My 9to5 Reef pond

[FishI]

My 9 to 5 Reef Pond

 

Hello Nano Reef! Super excited to enter the contest. Ive always wanted to do a big reef pond cheap. But never started one because I was too afraid id miss the side view. So this is kinda of a test to see if that really would bother me. Maybe i'll just stick my iPhone in to get some side shots. Apple care warranty FTW. 

Im gonna use as much equipment as I have laying around. I have a par 38 bulb that I will hang over it. I think I have a small aqueon heater thats hiding somewhere. Since i'm already at the max gallons I plan on using water changes to control nutrients. The rim is so large id have to cut it to get a hob filter to work anyways. Maybe I will get one of the small tunze internal filters. We will see. 

 

I still have to decide about rock and live stock.

 

Current Full Tank Shot:

 

Contest Entry Picture:

 

Equipment:

• 9 Gallon pond https://www.lowes.com/pd/MacCourt-26-in-L-x-26-in-W-Black-High-Density-Polyethylene-Pond-Liner-9-Gallon/1112805
• Par 38 bulb - Galaxyhydro 12W Aquarium LED Light Bulb
• Aqueon heater
• TBA

 

Livestock:

• TBA

 

 

 

 

 

[FishI]

Ok hung my par 38 bulb from the ceiling. And did some par measurement with just air. The center was at 185 par and the outside was at 120. Far outside was at 50. Not bad for a single par 38. I wonder how much lower the numbers till be when I fill it up. 

[debbeach13]

Awesome. Good luck in the contest.

[FishI]

51 minutes ago, debbeach13 said:

Awesome. Good luck in the contest.

Thanks!!!

 

Ok Im wondering what fish I should get for this pond. Or if any? Im not sure I want to put a top on it. If I went that route. What fish usually do not jump? Ive always ran some kind of top. 

 

If I do not get fish what cool invert should I get? I would love to get a horse shoe crab but I think they grow too quick. I know they like round tanks though.

[Tired]

Do not get fish if you don't have a lid. All fish (except seahorses) can jump if startled, and will then die slowly on the floor. 

 

Horseshoe crabs get a few feet long. Definitely not appropriate for a small tank. Or for basically any tank. 

 

My thought would be to get some mushroom corals or similar, and some sexy shrimp to host them. Those should be fun to look at from the top. You could also pick up a rock flower anemone (once the tank is stable) and add a porcelain crab- again, good from the top. Or you could try something like a calico crab, a relatively large crab that would need the tank to be set up with its needs in mind. 

 

Looks like a really cool container. Interested to see where this goes. I'd say stick with mostly floor corals like mushrooms, acans, and the like, things that look pretty from above. Maybe some zoas. 

[FishI]

35 minutes ago, Tired said:

Do not get fish if you don't have a lid. All fish (except seahorses) can jump if startled, and will then die slowly on the floor. 

 

Horseshoe crabs get a few feet long. Definitely not appropriate for a small tank. Or for basically any tank. 

 

My thought would be to get some mushroom corals or similar, and some sexy shrimp to host them. Those should be fun to look at from the top. You could also pick up a rock flower anemone (once the tank is stable) and add a porcelain crab- again, good from the top. Or you could try something like a calico crab, a relatively large crab that would need the tank to be set up with its needs in mind. 

 

Looks like a really cool container. Interested to see where this goes. I'd say stick with mostly floor corals like mushrooms, acans, and the like, things that look pretty from above. Maybe some zoas. 

I agree. No fish. Calico crab looks cool. My lfs has some. I don't think they are reef safe. I wonder if they would eat macros....  

 

But yeah mushrooms and sexy shrimp sound good. Just to get a little movement. Hermits are fun to watch too. Reefcleaners here i come! lol.

[Tired]

Oo, you know what you could try for? One of those clown crabs ReefCleaners gets. They aren't technically reef-safe, as zoas and palys are a main part of their diet, but IIRC they won't touch other corals. 

 

Maybe a couple Halloween hermits? They're pretty. 

[FishI]

10 minutes ago, Tired said:

Oo, you know what you could try for? One of those clown crabs ReefCleaners gets. They aren't technically reef-safe, as zoas and palys are a main part of their diet, but IIRC they won't touch other corals. 

 

Maybe a couple Halloween hermits? They're pretty. 

I just sent a message asking if they plan on getting any of those soon. Super cool looking! Im fine with not keeping zoas in the tank.

[Tired]

I wouldn't bank on it, they seem to get those a couple times a year if that, but one would be really cool to get ahold of. Look 'em up on the forum, a couple people have had them and the guy who collects them has talked about them. I think there's a thread or two for them in the ReefCleaners section on here. 

[FishI]

It's WET. I took some tank water from my auto water changer system on the other tank and some rock that I had piled in that tanks fuge. It was pretty dirty. I hid an old petco pump under the rock for flow and put the aqueon heater in. A hermit hung onto the rock so its scuttling around in there. There is also some filter floss to catch some of the fish doo doo hat was on the rock. Now to hunt for some cheap coral. 😃 

 

[Murphs_Reef]

Your well underway... Mine is still bone dry with zero light yet... Might even get myself some sand at the weekend 🤣

[FishI]

12 hours ago, Murphych said:

Your well underway... Mine is still bone dry with zero light yet... Might even get myself some sand at the weekend 🤣

eh, besides the pond I had all this stuff laying around.

 

If been thinking about sand. I think the tank is too shallow to run it. But I do not want corals to grow directly onto the bottom of the pond. Im thinking of getting some rubble and mounting frags to that. Or maybe some tiles of some kind.  Maybe "tile" the bottom with these.

 

https://www.saltwateraquarium.com/2-coral-frag-tiles-10-pack-oceans-wonders/?gclid=CjwKCAjwkvWKBhB4EiwA-GHjFsk5kLN9a5JN_OQ8tGHOd2QtCUSG9mXUXW3Ku08CI45PXNSoJvOUcxoC6jsQAvD_BwE

 

 

[FishI]

OK bad news good news.

 

Two of my BRS heating elements failed in my other system. My controller caught it. I guess i'll go back to replacing cheap heaters every year. These didn't last more than 6 months. Thats the bad news.

 

The good news is a new heater is cheap and I had some BRS points to burn! lol I ordered a few things for the pond. Should be here Tuesday.

[FishI]

Ok BRS stuff came in and so did some corals I won on ebay from WWC. 

 

I got a 9lb bag of reef save frag by macrorocks. Wow this stuff is awesome. I covered most of the bottom of the pond with it. 

 

And a Micro MiniUP Internal Power Filter. It's tiny. So at least it will hide under the rocks better.

 

Coral is as follows:

 

WWC Hawkeye Cyphastrea
WWC Firecracker Stylo
WWC Afterburner Chalice
PPE Cyphastrea
JF Frankies Pink Rim Monti

WWC Nuclear Fission Acro

 

They are all TINY. lol. I forgot how small frags start off as. I guess my other tank has better growth than I thought lol. 

 

Some quick pics below. One is top down the other is what I look at all day working.

 

[seabass]

I really like this pond. 👍

 

Kind of 5 gallon bucket-ish, but with more water and better dimensions.  And I don't feel the the top down views take away from anything either.

[FishI]

Yeah. I thought about doing a 5 gallon bucket. But it was too narrow. Although a five gallon might look more packed with corals by the end of this challenge 😃 

 

The top down view is nice. I have the filter on a smart outlet so I can turn it off for 15 minutes and enjoy the view with out having to worry about turning it back on. 

[debbeach13]

Looks like the corals shipped well. This beats a bucket IMO.

[Tamberav]

Shiiit, this is cool! I didn't know they made shallow little ponds like this. I want one 😅

[ef4life]

This was sort of my idea but better 😄 but I decided to not enter the contest this year. I’m really looking forward to your progress 

[FishI]

Ok November has been mostly a battle against cyano. But I am determined to win! Good news is I got a bubble tip at the LFS for 29 dollars. The shrimp seem to love it already.