BostonReef’s Red Sea Reefer Nano “Build” Mixed Reef

[BostonReef]

Current FTS:

Updated 6/08

 

Hi all!

 

Had an account a while but haven’t done much, but now I’m a convert to nano reefs after 5 years of trying a mid-size 65-70 gallon project, in a condo.  I originally had a custom-built 55g acrylic display with about 15-20g sump, it worked okay but being custom built, the wires were everywhere and it’s reliability in a move was questionable, and the GF only liked something clean, so I ditched the sump and got a Red Sea Max 250 as I moved, which also made the move a lot easier than having only one tank.

 

The lack of a sump was frustratingly limiting though, especially living in a condo.  It’s not tiny but water changes were still done with full size trash buckets, making it a long and tiring process by the time I made the required amount of RO, got salinity and temp right, and finally actually did the WC before ditching the water, which also isn’t so easy with the condo, especially in regard to avoiding any sand ending up in your pipes.

 

So naturally over time it got harder to keep up with the demanding WC schedule required to keep it reef-spec with the stock equipment, even though I specifically went for easier LPS or softies. I ended up giving most away (minus Xenia that got everywhere), as well as a couple fish, to lighten the load.

 

Now, finally, I got a new Red Sea Reefer Nano, which gives me back a sump and makes a water change more like 1 or 2 5 gallon buckets.  That I can deal with 🙂

 

I have one fish that made the move that’s been with me since day one, a beautiful Wyoming White clown.  The other inhabitant by the time I was ready to move was/is a cardinal that unfortunately seems to have either had an infection or something else ruin his nervous system.. he couldn’t handle the flow in the nano and ended up spinning in place below the circulation pump, so I have him in a 10g hospital tank now.  He won’t eat so it’s probably a matter of time, but I don’t have the heart to just kill him.  Tough moral quandry there, if I think he’s likely to starve to death a quick death seems kinder, but I don’t have the heart to kill him.  Ah well, he’s lived a good life until now, I just hope he goes easy. 

 

On to happier times, the Wyoming White had been the male in a pair but the female battled stomach parasites it seemed since day one, and about a year ago just randomly died.  Knowing I’d eventually move the tank, I didn’t want to add anything else at the time, and was already down to the 3 after giving away others.  So, I got him a small black Ocellaris, and they seemed to immediately get along.  “He” is a lot bigger so I assume it’ll end up being the She if they pair up.

 

I also added a firefish as that was one I’d giveb away, I like the life they add for the relatively low bioload.  He’s been a bit scared so far, but I imagine he’ll get more comfortable being out and about, he has at least started coming out for feeding.

 

That’s it for fish.  If the cardinal doesn’t improve in the hospital tank he will not rejoin the group and I may add a 4th.. I’d call that the upper limit on the bioload with a total system volume of 28g.  3 is probably more prudent.

 

For inverts, I have:

1x Fire Shrimp 

2x Emerald Crab

100000x Amphipods

1x Green Montipora

1x Suspected Putple Monti

1x Suspected plating chalice

1x Encrusting Chalice

1x Green Birdsnest

1x Blue Birdsnest

20+ Assorted Zoas

6x Green hairy mushrooms

 

Most coral fraga are small and cheap, hence so many.  Since it’s a tank transfer I didn’t expect and haven’t encountered any mini-cycle issues, that went very smoothly.

 

Equipment-wise:

 

Tank: Red Sea Reefer Nano 21g Cube Display w/ 7g running volume sump

Light: Kessill a160 Tuna Blue w/ controller and gooseneck mount

Return Pump: Reef Octopus Varios 760 GPH Max Controllable DC pump

Circulation Pump: Ecotech Vortech MP10w (1)

Skimmer: “IceKap K2” by Coralvue w/ included pump

Reactor: Somatic SF-1 media reactor w/ Sicce Syncra 1.0 pump running PhosGuard (Considering adding another w/ carbon or biopellets)

Heater: Cobalt Neotherm 100W Heater w/  Inkbird dual outlet temperature controller

 

And the good part, pics!  Hope I get formatting right or I’ll have to upload, let’s hope img tags work..

 

FTS:

 

Tank and stand:

 

Sump Area (don’t mind the alert thing, that thing is stupid, doesn’t look yellow unless it’s in direct sunlight, definitely noy registering Ammonia.):

 

Top-down shot of the sump:

 

Reef Octo Varios Controller and the rat’s nest of wires:

 

The two clowns swimming together:

 

The firefish being a little more brave:

 

Close-up of the black Ocellaris:

 

The Wyoming White spending some alone time in the back:

 

Little peek of the fire shrimp (as I’ve often seen, he molted after being in the tank a day so hasn’t been out a ton):

 

One of the emerald crabs doing his thing:

 

The green monti, minus a little piece that broke off and so is being left to grow elsewhere..:

 

I believe this is a chalice though not really sure, and it looks like it may plate / form a cup, but may just encrust.. will see:

 

Definitely a chalice, I think it will encrust so may move it or at least take it off the plug, seeing if it likes the spot first though (decent flow, med-high light):

 

Green mushrooms:

 

Green and blue birdsnests.. the blue took a fall before I epoxied it, may have touched a chalice, so the front facing side isn’t too happy.  I’m sure it’ll recover though:

 

I think this is a monti? It had green polyps at the LFS and doesn’t seem to want to extend them or the color is way different, I think it may have gotten hit by a sweepet from a chalice or monti so I moved it.. only a $10 frag anyway:

 

Can mostly see them above, but the zoas aren’t super eager to open either.  All 3 plugs were cheap so no big deal, I may cut the bottom off the plug and move them over to the bigger rock on the left, since I think part of it is they’re so central, there’s always somebody walking over them:

 

And that’s it for now! I’m not great with constant updates, but hopefully these modest little frags grow out in the next year plus and I can post em up, and of course I’ll probably get more.  Never used LA / Diver’s Den before, the prices and selection is heaven compared to LFSs though, so I’m gonna make a $1-200 order to try it out, though I still don’t think I’d get any verts or motile inverts in the mail, I figure let the LFS deal with the inevitable dead loss.. hopefully less of an issue with corals, which may suffer but recover.

 

Any input welcomed!  Random thoughts are fine.  A few questions on my mind though, 

• If i get a second reactor, carbon, bipellets, or something else?
• Thinking of turning the ATO into a refugium, and just plumb it along with a reactor after putting in some bulkheads.  Anyone had success / I’m guessing chaeto would be the go to for that? I don’t likr caulerpa, I’ve seen it go sexual.  Grape caulerpa maybe does it less than caulerpa sertulata though? Anyone have experience converting it? I have Tunze so 
• Best photoperiod.. I run about 10 hours a day, high blues morning and night with a steeper ramp up in color early before a gradual decrease in color and intensity.  I could shorten it if algae becomes a problem, so far I’ve only seen what appears to be really minor diatom or some film algae, diatoms are unsurprising in a new tank.
• Would anyone worry too much about 5 year old LR having phosphate issues beyond what PhosGuard can handle? I could try to switch dry rock in one at a time but so far not concerned.

 

All I can think of for the moment.  Thanks for the read if you got this far!  Hopefully I’ll have some good updates to come!

[BostonReef]

More pics!

 

First, in case people like setup pics

 

Stand put together, while my house became a temporary disaster

 

Sump Out of the box

 

DT w/ plumbing in the box

 

Empty but together 

 

 

Mixing salt

 

Success! Mostly

[BostonReef]

And some new ones

 

Side table! Looks perfect, now I just need to side it and have a door somehow

 

The mystery frag, I think a chalice, under heavy blue

 

Candy Cane from a fellow reefer

 

 

[BostonReef]

And on

 

Got a green toadstool but it’s shedding so no nice pics yet

 

NO clue what this is

 

Final fish addition.. Fairy Wrasse!

[BostonReef]

Few more,

 

GSP

 

Goni + ?? Favia? No Clue

 

Stylo, color not amazing but looks super happy 

 

The birdsnests are also looking happier

 

Mini carpet nem

 

One lil Duncan head

 

No idea at all ?? I like it though 

 

Finally, from the LFS...

Is it just me, or is this a short bodied coral banded shrimp with a goby head?

 

 

Can’t get these 2 to delete.

[Lula_Mae]

On 5/24/2018 at 5:22 PM, BostonReef said:

Hi all!

 

Had an account a while but haven’t done much, but now I’m a convert to nano reefs after 5 years of trying a mid-size 65-70 gallon project, in a condo.  I originally had a custom-built 55g acrylic display with about 15-20g sump, it worked okay but being custom built, the wires were everywhere and it’s reliability in a move was questionable, and the GF only liked something clean, so I ditched the sump and got a Red Sea Max 250 as I moved, which also made the move a lot easier than having only one tank.

 

The lack of a sump was frustratingly limiting though, especially living in a condo.  It’s not tiny but water changes were still done with full size trash buckets, making it a long and tiring process by the time I made the required amount of RO, got salinity and temp right, and finally actually did the WC before ditching the water, which also isn’t so easy with the condo, especially in regard to avoiding any sand ending up in your pipes.

 

So naturally over time it got harder to keep up with the demanding WC schedule required to keep it reef-spec with the stock equipment, even though I specifically went for easier LPS or softies. I ended up giving most away (minus Xenia that got everywhere), as well as a couple fish, to lighten the load.

 

Now, finally, I got a new Red Sea Reefer Nano, which gives me back a sump and makes a water change more like 1 or 2 5 gallon buckets.  That I can deal with 🙂

 

I have one fish that made the move that’s been with me since day one, a beautiful Wyoming White clown.  The other inhabitant by the time I was ready to move was/is a cardinal that unfortunately seems to have either had an infection or something else ruin his nervous system.. he couldn’t handle the flow in the nano and ended up spinning in place below the circulation pump, so I have him in a 10g hospital tank now.  He won’t eat so it’s probably a matter of time, but I don’t have the heart to just kill him.  Tough moral quandry there, if I think he’s likely to starve to death a quick death seems kinder, but I don’t have the heart to kill him.  Ah well, he’s lived a good life until now, I just hope he goes easy. 

 

On to happier times, the Wyoming White had been the male in a pair but the female battled stomach parasites it seemed since day one, and about a year ago just randomly died.  Knowing I’d eventually move the tank, I didn’t want to add anything else at the time, and was already down to the 3 after giving away others.  So, I got him a small black Ocellaris, and they seemed to immediately get along.  “He” is a lot bigger so I assume it’ll end up being the She if they pair up.

 

I also added a firefish as that was one I’d giveb away, I like the life they add for the relatively low bioload.  He’s been a bit scared so far, but I imagine he’ll get more comfortable being out and about, he has at least started coming out for feeding.

 

That’s it for fish.  If the cardinal doesn’t improve in the hospital tank he will not rejoin the group and I may add a 4th.. I’d call that the upper limit on the bioload with a total system volume of 28g.  3 is probably more prudent.

 

For inverts, I have:

1x Fire Shrimp 

2x Emerald Crab

100000x Amphipods

1x Green Montipora

1x Suspected Putple Monti

1x Suspected plating chalice

1x Encrusting Chalice

1x Green Birdsnest

1x Blue Birdsnest

20+ Assorted Zoas

6x Green hairy mushrooms

 

Most coral fraga are small and cheap, hence so many.  Since it’s a tank transfer I didn’t expect and haven’t encountered any mini-cycle issues, that went very smoothly.

 

Equipment-wise:

 

Tank: Red Sea Reefer Nano 21g Cube Display w/ 7g running volume sump

Light: Kessill a160 Tuna Blue w/ controller and gooseneck mount

Return Pump: Reef Octopus Varios 760 GPH Max Controllable DC pump

Circulation Pump: Ecotech Vortech MP10w (1)

Skimmer: “IceKap K2” by Coralvue w/ included pump

Reactor: Somatic SF-1 media reactor w/ Sicce Syncra 1.0 pump running PhosGuard (Considering adding another w/ carbon or biopellets)

Heater: Cobalt Neotherm 100W Heater w/  Inkbird dual outlet temperature controller

 

And the good part, pics!  Hope I get formatting right or I’ll have to upload, let’s hope img tags work..

 

FTS:

 

Tank and stand:

 

Sump Area (don’t mind the alert thing, that thing is stupid, doesn’t look yellow unless it’s in direct sunlight, definitely noy registering Ammonia.):

 

Top-down shot of the sump:

 

Reef Octo Varios Controller and the rat’s nest of wires:

 

The two clowns swimming together:

 

The firefish being a little more brave:

 

Close-up of the black Ocellaris:

 

The Wyoming White spending some alone time in the back:

 

Little peek of the fire shrimp (as I’ve often seen, he molted after being in the tank a day so hasn’t been out a ton):

 

One of the emerald crabs doing his thing:

 

The green monti, minus a little piece that broke off and so is being left to grow elsewhere..:

 

I believe this is a chalice though not really sure, and it looks like it may plate / form a cup, but may just encrust.. will see:

 

Definitely a chalice, I think it will encrust so may move it or at least take it off the plug, seeing if it likes the spot first though (decent flow, med-high light):

 

Green mushrooms:

 

Green and blue birdsnests.. the blue took a fall before I epoxied it, may have touched a chalice, so the front facing side isn’t too happy.  I’m sure it’ll recover though:

 

I think this is a monti? It had green polyps at the LFS and doesn’t seem to want to extend them or the color is way different, I think it may have gotten hit by a sweepet from a chalice or monti so I moved it.. only a $10 frag anyway:

 

Can mostly see them above, but the zoas aren’t super eager to open either.  All 3 plugs were cheap so no big deal, I may cut the bottom off the plug and move them over to the bigger rock on the left, since I think part of it is they’re so central, there’s always somebody walking over them:

 

And that’s it for now! I’m not great with constant updates, but hopefully these modest little frags grow out in the next year plus and I can post em up, and of course I’ll probably get more.  Never used LA / Diver’s Den before, the prices and selection is heaven compared to LFSs though, so I’m gonna make a $1-200 order to try it out, though I still don’t think I’d get any verts or motile inverts in the mail, I figure let the LFS deal with the inevitable dead loss.. hopefully less of an issue with corals, which may suffer but recover.

 

Any input welcomed!  Random thoughts are fine.  A few questions on my mind though, 

• If i get a second reactor, carbon, bipellets, or something else?
• Thinking of turning the ATO into a refugium, and just plumb it along with a reactor after putting in some bulkheads.  Anyone had success / I’m guessing chaeto would be the go to for that? I don’t likr caulerpa, I’ve seen it go sexual.  Grape caulerpa maybe does it less than caulerpa sertulata though? Anyone have experience converting it? I have Tunze so 
• Best photoperiod.. I run about 10 hours a day, high blues morning and night with a steeper ramp up in color early before a gradual decrease in color and intensity.  I could shorten it if algae becomes a problem, so far I’ve only seen what appears to be really minor diatom or some film algae, diatoms are unsurprising in a new tank.
• Would anyone worry too much about 5 year old LR having phosphate issues beyond what PhosGuard can handle? I could try to switch dry rock in one at a time but so far not concerned.

 

All I can think of for the moment.  Thanks for the read if you got this far!  Hopefully I’ll have some good updates to come!

 I've had overall good experiences with LiveAquaria and Diver's Den and their guarantee is awesome. Don't be afraid to order inverts from them, just drip acclimate and most of the time they have no problem.  If they don't make it within the time frame you get your money back.

[Zach W]

Nice tank! From the pictures it almost looks like the reefer 170 but the nano is awesome as well. I’ll be curious to see how your fairy wrasse does. I thought about one too for my 20gal (IM 20) but many people told me the tank was on the smaller side for them. They have are amazing fish though so I always wanted one! 

 

What LFS do you use? I also live in the Boston area and go to Love the Reef in Wilmington. 

[BostonReef]

5 hours ago, Zach W said:

Nice tank! From the pictures it almost looks like the reefer 170 but the nano is awesome as well. I’ll be curious to see how your fairy wrasse does. I thought about one too for my 20gal (IM 20) but many people told me the tank was on the smaller side for them. They have are amazing fish though so I always wanted one! 

 

What LFS do you use? I also live in the Boston area and go to Love the Reef in Wilmington. 

 

Yeah it looks surprisingly like the 170, i mean dimensions aren’t that far off just 6” extra per side - The bigger ones have a clear advantage but for one on the smaller size, I’m loving the nano; 5g bucket is all I need for a regular w/c and a 10g if I really need to change the water (like when I accidentally spiked Alk and made all the motile inverts act drunk until I moved them, but that’s a different story).  Also, this things light enough I can slide it if I have to! That wasn’t ever working on the old 250, lol.

 

LTR is a cool store, I heard about it through a friend a few years ago who knows the owner, right around when they opened, I was actually considering popping up there this weekend.  They have great corals (Though I call it the blue store because everything is actinic, lol, but hey things do pop), and their livestock has generally been cool, but there wasn’t a ton last time I went.  That was a full few years ago though.

 

Mainly due to hours, Tropic Isle or sometimes Lovely Pets are my go-tos, although there are a surprising number of petcos in the area with decent SW sections - got my carpet from one in quincy for $20, they also had torches, gonis, lots of zoas, and even sea hares; Whats more, the employees actually knew their shit! Is that standard now maybe? I remember petcos that had SW not even knowing what they were selling..

 

But yeah.  TI used to be my overall favorite because of its hours, til 9 daily, and it had a good mix of inverts fish and dry goods.  LTR had beautiful corals and fish (but not many, just on the back walls from what I remember), but very little on the dry good side.  Lovely pets gets some nice livestock but its dry goods selection is poor.  

 

I also had some experience with Unique Aquaria which was nearby.. let’s just say it’s good for the customers that THAT owner had to close up shop, even though his stock was good.

 

Yeah I really might have to drive up to wilmington, something to do anyway.  I’d bet it’s only better than before.  Currently on the hunt for some sexy shrimp that I hope will live in the carpet nem, no one else has had em yet!

[BostonReef]

8 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

 I've had overall good experiences with LiveAquaria and Diver's Den and their guarantee is awesome. Don't be afraid to order inverts from them, just drip acclimate and most of the time they have no problem.  If they don't make it within the time frame you get your money back.

Whereabouts are you from?  What bothers me most is that I’m east coast and they’re in CA.  I suppose if you’re air shipping it doesn’t matter much, just given all the packages I’ve had to pickup at the post office / ups etc. because they couldn’t find the doorbell or something.. makes me nervous putting livestock in that same system.

 

It’s probably for the best, a single LFS only has so much.  I can see myself ‘accidentally’ ordering 10 frags when I had planned on one, especially on diver’s den, it’s all so pretty..

 

Have to constantly remind myself it’s a nano and I gotta cool it on the coral if I want them to have room to grow.

 

On that note..  Aussie Hammer! Lol (from Lovely Pets)

 

That rock is starting to annoy me though, may switch it for some dry rock that has holes that I can put plugs in.. had to glue the hammer and the candy cane is just balancing.

[Zach W]

30 minutes ago, BostonReef said:

 

Yeah it looks surprisingly like the 170, i mean dimensions aren’t that far off just 6” extra per side - The bigger ones have a clear advantage but for one on the smaller size, I’m loving the nano; 5g bucket is all I need for a regular w/c and a 10g if I really need to change the water (like when I accidentally spiked Alk and made all the motile inverts act drunk until I moved them, but that’s a different story).  Also, this things light enough I can slide it if I have to! That wasn’t ever working on the old 250, lol.

 

LTR is a cool store, I heard about it through a friend a few years ago who knows the owner, right around when they opened, I was actually considering popping up there this weekend.  They have great corals (Though I call it the blue store because everything is actinic, lol, but hey things do pop), and their livestock has generally been cool, but there wasn’t a ton last time I went.  That was a full few years ago though.

 

Mainly due to hours, Tropic Isle or sometimes Lovely Pets are my go-tos, although there are a surprising number of petcos in the area with decent SW sections - got my carpet from one in quincy for $20, they also had torches, gonis, lots of zoas, and even sea hares; Whats more, the employees actually knew their shit! Is that standard now maybe? I remember petcos that had SW not even knowing what they were selling..

 

But yeah.  TI used to be my overall favorite because of its hours, til 9 daily, and it had a good mix of inverts fish and dry goods.  LTR had beautiful corals and fish (but not many, just on the back walls from what I remember), but very little on the dry good side.  Lovely pets gets some nice livestock but its dry goods selection is poor.  

 

I also had some experience with Unique Aquaria which was nearby.. let’s just say it’s good for the customers that THAT owner had to close up shop, even though his stock was good.

 

Yeah I really might have to drive up to wilmington, something to do anyway.  I’d bet it’s only better than before.  Currently on the hunt for some sexy shrimp that I hope will live in the carpet nem, no one else has had em yet!

Yeah LTR is smaller but coral selection really is good, definitely lots of actinics.. haha. And I hear you on having a limited dry goods selection, store footprint is small though so it’s tough. If there’s ever anything you need (livestock or dry goods) they can order for you which is nice. The hours are a little strange but it’s like that because they also do custom installations and maintainence during the times they aren’t in the store.

 

Im just scared to get anything from petco.. haha I will be really curious to see how it all works out! 

[BostonReef]

 

37 minutes ago, Zach W said:

Yeah LTR is smaller but coral selection really is good, definitely lots of actinics.. haha. And I hear you on having a limited dry goods selection, store footprint is small though so it’s tough. If there’s ever anything you need (livestock or dry goods) they can order for you which is nice. The hours are a little strange but it’s like that because they also do custom installations and maintainence during the times they aren’t in the store.

 

Im just scared to get anything from petco.. haha I will be really curious to see how it all works out! 

 

Don’t be! The Petsmart and Petco both at/near Shopper’s world in Framingham is good, as is the Quincy one I mentioned which is literally 2 blocks from lovely pets, so I often stop just because it’s so easy and you never know what they have, amd actually get more name brand stuff than most LFS (I don’t know about LTR right now), but they had ORA stuff in their frag tank >$50.  And as I said they actually know what they’re doing, at least the specific fish staff, tanks are actually cleaner than TI or LP.   I recall LTR being pretty clean though, but at the others you can see plenty of Aiptasia and majanos (though I don’t get why people consider them such pests, I’ve always had a couple and they’ve never grown big or spread like the aip) or bubble algae etc., the Quincy one at least was impressively pest free.

 

LTR manages to be good I think exactly because of the wonky schedule and focus on contracts, which is always a store’s bigger money maker.  IIRC he doesn’t really employ many people, whereas Tropic Isle, say, has a big staff to pay, making it really hard to spend money on upgrades or fixes, hence the broken-down look.  Petcos by their chain nature can deal with overhead far better and it seems in the past 10 years they’ve made a considerable effort to change their rep as an LFS, so cleaner, less dingy systems and often a better idea of sourcing (I usually get a shrug at TI or LP if I ask if it’s wild caught, etc, unless it was a designer clown or something).

 

If you’re more north I don’t know which are good up there, but it’s worth a shot.  Also you may already be there but the Boston Reefer Society forum always has for sales and that’s always so much cheaper, I got like 5 nice frags for $40 where one would have cost that at the store.

 

I think I am gonna head there now actually, nice day for a drive (LTR that is), only 2 hours to close.

 

[Lula_Mae]

4 hours ago, BostonReef said:

Whereabouts are you from?  What bothers me most is that I’m east coast and they’re in CA.  I suppose if you’re air shipping it doesn’t matter much, just given all the packages I’ve had to pickup at the post office / ups etc. because they couldn’t find the doorbell or something.. makes me nervous putting livestock in that same system.

 

It’s probably for the best, a single LFS only has so much.  I can see myself ‘accidentally’ ordering 10 frags when I had planned on one, especially on diver’s den, it’s all so pretty..

 

Have to constantly remind myself it’s a nano and I gotta cool it on the coral if I want them to have room to grow.

 

On that note..  Aussie Hammer! Lol (from Lovely Pets)

 

That rock is starting to annoy me though, may switch it for some dry rock that has holes that I can put plugs in.. had to glue the hammer and the candy cane is just balancing.

I'm in NC. When UPS left my box in the warehouse over the weekend, L.A. was great.  Diver's Den actually ships from their Wisconsin facility rather than CA. ORA stuff ships from Florida. The product page will tell you which facility it ships from. If your UPS people are less than stellar you can always have it held at the nearest UPS facility for pickup, which I did after the warehouse incident. 

[BostonReef]

3 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

I'm in NC. When UPS left my box in the warehouse over the weekend, L.A. was great.  Diver's Den actually ships from their Wisconsin facility rather than CA. ORA stuff ships from Florida. The product page will tell you which facility it ships from. If your UPS people are less than stellar you can always have it held at the nearest UPS facility for pickup, which I did after the warehouse incident. 

Good point, considering there’s facilities close by that’s probably the easiest way to avoid any issues.

 

I dod go to Love the Reef..

 

Couple new hammers for my hammer garden:

 

And you can catch some of this digitate sps above, I already forgot which (but does have a red monti attached!).  Strangely, it’s purple with green polyps in the tank (I’ll add a pic later when it’s cleared the slime created while dipping)

 

Also couple updates on the sump.. still may make a separate fuge, for now the corner with some charcoal in a media bag as a “wall” is working to keep the chaeto in place:

 

Not sure about my light location, so I haven’t mounted its ‘mount’ anywhere.. seems best currently just to have it as is, between Ato res and the extra FW above it:

 

Might make for an over algae-ridden sump and I may go for a waterproof LED or something that can spotlight the chaeto, depending how it goes.  The tightness of the sump makes traditional mounting usually not possible.

[Ranjib]

Looking good. 

[BostonReef]

Thanks!

 

As promised, some better shots coming up from my trip to Love The Reef.

 

For any Boston-area people., it’s still a great place, quite a bit better than the last time when it was mainly the owner.  I didn’t even see him, but saw 3 staff people, a lot for a store that size.  Good selection of $20 frags and more expensive one in 4 big center tanks, but prices are very reasonable IMO for retail, far better than Tropic Isle especially given the quality (still no name brand stuff but beautiful nonetheless)

 

Tanks are cleaner than ever, really beautiful, and they do maintain a small but interesting and well-picked selection of fish and inverts.  (No sexy shrimp though, still on the hunt.  Could try LA for it but I don’t want to start them on a wild caught anemone shrimp, I feel like they’d be more vulnerable wheras a coral I’d be pretty comfortable.  They said they get them as do most in the area).  Similarly, thr dry good selection remains small, but what they do have is well chosen and useful, not a bunch of useless FW crap or anything like takes up a lot of the not-SW-only stores, which is basically all the rest.  But yeah, I don’t recall any FW tanks at all, if they had some they were not many.

 

Anyway, pics!

 

Updated FTS Midday lighting 6/03/18

(All the fish making an appearance as well):

 

I’m so bad with names.. they didn’t call it a monti digitata though.  Was only $75 for the whole piece, a little bit which I broke off, and which had a red monti growing on it, although like the main coral. its color totally changed in my tank.  Might have to look into coral color additions, I think even with weekly water changes things are getting depleted fast.

 

I took the piece I accidentally fragged off and put it elsewhere to grow.  No doubt I’ll sell some to fellow reefers or trade in eventually, but to have a nicely grown bit for $75.. couldn’t resist.

 

The Hammer Garden from another angle.  The candy cane still isn’t looking thrilled after a dip when I saw an Aiptasia on the bottom; Rather than attack it in tank I took it out and attacked where I could FW dip, scrub, and pick.  Hopefully didn’t spread.

 

The bluer one came from LTR and was $45 flat, called a toxic hammer I think.  The one in the back is a splatter I think and also got it at a flat $45, even though it was listed $30 / head:

The aussie green hammer lookin good too.

 

Happy to see that in under 2 weeks this as yet not-IDed LPS frag grew out a wall to its second mouth.. really quick for a stony imo!

 

Before:

 

Now:

Still not fully formed, but it’s there.

 

The tank remains pretty algae free thanks to this guy:

 

Gonna have to cycle him out soon though and either give him a steady algal diet and plop him in if GHA gets bad (I don’t expect it once it’s fully established), or just sell him back to LFS. He only cost me $10 so I may at least breakeven going to TI.  What an ugly bastard.

 

 

Ordered a second reactor to run Biopellets as I’m seeing ~6 NO3.   May be temporary but I don’t want it to runaway.  Seriously considering changing the skimmer too, I’m having a very hard time getting a good constant skim from this icecap.  May go with RO nano.

 

PhosGuard is doing its job as PO4 remains undetectable.  

[Zach W]

Nice! I almost picked up that blueish splattered hammer that you got from LTR earlier in the day... now I’m jealous haha. I picked up a hammer, mushroom, and candy cane just to make sure my tank is in a good spot for corals. They are my first ones! 

[BostonReef]

2 hours ago, Zach W said:

Nice! I almost picked up that blueish splattered hammer that you got from LTR earlier in the day... now I’m jealous haha. I picked up a hammer, mushroom, and candy cane just to make sure my tank is in a good spot for corals. They are my first ones! 

Nice, that’s a good start! Most anything they had was nice looking, especially the hammers, the expensive af aussid golden torches were gone ($120/head$, I was curious what that looked like.   They definitely have a decent variety of mid-level SPS if you’re going mixed reef.  I saw a couple acro-looking ones that were beautiful but probably really tough to card for, but their montis and stuff are all pretty cool looking, I know the big finger one I grabbed whatever type it was, is also in the show tank and frag tank along with some others.  But definitely LPS is where they had the best with all those hammers and some torches, bubbles, etc.

 

Couple more shots..

Candy cane with feeders fully out:

 

And the toad stool is finally finishing shedding.. IIRC it’ll swell quite a bit over the next few days too to meet where it was.  For such easy corals they’re so moody about being moved, seem to very often shed and take longer than usual doing it IME.

 

That’s all for now.. I’d like to say I won’t spend more, but I probably will.  Besides the upgrades I have coming I’m giving this skimmer about 2 months tops to start doing its job well after I set up the bio pellet reactor’s effluent to run into the skimmer pump.  If by the time I know the pellets are working, it’s still either varying height for no clear reason, or generally failing to get a nice heavy sludgd, I’l probably just get a nicer one likd an octo.

 

Also need to balance my fleshy LPS out, some torches and maybe frogsawn or bunble coral would be nice.  I picked up a reef saver rock I’m currently soaking in RO, I may change out the left side top rock, it’s so smooth that cyanoacrylate glue is about the only option to attach stuff.  I do prefer nooks you can wedge plugs in to make moving easy as you see fit, so I may add that around when I add more corals.. just can’t help myself, this thing will be packed.

[Zach W]

46 minutes ago, BostonReef said:

Nice, that’s a good start! Most anything they had was nice looking, especially the hammers, the expensive af aussid golden torches were gone ($120/head$, I was curious what that looked like.   They definitely have a decent variety of mid-level SPS if you’re going mixed reef.  I saw a couple acro-looking ones that were beautiful but probably really tough to card for, but their montis and stuff are all pretty cool looking, I know the big finger one I grabbed whatever type it was, is also in the show tank and frag tank along with some others.  But definitely LPS is where they had the best with all those hammers and some torches, bubbles, etc.

 

Couple more shots..

Candy cane with feeders fully out:

 

And the toad stool is finally finishing shedding.. IIRC it’ll swell quite a bit over the next few days too to meet where it was.  For such easy corals they’re so moody about being moved, seem to very often shed and take longer than usual doing it IME.

 

That’s all for now.. I’d like to say I won’t spend more, but I probably will.  Besides the upgrades I have coming I’m giving this skimmer about 2 months tops to start doing its job well after I set up the bio pellet reactor’s effluent to run into the skimmer pump.  If by the time I know the pellets are working, it’s still either varying height for no clear reason, or generally failing to get a nice heavy sludgd, I’l probably just get a nicer one likd an octo.

 

Also need to balance my fleshy LPS out, some torches and maybe frogsawn or bunble coral would be nice.  I picked up a reef saver rock I’m currently soaking in RO, I may change out the left side top rock, it’s so smooth that cyanoacrylate glue is about the only option to attach stuff.  I do prefer nooks you can wedge plugs in to make moving easy as you see fit, so I may add that around when I add more corals.. just can’t help myself, this thing will be packed.

The gold torches looked awesome, I saw them earlier in the week but I was there to pick up fish instead.. when I went back they were gone unfortunately 

[MainelyReefer]

I think your mystery chalice is a rainbow monti, not sure if someone else mentioned that.

[BostonReef]

On 6/4/2018 at 6:59 AM, GraniteReefer said:

I think your mystery chalice is a rainbow monti, not sure if someone else mentioned that.

Nope, thanks for the input! Very well could be that.  The particular LFS that came from is clueless as to what’s what so I’m left just knowing it’s pretty. 

 

I suppose that can be concerning where, what is it, montis, are technically lps? I know one of them is, even though I think of it as sps since it sure looks like it.

 

That other unidentified possibly Favia LPS that grew back its second mouth and corallites etc.,along with the others sure took their toll, Ca down to 260 so I dosed Kent Coral-Vite (I don’t love this, it does have Ca but also other stuff, while probably things like Mg are also down I’d prefer just to dose what I can test..), and a W/C coming.

 

I guess Ca can definitely drop quicker in a smaller volume, guess I might have to speed up looking into a doser to keep it steady

[BostonReef]

Nitrates unsurprisingly popped up a bit, seem to have stabilized at ~8.

 

Put in a second reactor, used the Syncra 1.0 on it and put a 1.5 on the PhosGuard reactor since I wasn’t getting amazing movement with the 1.0, and the Biopellets from what I understand just want a gentle tumble.  So I set that up and because I’m not perfectly patient, I dosed some Dr. Tims into it hoping to kick start the bacterial population in it.  Left the skimmer off for 48 hours, just recently turned it on.. now my sump is stuffed but hopefully with the drain from the Bio pellets pointed right at the skimmer it’ll start pulling out a solid muck.  Just having 3 pumps in that section must create one hell of an amount of recirculating water before it makes it back to the return, so hopefully that works out..

 

Sump right now:

 

A bit of a mess, but keeping my hoses longer than necessary while I try everything out.  I eventually need to switch for some dark green or black hose because algal growth is gonna be an issue with the fuge light.  I *may* get the Kessil fuge light so I can link it up to the same controller and just run it opposite the main light’s hours to balance pH and not overdo it, although I don’t think the chaeto is unappreciative of the 24/7 lighting and if algae wants to grow on those rocks they’re very easily cleaned.

 

I’m looking to get nitrates around a steady 1-2.  Hopefully the biopellets do that.  If not, I’ve had success with NO3/PO4X from Red Sea, so plan B would be to pull out both reactors, get a better/bigger skimmer and rely on that.

 

After a W/C and using the Coral-Vite once Ca is a decent 420, Alk still a little high from my spike, currently 12.6, pH at about 8.2-8.3.  Main worry is temp since it likes to get up to 80-81 range, and I know not all corals will appreciate that.  I’m often chilly at home and like it warmer but especially with summer coming I might just have to blast the AC, if the ambient temp is 70-72 rather than 76-78 I’d imagine it won’t be an issue.  That or get a chiller but not a move I want to make, for one because probably the most effective method would be to plumb it right out to the porch behind it so it’s outside, but doing that well would be pricey, and when it comes time to sell I imagine most people wouldn’t appreciate the line outdoors lol.

 

Anyway, the leather has finally stopped being moody and is back to his full beauty:

 

I’m realizing I got a good deal on the splatter hammer, charged like it was 2 heads (less really) and at night it’s pretty obvious it’s in the process of starting to split both of them.  Looking HUGE now

 

Besides one condy which constantly moved and eventually killed itself by always moving out of the light (under T5s in the 65g of the RSM Max 250, definitely wasn’t too much light tank wide) and slowly just shriveling.

 

By contrast, the carpet seems happy in the spot it chose just a few inches from where I placed it.  I thought he’d eaten a hermit until I discovered the hermit actually just stole the shell from a nassarius that was dead or dying.  I need to add some shells so they don’t get aggressive about it.

 

And the hermit with his new shell:

 

And a FTS

 

[BostonReef]

I’m not sure if it’s the biopellets, put to work quickly with the Dr. Tims, the makeshift fuge, just a maturation past an initial soft cycle, or a combo, but algae has become basically a non-issue in impressive time.  As well, coralline is coming in fast and strong, I did use a Bio-Spira product that supposedly has coralline cells, perhaps that helped.  Anyway, snapped some shots in the morning (not blue) light:

 

FTS (everyone still waking up):

 

Good Coralline growth, algae minimal and reducing:

 

Front sandbed: Nice and clean

 

Peek in back

 

Side view w/ my finger.. clowns waking up

 

 

 

In my experience, 3-4 weeks is when I’d see the most algae after a transfer, so I’m happy it’s going well.

 

My main concern with the double reactor and skimmer setup is the heat likely added by the pumps.  I think my temperature controller is off, an analog thermometer and a digital both show a degree lower which would mean a high around 79, which I’m more okay with, and keeping the AC blasted is lowering it towards 78.  I hate how hard it is to get a definitive temp reading, you can have 8 things telling you different temps.. I’ll get a quality digital thermometer eventually.

 

If temp seems to be an issue but I really like the reactor setup, I may consider a cooler.

 

I have a pinpoint pH probe that always worked surprisingly well and a long time without recal, I may put that to work here.

 

In other news my “damaged” cardinal that is blind in one eye from an infection and seems almost stuck in a left-hand-turn pattern, who has been in a hospital tank since he didn’t seem to be eating and couldn’t handle the flow in the DT, I recently observed eating food off the BB of the tank.  So that is clearly how he’s been surviving, I’ve been mystified and feeling terrible he may be starving, but nope, just very odd.

 

Since it’s looking like he may be with me a while longer yet and can’t handle the DT flow, I’m strongly considering a slightly smaller 10-15g low flow tank for him and perhaps a couple sea horses and/or a pipefish.  Not sure yet if I want to plumb it in to the same system or just get a small nano AIO, both have advantages.  Between the ease of setup and fact that I can use it as a coral QT, I’m leaning towards a separate system, only downside being it’s a separate water change and so a little more maintenance.  If I do a 10g, doing 50% biweekly should almost eliminate the need for any filtration really, so may be best.. will update!

 

 

[BostonReef]

I posted in amother thread about an unwelcome surprise, an emerald (of which there are/were now 4 which is admittedly a bit much, planned on moving 1 or 2 eventually) had taken to eating my stylo! At first I thought he was perhaps picking at a slime coat or, idk, maybe some algal cells there, but after more than a day and chasing him away only to have him return shortly after, 3/4 times over, with all polyps retracted, it was pretty clear.  So, banished for now to the hospital tank with my poor cardinal! More on that..

 

Snapped this cool (i think) shot of the carpet nem and how it has itself anchored (Good thing I’m happy with him, he’d be hard to move):

 

In other news, either the skimmer has hit its stride or the biopellets are helping.  Either way, finally some good skimmate and it seems most montis etc have responded immediately, polyps open wider than ever.  Waiting a few days to test nitrates again but I’d bet they’re dropping (gonna be hopeful and try low range by the end of the week):

Beautiful fish poop! Foaming well, pretty thick, I’m happy.

 

My Stylo with its polyps back out but the emerald’s damage clear:

 

Straight to the bone! Luckily just 2 spots, he’s out, should hopefully be a rapid recovery.  Oh, forgot to mention, the sea hare is out of the tank as well so it’s keeping algae away with no help from that lawnmower.

 

 

On my poor cardinal.. at some point probably a year ago, a fish died while I was on vacation in my 65g, I’m not sure why, but thr cardinal must have hung nearby or got blasted by a strong plume of ammonia water, because I’m almost positive he got an ammonia burn.  It caused an infection in one eye, swelling it up permanently; I doubt he has full vision.  When I moved him, he fared poorly in the transition and worse the first day or two, so I took him to the hospital tank.

 

As far as I could tell he refused to eat, and was either being bullied or had an infection because his back fin looked terrible.  He could barely control himself.. he still spins around in circles and will need a low flow tank.  I didn’t think I’d get there, until I spied him

eating what I’d fed off the ground.. for whatever reason, that’s his habit now.  He’s looking better, though still constantly doing left hand circles..

 

 

So, gotta think long term housing.  Flow in the main tank is just absurd for him, he can’t handle it.  I’m torn between plumbing in a tank or just running a nuvo or something separately.. that’d definitely be the slightly cheaper option but easier for W/Cs when all linked.  I’ll figure that out, probably get a decent cheap light, and make it a softy and gorgonian type tank with either a couple little seahorses or pipefish, since it’ll be low flow and that’ll add to the excitement.  Will be sure to update when I pick!

[BostonReef]

After planning on giving it a lot of thought I saw a Fluval Evo 13.5 for $100 and said screw it.  Bought a stand at petco just to get it on something, and for now put it next to my couch.. though may put it im my office, maybe.  The 13.5 does make moving far far easier.

 

I’m sure there’s build threads for it and so far it’s pretty bare bones.. I’m unsure if I want it to be basically a FOWLR with maybe some GSP and gorgonians / sea fans if I want to go the pygmy seahorse route.   Pipefish also still a consideration, though I guess just because it’s a low flow tank doesn’t mean it needs low flow-specific inhabitants.  I’ve really missed my Valentini that was with me about 4 years before he died, maybe I could try that..  I think I have to look into skimmer options (there arent many) and run PO4/NO3X if I want something that waste-producing.  Definitely wouldn’t have an aggression issue... Hmm.  If there’s a stocking ideas forum maybe I’ll make a post.

 

Anyway, I’m bad remembering unboxing and setup pics, but it was extremely straight forward:

 

(My sand was leaking so this time sand went in first, then just cleared it away where I wanted to add rocks)

 

Might move it so it’s not blocking the window.  The stand is also clearly more made for a horizontal orientation, but it’s basically a peninsula tank so I wanted both sides visible.

 

Adding water, making a mess..

 

And finally a couple days later ready to go:

 

You can see the Cardinal enjoying his new home.  I wanted a decent amount of rock because there’s not a ton else for filtration, and I still have extra pieces sitting in a tub from my 250.  As I found out when adding some salt and apparently shocking some amphipods (I was fishing them out with a net.. a lot), it still has a healthy pod pop so I’m not concerned moving the cardinal over.  One trouble emerald is there now too but he may not be the last..

 

 

Also finally found my sexy shrimp:

 

 

Taking to the carpet well!

 

[BostonReef]

Updates:

 

Heat continues to be my biggest enemy. The 3 pumps in the sump certainly doesn’t help, but it’s mainly just that I’ve grown used to 75-78, just wearing shorts and a t shirt at home in the summer.. The tank only is gonna stay at 78 if I keep the room temp below 74, really more like 62/63 since there’s one thermostat for the house and it’s much more centrally located and therefore insulated, the tank, near a glass door and outside wall, not quite as much.. I’m sure there’s a temp difference in the room.

 

I don’t want to run a full chiller - costly, loud, works best outdoors, etc..

 

I like the Ice Probe.. definitely not cutting any holes though so I’d have to figure out how to mount it.. i suppose using the plastic flourescent light grid whatever you call that could work, just build one that keeps it safely above the water while allowing the probe in..

 

I forget the name, there’s also a nano that works with a pump like a normal chiller but is tiny.  Makes me worry about leaks having water running anywhere outside the tank, but with some hose clamps probably not an issue.. not sure on power though.  Or I could give in and go 1/4 hp but reaaally dont want to.. hit 84 yesterday though when I woke up late and the AC had apparently shut itself back to 80 (Damn Nest trying to learn.. I think I have that sorted), so need to solve that or else any sensitive corals will start hurting quickly.

 

Anyway, I am leaning towards keeping the reactors and dealing with the heat though, I’m pretty sure the biopellets are definitely working their magic:

 

Nice, solid pull, about 3-4 days between cleanings.  Definitely helping to keep cyano and others id expect to have already shown up looking ugly.  A biweekly WC and dosing in between should work.  Also ordered Red Sea’s coral colors pack and the relevant test kits, so hopefully I can get some more color and perhaps change some things like my monti digi back to green (Still amazed how that can instantly change yet seem perfectly happy).

 

Added a torch; Saw the golden aussies previously mentioned but at $200 I couldn’t justify it despite their beauty.  Unfortunately I’m not exactly flush with space but I suppose I could move the back hammer if I change my mind.  Anyway, this one still looks nice imo:

 

Standard enough looking I suppose, but I do like the long thin tentacles.

 

Shot of the carpet 

 

And new scape in the cardinal’s evo 13.5: