IHaveA 10 Gallon Reef

[Bobc]

Total beginner looking to start with a 10 gallon nano with no sump. This post has been an inspiration!

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

On 7/28/2020 at 6:23 AM, Bobc said:

Total beginner looking to start with a 10 gallon nano with no sump. This post has been an inspiration!

Ah this means so much ❤️ it's definitely doable! 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

So after years of loving saltwater, I finally got the freshwater bug again. I am still loving my reef, but it's been giving me a few headaches recently. I think I'm going to give it some time to chill out and grow (catch me next week when I buy the hammer I've been wanting to). Petco is having its gallon sale, so I got this 2.5 gallon set up for under $35. I am using the lights that I had from the hood that came with my reef tank. No filter, no heater, just lights and tap water. Hoping to grow some plants and maybe get some shrimp :-). 

 

Here it is featuring some ammonia and decaying algae wafer. 

 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

shrimp tanks can be so underrated. i farmed orange sakuras when they first came out. this was about 5 years ago.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

18 minutes ago, Diamonds x Pearls said:

shrimp tanks can be so underrated. i farmed orange sakuras when they first came out. this was about 5 years ago.

I've always wanted a shrimp tank to be honest, but i never read much into it. but now i understand how these systems are able to sustain themselves without much of anything at all. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

I think someone injured the pink diamond and it'd been closed for a week or two and I found an asterina eating it :-(. There's still some pieces left but

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Everything is going great in the 10 gallon. Really struggling with this freshwater though hahahaha

I picked up a Kenya tree because the birdsnest is almost entirely dead :-\. New heads on zoas though. Pink diamond hasn't come back. Still looking for a hammer. 

 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

Lately any Euphyllia has been fetching rather high prices. At the Petco I work at, my hammers went from $50 to $80 now, ORA origin. The frags are about 3" heads or so.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

On 9/24/2020 at 5:22 PM, Diamonds x Pearls said:

Lately any Euphyllia has been fetching rather high prices. At the Petco I work at, my hammers went from $50 to $80 now, ORA origin. The frags are about 3" heads or so.

I know!! It's crazy. I've been trying to get a good deal since the beginning of the year. 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Getting ready for baby???

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Finally scored a hammer for under $50 (still acclimating so not completely out). It was a BOGO for $40 so I also got some random zoas. Kind of having some issues with algae, but I think I might just be a little heavy handed with the reef roids. 
Also saw something really strange last night.. I had to add the corals late, so the lights had been off a few hours. But I saw my biggest hermit crab out of its shell without another shell in sight. Despite the algae, everything else, corals, inverts, fish, are all plump and doing well. So I don't really know what was going on there. But hopefully it found another home. 

[debbeach13]

That sounds like a great deal on the coral.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

8 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

That sounds like a great deal on the coral.

Yeah! It looks pretty freshly fragged, but that's ok. But I would've totally been ok to pay $40 for just the hammer!

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

They're out a bit more today 🙂

hammer on right

zoas on left

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Loving this little tank.. hating the freshwater tank haha.
One of the things I'm surprised about with this 10 gallon though is that the xenia/GSP have never grown.. I guess I'm not complaining though! 

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Got that 4 headed pink frogspawn for $75 ^-^
I think I've been starving my tank a little and got some cyano that is causing some of the zoas to be angry.
The powerhead also got hit and the zoas on the left are also taking some time to get used to it.. even though there's hardly any flow there at all. Otherwise everything else is pretty happy.

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

So I know you guys are gonna tell me I told you so... but I've been thinking about upgrading the lighting and/or adding another light as some things are started to get shaded with growth. I would like to still keep the glass cover I have on as I find it greatly helps with evaporation and mainly salt creep. I would consider getting an AI Prime, but I don't know if it would entirely be worth it as a lot of the light would still be blocked by the bar on the glass cover. I'm also considering getting another Current USA Orbit Marine Aquarium LED Light so that I have two running at the same time, or maybe even the one that's above this (IC? I think). 
I've also just bought a new wavemaker as I've been getting new dead spots with the growth as well. Hoping to hear what you guys think, thank you!

Edited January 31, 2021 by IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut

[mcarroll]

Can you post a detail shot of the top of the tank with and without light so we can see what's blocking the light?

[IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut]

Dealing with some uglies 😞 but got some really cheap zoas and another hammer yesterday! Hoping they suck up some of the nutrients and just good maintenance help clear some of this up. Need some more clean up crew too.
My urchin dislodged my frogspawn a few weeks ago and sadly it just melted away after that.. Hoping there's still something left, but very doubtful. 
Also my xenia have been struggling the past few months. I don't think it ever really loved my tank.
Honestly looks a lot worse on camera than in person!

 

[Seadragon]

Loving the variety of corals you got in your tank! 🙂  I just recently started stocking mine back up.  Going for a Xenia theme in the foreground with GSP growing on the back wall.  I see we both have our share of Coralline algae growing all over the glass, looking sweet!