IHaveA 10 Gallon Reef

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I thought it might be time to start an actual aquarium journal! Thank you for following along. 

 

In one way or another, this tank has been running for the past ~10 years. I started with a 28 gallon bowfront that I had found in the trash. It did well until it started to randomly leak one day, a couple years after starting it. We then moved house and I upgraded to a 60 gallon (that we also found in the trash) that was my dream, but I quickly realized how expensive it was to run and my whole sump setup was a total pain. I went off to college to study marine science and the tank had a lone clownfish in it for several years. 

 

I came home from college and broke down the tank, but I couldn't see it go. I had always heard how hard nanos were to keep and how much extra maintenance they required and I had been out of the hobby for a good amount of time; but I wanted to see how low maintenance and how low cost I could get, so I bought a 10 gallon kit in December of 2018. Since then, I've been slowly upgrading and adding.

 

The only major problem I've run into thus far was a mini 'crash' in December 2019. I woke up one morning and both my clownfish were dying; all other inverts and corals, as well as the yellow watchman goby, were fine and it is still a mystery as to what happened. 

 

Tank: Aqueon 100527256 Fish Tank Aquarium LED Kit, 10 Gallon

Filter: Stock  Tetra Whisper EX Silent Multi-Stage Power Filter for Aquariums 20-30 gallons

Light: Stock  Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light

Heater: Stock

Powerhead: SUN JVP-110 530 GPH Mini Wave Maker with Suction Cup, 1 Head, 2.5W

Cover: Stock Aqueon Aquarium AAG29020 Versa Top, 20-Inch

Substrate: crushed coral from the 60 gallon

Maintenance: ~20% water change once every week with substrate siphoning; replace carbon every 3 weeks

 

FTS December 2018

 

FTS March 2020

Stock: yellow watchman goby, GSP, toadstool, red mushroom, xenia, zoas, purple short spine pincushion urchin, hermits, and snails. 

 

FTS April 2020

Stock: yellow watchman goby, GSP, toadstool, red mushroom, xenia, zoas, purple short spine pincushion urchin, hermits, and snails. 

 

May FTS

Stock: yellow watchman goby, GSP, toadstool, red mushroom, xenia, zoas, purple short spine pincushion urchin, hermits, snails, and octospawn.

 

June FTS

Stock: yellow watchman goby, GSP, toadstool, red mushroom, xenia, zoas, purple short spine pincushion urchin, hermits, snails, octospawn, and pink birdsnest.

 

July FTS

Stock: yellow watchman goby, GSP, toadstool, red mushroom, xenia, zoas, purple short spine pincushion urchin, hermits, snails, octospawn, pink birdsnest, and blasto. 

 

October FTS 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I've been itching to buy a new fish; two and a half months have passed since my clownfish died, and the YMG has been fine, so I think I am in the clear. I just really can't decide what I want though. I'm even possibly considering getting a pistol shrimp, but it seems like a lot of invertebrates. What do you guys think??

 

Well I am going away for the next week, and I'll be buying stuff when I get back. I have my heart set on a frogspawn but they don't come around too often for some reason. Still not sure what kind of fish/shrimp to get..

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I've started dosing reefroids; I target feed two very small diluted pinches about ~1 hour before I do my weekly water change. The zoas have definitely gotten bigger as well as the toadstool. I'm pretty sure the GSP has taken hold onto the rock too! Right now, I am still after a frogspawn and I think I definitely want a pistol shrimp.. we'll see!

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

New heads on my zoa and GSP growth. Hope everyone’s staying safe!

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Those reef roids are definitely making the corals grow bigger, but no new heads besides the GSP. Hoping to have an octospawn shipped soon :-).

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Got the octospawn! Oh it's so cool (not completely open yet)!! I'm hoping to move it up a bit more onto that top rock, but I eventually want to make that spot a Euphyllia garden and get a hammer. And think about moving filtration/powerhead around.

This was my first time trying getting a coral shipped, and it was a little nerve wracking, but I've been searching for a frogspawn/octospawn since the start of the year so I had to get this one.

I think I'm going to pick up a pistol shrimp when stores open, and I want to get more zoas for that area below the octo. I want to try a birdsnest in those branches on the right side. If that doesn't work, I'll get a torch.

I need ideas for the area to the left of the mushroom though.. maybe more zoas? Or just let the GSP take over there. What do you think?

 

Also really cool, my mushroom was grumpy and moved to that spot. But it left a bit of itself behind, so I'm hoping to get a new head soon :-). 

 

 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

It's a baby baby 🙂

 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Everything is starting to grow more. Zoas are especially growing new heads 🙂.

Looking to order some more thingggssss.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Just some updated photos 🙂 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Couldn't be happier with how this octospawn is taking to my tank. Also picked up a piece of pink birdsnest to see how it does in my tank. It didn't look the absolute best in the store, but the only worthwhile fish store is ~1 hr from me and I didn't want to leave empty handed. It did seem to lose some flesh because it was getting too much flow, and I'm a little concerned that the base is white-r (NOT completely white and that bottom right is glue), but I think it has pretty good polyp extension otherwise. 

 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Starting to get more GHA in the tank 😞 Really have to pick up some snails.

Birdsnest is looking... ok??

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Some new corals :-). Rastas, blasto, and mandarin orange zoas. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Think I found an aptasia on one of the frags 😓 gonna pull it and superglue it. Hopefully that will be the last of it.

[WV Reefer]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:35 PM, IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut said:

Some new corals :-). Rastas, blasto, and mandarin orange zoas. 

I think I like the octospawn and the Blasto the most. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

2 minutes ago, WV Reefer said:

I think I like the octospawn and the Blasto the most. 

I looooooveeeee my octo. It's getting super meaty. I really want a hammer too but I've been spending too much!!

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Update: haven't pulled the frag yet. While it looked like aptasia, it looked like a lot of other stuff too. It really could've just been a piece of algae for all I know. I searched a few times with a magnifying glass today and didn't see what I had seen the day/night before. I'll continue to monitor it very closely. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

So, I saw it again. Unfortunately, there's no way for me to get a photo. I'm still ~55% sure it's not an aptasia, but I'd rather be safe than sorry so I'll pull it tomorrow with my weekly water change. 

 

Update: pulled the frag. It definitely wasn't aptasia, but I still didn't know what it was still so I sealed it up. This was also the first water change where I didn't need to scrub the rocks! So either my snails are doing a great job or my water parameters are finally making sense lol. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

The tank has been a little weird over the past week :-(. Rastas aren't opening so much, one of the heads on the oxide zoas has been closed the last few days. Birdsnest a little sad.

Tested everything and just the salinity was a little high, so I've been trying to bring it down. Hoping this isn't the start of a crash.

[debbeach13]

I haven't even tried SPS in years but I find that saying zoanthids are easy beginner corals almost laughable. There are so many different ones especially with all the "designer morph's" that conditions that make one type grow like crazy makes another type close up or melt. At least that's my experience. I hope yours open back up for you.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

2 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

I haven't even tried SPS in years but I find that saying zoanthids are easy beginner corals almost laughable. There are so many different ones especially with all the "designer morph's" that conditions that make one type grow like crazy makes another type close up or melt. At least that's my experience. I hope yours open back up for you.

Thank you. Water change tomorrow so hopefully that breathes some life into things. Yeah I'm just happy the more expensive zoas are doing okay for right now (knock on wood). 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Mm things still aren't happy. The birdsnest is losing flesh on the underside. 3/5 of the rastas have opened, but look sad. My oxides still look sad. Everything else looks OK. 

I wonder, I was using distilled water in pre-packaged gallon jugs from the supermarket for a bit and then went back to my regular water supplier that I used before covid. I'm wondering if she gave me a different kind of water or something.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I think it was my salinity maybe, even though I keep it more on the high side. The birdsnest is still losing some flesh, but only from the underside still. I'm just gonna leave it be.

3/5 of my rastas are now consistently open so I am very happy with that. I ended up losing one head of the oxides, which is totally fine. They seem to be bouncing back. The blasto looks a bit bigger so that's good?

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

picked up a pink diamond zoa 🙂

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

i am digging your leathers