Unskimmed, Lily piped, Cheap LED'ed, 10 gallon Macro Setup

[JohnTheReefer]

Excited to get this started. Pics to come! 

 

Using almost all the equipment from last year's 10 gallon planted tank setup. Getting the itch again and I have always wanted to setup a macro tank. 

 

Just added water tonight. 

 

Some specs:

Tank: 10 gal AGA

Filter: Cascade Mariln canister 

Lights: 16 watt ADA knockoff and a smaller one at 8 watts

Heater: none

Substrate: Caribsea Pink Fuji

Skimmer: none

 

 

Some plans:

Flora - whatever macro I can get my hands on. 

Fauna - the smallest fish I can find..maybe clown goby to start, sand sifter star

Coral - maybe some Ricordea

Dosing: Co2, micro and macro dry ferts. (yes, I am aware that the micro mix has copper in it)

 

Some future plans:

More flow 

ATO

Maybe a heater

 

Goals:

Obtain an "uninterrupted by equipment" aesthetic

Keep smallest fish (and not kill them with Co2)

Experiment with Co2 and dry fertilizer dosing in a planted marine environment

 

 

Let's go!

 

 

  

 

 

 

[Tamberav]

Interesting...not worried about the effect in pH?

 

I believe for marine...plants don't rely on co2 as much due to alk.

 

I am possibility setting up a macro tank soon and debating on adding a canister to purposly increase Nitrates.

[JohnTheReefer]

Not worried, but very mindful because I understand the effect it has. I'm looking for the dose of Co2 that noticeably increases plant growth without effecting pH too negatively. This will largely be experimental during the early stages. I am also considering nitrate dosing as well to measure the effect it has combined with Co2. 

 

Unfortunately, the Co2 tank I bought just five months ago is slowly leaking even when nothing is attached to it. Back to Amazon I go!

[Christopher Marks]

Interesting idea @JohnTheReefer, I’ll be following along!

[JohnTheReefer]

First tank shots! 

 

The water is a little cloudy due to having just put the live rock in the tank and the front glass needs to be cleaned. I put frosted white tint that I had extra of on three sides of the tank to also block the view of equipment from the left and right sides and I will be ordering a new Co2 tank this weekend. 

 

I will definitely need more flow in this tank. I may add a second canister filter to increase water volume and to utilize the transparency of lily pipes.  (notice the high tech bamboo skewer light rails) 

[JohnTheReefer]

All cleared up! I moved the Feather Calupera back a little because I think it will look better as a background plant. I am going to replace the large outflow lily pipe with a smaller one to increase the flow and possibly add a Hydor 240 Nano. I am not fond of installing power heads which draw the eye, but the flow type it creates would be beneficial for this setup. 

[East1]

Ooh I used CO2 in my recent macro tank - and still do, to a degree - for great results. I actually got the idea from Carlos Magdalena at Kew Gardens some months ago when he told me that with CO2 and some mud, you can easily grow almost any seagrass. 

 

I did have massive issues keeping coral while keeping elevated CO2, so what I started doing was dosing directly into the terrarium section of my current tank, so the mangrove can use it easily and the elevated CO2 would slowly diffuse into the tank water, but I've since run out and haven't bought anymore. Macro algaes love the stuff though.

 

[JohnTheReefer]

16 hours ago, East1 said:

Ooh I used CO2 in my recent macro tank - and still do, to a degree - for great results. I actually got the idea from Carlos Magdalena at Kew Gardens some months ago when he told me that with CO2 and some mud, you can easily grow almost any seagrass. 

 

I did have massive issues keeping coral while keeping elevated CO2, so what I started doing was dosing directly into the terrarium section of my current tank, so the mangrove can use it easily and the elevated CO2 would slowly diffuse into the tank water, but I've since run out and haven't bought anymore. Macro algaes love the stuff though.

 

That is awesome, thanks for the feedback! Did you have the Co2 on a timer? or constant dose? Did you measure your pH levels at all to determine an optimum dose? What types of corals were you keeping? I am not sure if I will be keeping any coral other than mushrooms, but still excited to see the results. I will be administering timed dosages with an electronic Co2 solenoid and proper diffuser to hopefullly, find the correct dosage to keep soft coral, fish and maintain good macro/plant growth.

[East1]

2 hours ago, JohnTheReefer said:

That is awesome, thanks for the feedback! Did you have the Co2 on a timer? or constant dose? Did you measure your pH levels at all to determine an optimum dose? What types of corals were you keeping? I am not sure if I will be keeping any coral other than mushrooms, but still excited to see the results. I will be administering timed dosages with an electronic Co2 solenoid and proper diffuser to hopefullly, find the correct dosage to keep soft coral, fish and maintain good macro/plant growth.

I didn't, it was running 24/7 at the time. Didn't check pH at all but I was just keeping macroalgae and the mangroves so I just ran the dose as high as I could for as long as I saw an increase in macroalgae growth. I stopped it once it came close to time for me to add corals and it was more an experiment to see if there was a change and subsequently to get a good macroalgae crop established in the newest tank I've been growing. 

 

I'd imagine you want to just dose CO2 on the photoperiod, soft corals will do okay but I killed a big leather by having too little exchange at night and running CO2, so I'd be careful and get a canary coral to test the waters (lol no pun intended) before committing to something expensive. 

[vlangel]

This is fascinating since I incorporate macro algaes into my reef.  My calcareous macros have struggled and I wonder if a little CO2 might just be the missing link?

[East1]

7 minutes ago, vlangel said:

This is fascinating since I incorporate macro algaes into my reef.  My calcareous macros have struggled and I wonder if a little CO2 might just be the missing link?

I’d say almost definitely, even my coralline algae took off and I ended up getting some really cool scrolling coralline species on some of the rock. 

[JohnTheReefer]

23 hours ago, vlangel said:

This is fascinating since I incorporate macro algaes into my reef.  My calcareous macros have struggled and I wonder if a little CO2 might just be the missing link?

The Co2 would help. Have you tried any type of nutrient dosing yet? 

[Tamberav]

My macro grew best with some dirty poopy fish in front of a window. Grew like CRAZY compared to other macro tanks I had. 

 

Boom Corals has a nice display fuge but it struggled after awhile, he did a Triton test and found out he was 0 on some things even with water changes. He started dosing for that stuff and his macro came back looking great again. So that something to think about too. 

 

 

[JohnTheReefer]

On 3/3/2019 at 12:52 PM, East1 said:

I didn't, it was running 24/7 at the time. Didn't check pH at all but I was just keeping macroalgae and the mangroves so I just ran the dose as high as I could for as long as I saw an increase in macroalgae growth. I stopped it once it came close to time for me to add corals and it was more an experiment to see if there was a change and subsequently to get a good macroalgae crop established in the newest tank I've been growing. 

 

I'd imagine you want to just dose CO2 on the photoperiod, soft corals will do okay but I killed a big leather by having too little exchange at night and running CO2, so I'd be careful and get a canary coral to test the waters (lol no pun intended) before committing to something expensive. 

Thanks for the info! I will be dosing during the photoperiod and starting with small doses. There is the potential of running an airstone at night to increase the oxygen exchange. I will hopefully have access to lab equipment soon that can test pH and I am looking forward to posting some conclusive results eventually. 

 

On another note, I am just starting to see some cyano bacteria on the live rock. Also, got a good deal on a larger canister filter to increase the flow! 

 

 

[JohnTheReefer]

4 hours ago, Tamberav said:

My macro grew best with some dirty poopy fish in front of a window. Grew like CRAZY compared to other macro tanks I had. 

 

Boom Corals has a nice display fuge but it struggled after awhile, he did a Triton test and found out he was 0 on some things even with water changes. He started dosing for that stuff and his macro came back looking great again. So that something to think about too. 

 

 

Neat! Thanks for the info! I will eventually be keeping an eye on nitrites and nitrates especially since the Co2 will be increasing the growth rate. The potential of dosing calcium has come to mind as well. Maybe I can also give Boom a call to ask about which levels were deficient in their fuge. 

[Tamberav]

17 minutes ago, JohnTheReefer said:

Neat! Thanks for the info! I will eventually be keeping an eye on nitrites and nitrates especially since the Co2 will be increasing the growth rate. The potential of dosing calcium has come to mind as well. Maybe I can also give Boom a call to ask about which levels were deficient in their fuge. 

He is a sponsor on reef2reef, you could drop him a msg there 🙂

 

I think he was using KZ 1234 but not all 4 as he wasn't low on everything. 

[East1]

4 hours ago, JohnTheReefer said:

Thanks for the info! I will be dosing during the photoperiod and starting with small doses. There is the potential of running an airstone at night to increase the oxygen exchange. I will hopefully have access to lab equipment soon that can test pH and I am looking forward to posting some conclusive results eventually. 

 

On another note, I am just starting to see some cyano bacteria on the live rock. Also, got a good deal on a larger canister filter to increase the flow! 

 

 

 

If you don’t have fish you can probably start with a larger dose, my Copepods and microfauna did fine.

 

cyano can grow rampantly with co2 dosing but a good way to reduce this is to dose nitrate in some form, it lets the macroalgae take hold before the cyano establishes, though at this point it’s just a side effect of cycle most likely

[JohnTheReefer]

11 hours ago, Tamberav said:

He is a sponsor on reef2reef, you could drop him a msg there 🙂

 

I think he was using KZ 1234 but not all 4 as he wasn't low on everything. 

Very cool, I will drop him a line if needed! 

[JohnTheReefer]

17 hours ago, East1 said:

 

If you don’t have fish you can probably start with a larger dose, my Copepods and microfauna did fine.

 

cyano can grow rampantly with co2 dosing but a good way to reduce this is to dose nitrate in some form, it lets the macroalgae take hold before the cyano establishes, though at this point it’s just a side effect of cycle most likely

Good to know that cyano will also respond to Co2. I am glad I was able to pick up some feather calupera to combat it somewhat. The Co2 supplementation is going to be implemented post cycle and adding more macros. Dosing nitrate is definitely on the agenda for the future and hopefully, I can order some macros from the local fish store. The Estimative Index for fertilizer dosing has also been started!   @East1 you have great tanks!  

[JohnTheReefer]

10 days in and I am already getting impatient lol Many improvements to be made setup wise though. Installed the larger canister filter and the increased flow is nice, but I am going to add the smaller one as well to maximize the water volume and flow options. Next month I will order more lily pipes and more macros. By then the cycle should be nearing it's end. Thankfully, I am already starting to see some pods on the front glass. I decided to wait until the tank is cycled to start introducing Co2 to avoid being overrun by cyano. 

 

The first full week of dry fertilizer dosing is going well. No huge increase in cyano and good calupera growth, but when does that stuff not grow well? haha

 

As a note, I haven't setup a marine tank in several years so this new approach is particularly exciting! 

[East1]

Why aren't you dosing CO2 from the get go? in most planted tanks they start with CO2 at day 0 to ensure the plants have an advantage over algae, in this instance you'd want CO2 and more nitrate than phosphate to encourage the macroalgae growth 

[JohnTheReefer]

On 3/9/2019 at 6:57 PM, East1 said:

Why aren't you dosing CO2 from the get go? in most planted tanks they start with CO2 at day 0 to ensure the plants have an advantage over algae, in this instance you'd want CO2 and more nitrate than phosphate to encourage the macroalgae growth 

Good point! I will have to get my Co2 tank filled this week and start dosing! 

[JohnTheReefer]

Well, after a second Co2 tank not holding pressure I am putting that idea on the back burner for now or I will be starting another tank dedicated solely to that experiment. I had my solenoid tested and it is not leaking.

So, the past few days I have been stocking the tank with a few different soft corals (yellow polyps, mushroom, kenya tree, xenia)  a large fountain head feather duster, 3 margarita snails, and a mini carpet nem. The macro that is in there at the moment is growing nicely. Definitely planning to get more! I ordered some new lily pipes for the second canister filter and they do not draw the eye as much as the other lily pipes and provide better flow. Another set in on order along with a new LED pendant light. 

Now that the direction of the tank has changed slightly the ideas for aquascaping have changed as well. The rocks will remain in place, but will be completely covered in different varieties of softies surrounded/nestled by macros and not allowing the macros to touch the sides of the tank to maintain the island feel. 

 

 A lid will be needed before stocking any fish. Maybe some clowns will be added to the mix along with some firefish.