ffoott Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Established: October 2017 Disclaimer: It's a long one! (that's what she said?) Hello everyone! My name is André, and I'm from the Azores (a somewhat hidden piece of paradise). This is my second saltwater tank, but the first built on actual experience and purpose. The goal of this tank (yet to be achieved) was to house a small species of Mantis Shrimp. Sadly, Capitan Hook died prematurely during a shipping misstep. Sad times. Anyway, the tank is now an actual reef, and the mantis shrimp idea is on hold. One main idea with this tank (coming from a 50g) was to reduce the equipment and maintenance needed and increase the overall enjoyment of the actual tank. In my case because I collect my own NSW that meant that reducing the total volume of the tank would have a pretty significant impact on the time put into my weekly routine. Also, I wanted it to have a clean, minimalistic look and feel. Especially in a small tank that meant hiding the equipment, so an AIO became an obvious solution. Finally, it had to be cheap. Unhappy wife would mean soon-to-be-dismantled tank xD. Bought some glass, aquarium safe silicone and some acrylic sheets. As I had access to a laser cutter from a jewelry store, all the pieces were custom made to fit the tank. That being said, on to the original setup: Equipment Tank: DIY 10g AIO Lighting: Chinese Par 38 LED Bulb Circulation: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 Filtration: Filter floss, sponge and purigen Temp. Control: Small 50w heater ATO: Tunze Nano Osmolator Skimmer: Air stone diy water bottle skimmer Corals Utterchaos Zoas Scrambled egg Zoas Gorilla nipples Zoas Playboybunny Zoas Sunny D Zoas Rastas Zoas Orange Bam Bams Zoas Ring of Fire Zoas Blue Hornet Zoas Purple Bee Zoas Keds Reds Zoas Red Hornet Zoas Green Mushroom ————————–————————————— Below, a visual time-line of some of the phases the tank went through until reaching its current state: October 2017 It's safer than it looks... Back of the AIO Custom media basket Finished!! Acrilic top helped cut down evaporation and paved the way for the removal of the ATO. November / December 2017 Used some Frieda rock to seed new one, but it starts getting some bad air algae. Had no snails to counter it at the time. Ricordea Florida January - June 2018 - New rock structure made using reef glue added for a hair algae free start. This structure (or rather, part of it) would make it to present day! One of the "legs" broke and the structure had to be adapted. Tailspot Blenny, who sadly died a few days after coming in. Aiptasia eating monster! Tank born little trochus snail. New additions! Couple clownfish, torch, montipora, digitata and hydnophora corals. Top view Side view Simple "refugium" with some chaeto strands added to the back of the tank. July 2018 - changes to lighting and circulation AI Prime HD added! Spin Stream arrived! Unexpected hitchhiker... After light and flow adjustments August 18 Zoa island Current Equipment Tank: DIY 10g AIO Lighting: Ai Prime HD Circulation: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 + IM Spin Stream Filtration: Filter floss, sponge and purigen + Tunze 9001 Temp. Control: Small 50w heater Skimmer: Tunze 9001 Current stock - Occelaris Clownfish x 2 - Trochus Snails x 4 - Zoas (same as above) - Blue, orange and green ricordeas - Green and blue mushrooms - Torch Euphyllia - Red Montipora - Pink Digitata - Green Hydnophora - Purple and green Clavularia After a lot of changes and my fair share of challenges, I finally feel like it's on the right track. Feel free to offer insight or ask questions. Abraço, ffoott 2 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Wow, you've created a gorgeous custom nano reef system @ffoott, impressive tank building skills! I love seeing handbuilt tanks like this! You have a beautiful collection of coral so far, are there many other hobbyists on the islands? Azores looks like an amazing place! What is your method of collecting good NSW for your tank? That's pretty convenient 😄 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 11 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Wow, you've created a gorgeous custom nano reef system @ffoott, impressive tank building skills! I love seeing handbuilt tanks like this! You have a beautiful collection of coral so far, are there many other hobbyists on the islands? Azores looks like an amazing place! What is your method of collecting good NSW for your tank? That's pretty convenient 😄 Thank you! My dad is the handy man, I just talk him into helping me ^^ On the islands there are several. On my particular island, only one more. No local store sells saltwater related Itens, so that's probably a factor...only us masochists risk it hehe. We are almost exactly on the middle of the Atlantic, so the water here is pretty clean - I basically just w8 for the high tide in an area not near any ports. Store it in dark containers until I need it. Haven't had a problem thus far... 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 Hey, Some pics of the last aquascape adjustments I forgot to add! 1 Quote Link to comment
Clown79 Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 13 hours ago, ffoott said: Established: October 2017 Disclaimer: It's a long one! (that's what she said?) Hello everyone! My name is André, and I'm from the Azores (a somewhat hidden piece of paradise). This is my second saltwater tank, but the first built on actual experience and purpose. The goal of this tank (yet to be achieved) was to house a small species of Mantis Shrimp. Sadly, Capitan Hook died prematurely during a shipping misstep. Sad times. Anyway, the tank is now an actual reef, and the mantis shrimp idea is on hold. One main idea with this tank (coming from a 50g) was to reduce the equipment and maintenance needed and increase the overall enjoyment of the actual tank. In my case because I collect my own NSW that meant that reducing the total volume of the tank would have a pretty significant impact on the time put into my weekly routine. Also, I wanted it to have a clean, minimalistic look and feel. Especially in a small tank that meant hiding the equipment, so an AIO became an obvious solution. Finally, it had to be cheap. Unhappy wife would mean soon-to-be-dismantled tank xD. Bought some glass, aquarium safe silicone and some acrylic sheets. As I had access to a laser cutter from a jewelry store, all the pieces were custom made to fit the tank. That being said, on to the original setup: Equipment Tank: DIY 10g AIO Lighting: Chinese Par 38 LED Bulb Circulation: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 Filtration: Filter floss, sponge and purigen Temp. Control: Small 50w heater ATO: Tunze Nano Osmolator Skimmer: Air stone diy water bottle skimmer Corals Utterchaos Zoas Scrambled egg Zoas Gorilla nipples Zoas Playboybunny Zoas Sunny D Zoas Rastas Zoas Orange Bam Bams Zoas Ring of Fire Zoas Blue Hornet Zoas Purple Bee Zoas Keds Reds Zoas Red Hornet Zoas Green Mushroom ————————–————————————— Below, a visual time-line of some of the phases the tank went through until reaching its current state: October 2017 It's safer than it looks... Back of the AIO Custom media basket Finished!! Acrilic top helped cut down evaporation and paved the way for the removal of the ATO. November / December 2017 Used some Frieda rock to seed new one, but it starts getting some bad air algae. Had no snails to counter it at the time. Ricordea Florida January - June 2018 - New rock structure made using reef glue added for a hair algae free start. This structure (or rather, part of it) would make it to present day! One of the "legs" broke and the structure had to be adapted. Tailspot Blenny, who sadly died a few days after coming in. Aiptasia eating monster! Tank born little trochus snail. New additions! Couple clownfish, torch, montipora, digitata and hydnophora corals. Top view Side view Simple "refugium" with some chaeto strands added to the back of the tank. July 2018 - changes to lighting and circulation AI Prime HD added! Spin Stream arrived! Unexpected hitchhiker... After light and flow adjustments August 18 Zoa island Current Equipment Tank: DIY 10g AIO Lighting: Ai Prime HD Circulation: Sicce Syncra Silent 1.5 + IM Spin Stream Filtration: Filter floss, sponge and purigen + Tunze 9001 Temp. Control: Small 50w heater Skimmer: Tunze 9001 Current stock - Occelaris Clownfish x 2 - Trochus Snails x 4 - Zoas (same as above) - Blue, orange and green ricordeas - Green and blue mushrooms - Torch Euphyllia - Red Montipora - Pink Digitata - Green Hydnophora - Purple and green Clavularia After a lot of changes and my fair share of challenges, I finally feel like it's on the right track. Feel free to offer insight or ask questions. Abraço, ffoott That's what she said...lmao Azores, wow! I hear its gorgeous there, lucky you. Your tank is beautiful, very well done and the pics are stunning. Thanks for sharing. We love pics! Just watch out for the peppermint shrimp, some turn to munching on fleshy coral and need removal. Some luck out with model citizens and others, not so much. 2 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 5 hours ago, Clown79 said: That's what she said...lmao Azores, wow! I hear its gorgeous there, lucky you. Your tank is beautiful, very well done and the pics are stunning. Thanks for sharing. We love pics! Just watch out for the peppermint shrimp, some turn to munching on fleshy coral and need removal. Some luck out with model citizens and others, not so much. True about the peppermint...i actually filmed him eating a Zoa polyp. Although I didn't mention it, after that finding he went to a friend's sump. No aiptasia anymore...so he did his job, I suppose. 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 Some coral close up shots! 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted August 27, 2018 Share Posted August 27, 2018 Beautiful zoanthid collection so far! Since you must import most things for the hobby, where do you have it shipped from generally? How about the coral frags? I'm always curious how the hobby grows in new places 🙂 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted August 27, 2018 Author Share Posted August 27, 2018 15 minutes ago, Christopher Marks said: Beautiful zoanthid collection so far! Since you must import most things for the hobby, where do you have it shipped from generally? How about the coral frags? I'm always curious how the hobby grows in new places 🙂 Most of it came from fellow hobbyists in mainland Portugal. My Ai Prime HD came from the US through a friend who lives there. That whole process can be a drag some times. Looking back though, it did "force" me to take things slow stock wise. Might have made a bunch of extra mistakes if I had got into the hobby in a more accessible area. 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 Trying to get my torch happy is proving a challenge after my last aquascape change, so I made some small tweaks on the strength of the flow and position of the main rock on he tank. Let's see how it effects things overall... 1 Quote Link to comment
Christopher Marks Posted September 3, 2018 Share Posted September 3, 2018 It's good to keep optimizing, hopefully the torch coral is more content there, it should do better by itself anyhow. 🙂 Keep up the good work! 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 So here goes my 9 month update! Torch coral died unfortunately. Might been stressed him with too much changes. Anyhow, the tank is doing well overall. Added a few new SPS that are showing good polyp extension. Decided to go barebottom as I wanted to reduce maintenance and room for waste build-up. So here are some pictures! 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 Hello all, It's been a while since my last update, have been traveling a bit and havent found the time to post. The tank seems to be doing well overall. My plans to keep SPS growing relying only on water changes doesn't look like its holding up, as im not noticing much growth. Might have to do something about that in the near future. Any advice is welcome. Recently added a cleaner shrimp to the tank. Havent actually seen him clean the clownfish, but they are hovering around each other...he does steal the clown's food, so he's keeping his mouth clean? Idk... Anyway, here are some updated photos! Cheers 3 Quote Link to comment
vlangel Posted February 6, 2019 Share Posted February 6, 2019 Beautiful little tank! I really like your choice of mixed coral and all the color. 1 Quote Link to comment
ffoott Posted February 6, 2019 Author Share Posted February 6, 2019 7 hours ago, vlangel said: Beautiful little tank! I really like your choice of mixed coral and all the color. Thanks! It's still a work in progress but has really been a learning experience. 1 Quote Link to comment
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