Seadragon's Simple & Easy 10g Reef ​💦​

[Seadragon]

My Simple & Easy Nano Reef 

 

 

WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!

 

For many years, I have been enjoying my three maintenance free, heavily planted freshwater tanks; my favorite being my Dream Blue Velvet Shrimp tank that is also home to my Bamboo Shrimp, Mini Golden Rabbit Snails, and a Salt and Pepper Pygmy Cory Catfish.  For the past year, the wife really wanted a nano reef tank for her classroom to be viewed by hundreds of students, their parents, and her co-teachers.  Not to be out done, I then wanted a nano reef tank for the home office.  And thus, the Simple & Easy Nano Reef was born on 9/10/2019.  (A week later, the School Nano Reef was born on 9/17/2019.)

 

 

MY PRIMARY GOALS

 

I have 3 primary goals for this nano reef:

1.  No Testing*, No Dosing, No Activated Carbon.

2. To have the Fireworks Clove Polyps, Duncan, and Hammer corals cover the majority of the foreground, the Frogspawn coral and GSP cover the majority of the back wall, and the Xenia placed everywhere else.

3. To have thriving corals, happy fish, and no visible cyanobacteria or dinoflagellates.

* I do test salinity which I keep at a stable 1.025 and I always make sure my water temperature is about 75°F.

 

MAINTENANCE

 

◕ Weekly 2 gallon water changes using Red Sea Salt (Blue bucket), skim surface with paper towels if needed, and filter cleaning.

◕ Top off with Distilled Water.

 

 

EL CHEAPO 10 GALLON AQUEON AQUARIUM FROM PETCO FEATURES

 

◕ Price: $14.99 (I missed the dollar per gallon sale, but the dream must move forward!)

◕ Tank Length: 20.25"

◕ Tank Width: 10.5"

◕ Tank Height: 12.625"

◕ Material: Glass

 

 

TANK HIGH LEVEL CHARACTERISTICS

 

⇨ Aquascape : Nature's Ocean 12-Inch Coral Base Rocks

⇨ Sand : 10 pounds of Nature's Ocean Natural White No.0 Bio-Activ Aragonite Live Sand + Coarse Aragonite Sand

⇨ Heater : Cobalt Aquatics Neo-Therm Heater, 50 Watt

⇨ Lighting : NICREW ClassicLED Aquarium Light & Finnex 10" FugeRay Ultra Slim Aquarium LED Light; Current USA Orbit Marine IC PRO Dual LED with Bluetooth

⇨ Powerheads : Hydor Koralia Nano 240 (2)

⇨ Wave Controller : Hydor Smart Wave Circulation Pump Controller

⇨ Filtration : AquaClear HOB Filter; Tidal 35

⇨ UV Sterilizer System : AA Aquarium Green Killing Machine 3 Watt

⇨ Coralline Algae Starter : Pink Fusion Strain & Purple Helix Strain Coralline Algae in a Bottle + Nitrifying Bacteria

⇨ Tank Lid: 20-Inch Aqueon Aquarium AAG29020 Versa Top

⇨ Saltwater: Red Sea Salt (Blue bucket)

 

 

MY CORAL CHOICES

 

Pom Pom Xenia

I LOVE pulsing Xenia and find myself hypnotized every time I see it.  I know others may hate it, but I find it as one of the coolest corals.  They have no stinging tentacles and little to no toxins.  It may try to colonize the tank and possibly fly around if it runs out of space on the rock it’s on, and may try to smother other corals if left unchecked, but the easy solution for that may be to just pull out any Xenia that gets too close to my other corals.  I really love the Pom Pom Xenia variation and mine has a really elegant pulsing effect.

Pulsing Xenia

I acquired a large amount of Pulsing Xenia from a local hobbyist that really revitalized my tank.  It’s one of my family’s most favorite corals of all time — just take care of it and it’ll do the rest.  It’s beautiful, it pulses, it adds movement, it sways in the current, it grows relatively fast and it doesn’t release any known toxins or has any stingers.

 

Green Star Polyps (GSP)

If kept in check, it looks simply beautiful if you can get it to cover the back wall of your tank.  That is the plan, a background of neon green polyps waving as the current passes through it.

 

Fireworks Clove Polyps

I really wanted this coral for the bright neon orange (and neon green) colors for when the actinic lights are only on.  This coral added the finishing touch that I wanted.

 

Rainbow Splatter Hammer Coral

What I love about the Hammer coral is that it doesn't release any toxins and some hobbyists feed it either monthly or not at all and just rely on water changes and it's photosynthetic properties to nourish itself.  It also adds a bit of diversity to a tank that is otherwise dominated by Xenia and GSP.

 

Pink Tip Frogspawn Coral

My 3-headed centerpiece, the infamous Frogspawn coral.  I needed some eye candy to give the tank that finishing touch and the Frogspawn plays that role well.

 

1 Duncan Coral

I bought two Duncans online and as far as I know, they may have short stingers, but they basically don’t really sting anything and are pretty safe in that department as far as I know.  And they have no toxins that I’m aware of.  They’re so cool looking too!  I had two additional ones also, but the first one succame to Brown Jelly disease after a great fall onto the rocks and the sand.  I believe its tentacles may have gotten injured and infected during this fall.  The second one slowly perished from a similar fate including the occasional cyanobacteria bothering it.

 

Candy Cane Coral (ORA)

I really wanted the Neon Green Trumpet Coral, but they were sold out at the time.  Hopefully, this one will turn out to be cool too.

 

Purple Australian Big Polyp Blastomussa Coral & Red Australian Big Polyp Blastomussa Coral

The Blastomussa Wellsi corals seem like the perfect addition to add to an open area that I have at the bottom of my tank.

 

Acropora echinata Coral

I received a tiny frag of what looks like Acropora echinata by accident in with my online order.  I placed the small frag on the highest point of my rocks to try to give it the most light and current possible.  I feed it Reef-Roids a few times a week and it seems to be quite happy so far with a multitude of polyps open most of the time.  I like getting expensive corals for free! 🙂

 

Neon Green Trumpet Coral

I almost gave up on trying to find this stunning coral, but when I least expected it, not only did I find it, but was given an offer I couldn't refuse.  It was Cyber Monday, but the LFS told me that I could get the 50% Off Black Friday deal on this coral if I want it.  Welcome home Neon Green Trumpet Coral -- my collection is finally complete!

 

 

MACROALGAE

 

Chaetomorpha Macroalgae

One of the best, hardest working, and hardiest macroalgaes that you can find although if used for the display tank, small bits and pieces can easily get into every nook and cranny.  I attempted to replace it with the much prettier looking Red Ogo Macroalgae, however that melted due to poor shipping conditions and possibly other factors.  Fortunately, I kept the Chaeto on stand-by in a sealed zip lock bag and it survived without being in water for 24 hours!

 

Red Dragon's Breath (Gracilaria Hayi) Macroalgae [Death by Mexican Turbo Snails]

Simply beautiful to put into the display tank.  Seems to work best if you can find a way to anchor it down.

 

Red Ogo (Gracilaria Parvispora) Macroalgae [Death by poor shipment conditions]

Normally a beautiful bright red & burgundy color and is fast growing, this macroalgae did not survive a 4-day journey through the mail in cold weather conditions to my home.  The temperature inside the package felt a bit cold due to the heat pack not holding up for the entirety of the trip.  Upon opening the bag, a really foul stench permeated the room.  The macroalgae arrived orange and after acclimating to my tank, almost immediately began to cloud the water and became mostly transparent within 24 hours.  Needless to say, I had to remove all of the Red Ogo from the tank, but I was fortunate to have kept the very hardy Chaeto on stand-by in case an emergency such as this arises.

 

 

LIVESTOCK

 

1 Ocellaris Clownfish - "Nemo"

The thing that started it all!  Nemo and Marlin make their debut in our new nano reef tank that is situated between our desks in the home office.  I selected the smallest ones available at the LFS and they should remain relatively small compared to other types of clownfish.  I love their vibrant colors, overall peacefulness, and their wacky movements!

 

1 Black & White Ocellaris Clownfish - "Ninja"

After Stripes disappeared, I always wanted to return back to my original 4 fish that I had in the very beginning when I first started this tank.  Fortunately, Nemo has taken a liking to Ninja and vice versa so I think everything will turn out alright.

 

1 Tail Spot Blenny - "Alpha Blenny"

A HUGE Personality stuck inside a tiny little body.  Blenny is always there to stare back at me with a smile as I debate life's choices.

 

1 Yellow Watchman Goby - "Goby"

I've read so much about this fascinating fish that I just had to experience one.  Pretty, funny personality, grumpy at times which adds to the flavor, and a cool duo if you already have a blenny in the tank.  I'm excited to watch all of its future antics.

 

1 Yellowline Goby - "Stripes"

This cute little Goby reminds me of a puppy jumping all around the tank.  It adds a playfulness that makes the tank even more fun.

 

1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp - "Shrimpy"

I love watching the shrimp hang upside down on my "rock bridge" and search the tank in the evening for leftover food.  I also get to witness it cleaning the fish every now and then.  I was reading that you could keep two Skunk Cleaner Shrimp in a tank, but no more than two otherwise the mated pair will kill off the others!

 

3 Purple Porcelain Crabs

I've tried the Porcelain Anemone Crabs and I didn't like their aggressiveness toward it's own kind and I didn't realize they really need an anemone for long-term health since they eat the mucus off of it as part of their diet.  As far as the Purple Porcelain Crabs, they seem to tolerate each other much better and do not require an anemone to survive.  They are much smaller in size, love hiding around the rockwork, but also explore in the evening and do a good job filtering the water.

 

1 Porcelain Anemone Crab

My fierce little Samurai that help filter and clean the water.  Don't let their peaceful demeanor fool you, that one on the right (nicknamed Alpha crab) ripped off two of the legs of the other one (nicknamed Captain Hook because his one side only has 1 leg)!  Although at this time, they're both doing well and are still alive.  Alpha crab molted on 12/14/19 and I actually thought he killed Captain Hook, lol.  Crab molts look so real!  UPDATE: As far as I can tell, Alpha crab ended up killing Captain Hook.  I noticed one day that Alpha crab clutched Captain Hook's claw, but I was able to quickly intervene and shoo Alpha crab away from Captain Hook.  Sadly, I believe it was the next morning when I noticed Captain Hook's claw was pulled off and his corpse was upside down on the top of the large rock that he usually stays on.  I didn't realize if their claw gets removed, they will die so easily.

 

1 Ruby Emerald Crab

I read that the smaller Emerald crabs are more likely to eat Bubble Algae compared to the larger Emerald crabs.  I asked my LFS to pick me out the prettiest emerald crab that was small, and he found me a Ruby Emerald Crab to adopt (first time I've seen a red Emerald crab myself).  Hopefully this little guy will munch on some Bubble Algae that I noticed throughout the tank.

 

1 Peppermint Shrimp

Although Peppermint Shrimp do not always eat Aiptasia, you can increase your chances of getting one that does by getting more than one Peppermint Shrimp, which is just what I did.  I tried killing the Aiptasia manually before with some lemon juice and tweezers, but after a few months, not only did it come back in the same spot, but another popped up on the other side of the tank!  Seek and destroy, my Peppermint Shrimp!

 

5 Scarlet Red Hermit Crabs

These peaceful and vibrant red CUC really help to constantly clean the sand, rock, and leftover food in the tank.  I had Blue Leg Hermit Crabs & Zebra Hermit Crabs prior and they would become overly aggressive once they became large.  So much so, my original peaceful Scarlet Red Hermit Crab disappeared.  Now, I intend to only keep peaceful livestock in my tank.

 

1 Nassarius Snail

These snails remind me of zombies.  They crawl out of the sand bed whenever they detect food nearby.  Whether that be me feeding the tank or a tank inhabitant dying or dead.

 

5 Cerith & Stocky Cerith Snails

These snails are hard workers and they even clean on the edge where the sand meets the glass.  I hear they are usually hard to reproduce due to their eggs being eaten by fish and such.  I don't mind as long as they don't reproduce out of control.

 

1 Banded Trochus Snail

They are excellent algae eaters and do a great job cleaning the brown diatoms off the glass.  They also like to keep the heater and the surrounding areas sparkling clean.

 

1 Zebra Turbo Snail

I purchased this to get rid of some pesty green hair algae that grew after my green emerald crab passed away from an accident.  I no longer have much GHA left thanks to this Zebra Turbo Snail.

 

1 Mexican Turbo Snail

I got these snails to take care of some cotton candy algae that may have hitchhiked onto the Chaeto that I bought off eBay.  I confirmed that the larger snails that are 2"+ do indeed consume the cotton candy algae.

 

2 Tiger Sand Conchs

I got the initial conch because I read that it eats cyanobacteria and also algae & detritus.  It keeps the sandbed well stirred up and doesn't deplete it of microfauna.  And it's amazing to watch it hop around on its powerful foot.  After observing it eating cyanobacteria at a snails pace and doing a good job at the areas it was at, I decided to get one more to keep entire sand bed looking great since my particular system could use it.

 

1 Feather Duster

I've been fascinated by my tiny little fan worm hitchhikers found on two of my corals.  I do not feed them, yet they continue to grow and thrive possibly due to me spot feeding Reef-Roids to my corals every now and then.  I've been curious of the much larger feather dusters and wanted to give it a try to see if their care level is similar to the tiny hitchhiker variety.  Although, I may spot feed it Reef-Roids at the same time I do my normal coral feeding just to make sure it gets some nutrition besides what is found in the water.  There is also a thriving Tisbe copepod population in the tank as well.

 

a ton of Tisbe Copepods

Our unseen clean up crew behind the scenes.  They sometimes sacrifice themselves as lunch for any hungry fish waiting for their next daily meal.

 

 

HITCHHIKERS

 

 

Barnacle

One of these hitched a ride on my Hammer coral.  It looks pretty neat (while it’s still small).

 

Fan worms

I have a few of these tiny little feather dusters that hitchhiked onto some corals that I purchased online from LA.  I believe it adds more diversity to my tank and gives me one more interesting thing to stare at.

 

Branching Coralline algae

I first noticed this purplish, tiny twig that was attached to my Candy Cane coral when I initially added it to my tank.  At first I didn't know what it was, but once I did, it's been a welcome addition to the reef.  I'm happy to see it continue to grow over time.

 

Cotton Candy Algae [Death by Mexican Turbo Snails and Mechanical Filtration]

Commonly referred to as a nuisance algae, this pretty pink & fluffy algae was first seen attached to my Chaeto that I purchased off eBay.  True Mexican Turbo Snails (Turbo fluctuosa) of the larger variety (2"+) can help reduce the amount of cotton candy algae within a tank.  I found acquiring these snails to be more difficult than I expected.  My LFS sold me some Zebra Turbo Snails that they called Mexican Turbo Snails and they did not eat any of the cotton candy algae because it's the wrong kind of snail.  As the weeks go on, I've grown more fonder of the pink color that this algae exhibits and I may change my mind on how bad it may be.  It helps to export excess nutrients along with the chaeto while looking more aesthetically pleasing.  My only real concern is if it can cause chaeto and corals to die over time by growing over them and preventing light from getting to them.  I will keep a close eye on this nuisance algae and hopefully acquire some large Mexican Turbo Snails in the future.

 

Aiptasia anemones [Death by Peppermint Shrimp]

I noticed a tiny little Aiptasia anemone on the rockwork.  I don't know where it came from, but it must've hitchhiked from one of the recent corals that I added to the tank.  Not wanting to wait, I blasted it with some pure lemon juice.  I then dug it all out with my tweezers and siphoned out any residue.  That was the very last time I've ever seen an Aiptasia anemone in any of my reef tanks.  UPDATE: Months later, I noticed two additional Aiptasia anemones in the tank so this time I purchased 2 Peppermint Shrimp to see if they can deal with these scary pests.

 

Flatworms [Death by Toilet and hungry Clownfish]

I've noticed flatworms on two different occasions and only on my Xenia coral.  For the longest time, I thought these little brown spots were just part of the Xenia dying or rotting away -- UNTIL I noticed it moving one day!  I then took the piece of Xenia out, dipped it into tank water with Seachem Reef Dip, rinsed it off with new tank water, and flushed the flatworms out of existence.  The second time I noticed it was on a different Xenia (one that I didn't dip); I was able to siphon it off the Xenia, it floated in the water and to my surprise, my Clownfish ATE it!  I was both surprised and proud that my Clownfish was helping me rid the tank of this pest.  So Death by Flushing and Death by Clownfish.  Make your Choice.

 

Vermetid snails

I added 6 Turbo Snails a few days ago, and the 2 largest of the pack had some noticeable hitchhikers on their shells.  I would've swore I saw a worm-like thing quickly enter a calcified burrow on one of the shells.  As I observed more closely, I noticed a bunch of mucus strands or slime trail that floats in the water so I may also have Vermetid snails possibly (pretty possible there are multiple types of pests on the shell).  When I read up on Vermetid snails and finding out that the mucus strands irritates corals and can even cause them to die, I quickly got to work and removed the 2 large snails from the tank.  I took a tooth brush and used the end to try to crush the calcium burrows and remove them from the large snail shells.  I rinsed with tap water and brushed the shells hoping it may aid in killing anything else on the shells.

 

Spirorbid Worms

Ever since I added the large Turbo snails, now I have countless Spirorbid Worms all over my tank.  I see this as a good thing because they are peaceful filter feeders after all, however I would venture to say there are hundreds -- maybe thousands of them all over my tank.  Since I do not do water changes in this tank, I wonder if the influx of tiny filter feeders (Spirorbid Worms, Vermetid snails, Pineapple Sponges) is due to the plentiful source of food floating in the water column?  Perhaps this is nature's way to bring balance to my tank so everything can live in harmony.

 

Pineapple sponges

I didn't know it at the time, but there was a Pineapple sponge hiding within the Chaeto that I purchased off eBay.  Fast forward to today, now there's countless Pineapple sponges all over the underside of rockwork and in dark areas of the tank such as behind the heater.  Based on my research, these should decline in population over time as the food supply lessens within the water.  I tend to like filter feeders overall so at this time, they're a welcome addition to the biodiversity within my tank.

 

Bubble Algae

I noticed Bubble Algae on both of the Blastomussa corals that I got from LA.  After doing much research, I did not want to get an Emerald crab because based off other hobbyists' experiences, they're 50/50 on whether or not they'll even consume the Bubble Algae.  And on top of that, it's 50/50 if they may pick at & eat your corals in the tank.  And when they get big, they may even go after your small fish.  So, no thanks.  Then I was reading about hobbyists' popping the Bubble Algae with tweezers.  For the ones that have, they claim the Bubble Algae never came back after they were popped and removed.  On top of that, when various hobbyists watched their Emerald crabs eat the Bubble Algae, the Emerald crabs themselves pop the Bubble Algae!  For the hobbyists that did not want to pop the Bubble Algae, they were scared if spores would spread.  But, others mentioned it may only spread if the Bubble Algae is mature and large.  Either way, I went with popping the Bubble Algae with tweezers and I will update this if I notice any coming back.  UPDATE: I found out later that any of the BA skin that hid itself within the cracks or floated in the tank eventually repopulated itself.  In response, I purchased a small Ruby Emerald Crab to help end this menace once and for all!

 

 

PICTURES

 

Day 16 (9/26/2019) since starting the Office Nano Reef:

 

Day 43 (10/23/2019):

 

Day 60 (11/9/2019):

 

Day 81 (11/30/2019):

 

Day 112 (12/31/2019):

 

Day 659 (6/30/2021):

 

Day 665 (7/6/2021):

 

Day 692 (8/2/2021):

 

Day 701 (8/11/2021):

 

9/6/2021:

[Ratvan]

  7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Almost every coral has toxins, sweeper, or overgrown others.

 

even xenia slimes up and that slime goes into the water column and can irritate other corals

 

 

Read more  

 

"Can you think of any other corals that are similar to Duncans and Xenia as far as to what I'm trying to achieve?  Or do you think I pretty much got the only two that fit my criteria?"

 

Sorry borrowed that from the other thread. 😀

 

I'd still go with LPS corals, yes they put out sweepers but with pre planning you can "isolate" them so that you dont incite coral warfare. Euphyllia (Hammers, torches, frogspawn) Hammers and Frogspawn can touch. Torches burn everything except other torches. 

 

If that is not your thing, Bubble Corals and Foxes. Candy Canes, Trumpets, Maze Corals. Some are slightly more troublesome than others but I like frogspawn and candy canes for an idiot proof self propagation method (I'm clumsy and the "frags" are easy to glue down or place on a plug)

 

Mushroom corals are interesting. I like discosoma and ricordia tuna myself but there are others.

[Poison Dart Frog]

Looking great so far especially the rock layout.  Will be cool if you can get to the point of not needing water changes. 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

  7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Almost every coral has toxins, sweeper, or overgrown others.

 

even xenia slimes up and that slime goes into the water column and can irritate other corals

 

 

Read more  

 

"Can you think of any other corals that are similar to Duncans and Xenia as far as to what I'm trying to achieve?  Or do you think I pretty much got the only two that fit my criteria?"

 

Sorry borrowed that from the other thread. 😀

 

I'd still go with LPS corals, yes they put out sweepers but with pre planning you can "isolate" them so that you dont incite coral warfare. Euphyllia (Hammers, torches, frogspawn) Hammers and Frogspawn can touch. Torches burn everything except other torches. 

 

If that is not your thing, Bubble Corals and Foxes. Candy Canes, Trumpets, Maze Corals. Some are slightly more troublesome than others but I like frogspawn and candy canes for an idiot proof self propagation method (I'm clumsy and the "frags" are easy to glue down or place on a plug)

 

Mushroom corals are interesting. I like discosoma and ricordia tuna myself but there are others.

not sure the light source the Op is using will sustain the corals.

 

Its a Nicrew Led.

 

if its this light https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-ClassicLED-Aquarium-Spectrum-Freshwater/dp/B07F7391M2

 

its for freshwater tanks. I tried one on a 5g and it barely grew low light plants.

[Ratvan]

1 minute ago, Clown79 said:

not sure the light source the Op is using will sustain the corals.

 

Its a Nicrew Led.

 

if its this light https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-ClassicLED-Aquarium-Spectrum-Freshwater/dp/B07F7391M2

 

its for freshwater tanks. I tried one on a 5g and it barely grew low light plants.

Yeah skimmed that part.....

[Seadragon]

5 hours ago, Clown79 said:

not sure the light source the Op is using will sustain the corals.

 

Its a Nicrew Led.

 

if its this light https://www.amazon.com/NICREW-ClassicLED-Aquarium-Spectrum-Freshwater/dp/B07F7391M2

 

its for freshwater tanks. I tried one on a 5g and it barely grew low light plants.

 

Actually, the one I purchased was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C84SLRO/

 

Now you're making me wonder if it's going to be enough.

 

EDITED:

Do you think the light that I linked will be enough for Xenia and Duncan corals?  If not, what are popular choices that are reasonably priced on Amazon?

 

I checked the reviews for the light that I purchased on Amazon.  It appears to be mixed, but the main lighting should be just enough for the Xenia.  As far as the Duncan Corals, they're exposed to both the main lighting and the Finnex 10" FugeRay Ultra Slim Aquarium LED Light.  So between the two lights, they might be OK as well.  I'll keep everyone updated on whether the Xenia and Duncans end up propagating or dying off.

[Tired]

How are you planning to replace the minerals that get used up by your animals, if not by water changes? Dosing? 

[Seadragon]

2 minutes ago, Tired said:

How are you planning to replace the minerals that get used up by your animals, if not by water changes? Dosing? 

 

High quality food, top offs, tiny water changes when doing weekly cleanings (removing film off the surface of the water), not to mention my sand bed and rocks are aragonite.

[Seadragon]

1 hour ago, Ratvan said:

  7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

Almost every coral has toxins, sweeper, or overgrown others.

 

even xenia slimes up and that slime goes into the water column and can irritate other corals

 

 

Read more  

 

"Can you think of any other corals that are similar to Duncans and Xenia as far as to what I'm trying to achieve?  Or do you think I pretty much got the only two that fit my criteria?"

 

Sorry borrowed that from the other thread. 😀

 

I'd still go with LPS corals, yes they put out sweepers but with pre planning you can "isolate" them so that you dont incite coral warfare. Euphyllia (Hammers, torches, frogspawn) Hammers and Frogspawn can touch. Torches burn everything except other torches. 

 

If that is not your thing, Bubble Corals and Foxes. Candy Canes, Trumpets, Maze Corals. Some are slightly more troublesome than others but I like frogspawn and candy canes for an idiot proof self propagation method (I'm clumsy and the "frags" are easy to glue down or place on a plug)

 

Mushroom corals are interesting. I like discosoma and ricordia tuna myself but there are others.

 

So I was looking at the Bubble Corals and Foxes that you mentioned.

 

"Plerogyra sinuosa is a species of "bubble coral". This species requires low light and a gentle water flow."

Low light, sounds like that may work. 🙂

 

Even the Fox Coral requires "Low to Moderate" lighting.  Hmm, I wonder how cheap those two are and what are the downsides.

[Ratvan]

25 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

 

Actually, the one I purchased was this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01C84SLRO/

 

Now you're making me wonder if it's going to be enough.

 

EDITED:

Do you think the light that I linked will be enough for Xenia and Duncan corals?  If not, what are popular choices that are reasonably priced on Amazon?

 

 

6 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

 

So I was looking at the Bubble Corals and Foxes that you mentioned.

 

"Plerogyra sinuosa is a species of "bubble coral". This species requires low light and a gentle water flow."

Low light, sounds like that may work. 🙂

 

Even the Fox Coral requires "Low to Moderate" lighting.  Hmm, I wonder how cheap those two are and what are the downsides.

Sadly not good enough for corals. Maybe some macros.....

 

For a similar price a PAR38 bulb for a desk lamp would be much better short term. I have various beginner corals (and killed plenty of others) in my pico tank. I started the same on a smaller scale and now not a lot of the original purchases have survived (6 months later)

 

Save in the long term by spending upfront. "I'll upgrade later" costs more money

[j.falk]

@Seadragon

 

You are going about this with the mindset of basically building a freshwater planted tank a la saltwater version.  It's the same concept I tried myself when starting my first nano tank and one that I thought would be very easy to do.  That was until I realized that there are a lot more things to take into consideration with a saltwater tank than what there is with freshwater planted tanks.  One small mistake with saltwater can be a costly lesson learned.  You try to keep your tank too clean then you can run into dino issues.  If your tank gets too dirty because of lack of maintenance, then your livestock will suffer or die.  The truth is when comparing freshwater to saltwater tanks it's like comparing apples to oranges.  They might seem the same, but they are definitely not.  Saltwater is an entirely different animal in it's own right.  The good thing is that you already have experience with freshwater which is good...it'll come in handy as you progress through your saltwater stages.  

 

A bit of advice.  Read through this post to get a better idea of what you are getting into:

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycle-process-and-stages.284898/#post-3461668

 

It'll help save you some stress down the road as your tank matures.

 

Good luck with everything, I hope you do succeed.  Then you can show us all how you did it.  🙂

[Seadragon]

1 hour ago, j.falk said:

@Seadragon

 

You are going about this with the mindset of basically building a freshwater planted tank a la saltwater version.  It's the same concept I tried myself when starting my first nano tank and one that I thought would be very easy to do.  That was until I realized that there are a lot more things to take into consideration with a saltwater tank than what there is with freshwater planted tanks.  One small mistake with saltwater can be a costly lesson learned.  You try to keep your tank too clean then you can run into dino issues.  If your tank gets too dirty because of lack of maintenance, then your livestock will suffer or die.  The truth is when comparing freshwater to saltwater tanks it's like comparing apples to oranges.  They might seem the same, but they are definitely not.  Saltwater is an entirely different animal in it's own right.  The good thing is that you already have experience with freshwater which is good...it'll come in handy as you progress through your saltwater stages.  

 

A bit of advice.  Read through this post to get a better idea of what you are getting into:

 

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/cycle-process-and-stages.284898/#post-3461668

 

It'll help save you some stress down the road as your tank matures.

 

Good luck with everything, I hope you do succeed.  Then you can show us all how you did it.  🙂

 

Thanks for the link j.falk, it's funny that you mention this which I'll tell you why in a second.  So, I will try to do an update to this thread whenever a Major Event occurs within my nano reef tank.  Now is a better time than any to update everyone on what I'm seeing right now.

 

 

WEEK 3 UPDATE:

 

About 1-2 weeks ago, the tank had it's first brown diatom algae bloom and then the Coralline algae spotting started appearing soon after.  Today, 9/26/2019, I feel like I'm seeing a 2nd brown diatom algae bloom is on the onset.

 

Blenny is at full throttle, eating it off the glass non-stop and pooping long strands of green goop.  Charlie (the Stocky Cerith Snail) already cleaned out the inside of the internal refugium days before and then made his clever escape into the main tank.  He has been cleaning the sand and the rocks ever since he earned his freedom.  And all of the blue leg hermit crabs are doing their thing -- which doesn't appear to be much in my opinion (I'm thinking snails in general clean way better than hermit crabs, but I had an issue a long time ago where I had an epidemic of pond snails in one of my first aquariums after I purchased some java moss from an eBay seller and ever since that nightmarish event, I refuse to repeat it.  So I went with only 1 Stocky Cerith Snail so the snail does not reproduce sexually and cause another epidemic in my tank.  The LFS told me that Cerith snails will not reproduce asexually.)

 

Now, I wouldn't mind getting single snails of other types.  Which marine snails produce sexually and which produce asexually, does anyone know?

 

Other than that, the Duncan corals appear to be fine and they've opened up and are waving in the current.  The Xenia is doing much better today than it was when it was first introduced to the tank 2 days ago after acclimating it.  Two days ago, they weren't doing much and looked like they had the wind knocked out of them after their overnight travel in a dark box.  Yesterday, they did a tiny pulse for me -- reminded me of a baby squeezing their father's finger for the first time.  And when I checked on them earlier today, they had a speedier pulse, but not yet at full speed like I see in some of the YouTube videos.  I'd say they were at 40% of maximum pulse rate.  Right now, they got a large blue leg hermit crab next to them and they seem to be bunched up for some reason and not pulsing.  Not sure what's going on, but I'll keep an eye on them for sure (since I love Xenias and will not allow an expensive pest coral to die on my watch).

 

All the fish seem happy and were energetic at their feeding time.  Even the chaeto algae appears to be growing due to the double lighting system I have set up.  I really hope that due to the close proximity of the Duncans to the refugium light, it'll help them grow if the main light is too weak.  We'll see, nothing looks closed up like I heard of Duncan issues in other threads.

 

In closing, I will share what may happen in the near future.  My wife's tank, the other Nano Reef tank that I'm helping her with, started a week or so later than mine did.  So everything is on a slight delay.  She already added 2 Ocellaris Clownfish and a Yellowtail Damselfish to it.  It's going through it's first brown diatom algae bloom with no CUC.  Probably this coming Saturday, we will purchase 10 Blue Leg Hermit Crabs, 1 Stocky Cerith Snail, and 1 Tailspot Blenny for her tank.  If no Tailspot Blenny is available at the LFS (they seem to sell out of them quickly), then I will just give her my Sharknose Goby.  The reason for this is because I really find the Tailspot Blenny to be a good algae eater and that seems to be what we need for both tanks at this time.

 

The only other thing to add is my 2 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp is coming next week on Friday as well as a 1-headed Giant Green Polyp Duncan Coral for my wife's tank.  Oh, and we were given some free GSP which I did not want to add in my tank, but she wanted the purple mats in her tank so we put them on the smaller of the two rocks.  I heard too many horror stories of GSP so I didn't want to get involved with that.  (I read that GSP puts high toxins in the water that slows the growth of other corals and I really don't want to deal with that in our carbon-less tanks.)

 

[billygoat]

1 hour ago, Seadragon said:

Which marine snails produce sexually and which produce asexually, does anyone know?

No marine snails that I am aware of are capable of reproducing asexually. Generally speaking you will never have to worry about any of the popular varieties breeding to explosive proportions. I suggest you get a good mix of different types of popular reef snails as each of them has a little bit of a different diet/activity cycle/etc. Ceriths for example are very long-lived and extremely hardy but are slow moving and less active than Turbo, Trochus, or Astraea snails.

[Seadragon]

1 minute ago, billygoat said:

No marine snails that I am aware of are capable of reproducing asexually. Generally speaking you will never have to worry about any of the popular varieties breeding to explosive proportions. I suggest you get a good mix of different types of popular reef snails as each of them has a little bit of a different diet/activity cycle/etc. Ceriths for example are very long-lived and extremely hardy but are slow moving and less active than Turbo, Trochus, or Astraea snails.

 

Thank you billygoat!  That is extremely useful information to me.  Perhaps this coming Saturday I will be buying 1 of each type of Marine snail for both of my nano reef tanks from my LFS.

 

Here are the types of snails that they sell, if anyone sees a snail on the list that I definitely should NOT buy for any reason, please let me know before I buy it, thanks!

• Margarita Snail - Margarites pupillius [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Nassarius Snail - Nassarius sp. - Small or Large available [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Scavenger]
• Astrea Snail - Astraea tecta - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Caribbean Nerite Snail - Nerita sp. - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Nerite Snail - Nerita sp. - Small - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Turbo Snail - Turbo sp. - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore] (Get Turbo or Cat's Eye Turbo?)
• Cat's Eye Turbo Snail - Turbo sp. - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore] (Get Turbo or Cat's Eye Turbo?)
• Bumblebee Snail - Pusiostoma mendicaria - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 15; Reef/Invert/Community: Yes, with caution; Diet: Omnivore]
• Dove Snail - Columbella sp.
• Longspine Star Snail - Astralium phoebiu - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Wavy Tequila Turbo Snail - Astraea undosa - [Max Size: 4"; Min Tank Size: 30; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Striped Trochus Snail - Trochus sp. - [Max Size: 3"; Min Tank Size: 15; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Orange Chestnut Snail - Turbo castanea - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]

Wow, that's a lot I think?  Which ones are the best/safest/most helpful for my nano reef tanks?  Looks like they have the Turbo/Cat's Eye Turbo, Astrea, and Striped Trochus Snails.  They mentioned to be cautious with the Bumblebee Snail, it might harm the Reef and Inverts?

 

[billygoat]

15 minutes ago, Seadragon said:

 

Thank you billygoat!  That is extremely useful information to me.  Perhaps this coming Saturday I will be buying 1 of each type of Marine snail for both of my nano reef tanks from my LFS.

 

Here are the types of snails that they sell, if anyone sees a snail on the list that I definitely should NOT buy for any reason, please let me know before I buy it, thanks!

• Margarita Snail - Margarites pupillius [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Nassarius Snail - Nassarius sp. - Small or Large available [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Scavenger]
• Astrea Snail - Astraea tecta - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Caribbean Nerite Snail - Nerita sp. - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Nerite Snail - Nerita sp. - Small - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Turbo Snail - Turbo sp. - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore] (Get Turbo or Cat's Eye Turbo?)
• Cat's Eye Turbo Snail - Turbo sp. - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore] (Get Turbo or Cat's Eye Turbo?)
• Bumblebee Snail - Pusiostoma mendicaria - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 15; Reef/Invert/Community: Yes, with caution; Diet: Omnivore]
• Dove Snail - Columbella sp.
• Longspine Star Snail - Astralium phoebiu - [Max Size: 2"; Min Tank Size: 10; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Wavy Tequila Turbo Snail - Astraea undosa - [Max Size: 4"; Min Tank Size: 30; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Striped Trochus Snail - Trochus sp. - [Max Size: 3"; Min Tank Size: 15; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]
• Orange Chestnut Snail - Turbo castanea - [Max Size: 1.5"; Min Tank Size: 20; Reef/Invert/Community Safe; Diet: Herbivore]

Wow, that's a lot I think?  Which ones are the best/safest/most helpful for my nano reef tanks?  Looks like they have the Turbo/Cat's Eye Turbo, Astrea, and Striped Trochus Snails.  They mentioned to be cautious with the Bumblebee Snail, it might harm the Reef and Inverts?

 

That is one heck of a selection! 😂 I think you can pick maybe two of these species, get one or two of each, and you'll be set. Remember that snails will have to compete with your tailspot blenny for algae to eat, so this tank probably needs less of them than the average aquarium would. I am not familiar with all of these species, but smaller varieties of Turbo snail (eg. Turbo castanea) and Astraea tecta are both good choices, as are margarita snails. I'd avoid Nerites as they have a tendency to crawl out of the tank and leave gross slime trails all over the glass of your aquarium. I'd also avoid any of the larger snails (e.g. Astraea undosa or big Trochus snails) as they will grow too big for this tank and will eventually start bulldozing your rockwork.

 

Note that many cone- or turban-shaped snails cannot right themselves if they get flipped over without a hard surface nearby to grab onto. So keep an eye on them once they are introduced and make sure they don't get flipped upside-down for too long, otherwise your hermits will probably eat them.

[Seadragon]

35 minutes ago, billygoat said:

That is one heck of a selection! 😂 I think you can pick maybe two of these species, get one or two of each, and you'll be set. Remember that snails will have to compete with your tailspot blenny for algae to eat, so this tank probably needs less of them than the average aquarium would. I am not familiar with all of these species, but smaller varieties of Turbo snail (eg. Turbo castanea) and Astraea tecta are both good choices, as are margarita snails. I'd avoid Nerites as they have a tendency to crawl out of the tank and leave gross slime trails all over the glass of your aquarium. I'd also avoid any of the larger snails (e.g. Astraea undosa or big Trochus snails) as they will grow too big for this tank and will eventually start bulldozing your rockwork.

 

Note that many cone- or turban-shaped snails cannot right themselves if they get flipped over without a hard surface nearby to grab onto. So keep an eye on them once they are introduced and make sure they don't get flipped upside-down for too long, otherwise your hermits will probably eat them.

 

I agree, let's go with the largest Astraea tecta Snail that they have.  Maybe if the snail is big, the Blue Leg Hermit Crabs will leave him alone.

 

After researching it a bit more, I might special order two Banded Trochus Snails; one for each tank.  I hear they have the same diet as the Turbos, but they don't knock anything over like frag plugs.  Also, the Banded Trochus Snail appears to be different than the other Trochus Snails.  According to LiveAquaria.com: "The Banded Trochus Snail is very peaceful and because of its shell shape, it is not easily eaten by crabs. Unlike its close relative, the Tectus Snail, the Banded Trochus Snail can right itself when knocked over".

 

So that's good.  And finally, I might just get a small Nassarius Snail to keep the sand stirred up.  That and he looks like a zombie rising from the sand when food is dropped nearby.  Thanks for helping me decide on the perfect snail combo! :D I will dub them... The Ninja Snurtles since there's 4 of them and they'll be fighting algae day and night. (cept for the Nassarius, he'll just be eating leftover food and dead carcasses.)

 

 

[Clown79]

That nicrew light is exactly the same one I linked. It's for low light plants and algae.

 

It's not very powerful in wattage 11-18 watts and the spectrum is 6500-7000k.

 

This is a light that works and many like.

https://www.amazon.com/Sanrise-A029-Knight-Aquarium-Mount/dp/B01ETQ92AE/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=aqua+knight+led&qid=1569582300&sprefix=aquaknight&sr=8-1

 

[j.falk]

5 hours ago, Seadragon said:

I might just get a small Nassarius Snail to keep the sand stirred up.  

The Nassarius will eventually get eaten by the hermits.  I can almost guarantee you that.  I had 4 blue leg hermits in with my 8 Nassarius snails...they killed them all and took their shells.

5 hours ago, Seadragon said:

 

 

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, j.falk said:

The Nassarius will eventually get eaten by the hermits.  I can almost guarantee you that.  I had 4 blue leg hermits in with my 8 Nassarius snails...they killed them all and took their shells.

Some do, some don't.

 

Providing extra shells and food for hermits helps prevent them going after snails.

 

A good hermit is red scarlet, they never go after anything. Halloween's are cool too.

[EthanPhillyCheesesteak]

My pest tank is along the very same lines as this tank actually. It’s a low maintenance tank, I do very small water changes once a week. I actually let hair algae grow wild in the tank, bc I have two evil crabs in the tank that like the green hair algae. The tank has been up for about 8 months maybe. The green hair only grows on the rocks. The crabs and macro and a grandis frag are the only residents in the tank as of right now.

[j.falk]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Some do, some don't.

 

Providing extra shells and food for hermits helps prevent them going after snails.

 

A good hermit is red scarlet, they never go after anything. Halloween's are cool too.

OP has 10 blue leg hermits in a 10 gallon tank.  What's your bet that the snail is going to survive?  The odds are already 10 to 1.  😄

[Ratvan]

9 minutes ago, j.falk said:

OP has 10 blue leg hermits in a 10 gallon tank.  What's your bet that the snail is going to survive?  The odds are already 10 to 1.  😄

With enough shells pretty good, i'm at about the same level and the hermits don't bother the snails at all with enough spare shells

[j.falk]

4 minutes ago, Ratvan said:

With enough shells pretty good, i'm at about the same level and the hermits don't bother the snails at all with enough spare shells

Place your bets now.  😛

[Tamberav]

Your corals will probably survive under that light for awhile but not thrive or grow as they should.

 

You need to replace trace elements for macros and corals or certain ones will do poorly. This is why people do ICP testing.

 

Now I don't believe a person should have to do ICP testing for macro and a few soft corals but they still need trace elements so if you are not going to water changes (and small infrequent ones will not be enough) you should probably be dosing KZ 1234 or Cheatogro or something similar. The food will not cut it for certain macros. They need iron and maganese and so on.

 

Lots of new people come to this forum and pick and choose what sounds easiest for them to follow and ignore advice and it's not pretty. We have nothing to gain by misleading you. 

 

 

[Seadragon]

18 minutes ago, Tamberav said:

Your corals will probably survive under that light for awhile but not thrive or grow as they should.

 

You need to replace trace elements for macros and corals or certain ones will do poorly. This is why people do ICP testing.

 

Now I don't believe a person should have to do ICP testing for macro and a few soft corals but they still need trace elements so if you are not going to water changes (and small infrequent ones will not be enough) you should probably be dosing KZ 1234 or Cheatogro or something similar. The food will not cut it for certain macros. They need iron and maganese and so on.

 

Lots of new people come to this forum and pick and choose what sounds easiest for them to follow and ignore advice and it's not pretty. We have nothing to gain by misleading you. 

 

 

 

Oh, I believe you.  But, here's what I'm looking at right now... if any of the corals start to die down or not open (right now, they all are open and appear to be happy and waving in the current.  There's an old saying, if it ain't broken, don't..), I'll probably go ahead and buy the "Sanrise A029 Aqua Knight 30W CREE Nano Aquarium LED w/Mount" at the first sign of trouble.  That would cost me an additional $120 (between the two tanks) for something that may not be an issue yet due to these really simple corals that I chose.  Also, the chaeto algae has grown in size since I first put it in there and it has this pretty green color which might partly be because Charlie was cleaning it off a few days ago.  I am using 2 different lights on the aquarium and I believe that should be taken into account on why it may be doing OK right now.

 

I'll look into the "Brightwell Aquatics CHGR250 Chaeto GRO Chaetomorpha Algae Fertilizer, 250 mL" and other similar solutions.  Thanks for the info.