocks, there are probably over a dozen rocks pieced together (unglued) and I couldn’t imagine trying to re-aquascape (which is what would be needed to make room for the change in the plumbing positions). It sure would be nice to have a drilled tank; maybe next time.

[cliffrouse11baseball]

What light fixture did you use to fit that vho retrokit in? Also which retro kit did you buy and where from?