Fluval Spec 3 Pico Reef

[TFish77]

 

I will probably stick to the easier ones. Currently have in the tank a birds nest, pavona, pocillapora, and monti cap. Will likely stick with different species within this set.

 

Always good to keep it simple. Birds of Paradise is another good choice. Also mixing and matching montis can look awesome especially in a small tank.

[Tuffryu]

Updates.

The transfer went well and did a lot of water testing this week, but was primarily looking at Alk (@ 8dKH) and calcium (@430ppm). After some reading, it sounds like these are pretty good numbers.

 

No real traceable stuff as the water is fairly fresh and there was no die off from live sand.

 

Lots of additions as well.

• Oscularis
• Blue monti cap
• Orange monti cap frags
• Green monti digita
• Lots of super glue

My ATO hasn't come in yet so that sucks.

 

 

 

Angle from top. The encrusting monti is where it's at! So nice and I love the way they create shelves.

I'm finding the new light hanger is making it difficult to take decent pics because of the reflection.

 

 

 

Happy Christmas Eve everyone!

[bearwithfish]

Beautiful !!

[Tuffryu]

Beautiful !!

 

thanks bear!

it's a new 9 gal setup that i transferred from my fluval spec 2.6 gallon tank. it's a start.

[bearwithfish]

It really is coming along nicely. I formerly had a 40B but i am just starting to dip back into the hobby with a 2.5 myself.. I think its very cool the possibilities with such a small space.

[Tuffryu]

It really is coming along nicely. I formerly had a 40B but i am just starting to dip back into the hobby with a 2.5 myself.. I think its very cool the possibilities with such a small space.

 

That's great. I got bored with the small space in a matter of months unfortunately as I was stung pretty hard by the SPS bug lol. Good luck and looking forward to your progress.

[shinjo2040]

I have really enjoyed following your tank's progress and have been seriously consider starting a pico reef simply from seeing your success! I've been doing freshwater planted tank and would like to start a pico reef just like your original Fulval Spec 3. Was there any particular reason why you decided to upgrade to a 9 gallon other than wanting more space? In other words, was the maintenance on the original 2.8 gallon tank too taxing or was your upgrade simply an additional tank to further progress your hobby?

Any other pro/cons you've had since your upgrade to the larger tank?

 

Like i said before, your thread has made made the aquarium love spark to start reefing. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

[Tuffryu]

I have really enjoyed following your tank's progress and have been seriously consider starting a pico reef simply from seeing your success! I've been doing freshwater planted tank and would like to start a pico reef just like your original Fulval Spec 3. Was there any particular reason why you decided to upgrade to a 9 gallon other than wanting more space? In other words, was the maintenance on the original 2.8 gallon tank too taxing or was your upgrade simply an additional tank to further progress your hobby?

Any other pro/cons you've had since your upgrade to the larger tank?

 

Like i said before, your thread has made made the aquarium love spark to start reefing. Thanks so much for sharing your experience!

 

Thanks for the comments Shinjo!

I don't have much freshwater experience (other than betta bowls) so I can't really say what the leap from planted to reef tanks would be. I'm assuming freshwater still requires testing and water changes so there's probably not much of a difference there.

 

I little bit about my experience with the fluval spec. I think it's a great tank as it's small, beautifully built and intriguing. Yes there is ALWAYS a level of commitment that is required with all reef tanks - no question. The upkeep, from my experience is still the same between the 2.6 gallon and 9 gallon. I check specific gravity daily, test water every few days, replenish evaporated water every couple of days and change water every couple of weeks. i will probably need to start dosing the new tank everyday pretty soon as well. The 2.6 gallon (in my opinion) is not the right environment for SPS stony corals - which is the primary reason for the upgrade. The amount of water flow required is just too much for the limited space in a 2.6 gal tank and the parameters fluctuate a bit too much for SPS to handle in my experience.

 

About the space - YES, I definitly wanted the room in order to experiment with more stony coral varieties and the 9 gallon is ideal for this. The Eheim aquastyle is a gorgeous tank - rimless, curved glass, etc - and I was able to get it off craigslist for dirt cheap lol. If I was going to keep soft corals only, I would probably have kept the fluval spec. Lastly, I have a 7yr old that really wanted an oscilarus so that also weighed into my decision

 

If you are just getting into this, you're reading the right forums. I learned a lot from this website along with a few others. What you'll learn quickly is that people's experiences vary because the water/climate/environments are so different from each and every person in the world posting to this site. You will simply need to find what works best for you. My recommendation is to start with LPS species and go from there. You can easily grow these in a fluval spec 3.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck if you decide to start reefing!

[Tuffryu]

I just found an awesome page about salts and the calc/alk breakdown. Not sure exactly how accurate this is, but it looks legit. The salt water i used for the eheim is Kent, and I'm beginning to wonder if that's why the calc levels are doing so well.

 

Curious if anyone else is using Kent by chance?

 

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1714505

 

 

 

Also found this calculator thingy for targeting cal/alk. I wished there was a bookmarking feature on this site lol.

[Tuffryu]

Latest updates.

• Blue polyp green monti cap
• Sour apple birdsnest

Tested for calc/alk again and had some interesting results. Calcium tested at 440ppm - 20ppm higher than the previous test a few days ago. All I added was extra saltwater for top off. Alkalinity tested 7dkh, which is the same reading as before.

 

My hypothetical conclusion: the new Kent based saltwater is kicking ass. Ph was 8.1 and the spec gravity is .026.

 

It's really interesting to see how much difference the salt makes. No water change yet and haven't had to dose an C-balance.

 

The GSP is growing into a shape that looks like a Christmas tree lol.

 

 

 

[Merthynia]

Looking really good!

[Langer6]

Great looking tank! You clearly put a lot of thought into coral placement and it has paid off.

[Tuffryu]

Great looking tank! You clearly put a lot of thought into coral placement and it has paid off.

 

Looking really good!

 

Thank you Merthynia!

Thanks Langer!

 

Appreciate the comments very much. The rock/sand/livestock have only been running for a couple of months in total, but I think it's coming along.

[Droy008]

Wow, the new tank looks amazing.

I for one like kents products. I believe they actually add higher calcium levels to their salts.

That could be what your seeing. Whatever your doing keep it up, this tank looks great!

[teenyreef]

Nice tank! I just read through your thread and I really appreciate your sharing your thought process along the way.

[Tuffryu]

Nice tank! I just read through your thread and I really appreciate your sharing your thought process along the way.

 

Thanks teeny! I'll keep it going as long as the livestock does, lol. Appreciate the comments.

 

Wow, the new tank looks amazing.

I for one like kents products. I believe they actually add higher calcium levels to their salts.

That could be what your seeing. Whatever your doing keep it up, this tank looks great!

 

Thanks Droy! Appreciate the comments.

The Kent salt is definitely making a difference from the Instant Ocean salt I was using.

 

For example, the GSP are spreading to other rocks; the candy cane is budding 2 more polyps; and the fuzziness on the sps is incredible.

 

Another local fishtore is using Seachem Salinity and although their livestock looks good, the Kent salt aquariums from the other fish store look different. I plan on continuing with Kent saltwater to see how things progress.

[Droy008]

That's very interesting. I'm currently using Instant Ocean and I have about 5 more gallons left. I just added some sps to my tank, so maybe I'll give Kents a try here in a little while.

[Tuffryu]

That's very interesting. I'm currently using Instant Ocean and I have about 5 more gallons left. I just added some sps to my tank, so maybe I'll give Kents a try here in a little while.

 

I don't buy salt unless I have to. I usually buy RODI water that's premixed from the fishstore. In my original fluval spec, I used Instant Ocean that I mixed myself with fresh RODI water - but the difference I've seen with the Kent salt is pretty amazing.

[Droy008]

I have RODI water already.

Trouble is the closest fish store is almost 2 hrs away.

So I have to mix. I was just researching reviews and such on the kents salt mix.

It looks like a much better option for calcium and dkh purposes.

[Tuffryu]

I have RODI water already.

Trouble is the closest fish store is almost 2 hrs away.

So I have to mix. I was just researching reviews and such on the kents salt mix.

It looks like a much better option for calcium and dkh purposes.

 

2 hours is a long ways. Makes sense to mix your own.

I posted a chart of the alkalinity/calcium breakdown of various salts and Kent is on the higher end although lower in magnesium. Not sure if I might have to add buffer in the long run but we'll see. Also depends on the kind of livestock you want I suppose.

[Droy008]

Do you do any dosing?

Right now I'm using kents nano a/b, I like it so far, and so do my coral.

I likely will switch to the kents salt mix after reading the reviews and a little research, a lot of the same things that are in the Nano A/B are also in the salt mix.

[Tuffryu]

Do you do any dosing?

Right now I'm using kents nano a/b, I like it so far, and so do my coral.

I likely will switch to the kents salt mix after reading the reviews and a little research, a lot of the same things that are in the Nano A/B are also in the salt mix.

 

I was dosing the fluval spec when I was using Instant Ocean with C-balance 2part, but with the new tank (using Kent) I have not dosed yet. In fact, I just took both alk/calc measurements just now and the numbers are still looking good - (alk 7dkh and calc 440ppm). So over the course of 10 days since the 9gal has been up and running, I am finding the numbers are stable after doing alk/calc tests every 2-3 days.

 

I've been adding a slight bit of the premixed Kent salt water - maybe 1/5 in the top off water (i replenish a little less than a quart a day) with spec gravity staying around .025.

 

Other than the larger volume of water in the 9gal, I can't really pintpoint any other variables I've introduced that would effect calc/alk levels other than the salt mix. Will keep posting as I find things out.

 

Side note: the pocillopora frag has never extended like it has in this pic

 

[Droy008]

That's awesome.

I'm liking the way your tank is shaping up and I appreciate you sharing your findings.

Looking forward to seeing your tank grow out.

[Tuffryu]

First video post, lol. I sound so stupid!

Sorry the quality isn't all that great as I just took it with my iphone, but it makes the post seem a bit more interesting.

 

Happy New Year everyone!!!

 

[teenyreef]

Looks great! That little clown is so cute