WindyCityReefer. Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Hey everyone! I am new to the forum and thought what better way to introduce myself than to start a journal for my nano! A little bit about me, I am a graduate student at the University of Michigan and will be graduating in 2019. I am originally from Chicago - hence the username! I have been in the hobby for about 10 years and have had tanks from FOWLRS to full blown reefs. I have always wanted to start a journal for one of my tanks but never really got around to it. As a graduate student this has made things a little more difficult. But I recently came across a deal I could not pass up that is perfect for my situation! The goal is to document everything in this thread. Let me introduce to you my new nano! It is an IM 10 gallon fusion with the following equipment: inTank Media basket (just made the switch from a custom IM media basket) MP10wes vortech Ghost Desktop skimmer Tunze nano ATO AI prime Cobalt heater with a finnex temp controller IM spin stream The tank currently has 2 clowns, a starry blenny and a mix of SPS and LPS. Here are a couple photos! Pardon my cell phone photos, I am working on getting a better camera.. Looking forward to meeting all of you! October 2019 - IM 25 gallon fusion: September 2018: May 2017: 10 Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted May 4, 2017 Author Share Posted May 4, 2017 1 minute ago, ry05coupe said: Looks great! Thank you!! Just now, WV Reefer said: looks great! Thanks! I appreciate the warm welcome. I have been trying to snap photos here and there but those two were the best. Still trying though! Here are a couple slight modifications I made to the tank. First off, the stock mesh top blocked a fairly considerable amount of light from the prime. So I went ahead and made a switch! So much better. By the way, I love the ease of navigating and posting in this forum. Extremely user-friendly 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted May 4, 2017 Share Posted May 4, 2017 Welcome to the community @WindyCityReefer.! I'm glad you're enjoying our new site, it still has that new car smell from our upgrade in February. Looks like you're off to a great start with your IM10, that's a rad livestock collection. How long has it been up and running? Clever upgrade on the mesh screen, and more insight on the process you can share? I'm sure it will help others improve their own screens. 2 Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted May 4, 2017 Author Share Posted May 4, 2017 30 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Welcome to the community @WindyCityReefer.! I'm glad you're enjoying our new site, it still has that new car smell from our upgrade in February. Looks like you're off to a great start with your IM10, that's a rad livestock collection. How long has it been up and running? Clever upgrade on the mesh screen, and more insight on the process you can share? I'm sure it will help others improve their own screens. Thanks! The tank has been up for about a year. The plan is to keep SPS towards the top and allow some LPS to fill in the bottom of the tank. I got a bulk amount of the mesh screen from a fellow hobbyist in the Chicagoland area when they were getting out. It is almost like a thick nylon material. Similar to screen door there is an outer rubber strip that secures the stock mesh. I simply cut the mesh to size, removed the rubber strip and switched out the screens. Here are some photos of the other side of the screen for reference as well as an older photo with the screen on the tank. I hope this helps someone out! I definitely have seen an improvement in the amount of light reaching the tank. Most would say to ditch the top altogether but seeing as I am in school usually from 8am - 6pm I wanted to make sure I would not have any jumpers. 2 Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted May 9, 2017 Author Share Posted May 9, 2017 Well I made a stupid mistake this week.. Added in a considerable amount of carbon and purigen and my LPS did not take too kindly to it. They are all slightly receded and not opening up. Took some of the carbon and purigen out and hoping for the best. I also tested alk after my water change and the next day and I went from 10.5 to 7.3. Does that seem normal? I bought some ESV 2 part to possibly help with compensating for the drop in alk. The instructions say dose 1ml per 4 gallons to start. This is my first time dosing so I want to make sure I am doing it right. I was planning to add 2ml to see how it effects the system. How big of a jump should I see in the alk? Should I add the same amount of calcium? I am also manually dosing. Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 I think it is time for an update! Decided to move to a more high-end SPS oriented system and found that the AI prime was not going to cut it. Thankfully I have a set of AI sol super blues from a previous system. It took some critical thinking but I was able to mount one sol over the tank. The tank still has some ricordias and mushrooms but those will be moved to my father's system soon. Will post some growth shots but here are a few photos! 3 Quote Link to comment
hinnenkm Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 Really nice looking tank, thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing what you do with it! I just transferred my reef to the IM 10 and am loving it. It is always fun to see what other people end up doing within the same 'box' because things end up so differently. Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 35 minutes ago, hinnenkm said: Really nice looking tank, thanks for sharing and looking forward to seeing what you do with it! I just transferred my reef to the IM 10 and am loving it. It is always fun to see what other people end up doing within the same 'box' because things end up so differently. Thank you! I am excited to see how the tank grows out. My goal is to make the tank look larger than it really is. After I remove some of the rock with the remaining soft corals that should do the trick. Do you have a build thread? I'd love to take a look! Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted January 3, 2018 Author Share Posted January 3, 2018 Well time for a big update! Tank is about 60/40 SPS and LPS. Unfortunately water changes were not enough to maintain alk and calcium so I opted for a doser. I decided to go with the GHL 2.1 stand-alone unit. While more expensive, you cannot beat German quality. Luckily I was able to snag one for a fantastic price over Black Friday SPS stocklist has increased quite a bit. Over the fall semester I got a sweet frag pack from a fellow hobbyist from back home. SPS, including those from my previous list: Vivid's Rainbow Delight WWC Blueberry Acropora Walt Disney Tenius Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 Purple Milka Stylo Season's Greetings Montipora Aussie Candlelight Acropora Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 BattleCorals Sky Dopple Acropora Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 RMF Diablo Millepora Tyree Ice Fire Echinata (sp?) Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 Tyree Blue Matrix Bubblegum/Forest Fire? digitate Pink Lemonade Did not survive the ALK swing of 2018 Orange Montipora Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 Tyree Pinky the Bear Did not survive the nutrient spike of summer 2019 Rainbow Montipora I just returned from my 2 week winter recess - no casualties! So I will be working on the tank a little more but, after today's water change I took some individual photos. Rich 3 1 Quote Link to comment
mitten_reef Posted January 3, 2018 Share Posted January 3, 2018 8 hours ago, WindyCityReefer. said: Well time for a big update! Tank is about 60/40 SPS and LPS. Unfortunately water changes were not enough to maintain alk and calcium so I opted for a doser. I decided to go with the GHL 2.1 stand-alone unit. While more expensive, you cannot beat German quality. Luckily I was able to snag one for a fantastic price over Black Friday SPS stocklist has increased quite a bit. Over the fall semester I got a sweet frag pack from a fellow hobbyist from back home. SPS, including those from my previous list: Vivid's Rainbow Delight WWC Blueberry Acropora Walt Disney Tenius Purple Milka Stylo Season's Greetings Montipora Aussie Candlelight Acropora BattleCorals Sky Dopple Acropora RMF Diablo Millepora Tyree Ice Fire Echinata (sp?) Tyree Blue Matrix Bubblegum digitata Pink Lemonade Orange Montipora Tyree Pinky the Bear Rainbow Montipora I just returned from my 2 week winter recess - no casualties! So I will be working on the tank a little more but, after today's water change I took some individual photos. Rich That is one nice fellow hobbyist to know, what a list! The ice-fire echinata looks amazing (top pic, right?) Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted January 4, 2018 Author Share Posted January 4, 2018 14 hours ago, micoastreefing said: That is one nice fellow hobbyist to know, what a list! The ice-fire echinata looks amazing (top pic, right?) Thank you! I will definitely have some frags available in the near future. Growth has been really good! Here are a few more photos I took today. Thought I would include some LPS shots as well. I have to say I am impressed by the growth of the orange montipora. 2 1 Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted February 6, 2018 Author Share Posted February 6, 2018 How about an update?! Came across a gorgeous blue squamosa clam I could not pass up. The color in this guy is unreal! I also picked up an ARC fireworks acro frag from Jason Fox. Still waiting to pull some color out of it before posting some photos. Unfortunately I am nearing the end of my stocking list. Even while trying to be creative with the amount of space in the tank, real estate is hard to come by More photos to come after I complete my routine maintenance this week! 5 Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted March 10, 2018 Author Share Posted March 10, 2018 Well, guess who developed a taste for the clam? The cleaner shrimp.. Unfortunately, I could not get the shrimp out without taking everything apart so I decided to transfer the clam to my father's 100 gallon display. There the clam is doing great. At first I figured the shrimp was just grabbing food but, I witnessed him literally pulling parts of the clam's tissue from the shell. Seeing as I feed the tank heavily every day I did not see a bright future keeping the clam in the system.. On a brighter note, I got a new camera! Below are a few photos of the tank and corals. Everything is doing great even with my chaotic schedule at school. Essentially the tank has been self-sustaining besides the doser and ATO. Hope everyone enjoys! 4 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Beautiful shots @WindyCityReefer., everything is so vivid! What kind of camera did you get? Thats too too bad about the clam, I’m surprised the cleaner shrimp bothered it so much. Quote Link to comment
Halo_003 Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Like @Christopher Marks Said, the shots are impressive! The tank is looking great so far, it will be cool to watch it progress. Quote Link to comment
CarolinaShoreReef Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 Nice to see another student doing this! Your tank looks awesome! Shows the difference between someone who's been in the hobby for a while vs me lol. Very nice. Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted March 11, 2018 Author Share Posted March 11, 2018 5 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Beautiful shots @WindyCityReefer., everything is so vivid! What kind of camera did you get? Thats too too bad about the clam, I’m surprised the cleaner shrimp bothered it so much. Thank you! I am using a Canon 5d mark 3. Yeah I was definitely bummed and would have rather kept the clam but, it was not worth dismantling the tank. Thankfully my father has a mature setup so I will still be able to enjoy watching it grow whenever I make trips back home. 1 hour ago, Halo_003 said: Like @Christopher Marks Said, the shots are impressive! The tank is looking great so far, it will be cool to watch it progress. Thanks! It is amazing how much a camera can make a difference. The tank is a little over a year old now. A lot of SPS are getting closer than I would like.. I am sure I will pull the clippers out sooner rather than later. 1 hour ago, CarolinaShoreReef said: Nice to see another student doing this! Your tank looks awesome! Shows the difference between someone who's been in the hobby for a while vs me lol. Very nice. Thank you! I think the biggest hurdle is having patience and not tinkering with the tank too much. My guess is that a lot of the corals are thriving because I try not to have my hands in the water too much. I guess it helps having the schedule of a grad student I'd love to take a look at your tank if you have a thread going! 1 Quote Link to comment
CarolinaShoreReef Posted March 11, 2018 Share Posted March 11, 2018 2 hours ago, WindyCityReefer. said: Thank you! I think the biggest hurdle is having patience and not tinkering with the tank too much. My guess is that a lot of the corals are thriving because I try not to have my hands in the water too much. I guess it helps having the schedule of a grad student I'd love to take a look at your tank if you have a thread going! Yeah of course! Im an undergrad student right now and I'll be graduating the same year! I'm into the whole YouTube thing and so I post more videos than pics on there but lately I've uploaded some pics. Just posted a video today of my largest frag haul! Quote Link to comment
WindyCityReefer. Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 On 3/11/2018 at 12:38 AM, CarolinaShoreReef said: Yeah of course! Im an undergrad student right now and I'll be graduating the same year! I'm into the whole YouTube thing and so I post more videos than pics on there but lately I've uploaded some pics. Just posted a video today of my largest frag haul! Looks great! I like the video approach you are taking with documenting everything. Very cool! I decided to take a couple more photos today. Some I liked and others not so much. I have found that getting the most ideal lighting is easier said than done. Below are a couple growth shots and my chalices. Don't get me wrong, I love my SPS but the LPS need some attention! I am blown away with the growth on the orange cap and milka stylo. 2 2 Quote Link to comment
CarolinaShoreReef Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 50 minutes ago, WindyCityReefer. said: Looks great! I like the video approach you are taking with documenting everything. Very cool! Thank you for checking it out! It has helped me keep track of progress and even saved my female clownfish (by being able to go back in time)! I figured I could help inspire others who are just starting out in the hobby, as well! 52 minutes ago, WindyCityReefer. said: I am blown away with the growth on the orange cap and milka stylo. Wow!! You take some really stunning photos. That is something I need to work on! Quote Link to comment
Bowen1022 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Just found.. or refound this tread. Following along Quote Link to comment
Lisa166 Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 This is one amazing tank! Can I ask you what your maintenance system is atm? How often do you do water changes and what do you dose and such? I am in college too, but still afraid to leave my tank alone for more than a few days (which not very nice. Considering I would like to be able to go on holiday for two weeks this summer). I have a 16G. Two clowns and only very easy corals. Picking up a dosing system tomorrow and planning to use the dsr ez method. Quote Link to comment
Indiana Reefin Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Wow wonderful setup. Colors are popping like crazy! Quote Link to comment
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