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Bonsai Nano Reef - 14 Gal


Fragmental

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Hey Nano Reef community, I'm new here and this is my first post about my custom all in one nano reef tank. The bonsai reef is nearly 9 months old (266 days) and has been mostly running well except for a period of a couple months where dinos took over.

 

My vision for the tank is to allow the corals to grow into each other while maintaining perspective with regular fragging to stunt the colonies (similar to bonsai). All the corals are frags that I have made and traded with other reefers, as will be future additions.

 

Tank: 60cm x 30cm x 35cm with custom side sump built in

 

Flow: Vortech mp10 + Sicce Syncra 0.5 return with RFG nozzle

 

Filtration: Caribsea Shapes Life Rock, marine pure spheres, polyfibre, Aquaforest carbon pellets, chaeto refugium lit by 10W white LED floodlight

 

Skimmer: None

 

Lighting: Ocean Revive t-247b CH1: 31% CH2: 1% (Average 200 PAR, 80% PUR) 

 

Dosing: AquaForest Balling + AF Build 

 

Water Change: 10% weekly AF Reef Salt

 

Latest Parameters: Salinity (35ppt), pH (8.3), Alkalinity (7.5dkH), Calcium (425ppm), Magnesium (1440ppm), Nitrate (10ppm), Phosphate (0.1ppm)

 

Heating: AquaOne 50W thermosafe (26C)

 

CoolingNone

 

ATO: None

 

Substrate: None (BB) 

 

Feeding (Daily): Mysis, brine, red plankton, copepods, invertebrate mix, fish eggs, AF power food, Justin's Goniopower, ON formula 1 flake, ON formula 2 pellets, Vitalis small fish pellets, AF phytoplankton mix

 

Maintenance: Alk test (daily), water test (weekly), water change (weekly), polyfibre change (weekly), carbon change (weekly), Dr Tim's Eco-balance & Waste Away (Weekly), Pumps Cleaned (Monthly) 

 

Fish: B/W ocellaris clownfish (F), orange ocellaris clownfish (M), springers damselfish, yellow tang

 

Invertebrates: Cerith snails, turbo snails, stomatella snails,  brittle stars, spotted linckia stars, amphipods, copepods

 

Corals: 7 varieties Acropora, 7 varieties Montipora, Leptoseris, 3 varieties Goniopora, Alveopora, 8 varieties Micromussa Lords, 5 varieties Chalice corals, Duncans, 5 varieties Palythoa, 4 varieties Seriatopora, Poccilopora, Fungia

 

I'm looking to update this journal every 1-2 weeks. So keep posted and thanks for following 🐠 

 

I'm looking forward to see what you guys think so please ask questions and give recommendations to help me achieve my vision. Happy Reefing! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

IMG20181216184858-01.jpeg

  • Like 4
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Very nice!  Excellent coloration and it'll look really nice when it fills in a little more.

 

How'd you kick your dino problem?

 

What are those round and textured disks your frag plugs appear to be attached to?

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33 minutes ago, dchisenh said:

Very nice!  Excellent coloration and it'll look really nice when it fills in a little more.

 

How'd you kick your dino problem?

 

What are those round and textured disks your frag plugs appear to be attached to?

Hi thanks very much! I turned my refugium light off and allowed nutrients to climb which seemed to slow the dinos down probly through increasing microflora diversity. What finished them off was adding a new batch of amphipods to boost the population. I've since been slowly ramping the refugium back up to capacity and no Dino's have returned. 

 

The frags are attached to 'java moss trees' which I bought at the LFS for a few bucks each and attached to the piece of caribsea rock with AF Stonefix. The thoughts here are to attach anything that will need regular fragging to these so I can snap them off and run them through the bandsaw to reshape the colonies. 

IMG_20181217_153155.jpg

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That is brilliant!  Those "trees" provide great platforms for coral to encrust and grow from while providing space underneath for fish and inverts to shelter and have good circulation throughout.  Very unique and a really smart idea, keep us updated on the progress!

  • Thanks 1
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UPDATE PHOTOS 22 DEC 2018

 

Some changes I've made to the tank this week were giving the duncan frag from the back left of the tank to my friend and fragging some utter chaos palys. I am planning to keep more goniopora where the duncans were. 

 

To take photos I use my phone which is an OPPO a57. I adjust my lights to reduce the blue. Settings channel 1: 6 channel 2: 1. I am not very good with photography so please any help/tips greatly appreciated! Happy holidays 🐠 

 

IMG20181222200320.thumb.jpg.321333c23f673b2d03605326af7bdc0c.jpg

 

Front view

 

IMG20181222200534.thumb.jpg.cec4d5af1bbbdb4a9b46b2cdf7c1f423.jpg

 

Palys, chalice, goniopora

 

IMG20181222200621.thumb.jpg.ac1da752474577ff49c238b7566b5957.jpg

 

Leptoseris, chalice, palys

 

IMG20181222200733.thumb.jpg.b2167bca69f56c93ad6fbbd90ac1a618.jpg

Side view

 

IMG20181222200852.thumb.jpg.32cdbbded85c9ca65707f26fe259057c.jpg

Side view close up

 

IMG20181222200920.thumb.jpg.6f8e57912c71e14c580da26c726b646b.jpg

Frag shelf

 

IMG20181222201244.thumb.jpg.a481045d08149260093f792754187690.jpg

Full tank shot

 

IMG20181222201300.thumb.jpg.7c080be0e5e37e997b4d679e26b989e3.jpg

Full tank shot

 

 

  • Like 2
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  • 3 weeks later...

Update 7th January 2019

 

Hey all Happy New Year! Hope everyone has recovered well and fresh for a great year of reefing ahead.

 

This year I am toying with the idea of replacing my Yellow tang with a baby Tomini tang. The yellow tang will go into one of my tanks at work to give him more space as he grows. 

 

I'm currently awaiting my Coral Essentials products in the mail and will slowly transition from Aquaforest balling once they arrive. 

 

Everything is growing really well and the colours are awesome. This tank is really starting to boom now. 

 

Current parameters are:

 

T=25.5C

Salinity=34.5ppt

pH=8.3

Alkalinity=7.5dkH

Calcium=425ppm

Magnesium=1440ppm

Nitrate=2.5ppm

Phosphate=0.1ppm

 

Nitrate and phosphate levels are on the decline as I've been ramping my fuge back up to capacity. 

 

Thanks for reading and please don't hesitate to comment 🐠 

IMG20190107195940-01.thumb.jpeg.87e001379a0f023fd7ba687494ecf8ca.jpeg

Full tank shot

 

IMG20190107200000-01.thumb.jpeg.3a8752092ccc28ea6ad1e078a4d77965.jpeg

Top down shot

 

IMG20190107200013-01.thumb.jpeg.d16eab87fae811f5d8d7c3fb8a164eec.jpeg

Corner shot

  • Like 3
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5 hours ago, Dutchymomo said:

How many frags have you got in there?

Can't wait to see it grow out! nice tank

Thanks Dutchy. There's currently 50 frags 🐠 

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7 hours ago, Dutchymomo said:

wow thats gonna be great when it grows out. Can't wait!!

Cheers Dutchy, stay tuned, I'll keep ya posted! 🐠 

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7 minutes ago, vlangel said:

Wow, where will everything go after they start to grow?  Your colors are amazing.

Thanks heaps vlangel. I will be giving most of the frags I make to other reefers. I work at a reef shop so I will just see how it goes and take it as it comes

  • Like 1
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So here it goes! They're finally here. Thanks to Christian from Coral Essentials for sending me his range of supplements to try out. I'm very excited to see the results of this program over the next year. Slowly going to transition from AquaForest over the coming months. I have been following these locals for a long while now and am happy to finally have a set of my own. Aussie aussie aussie. Stay tuned! received_362936171168517.thumb.jpeg.0b7923b50a712077b213017c4fbb3028.jpeg

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Update! 14/1/19

 

Current water parameters:

 

SG = 34.5ppt

T = 25C

pH = 8.3

Alkalinity = 7.5dkH

Calcium = 425ppm

Nitrate = 1ppm

Phosphate = 0.05ppm

 

Nitrate and phosphate are down again. On the lower end of what I like to keep them at. 

 

This week I added some new corals. A couple of frags of Mystic Sunset Montipora, another Phoenix Monti danae, a Lobophyllia frag and a purple base/green tentacle Fungia. 

 

I have also added a baby Aquacultured Tridacna squamosa clam from Monsoon Aquatics Australia. I have made a little cradle for the clam with a dremel and some base rock. He kept falling out so I made it deeper. But now I dont think it can open up because it's a bit jammed. Will have to get the dremel out again later today. 

 

Pics to come. Stay tuned! 

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Update 21/1/2019

 

This week I removed an Acro from the top of my scape and put a new purple Stylophora a friend gave me in it's place. The Acro is awaiting to be rehomed in another friends tank as it is a double of what I already have. 

 

I also started a phytoplankton culture up. See pics below. My clam cradle didn't work out, he kept falling out, so I glued him on an angle to a frag plug so when he opens up he is upright. Seems to be working well and his foot is clear of the glue. See pics below.

 

Current water parameters are:

 

Salinity = 34ppt

pH = 8.3

Alkalinity = 7.7dkH

Calcium = 400ppm

Magnesium = 1400ppm

Nitrate = 0.2ppm

Phosphate = 0.01ppm

 

My calcium is lower as is magnesium, which I am putting down to the salinity being lower this week. Must have topped up with a bit too much RODI. 

 

My nitrates and phosphates are on the verge of bottoming out despite feeding the same. One of my Goniopora is looking a bit pissed as are a colony of GOW palythoas. I have further reduced the photoperiod on my refugium. Only getting a few hours light now. 

 

I am beginning Coral Essentials Trace A, B and C dosing this week at the rate of 1 drop per week as I dial back AquaForest Balling. I will do this by adding one drop to some RODI water and breaking the dose up evenly per day. See pics below. 

 

That's it for this week, thanks for reading. As always I appreciate any comments you may have 🐠 

 

IMG20190121201935-01.thumb.jpeg.ec24be2ac3da6000033b99275c315801.jpeg

Full Tank Shot

 

IMG20190121202005-01.thumb.jpeg.54f83415cf89e2e8ac22446e3964449f.jpeg

Corner Shot

 

IMG20190121202016-01.thumb.jpeg.de33ae33789ccb1151bc5d6e2c08365d.jpeg

Side Shot

 

IMG20190121202039-01.thumb.jpeg.07f89b2e58c9ae83d70583b13d966718.jpeg

Top Down Shot

 

IMG20190121202130-01.thumb.jpeg.59e8b38feaf291c1de25090c76fa91ed.jpeg

Aquacultured T. squamosa clam

 

IMG20190121202152-01.thumb.jpeg.fec3455114071672d0114d860cc42765.jpeg

Purple Stylo 

 

 

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UPDATE 22/2/2019

 

So it's been a month since my last update. Since then I've added a messmate pipefish, and a few corals friends have given me (micro lord, red cynarina). I've also made a few frags of a couple of my acros and my pink digitata and done a bit of a rescape. Other than that, I've been keeping my hands out if the tank and it's seemingly appreciated this. I finally setup my inkbird 308 temperature controller on the tank and it seems to be working well so far. 

 

My baby T. squamosa clam is doing really well, has grown a little bit and appreciates the live phyto additions. In general everything seems to be responding well to the phyto additions and additional trace elements from the coral essentials range. Colour and vigour of the corals has evidently improved. I have in the past week added CE Power Gro and Power Amino to my supplement regime at a rate of 1 drop per week in the same way as my trace additions. 

 

Current water parameters:

 

Salinity = 35ppt

pH = 8.3

Alkalinity = 8.0dkH

Calcium = 400ppm

Magnesiun = 1440ppm

Nitrate = 1ppm

Phosphate = 0.05ppm

Iodide = 0.03ppm

Iodate = 0.03ppm

Strontium = 5ppm

 

My alkalinity and calcium have been fluctuating a bit so I will wait until they settle back into ratio, then going forward I am going to start dosing Chroma+ and Vibrance+.

 

I have stepped up my photography game and am now using a sony alpha 5000 to take photos under the same lighting conditions.

 

Thanks for reading, and as always please don't hesitate to comment or ask questions 🐠 

 

DSC07195-01.thumb.jpeg.7f425ce642ee3f8062fb1aabc1ecaea3.jpeg

Full tank shot

 

DSC07078-01-01.thumb.jpeg.7dbab152d848f3eb1f483a16d56c24fe.jpeg

Side view

 

DSC07238-01.thumb.jpeg.a4eff8229381d422d699ae952e8f2b76.jpeg

Front glass top down view 

 

DSC07224-01.thumb.jpeg.878d90f16c809b8c201a411343e6a115.jpeg

Baby aquacultured T. squamosa

 

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On 12/22/2018 at 4:43 AM, Fragmental said:

UPDATE PHOTOS 22 DEC 2018

 

Some changes I've made to the tank this week were giving the duncan frag from the back left of the tank to my friend and fragging some utter chaos palys. I am planning to keep more goniopora where the duncans were. 

 

To take photos I use my phone which is an OPPO a57. I adjust my lights to reduce the blue. Settings channel 1: 6 channel 2: 1. I am not very good with photography so please any help/tips greatly appreciated! Happy holidays 🐠 

 

IMG20181222200320.thumb.jpg.321333c23f673b2d03605326af7bdc0c.jpg

 

Front view

 

IMG20181222200534.thumb.jpg.cec4d5af1bbbdb4a9b46b2cdf7c1f423.jpg

 

Palys, chalice, goniopora

 

IMG20181222200621.thumb.jpg.ac1da752474577ff49c238b7566b5957.jpg

 

Leptoseris, chalice, palys

 

IMG20181222200733.thumb.jpg.b2167bca69f56c93ad6fbbd90ac1a618.jpg

Side view

 

IMG20181222200852.thumb.jpg.32cdbbded85c9ca65707f26fe259057c.jpg

Side view close up

 

IMG20181222200920.thumb.jpg.6f8e57912c71e14c580da26c726b646b.jpg

Frag shelf

 

IMG20181222201244.thumb.jpg.a481045d08149260093f792754187690.jpg

Full tank shot

 

IMG20181222201300.thumb.jpg.7c080be0e5e37e997b4d679e26b989e3.jpg

Full tank shot

 

 

Looks awesome! Love the use of the old tv stand 

  • Like 1
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26 minutes ago, coryscritch said:

Looks awesome! Love the use of the old tv stand 

Thanks a lot! Haha yes, TV had to go and make room for another tank, of course 😜 🐠 

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