Teenyreef's IM40 Not-So-Teeny Tank - August FTS

[ninjamyst]

Sunset looks great!

[yoshii]

I hope the YWG is doing better!

I really like that zoa pic And Sunset is looking pretty as usual

[teenyreef]

Sunset looks great!

Thanks, Ninja! He's even more popular with the family than the clowns.

I hope the YWG is doing better!

 

I really like that zoa pic And Sunset is looking pretty as usual

Thanks! I think Sunset is really quite vain, but it's well-deserved

Freckles seems to be just fine now, there's no sign that his adventures with the MP40 have bothered him at all.

[teenyreef]

I forgot to post updated parameters when I checked on Saturday. Nitrates are at 4 and phosphates are back down to .08, so the GFO must have helped finally.

 

I put Xport-PO4 in on Saturday, and put Xport-NO3 in tonight after doing the 24 hour soak. Carbon and gfo is out now. If the new stuff at least keeps things at current levels I'll be happy to change media less often, plus no need to mess with a media reactor.

[dropped]

I hear 30 MlL of NoPox sorts Po4 & N03 really well probably wouldnt recommend it though

[teenyreef]

I hear 30 MlL of NoPox sorts Po4 & N03 really well probably wouldnt recommend it though

no thank you! I have considered just dosing NoPox like I do in the other tanks, but I wanted to experiment with this approach, because if it works it seems like a lot less maintenance, and a lot less to go wrong. I'd like to minimize what has to be dosed on a daily basis as much as I can.

[dropped]

Oh i agree with you, it all gets a bit too technical over time.

[teenyreef]

Oh i agree with you, it all gets a bit too technical over time.

I just just meant no thank you to the overdose

I don't mind dosing, and I don't mind technical. But if it's possible to eliminate something that can go catastrophically wrong, like overdoing it with an automatic dosing pump, and replace it with a couple bags of croutons that only get replaced every few months, that's a big win for me.

[teenyreef]

I've been super busy at work so I haven't had much time to post or take pictures. The tank is going through a diatom bloom so I've been wiping the glass and stirring the sand every day, but all the corals and fish are doing fine.

 

Sheldon, the Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse, has gotten quite comfortable and is frequently out and about. He enjoys surfing the currents to cruise all around the rocks. He's not shy at all any more. Expect when I approach the tank with a camera. Then he very slowly and deliberately glides into a cave or hole in the rocks just as I get the camera out Someday I'll get a picture of him.

 

In the meantime, here are some zoas

 

20160807-untitled-013.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Oh, and Freckles says "hi". He's doing fine, and the pistol shrimp is still there, I heard him snapping the other night.

 

20160807-untitled-001.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[ninjamyst]

coral beauty from above remains me of Avatar Toruk =P

[teenyreef]

coral beauty from above remains me of Avatar Toruk =P

Wow, you're right! Let's compare.

 

Avatar Toruk:

 

Avatar Toruk by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

Flame Angel "Sunset":

 

20160807-untitled-002-Edit.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

 

I can see it

[Justind823]

Haha yea basically the same thing!^

 

Now you need to photoshop yourself riding Sunset with reins in your hand.

 

Glad the watchman is out and about. Did you ever see the old pistol or is this the new one you're hearing? I suppose it would be hard to tell which pistol it is you're hearing...

 

If you haven't already looked in the back chambers, check in there. When I had my 75G I had a pistol make the journey over the overflow, through the standpipe and almost through the entire sump.

[Elizabeth94]

I loved that movie, Avatar! I am itching for a second one to come out. If I remember correctly, I was really impressed by the graphics in that movie.

 

Question for you..

 

Have you seen any results with the Xport Po4 stuff? I have a few croutons in my fusion 20 but my phosphate kit is very expired so I am not sure if it is doing much. I know my corals look good still, but I was having a hard time with the directions. Not sure how many I should have in the tank. However, I am going super slow adding them, and I think I will keep it at three for a while.

[Proudgeek]

Teeny, what are you feeding the angels? My pygmy is hungry and finally took a bite of brine out of desperation but he does not do brine or mysis. My LFS is getting me this for tomorrow to try:

 

http://www.oceannutrition.com/frozen-foods-detail/pygmy-angel-formula

 

Thoughts?

[teenyreef]

I loved that movie, Avatar! I am itching for a second one to come out. If I remember correctly, I was really impressed by the graphics in that movie.

 

Question for you..

 

Have you seen any results with the Xport Po4 stuff? I have a few croutons in my fusion 20 but my phosphate kit is very expired so I am not sure if it is doing much. I know my corals look good still, but I was having a hard time with the directions. Not sure how many I should have in the tank. However, I am going super slow adding them, and I think I will keep it at three for a while.

So far it's been slow going, but it's only been about a week. Nitrates are the same, around 5. Phosphates were high, then I added GFO, and when I replaced the GFO with the Xport Po4, they were at .05. They bounced back up to .17 when I checked on Saturday. But they seem to be going back down: .15 on Sunday and .11 today. And that's with no water change since I put them in.

 

I didn't expect it to start doing great stuff overnight, so I'm just happy things seem to be headed in the right direction.

 

As far a quantities go, I just used the same amount of Xport Po4 as I did for the Xport No3. It's weird, they give a formula for the No3, but nothing for the Po4. I think they just forgot. In my case, I think it worked out to 50 grams of each, which was about six or eight croutons.

 

I'll try increasing the quantity if things don't continue to get better by the end of the week.

Teeny, what are you feeding the angels? My pygmy is hungry and finally took a bite of brine out of desperation but he does not do brine or mysis. My LFS is getting me this for tomorrow to try:

 

http://www.oceannutrition.com/frozen-foods-detail/pygmy-angel-formula

 

Thoughts?

That looks like a great mix, a little bit of everything. My angel is a pig. I feed a variety and change it up every day. About every other day I only feed pellets, and he's getting used to eating them although he's not crazy about them yet. On the other days, I feed either mysis shrimp, spirulina brine shrimp, or krill (all frozen). He likes all of them.

 

I suppose I should feed some veggies too - I have some veggie tabs that he might like.

 

If you get desperate, you could try live food. Maybe live bloodworms?

 

Speaking of brine shrimp, when I fed some tonight, look who came out for dinner! Sheldon, the Tanaka's Pygmy Wrasse

 

20160808-untitled-019-Edit.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[Proudgeek]

Thanks! Will get some krill in addition to those cubes tomorrow.

 

Love your aquariums! Great shot!

[toybox22]

How are you liking the light? I've been trying to find a light to use for my 40. So many choices.

 

Kessil A360we, AI hydra 52 HD, Kessil AP700, Radion xr30, Nanobox.

 

I'm worried about shadowing. I want this to be a mixed reef tank.

[teenyreef]

How are you liking the light? I've been trying to find a light to use for my 40. So many choices.

 

Kessil A360we, AI hydra 52 HD, Kessil AP700, Radion xr30, Nanobox.

 

I'm worried about shadowing. I want this to be a mixed reef tank.

I really like the light, and I think it's the best option for an all-LED light. It's really nice looking and very compact, but that does mean there will be some minimal shadowing since the pucks are all towards the center of the tank. It's not bad and it doesn't bother me, since I like having different PAR levels in different parts of the tank. For a great showcase of how nice a tank can look with just LEDs, check Dave's IM25 Lagoon thread: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/366465-daves-nano-box-lagoon-25/

 

If you really don't want any shadowing and want to go all out, I'd recommend getting an ATI T5 light and have Dave retrofit his LED's for a Nanobox hybrid solution. it really is the best of both worlds from what I'm told. In my case, I couldn't go with T5's because I have the tank stuffed in a bookcase, and the space and heating issues with T5's completely covering up the top of the tank would have been a big problem.

Thanks! Will get some krill in addition to those cubes tomorrow.

 

Love your aquariums! Great shot!

Thanks! Good luck

[Tamberav]

My 10g has some diatoms too, ahhh the young tank woes

[RollaJase]

In the meantime, here are some zoas

 

20160807-untitled-013.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

Gotta love some zoa candy! I love the orange ones at the bottom with the green skirts.

[holy carp]

teeny, your shots make those tiny zoas look like a big bouquet of flowers.

 

The hornets look a little annoyed, but I just love their stark contrasts.

[Elizabeth94]

Thanks for the Xport info Teeny. I think this stuff is made to go down slowly so it doesn't harm strip the system too fast. I just hope I won't need a crazy amount to keep the tank happy. Its not like we have loads of room for big croutons!

[teenyreef]

teeny, your shots make those tiny zoas look like a big bouquet of flowers.

 

The hornets look a little annoyed, but I just love their stark contrasts.

Thanks! I saw that too, they haven't been opening as much lately. I pulled the rock out and gave them a couple drops of peroxide last night. I'll see how they're doing tonight!

Thanks for the Xport info Teeny. I think this stuff is made to go down slowly so it doesn't harm strip the system too fast. I just hope I won't need a crazy amount to keep the tank happy. Its not like we have loads of room for big croutons!

Yep, that's what I'm hoping for too!

My 10g has some diatoms too, ahhh the young tank woes

Yep I just tell myself it's a rest stop on the tank maturity road

Gotta love some zoa candy! I love the orange ones at the bottom with the green skirts.

Thanks! Those are either whammin' watermelons or candy apples, I forget which. Classic, cheap, and so pretty Well, at least here in the states.

[teenyreef]

Thanks for the Xport info Teeny. I think this stuff is made to go down slowly so it doesn't harm strip the system too fast. I just hope I won't need a crazy amount to keep the tank happy. Its not like we have loads of room for big croutons!

I've been checking Po4 daily once the Xport stuff was in for a week. It's gone down by exactly .02 every day. Down to .09 from .11 yesterday. So it looks like it's working. Note: I haven't fed any reef roids since I measured Po4 on Sunday at .15. I think I saw Markalot say he'd found that reef roids seem to increase Po4 measurements. I'm going to re-measure after feeding tonight just to see if things change.

 

 

Looks like Freckles and the pistol shrimp have a tunnel that goes all the way under the rocks. Here he is on the other end of the tunnel:

 

20160807-untitled-001-2.jpg by TeenyReef, on Flickr

[Proudgeek]

Wow. Great photo!

 

The new frozen cubes were a hit with the pygmy. Messy if you follow the instructions though . One of my acans took part of the cube and wouldn't let go lol