Herodes Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Hello all! New member here to share my Red Sea Reefer Nano build to give my 5G pico friends a new home Just briefly about myself: I have experience in reef tanks having built a 120 gallon fully automated tank about 11 years ago but I have been away for some time now and I am amazed at the technological developments. I moved to the UAE one year ago and could not resist the urge to start something small. As the project has progressed, so has my level of ambition. My current tank is a 20l Macro Aqua M5S with a build in skimmer modified for the bioload with media, pH monitoring, RO ATO and AquaMedic Qube with controller and an PM10. The tank was strarted with well cured live rock and established water, cutting the cycle time to a minimum. Water params are very stable and good as the skimmer does its job and water changes about every two weeks with weekly testing. Soo.........on to the new project I just got a Red Sea Reefer Nano (28 gallon total) ready tank. I chose this following all the good feedback and positive reviews, and that it has a sump making it soo much more customizable. Living in the UAE provides you with excellent livestock from SE Asia but equippment can be limited to select suppliers, so you travel to many shops to source what you want, most of it in Dubai. My goal is to create an estetic mixed reef with fish, LPS and SPS but without any specific plan. I do however want the system to be advanced and easily monitored as I travel alot in work. Equippment chosen for the tank is: - Skimmer: Reef Octopus Classic 110s - Light: Aqua Illumination Hydra 26 - Sicce Syncra Silent 2.0 return pump with flow valve for fine tuning - Heater: JBL ProTemp 150W - Vortech MP10QD (currently in other tank and nano will start with Jebao SW2 during cycle) - Controller: Neptune Apex WiFi with temp, pH, salinity and ORP monitoring, and leak detection. - Media reactor: Innovative Marine MiniMax - DIY refugium with AquaMedic Sunspot 3W LED light - AutoAqua SmartATO (for when away from home to feed off a 5 gallon reservoir) Media: - 10kg Live sand (Nature's Ocean Bioi-Active Live Aragonite) - 64l Nature's Ocean Nutri Sea Water + 41l RO water mixed with AquaMedic Reef Salt - 9kg cured live rock I started with emptying one bag (20 lbs) of live sand which was perfect for this tank to give a 1" layer. Did some pre-aquascaping with a some rocks to create a shelf using zip-ties: Filled up the tank and adjusted the flow rate of the return and overflow box. This system is very quiet! Test kit is ready for the monitoring: Next will be the controller.... 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted February 11, 2018 Share Posted February 11, 2018 Welcome to the community @Herodes! You've built a lovely 5 gallon pico reef, are you planning to transfer all of the livestock to the new tank, or keep the pico going? Looking forward to watching your new RSR Nano progress! Quote Link to comment
DarkMagic Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Looking good, love the 5g, following along for the new setup! Are you measuring ORP because you can, or is there a reason to without ozone? Quote Link to comment
Indiana Reefin Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Beautiful tank! Quote Link to comment
Herodes Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 Thank you all for the warm welcome! 14 hours ago, Christopher Marks said: Welcome to the community @Herodes! You've built a lovely 5 gallon pico reef, are you planning to transfer all of the livestock to the new tank, or keep the pico going? Looking forward to watching your new RSR Nano progress! I will be moving everything from the pico to the new tank over a period of time, starting with the Ocellaris and ending with the BTAs and live rock. The pico will be decommissioned but serve at an isolation tank if the need arises. 11 hours ago, DarkMagic said: Looking good, love the 5g, following along for the new setup! Are you measuring ORP because you can, or is there a reason to without ozone? The ORP came in the kit and is an extra bonus. I have no plans for ozone unless I start seeking that special water clarity, but for this nano now I think its overkill. Also, integration into the the skimmer is a bit tricky on my model. The ORP will mostly be for monitoring large biomass decay. 1 Quote Link to comment
Herodes Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 Ok, a new update as its been 8 days since I started. Apex controller installed with leak detector and probes. Its been over 10 years since I last used one and the Apex was east to set up. All probes except ORP gave valid readings and I checked the temp probe calibration which was perfectly exact. The ORP is low which is common for new probes. The salinity probe was a bit high but I have read that it also needs a breaking in period and will be recalibrated. On day 4, diatoms started to build and I reduced the reds and greens on my Hydra 26 just to avoid a major bloom and have a 8 hour light cycle for now at lower intentity. Also, the LS is starting to show signs of life. I built a small refugium from a plastic container making an overflow and adding a 200l/h pump to it. It now contains some LR rubble and a small ball of Cheato. For light I found an agro LED of 5W which I hope is enough. This is a very small refugium and I have doubts of its use but its a fun addition and has plenty of copepods. I have also chosen to run my reactor during the cycle with carbon and Seachem Phosbond. I am adding one cap of Seachem Stability each day and I have a bottle of FritzZyme 9 on its way. More on the water params shortly..........and thanks for following! 1 Quote Link to comment
Herodes Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 As I was checking my 5 gal pico, I noticed some receding flesh likely due to irritation from the sand bed. Also, it has become the favorit spot for my Blenny to perch on. It has grown 60% in the last 5 months and recovered from similar damage that also included some algae growth on the skeleton which I manage to remove and it fully healed. Hoping the new tank will give it a chance to fully heal. Luckily, no algae growing. I am looking forward to moving everything to the new tank when its ready. I have an ID question to the experts here. When checking the damage to the open brain, I noticed a purple blob in its underside. feeling it with the tweezers, its quite hard rubbery. Anyone know what it could be? I am thinking a sponge but I am unsure. I will dip all corals before transfer to the new tank. Here it the best picture I could get. Quote Link to comment
Herodes Posted February 14, 2018 Author Share Posted February 14, 2018 28 minutes ago, William said: Tunicate ? I don't think so. I tried removing it and it was quite hard and well attached. Quote Link to comment
Herodes Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Ok, almost 7 week into my new venture its time for an update as a lot has happened. Modifications I have done: - Added a 1" block of MarinePure if the end baffle before the return section - Installed a DIY acrylic bulkhead with overflow to section off a larger refugium where I have a tumbling ball of cheato using a power head. Works very neat and is rapidly reducing nutrients just after a few days and a simple mod for the sump on the Reefer Nano. I am using a 6W agro LED for now but have a Kessil h80 on its way. - Installed a Kamoer 3-Channel doser pump for Aquaforest's Component 1+2+3 hooked up to my Apex Powerbar. I use Hanna Checker for daily monitoring of Alk and Ca and Salifert for Mg. I am currently dosing 15ml, having started at 5 as the water was new as an initial auto dose and will adjust upwards as they are depleated. I will likely end up at 25-45 ml per day eventually..... - Installed the Red Sea DIY mesh cover as I don't want any jumping by my fish. - Moved salinity probe to overflow box in the main display and put the temp probe and heater in main display. - Upgraded my Vortech MP10 with the RF chip to make it wirelessly controlled and the WXM module so I now control flow to match light cycle in Apex Fusion. Its a variation of lagoon, reef crest, nutrient transport mode and tidal swell. ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... I have now stocked the tank with a very wide range of primarily SPS and LPS. The SPS frags are very small and spread out after their requirements and will hopefully grow to give a nice balance of texture and color in the tank. The tank is now fully stocked to allow coral growth with the following: SPS - Medusa Montipora (Montipora hirsute) - Sour Apple Birdsnest (Seriatopora guttatus) - Olive Green Branching Montipora (Montipora digitata) - Red Encrusting Montipora (Montipora digitata) - Blue Tip Damicomis (Pocillopora Damicornis) - Cabbage Coral (Montipora foliosa) - Purple Montipora (Montipora capricornis) - Bali Green Slime (Acropora yongei) LPS - Purple Tip Elegance Coral (Catalaphyllia jardinei) - Short Tentacle Plate Corel (Fungia repanda) - Duncan Coral (Duncanopsammia axifuga) - Green Open Brain Coral (Trachyphyllia geoffroyi) - Green Star Polyps (Pachyclavularia sp.) - Big Polyp Blasto (Blastomussa wellsi) - Branching Hammer Coral (Euphyllia ancora) Soft Coral - Cauliflower Colt Coral (Klyxum sp.) Polyps - Dragon Eyes Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) - Japanese Reverse Rastas Zoanthids (Zoanthus sp.) Mushrooms - Green Fluorescent Mushroom (Actinodiscus sp.) Inverts - Tridacna Maxima - Dwarf Blue Leg Hermit (Clibanarius tricolor) - Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp (Lysmata amboinensis) - Super Tongan Nassarius Snail (Nassarius distortus) - Astraea Turbo Snail (Astraea tecta) - Feather Duster (Sabellastarte sp.) - Dorid Nudibranch (Dendrodoris nigra) who hitchhiked with the LR Sea Fan - Rusty Gorgonian (Gorgonia sp.) Fish - Tail Spot Blenny (Ecsenius stigmatura) - Sleeper Blue Dot Goby (Valenciennea sexguttata) - Longnose Hawk Fish (Oxycirrhites typus) - Juveline Ocellaris Clownfish (Amphiprion ocellaris ) Fish are loving their new home and much happier than in the pico (obviously) and there will be no more fish in this tank. As I have a neighbor with a lot of tanks and I may phase out the colt coral and an LPS or two over time.........pray for me Thank you for viewing! 1 Quote Link to comment
Brelson Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 Hi, I'm from the UAE, and I have the same Thabbk as you do—a macro aqua m5s—but sadly, my skimmer is broken. Could you assist me in finding this tank's accessories? since I searched online and couldn't find any accessories. Quote Link to comment
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