tmabry Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Hi all, After a few weeks of research and impatient waiting I finally put together my first reef tank, a IM nano fusion 10. Heres the equipment so far: Aqua Knight 30w LED In tank media basket Intank fuge for second chamber koralia nano with Jaebo PP-4 on the way Arag alive Hawaiian black Distilled water and Reef crystals Cobalt Aquatics 50w heater Started the tank this evening with 10 gallons of distilled water and reef crystals over a bed of arag-alive hawiian. Since the tank is so small and distilled water cheap (.60 at walmart) I think Ill take this method for now but may invest in a RO/DI system in the future. Added 2.8 pounds of reef crystals and a cheap tetra heater (cobalt heater arrives tomorrow) and let the tank sit to warm up. After a few hours the salinity read 1.021 exactly what the box said it would, so I added more and after another hour it was at 1.024. I threw a little more in and now waiting for it to hopefully come up to 1.026. The rock in the tank is 10 pounds of cured live rock(?) from a LFS plus a little piece that has coraline. The plan for cycling the tank is Dr. Tims fishless method (http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling). I figured this would be the best strategy since Ive not decided which fish I want yet. Future Plans: Sicce silent .5 (already ordered as the stock pump is loud) Nanobox mini Chaeto in the fuge CUC: thinking few snails and emerald crab Plus fish and coral!! All in all very excited to see the tank come together and share the progress. Im brand new at this so if theres any red flags or advice please feel free to let me know as Im always open to helpful advice and suggestions!! Thomas 3 Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Quick update. Salinity is now perfectly at 1.026 and water temperature seems to have reached 78. Went ahead and added biro-spira and .76ml of ammonia. Left it for an hour and decided to test to make sure the ammonia values were in the ballpark, considering with the rock added the total volume is less than 10 gallons. Attached is the pic. Sorry for the shadow but looks to be right around 2ppm....Now to wait till tomorrow to see what will happen. Quote Link to comment
da1001 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Welcome! Seems like a good start, I had the same tank and started with distilled WalMart water too. I went through about 3 gallons a week, 2 for the water changes and 1 for the evaporation. I cant say enough good things about an RO/DI unit though and being able to make it right there in-house in a bucket with a heater, top up the ATO reservoir if you decide to go that route then mix up some saltwater in another bucket with a heater and powerhead and voila, in a tank this small you would have to run a decent RO/DI unit for maybe 30 minutes a week to get what you need? I don't see an ATO listed so I am not sure you have one but it will help keep your levels more even. I was checking mine 2-3 times a day before I got my ATO working and I could tell the difference for sure. Good luck tmabry! Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 8 hours ago, da1001 said: Welcome! Seems like a good start, I had the same tank and started with distilled WalMart water too. I went through about 3 gallons a week, 2 for the water changes and 1 for the evaporation. I cant say enough good things about an RO/DI unit though and being able to make it right there in-house in a bucket with a heater, top up the ATO reservoir if you decide to go that route then mix up some saltwater in another bucket with a heater and powerhead and voila, in a tank this small you would have to run a decent RO/DI unit for maybe 30 minutes a week to get what you need? I don't see an ATO listed so I am not sure you have one but it will help keep your levels more even. I was checking mine 2-3 times a day before I got my ATO working and I could tell the difference for sure. Good luck tmabry! Thanks for the response. After seeing how much water its taking to top this off I believe I will be investing in a RO/DI unit sooner rather than later. Already ordered a Tunze nano osmolator as well. 12 hour test results attached 1 Quote Link to comment
Laurenscube Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 Welcome to the hobby I have a 12gal so will follow yo always interested in how small system go. What type of coral and fish were you thinking? Quote Link to comment
Segalplayer Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Welcome to the 10g nuvo club! Like the sand definitely get an ato! Maybe the surface skimmer too; to raise the water level in the display. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Hi all, sorry for a delayed update. Just figured that pictures of the daily testing wouldnt be very interesting. Tank seems to be coming along very well, 9 days in and after dosing 2ppm ammonia the tank has zero ammonia and .25ppm nitrates in 24 hours. The issue Im having now is a very high nitrate levels (seems to be holding steady at 40-50ppm). Should this come down as well in time or should I do a water change? Also woke up yesterday to the tank having a brownish coloration on the rocks. From what I read this seems to be Diatoms and am guessing this is a good sign for the tank? Went ahead and ordered a small clean up crew (~10 snails) and some chaeto for the refugium. (also hoping the chaeto will keep nitrates under control) Received the Jaebo pp4 and tunze nano osmolator. Powerhead has already been installed and will put in the ATO this afternoon. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted March 22, 2018 Author Share Posted March 22, 2018 Also played around with the aquascaping a little. Still havent completely decided what I like. On 3/16/2018 at 7:03 AM, laurenscube said: Welcome to the hobby I have a 12gal so will follow yo always interested in how small system go. What type of coral and fish were you thinking? Thanks! Thinking a pair of clownfish right now. As far as corals think I will start with zoas in the beginning and expand from there. Quote Link to comment
Laurenscube Posted July 22, 2018 Share Posted July 22, 2018 any updates on the tank ? Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 Hi all, sorry for the lack of updates. Few changes to the tank but mainly just letting it settle in Redid the aquascape to make it look a little more natural and not so vertical. Also have been battling some white slime in the tank and sump area. Added UV and removed the skimmer and have been opening the window at night. Seems to be going away slowly so fingers crossed. NO3 and PO4 are undetectable now so slowly trying to raise them by feeding more and pulling the skimmer offline. Changed the lightning setup to an aiprime and couldnt be happier. Running it about 10 inches off the water on the settings recommended by BRS Also added the 2 clowns and finally some coral. Corals: Hollywood stunner chalice- not sure if im gonna keep it or not. Cant seem to figure out where the best spot would be. No name zoa from the LFS WWC alpha omega zoa Fire and Ice zoa WWC oxide Zoa- love the super bright orange coloration Neon Duncan JFox Jack-O Lantern Lepto. Right now theyre all sitting on the sand bed. Trying to see where exactly I want to place them. Open to any and all suggestions! Thanks! Thomas 2 Quote Link to comment
Daniel91 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 This reminds me of my own build. Following! Quote Link to comment
dferrari13 Posted August 10, 2018 Share Posted August 10, 2018 Careful with the hollywood stunner....they have large sweeper tentacles and will sting corals close by.....i would dedicate an area for it and try to keep other corals a couple inches away....also duncans and zoas like to be placed low in the tank....lepto higher up Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 1 hour ago, dferrari13 said: Careful with the hollywood stunner....they have large sweeper tentacles and will sting corals close by.....i would dedicate an area for it and try to keep other corals a couple inches away....also duncans and zoas like to be placed low in the tank....lepto higher up Yeah thats what im afraid of. Ive noticed the long sweepers at night. Honestly it may just get donated. With such a small tank every inch counts. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted August 10, 2018 Author Share Posted August 10, 2018 Heres a few more pics of the corals and a FTS. Thinking that small rock in front for the lepto and on the right side for the duncan. Then maybe use the left side for a zoa garden. Lemme know what you think. Would like to incorporate some mushrooms as well as acans down low and hopefully save the top for SPS. Thanks! Quote Link to comment
TatorTaco Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 The frag with multiple zoas on it (green center and green skirts) are called Radioactive Dragon Eyes and they'll outpace the growth of any other zoa you put in there. Might want to consider that with placement since you're already aware of every inch counting. Hope that helps. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted August 15, 2018 Author Share Posted August 15, 2018 9 hours ago, TatorTaco said: The frag with multiple zoas on it (green center and green skirts) are called Radioactive Dragon Eyes and they'll outpace the growth of any other zoa you put in there. Might want to consider that with placement since you're already aware of every inch counting. Hope that helps. Thanks. It absolutely does. Ive been wondering what they were. And I have to agree. Im going to have to decide where to place the frag plug soon or its going to grow off of it. Also do you know if it is normal for the new polyps to be darker? Do they start to show more coloration as they mature and grow? Some of the new ones are pretty lightly colored compared to the originals. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted August 29, 2018 Author Share Posted August 29, 2018 Hi all. Can anyone help ID this stuff in my sandbed? Its white and kind of hugs the sandbed. Started to pop up the other week... Thanks! Thomas Quote Link to comment
dferrari13 Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 2 hours ago, tmabry said: Hi all. Can anyone help ID this stuff in my sandbed? Its white and kind of hugs the sandbed. Started to pop up the other week... Thanks! Thomas Looks like a sponge Quote Link to comment
MrObscura Posted August 30, 2018 Share Posted August 30, 2018 Still have the chalice? I couldn't do a tank without them, they were a must have when I started my tank. I even have an area dedicated to them. I only have 1 right now but the only time I've seen it send out sweepers was when I moved it and it was annoyed. I also have a lot of random flow which I read discourages corals from sending out sweepers. I don't know how true that is but it makes sense since the coral can only reach what the flow will allow. Quote Link to comment
tmabry Posted September 1, 2018 Author Share Posted September 1, 2018 On 8/29/2018 at 8:42 PM, dferrari13 said: interesting. hate they never really concluded what it was. Quote Link to comment
MOB122 Posted September 1, 2018 Share Posted September 1, 2018 Really cool setup. Will keep an eye on your progress. You’re a few months ahead of me and I’m really interested to watch your corals develop. Quote Link to comment
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