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End up moving house, no real place for a tank during the move so shut the tank down. A shame really as the tank was mature and hitting its stride, was easy to maintain and fairly bullet proof. Tank dimensions are: 1000x550x600 with a total display volume of 330L October 30th 2018 Top down view pre shutdown as i moved house September 2017 FTS - 1 year old September 2016 FTS New VS Old Last FTS before the upgrade FTS 1 Year old FTS 10 Months So after 10 months in the fresh water side of this hobby i thought i would try my hand at a reef. I already had a custom 600x450x450 low iron tank for my fresh water tank, so i though i would make an exact copy for my nano reef, this would mean i can have them sitting side by side sort of like twins. I placed the order for my new custom tank, 600x450x450 low iron glass, but this time with black silicone, the only issue was i forgot to tell the builder to polish the edges.... so at some point before i fill it with water i need to pull it apart and send the glass away to have the edges polished which is fine as i'm in not rush. Not polished edges, will get these polished and the rear of the tank drilled for the over flow at the same time. The new soon to be reef tank And my fresh water tank which will sit beside the reef. Ive also started to build two stands, one for each of the tanks, once again these will be identical. Here is my progress so far... Picked up the wood for both of the stands. Bottom bracing Top bracing with mid support for the tank First side panel screwed on Last side screwed on Left and right panels on, so far everything is square so pretty happy Starting to install the front panels, top and bottom panels installed, still need to buy some hinges to install the door Turns out i messed up the measurement for the rear panel so ill need to get that recut which sucks as i could have finished the stand this weekend!!! Test fit of the tank sitting on the stand, super happy how it has turned out so far. No door on Door sitting there, just so i can see how it looks Screw holes all filled, learnt a good lesson here.... dont use heaps, or before its set slice the extra off with a knife Magnet latch on Door hinges on The twins filled and sanded screw holes, hope these come out ok.... first coat of stain
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May I know what kind of SPS are "most easily" to keep😁
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November 2018 October 2018 Jan 2018 May 2017 September 30 2016 https://vimeo.com/185088022 August 20 2016 August 14 2016 After taking a year off from the hobby when I moved from Houston to NYC in June 2015, I have decided to get back into the hobby with a mixed reef tank. Started July 10th 2016 Aquarium specifications: Aquarium: Red Sea Reefer Nano White (28 gal total water volume) Sump: stock, no modifications so far Return: Waveline DC2500 Skimmer: Aquamaxx WS-1 Waterflow: (2) MP10 wES Heater: 100w Cobalt Neotherm Controller: Apex Lite with WXM Light: Nanobox Duo Plus M on SPS preset Dosing pump: Jaebo DP-4 for 2 part, brightwell amino Auto-top off: DIY auto top off with aqualifter, IKEA vase as container Sand: special grade arag-alive Rock: 15 LB KP aquatics uncured Caribbean live rock Salt: brightwell neomarine UV Sterilizer: green machine 36W run 6 hours a day Misc: DIY CO2 scrubber (skimmer air intake) Artfully Acrylic screen top NO3/PO4 removal: Aquamax biopellets Marinepure Plate Miracle mud in stock ATO, running as a fuge Activated carbon, 2 Tbs in media bag changed monthly Water change, 5 gal monthly Additives/Food: Red Sea 2 part CA and ALK (via dosing pump, titrated as needed) Acropower, 3ml every day (BRS doser) BWA Lugols iodine, 1 drop per week, unless my gorgonians look upset then I add an extra BWA Microbacter-7, 5-10ml monthly Livestock- Fish: Male Red Bandtail Waspfish, Paracentropogon zonatus Flurry Clownfish, Amphiprion ocellaris Algae Blenny Flame angel Longnose Hawkfish Aptasia Eating Filefish Golden Dwarf Moray Eel Inverts: Rock anemone(s), Epicystis crucifer (varied colors) Mini-maxi Carpet anemone(s), Stichodactyla tapetum Various tunicates (came with rock) Various encrusting sponges (came with rock) Various tube worms (came with rock) CUC (various hermit crabs and snails Emerald crab x6 Curlique sea anemone, Bartholomew annular (came with rock) - trying to kill Red brittle starfish Red Snapping Shrimp "Satan" Coral: Purple Sea whip (2), Pterogorgia anceps Green Slimmer, Acropora yongei Neon orange Montiopora setosa Neon pink Cyphestria. sp Green Duncan coral ,Duncanopsammia axifuga Neon green clove polyps, Clavularia sp Birds nest coral, Seriatopora hystrix Tan Candelabra gorgonian, Eunicea sp Purple plume gorgonian, Pseudopterogorgia bipinnata Assorted Ricordia florida Assorted Zoanthus. sp Nuclear green Palythoa. sp Pink Goniopora. sp Corky sea finger - Briareum asbestinum Spiny Orange Sea Rod - Murices elongata Lime green warty corallimorph - Discosoma sanctithomae Blue Ricordia florida Fluorescent green Zoanthid Lime green Ricordia florida Assorted leather corals
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Hey guys! Setting up my first saltwater tank. It's a 10 gallon IM Fusion nano. Wondering if this powerhead placement will be ok. It's a koralia 425 + 95gph stock return pump (top right of pic). Trying to hide the PH in the back left, with return outlet top right. Flow hits front glass and swirls around. Will this do for a mixed reef tank? Planning on getting SPS eventually down the line. Thanks!!
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Cadlights 40g Artisan (retired) Equipment Tank: CADlights 40g, 36"x16"x16" Stand: CADlights euro white Sump: CADlights 16g Skimmer: Eshopps S-120 Cone Return: SpeedWave DC pump Heater: Eheim Jager 150w Lights: ATI Sunpower 36" 6x39w Controller: Neptune Apex w/ 2xEB8 Circulation: Vortech MP10 x2 w/backup battery + Tunze 6015 Cooling: JBJ 1/10 chiller Top Off: Tunze Osmolator ATO Dosing: Bubble Magus BM-T01 Fish Picasso Clownfish Pair Fathead Sunburst Anthias Resplendent Anthias Pair Mystery Wrasse Inverts Assorted snails Corals SPS Acropora sp. "ORA Pearlberry" Acropora sp. "ORA Hawkins" Acropore sp. "ORA Red Planet" Acropora secale Acropora yongei "Green Slimer" Acropora tenuis Acropora loripes Acropora sarmentosa Acropora millepora Acropora microclados "Upscales microclados" Acropora microclados "Strawberry Shortcake" Acropora nasuta "Pink Lemonade" Birds Nest ORA Metallic Green ORA Bird of Paradise ORA Green tip Stylophora Green Pocillopora Pink/purple Pocillopora Montipora Green cap Copps Purple cap Forest fire digi Orange digitata Rainbow monti Superman monti Mystic sunset Undata ORA German blue digitata Green digitata Tyree Sunset Setosa LPS Rainbow acan Blastomussa Soft corals Green star polyps Assorted ricordea Zoanthids Devil's armor Bam Bam Tubbs blue Raptors Rainbow Purple & Green Death palys Sunny delight Rasta Lunar eclipse Magicians Fruit Loops Star Fire NPS Dendrophyllia Colony Water Parameters Specific gravity: 1.026 pH: 7.8 to 8.2 Calcium: 380 - 420ppm Alkalinity: 8.0-9.0 dKH Magnesium: 1300-1400ppm Nitrate: 0-0.2ppm Phosphate: 0.00-0.03ppm Potassium: 380-400ppm Temperature: 79.5 - 80.5° F Pictures FTS July 2011 (Beginning) August 2011 October 2011 February 2012 November 2012 September 2013 February 2017 October 2013 Featured Reef Red Sea Reefer 350 Equipment Tank: Red Sea Reefer 350 Skimmer: Nyos 160 Return: Ecotech M1 Flow: Ecotech MP10, MP40QD, 2x Maxspect xf230 Light: ATI 36" PowerModule Hybrid Controller: Neptune Apex May 2017 September 2018 May 2019 October 2019
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Can someone identify this frag? What kind of zoanthid is it?
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Hey guys! So i'm approaching 3 years with my fluval m60 (24 gallon all in one). Like most I have been through struggles and learned a lot and finally have a great looking tank full of beginner coral (and my clown fish). My next move is getting an anemone which i'm pretty much sure i'm ready for since the tank is established, and water chem. is overall decent which seems like the most important for anemone including good lighting which I have. Once I get my anemone and it becomes settled I want to move into caring for stoney corals, which is what this post will be about. Right now I honestly don't tell parameters much. Only time I will is when a problem occurs and want to get a understanding of what could be causing it. Testing only includes pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. I rely heavily on weekly/bi-weekly water changes ranging from 5-20% depending on various factors, to just hope my parameters are in check. So with what I want to do I know I will have to start checking parameters more frequently as well getting a more wide spreed of what parameters to be checking for. Since checking parameters can be time consuming using chemical testing(?) compared to digital testing I'm looking to invest in digital testing for parameters that should be checked more often. What do you guys recommend testing for weekly (while doing wc). For these parameter testing I'd like to purchase digital testing so save time. Then since I want to care for advanced species what else should I test for. This is a list off the top of my head I should be testing for so please inform me if more should be include. pH ammonia nitrite nitrate calcium dKh(alkalinity) magnesium I'd love any feed back for what I should do, personal opinion, or tips/purchases that could be helpful as I will be moving to a more advanced reef system.
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TJ's Bust'em Up [and go] Custom Reef! Welcome to my build thread! Well, rebuild thread I suppose... or maybe upgrade thread? The Details: This thread is going to follow me taking my very new reef, and completely redo the guts of the aquarium. This will include the sump, plumbing, skimmer, fuge/frag lighting, etc. and I am going to go custom with all of it! Or nearly all of it. The sump is being built by Pro Clear Aquatics, the light by Dave @ Nano Box Reef, and I am going to use colored plumbing to match it all up and take the vanity side of this build to the next level. The Livestock: As with all of my builds, I am planning to go primarily with colorful sticks and clams. I really can't help myself... I just can't reef any other way and feel satisfied. The tank was originally set up with LPS and Softies to keep things simple and look full as fast as possible for a video shoot. With that concluded, I am moving over to sticks ASAP! As you read on through this thread you'll see I've already begun to move out softies and bring in SPS. Nothing too fancy just yet, but as things settle in I will get my hands on some more impressive pieces. I am not necessarily going to be chasing down "designer corals" because they tend to be heinously over priced, but rather just focus on getting some nice colors from the LFS or trade with other hobbyists for nice frags. For fish, the tank is currently home to a pair of Percula Clowns, Starry Blenny, and a [likely cyanide caught] Convict Tang. Details on the system can be seen in the original post below. ------------------------------ Original Post Below ------------------------------ Alright folks, I'm just going to leave this thread here... Lots to do before I start really posting about what is happening, but lets just say I have a new reef, its already set up, but I think I am going all out custom for the sump / plumbing etc. and will kick off the thread once everything arrives! And yes, I will probably go crazy with sticks like I did last time. This time I will hopefully avoid any mass die offs caused by acro specific viruses that can not be controlled... Sad times. THE FUN BEGINS IN 10, 9, 8... About the tank: European tank, low iron glass, holes drilled at the top of the rear panel, utilizes XAQUA INOUT overflow system, grey stand with removable front panel for a ton of access. Dimensions are 70 x 50 x 50 cm (roughly 27" x 20" x 20") About the scape: I used CaribSea Life Rock to give the corals something to grow on. Mix of the standard boulders and the branches paired with a bit of smashing, stacking, and putty eventually lead me to this scape. How far along is the build? So this reef was hastily assembled for a video shoot (not for a build series, but rather for a commercial of sorts to introduce a new product/line from a well known company) and was never intended to hang around. Once I got it up and running with corals and a few fish, my daughter became quite drawn to it, and my wife doesn't hate it, so I figured it should stay. Of course, I should have known that the second I set up a reef I'd be bitten by the bug... What are the plans? I am planning to change up most of the corals and go heavy on the SPS, but more importantly, I want to completely redo the guts of the system. I slapped this together with great equipment, sure, but I want to go custom and really make the system my own. I have already gotten in touch with Pro-Clear aquatics who have ordered my custom acrylic and will be building a sump for me based on a modified design I sent them yesterday (23/02/2017) and I will be getting some pretty plumbing to really turn this system into a hot rod (no flames though...) So, if you stick around, this thing should get pretty interesting relatively quickly! I assume the sump will be at my place in a few weeks, and that is when we can really kick things off!!!
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Hello everyone! Wanted to introduce and show my tank. Started about 10 months ago, first tank. Took a while to stabilize with lots of early mistakes, but now is doing well. Got lots of information from this website and wanted to say thanks! Tank Specs: Display: Coralife BioCube 16 gal Stand: Coralife BioCube 16 Stand Rock: LFS dried former live rock Sand: CaribSea Ocean Direct (used the whole bag) Lighting: Stock Biocube 16 LED Heater: none, but have Chill Solutions Chiller, keep temp stable at 79.5 F Circulation: Cobalt MJ1200 return, Small return pump (~150gph) for chiller, 2 Hydor Koralia pumps with Hydor Smart Wave controller Skimmer: nah Filtration: InTank Media Basket , stock cotton+carbon Biocube cartridges Filter Media: Top to bottom: Purigen, Chemipure Elite, Seachem Matrix Top Off: dont get much evaporation with that lid, so I just top off whenever I see one of the return pumps outside the water in the back chamber Dosing: dont dose, use Tropic Marin Pro salt and do a 1 gallon water change every Friday (regardless of parameters) Parameters: Ca = 440-460 ppm range, Alk = 7.0 – 8.0 dKH, Mg = >1400 Salinity = 36 ppt
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Softies and everything else seem to be OK, but hard corals (SPS, monti) just brown out within 2 weeks of putting them in. My nitrates were high (60) for awhile but I've brought them under control (10). Lights are mostly blue at this point, no white, red or green (AI HD26). Any ideas? It's been about 3 months of this. So frustrated.CA: 460Mg: 1500Alk: 9NO3: 10Ammonia: 0Nitrite: 0Ph: 8Sal: 1.026
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March Feb FTS Sept: Previous FTS:
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Since joining the Old School Pico Contest I've been feeling nostalgic and looking to set up a bigger reef system like it was 1999. Metal halides, T5's, Kalkwasser you get the picture. I've been thinking about an upgrade tank for sometime now, but had a hard time picking a system that I will be happy with for sometime that's inexpensive, bigger but not huge and easy to manage. I wanted the same ease of use that I get from my EVO 13.5 but with more space for corals,fish, and more room in the rear chambers. Most of the AIO's out there didn't quite check all the boxes or out of the budget. I will be keeping this build on a tight budget, but also try and make it as nice as possible in the process. That being said I will be using most of the equipment I already have or in use. My vision for this build will be lots of flow, light, and mainly sps dominant. I think it will be cool to have a nano still running metal halide/t5/led. It will be interesting to see colors and growth from all three lighting options at same time. I'm very excited to see this build come together, here are the specs. Tank 40 gallon breeder peninsula with an AIO insert custom made by @This guy is extra salty This way I get the best of both worlds, keep cost low and get the much needed space I was looking for. Stand Petco Brooklyn stand I will make a custom skin with pvc board Lighting Floating canopy made with pvc board T5/led fixture I made for my EVOreef 4-24watt T5 bulbs with a dsuny eBay led. 400 watt radium metal halide fixture. Flow Ice cap 1k Aqamai KPS Return pump TBD This is all I have for now will update as this build progresses.
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Chronicles of The Culinary Coral Extraordinaire
Intriguing Inverts posted a topic in Nano Reef Journals
Well everyone, David here. (aka) @Intriguing Inverts I figured I would start some documentation on my journey in the reefing community starting from just a novice working at my LFS to what I’d like to believe is a self sustaining and accomplished reefer. Im now nearing 8 months into this reefing hobby and still loving every minute of it, I was fortunate enough to find out in 2018 I had a new LFS open up literally 2 blocks from my home in St. Louis, and without that happening I would never be as far as I am today. Last year walking into the door of my LFS Art of Aquaria, I never realized I would not only be making an amazing friendship with its owner Jacob Bugger but also be stepping into a totally different career path then what I had been accustomed to before. Well a year and a half later and I honestly don’t think I could be more happy with my transition from a Culinary Team Leader and Chef to Store Manager at a Saltwater and Freshwater Fish Store. Things definitely took some time getting used to but after making the shift I wouldn’t have it any other way. Not only have I been able to make some really cool friendships and acquire my own 12 gallon long reef tank donated to me by Jacob, but I’ve also been able to help Art of Aquaria become a staple in the Tower Grove South neighborhood here in St. Louis, MO. Its great not only seeing a small business grow, but also being a part of it along the way. Never in a Million years would I have thought my Hometown cross street MorganFord which used to be just bars, would now be a quarter mile strip of so many pop up ventures and endeavors, well as of July 2017 by far my favorite aspiration for this community was sprung, opening a beautiful store front for a wide array of saltwater and freshwater fish. So please if you’re in the Metropolitan St. Louis Area and you’re like me and love all things aquatic, come stop in sometime and say Hello. 😄 Alright everyone now that the introduction is out of the way let’s actually document some Progress! In January of this year I took home a beautiful Mr Aqua 12 Gallon long reef tank, equipped with a Finnex 24/7 Planted Plus light and began the saltwater cycling process. I sourced most of the rock from the previous setup at the store and also got some live rock encrusted in coralline algae to kickstart the cycling process. However at this point I still had no idea what I was going to use for a filter or if I was going to sump it, I didn’t even have any flow in the tank I was using 2 ReptiFlo 200 circulation pumps. Lets fast forward a little bit to when I started trying to figure what I wanted to actually put in this beauty of a tank. First addition to the 12 Gallon was a Pom Pom crab, love these guys such big character for such a little crab. Then I decided one invert wasn’t enough for me and I decided to go with the Hosting Glass Venus Anemone Shrimp and a Mini Max Carpet anemone, well obviously the tank in these early stages wasn’t forgiving at all to the anemone and the shrimp slowly lost his home as the Mini-Max slowly sunk into the most established part of the tank it could find, which was a hole about the size of a frag plug. 😩 Got another Anemone Shrimp and figured I would try my luck with RFA’s because I heard they wouldn’t move as much and they can also host Anemone Shrimp. Well I woke up the next morning to my Anemone Shrimp who had eaten the tentacles off of one of my RFA’s 😡 Well at this point I had given up on the Anemone Shrimp and moved onto the belief that a Sexy Shrimp 12 Gallon mixed reef would be a good idea... Boy was I wrong, man can those guys do some serious damage to SPS corals. I purchased 4 of these cool looking shrimp thinking they would make an excellent addition to my tank, and I was hoping they would just hang out on the RFA’s and Mini-Max Anemone, living the good life while they got target fed cyclopods, mysis, and frozen rotifers but they slowly made their way to my Seriatopora Birdsnest, and it was demolished in a days time. At this point I was fuming and trying to remain calm because it seemed every avenue I turned trying to house these little critters and make them comfortable in a natural environment I was getting some kind of negative impact to my corals or nems ! 👎 So I figured hey I’m just gonna make this the best looking mixed reef I can and whoever wants to peacefully live here is more than welcome to so my search for the perfect cohabitants continues. But hey let’s talk about some Coral, “Have we still not covered the Coral?” That’s the funnest part of the tank, well at least I think so, I know some may differ because of their sheer love for fish and I totally respect it, but man do I love some eye popping Coral, it just really adds that depth and real layer to a tank, like man that’s thriving! There was no way with the tank I was given I wasn’t going to have one of those thriving reefs I had seen on YouTube and from all the customers showing me pictures on their phones of their amazing reef tanks. They were so colorful and had so much going on I had to delve deeper into this after all, I had a great baseline understanding of how things worked and what they needed to grow just listening and learning at the shop day to day. So what was gonna hold me back from one of these thriving reefs? Nothing I said, absolutely nothing! I love a great challenge and if this was going to challenge me to become not only a better reefer but a more patient person along the way, then I was gonna give it all I got. So I got started on stocking my mixed reef with an assortment of stuff. I started off with easier to care for things like Ricordea Florida and Leptoseris, they did good but with a under prepared and ill equipped novice things went south. Like I said I was not equipped for the task at hand and eventually due to neglect and sheer lack of care a few of my first pieces died under the hands of a beginner. Well I eventually started getting myself ready for what I knew was going to be a daunting and long road of trial and error, I made sure to go out and get a refractometer, I was making sure to stay on top of water changes and manually topping off, I was persistently looking up different tips and tricks to see some success out of this hobby and after months of what seemed like back and forth reading on probably many of the same articles and subjects I think I have finally dialed in my 12 gallon long reef for the long road of success! Most recently I have updated my lighting system I now currently have 2 Ai Prime HD’s over the nano reef and everything seems to be doing great! I really love the control the AI Primes deliver I’m still able to keep my candy blue reef tank and have great growth at the same time. Lets get down to some Tanks Specs and my routine maintenance, finally! 👏🏻 12 Gallon Long Nano Reef: The Mixed Reef (35.4" x 8.3" x 9.4") •Setup: January, 7th 2019 •Lighting:Previously the Finnex 24/7 Planted Plus ran on just whites and blues, now I have 2 AI Prime HD’s and here is my preset. •Filtration:AquaClear 30 with MarinePure Biobrick, Seachem Matrix Carbon, Phosguard. •Flow: Jebao OW-10, could really use another one •Dosing: Im currently dosing Aquavitro’s 8.4 for Alk and Aquavitros Calcification for Calcium every three days, and I also broadcast and target feed their Reef Fuel once a week. •Testing: Right now I am currently testing Alkalinity twice a week and Calcium once a week with Hanna’s Digital Checkers, I honestly don’t know if I would enjoy testing as much as I do without them, I’m hoping to get the Phosphate checker as-well but for now nothing has been negatively effected with consistent feedings and running the Phosguard. I want to give some shoutouts to some really great customers and friends who have helped me along the way, I don’t think you guys realize how appreciated you are, I’ve probably asked you similar questions a million times over and it’s only made me a better reef keeper thank you both so much! 🙌🏻 @inland_reef @This guy is extra salty -
Shorty Biggie's IM 20 Nano Reef Build Thread: Hello all, This is my first build thread and I am new to the community here. Mainly I am documenting this build thread for a few reasons. First and most importantly, I want to help those beginners or others who are still learning how to create functional and healthy reef tanks. I seek to document the entirety of my build, in order to help show the process rather than just the result. I know everything I have learned has been through researching others experiences online, so if this build is helpful to those in learning, this will be a success. With that being said I would not consider myself an expert or even advanced by any means. I have had experience with a 55 gallon, a 32 gallon, a 20 gallon, a 13 gallon, a 10 gallon and now back to this fusion 20. I have been able to have healthy tanks that did well, however I have never gotten far into corals. Ive bought corals in the LFS every once in awhile, but never took the time to learn how to properly test, supplement, care and grow corals, I pretty much have just thrown in the coral and let it be. Therefore, this will be a learning experience for me as well, and I hope documenting my build will bring others to this thread who can provide input and advice to further this build and not just help me, but others who use this thread as a guide to helping them build their ideal reef! With that being said lets get started! Background on this tank: Originally I planned a reefer 250 build, even saved up for it, and eventually had a change of heart. Since I had not dove deep into corals I decided to use a fusion 20 and all the equipment I had accumulated to set up a small tank with a larger budget and really take the time to focus on corals and learn before getting the reefer 250, so I didn't end up with an expensive tank full of rock with no money or experience for corals. I had a fusion 20 in the basement so I planned to use that, but once I pulled it out I noticed a large crack in the front right bottom corner, so I ordered another from BRS. Of course while emptying out the new tank from the leak test I bumped the bottom left back corner, however it was a small chip, not even 1/3 the way through the glass and only the size of the tip of a high lighter so I just went with it, thus far its totally fine, I'm not too concerned. This tank has been wet for 2 days, unfortunately I did not take pics of the set up, but im still very new in the process so most important info isn't missed Tank Info: Tank: Im Fusion 20 Light: Nanobox Duo Plus M (15 inch gooseneck) Stand: Ikea Besta Frame (I can post the specifics on every single part used if requested) Sand: Tropic Eden reefflakes, 1/2-3/4 deep, I like to stir the sandbed each water change Rock: CarribSea Life Rock roughly 14 pounds (already established from LFS store) Flow: Ecotech MP-10qd, Hydor Korilia 240, stock pump (may upgrade, please provide recommendations) x2 Spin stream nozzles Filtration: x2 InTank media baskets, running filter floss / purigen / chemipure elite in one, filter floss / Phosguard/ chemipure elite in the other Heater: Just an average aqueon heater; works well for me Top off: Tunze Osmolator 3155 Top off Container: 3.5 gallon plastic top fin tank Possible Future Equipment: -Sicee 1.5 Return Pump -IM Media Reactor -either IM Ghost Skimmer or Reef Glass skimmer -Neptune Apex (the cheaper one) -Neptune DOS Stocking Plans: Fish: x2 Picasso Clowns, 1 Atlantic Pygmy Cherub Angel Inverts: Small clean up crew, 1 fire shrimp, maybe 1 starfish (thoughts) Corals: Wide range of flowing corals, isolated GSP, acans, Ricordia, other lps and maybe some sps, what other corals would work well on my elevated rock work? Modifications: -small piece of lexan in between the screws for nano box and rear tank wall (I overtightened the screws on fusion 10 and busted the glass) -used wood glue on all connecting pieces of Ikea stand when building it To get up to speed on everything thus far I will give a run down. I first set up the stand. It is an Ikea Besta frame that is white on the sides and a gloss white finish on the doors. It fits the length of the tank perfectly and is just about an inch or so deeper to allow room for equipment off the back. I really like this stand because you are able to customize the stand color and doors and you can change the height of the stand. Im a tall guy, about 73 inches so I used a higher stand than what was available. The stand itself is about 40 inches tall and with the tank the top is 53 inches, perfect for a guy my height, as I don't have to bend way down to look into it. The stand is basically 2 pieces stacked on top of each other, secured by 4 metal braces, some sticky pads and wood glue. It is very strong, and fits perfect. Aside from using wood glue no other modifications are needed. Like I said the stand can be customized in the height for what works for you. I can link the parts if requested. In total,it cost about 190 dollars, much cheaper than the one IM offers, its stronger and customizable as well. I I have gotten all the supplies ready, and the day before the tank arrived I purchased the live rock from the LFS. The LFS is about 15 mins away so there shouldn't be much die off. While constructing the aquascape I kept the rock in 5 gallon buckets with saltwater, heaters and flow. The rock was never out of the water for more than 20 minutes, and since the rock was already seeded and established in a tank, Im not expecting much if any of a cycle. The tank has been filled for 2 days, and I have been ghost feeding and still have no ammonia, no nitrite, no nitrate, perhaps maybe slight nitrate, no more than 1-2ppm, if any at all. I called the LFS and said I am still not seeing any ammonia, should I throw in a shrimp or something to kick off the cycle? He told me there may well not be a cycle, and had me come in to get dirty water... I know DIRTY water. Basically he took the sponge out of one of the store tanks and wrang it out in a bag, which made the water turn a really gross and really brown looking color. He told me to put this in the tank and monitor the levels. However, I am trying to be cautious with this build, so I did not end up putting that water in my tank, I wanted to hear yall's opinion on this? Essentially the idea isn't to use that water to put a bunch of beneficial bacteria in the water, but to put a bunch of gross water in to feed the cycle and really build up the population to break down the large amount of waste in the water. Not sure if this is a good idea or if it will lead to problems later on or cause my tank to have a bunch of crud in it. Since I have been ghost feeding and still have no ammonia. I will probably wait a week and if still no ammonia I will proceed with livestock. As for concerns with this build, mainly right now it is flow. I plan on stocking a mixed reef, with multiple hammers and torches, plenty of ridordia, acans, and many other lps as well as maybe a few sps. Due to the rock work, I had to move the mp-10 closer to the front of the tank, therefore I put in a korillia in the back corner to eliminate deadspots behind the tank. Im worried this may be too much flow and the korillia may blast the corals on the top right side rock too hard, what do you guys think? Also, I plan on upgrading the return pump to a Sicee 1.5, but Im worried I may be putting too much flow in and will just be blasting all my corals, I don't really know. My final concern with flow is that the left side spin stream is kind of blocked from the tall rock on the left. I basically rotated the spin stream upside down so that its more to the top, and now when the spin stream is at the bottom of its rotation about half the flow coming from the nozzle hits the rock straight on, and the other half grazes over the top, should this be a concern? Thats all for the first post, thanks for reading, please follow along and provide input, ideas, advice! I will be posting just about everything I do, I plan/add in, and the progression of this nano😁
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New to SPS. Montipora Health Check! help. New Frags. (With Pictures)
HingleMcCringleberry posted a topic in Coral Forum
Hi. I'M new to the forum and was hoping some experienced reefers could offer some advice on my coral health! I have a 20 gallon DIY mixed reef tank that has been running for about 6 months. I have about 1 year experience running a 75 gallon reef tank that I took down about 6 years ago when I left for college. Everything I have added (soft corals, LPS, fish, inverts, nem) seems healthy and has been a pleasure to watch. Up until now I have never tried any SPS corals. 5 days ago I decided to venture into some "beginner" SPS. I don't have very accurate water testing kits so I am not looking to advance any further with difficult corals until I can at least better monitor my water parameters. I have a very large amount of live rock for the tank size and two hang-off-the-back filters (in case one ever fails). My heater is a decently stable and my digital thermometer always reads 78.4-78.8. My lighting is not very strong: Marineland LEDs rated at about 100 par at 12 inches and 6000K. It is also not diffuse at all and has almost spotlights of higher intensity throughout the tank. (yes, I plan to upgrade my lighting when I have the funds in about a month). I bought two montipora frags 5 days ago, one large orange monti cap and one small sunset monti. Both came from my LFS and were not shipped (at least not any time recently). To compensate for my low lighting I placed them about 5 inches down in the water directly under the "spotlights" from my LEDs. I really don't know enough to tell if they're doing ok or not. given that my situation is atypical bordering on stupid (I know it sounds bad) I want to make sure Im not killing the frags. I have a friend with a very successful SPS tank who will take them if I'm hurting them and I just don't want to see them die! I think they might be doing ok. I'll be watching for long term signs of health but I just wanted to ask if there are any issues visibly indicating immediate shock from new/bad tank conditions. Please don't be too hard on me. I know you'll want to know my water parameters and more details than I can probably measure. I don't want advice on keeping them alive as much as advice on how to tell if they're healthy (although all input is appreciated). If they aren't healthy I will rehome them at the first clear sign they're declining. I have attached pictures. -
Dpolt's 42 Gallon Caribbean and Pacific Islands Mixed Reef
dpoltsdsu posted a topic in Nano Reef Journals
Hello everybody, welcome to my new thread. (New Caribbean and Pacific Island theme starts on page 4 on 4/6/18). This aquarium will be the 4th reef that I have set up. For this reef, my goal is to have an organized, beautiful, and stream-lined reef with top of the line equipment. My plan for this reef is to have two separated rock structures. One structure will be primarily used to showcase a variety of Soft Corals, Large Polyp Stony Corals, Clams and Small Polyp Stony Coral from the Pacific Ocean while the other structure will be used to showcase livestock from the Caribbean. That structure will be be home to Gorgonians, Ricordea, and Rock Flower Anemone's. I will attempt to create the conditions that are best for each grouping of coral on each structure. Below is a run down of the equipment I will be running for the setup as well as the inhabitants that live in my reef! Equipment Tank- Cadlights Rimless Versa 42 Gallon with Starphire glass (30" x 18" x 18") Sump- Cadlights Rimless 16 gallon (20" x 13" x 13") Lighting- 2 Kessil A160E LED's with a Kessil Spectrum Controller Aquarium Controller- ReefKeeper Lite Protein Skimmer- Bubble Magus Curve 5 Water Circulation- 2 Vortech MP10's running on ReefCrest mode Refugium Light- Kessil H80 Tuna Flora set to growth mode Supplementation- 4 part Triton Method Core Elements Auto Top Off- Tunze Osmolator -
So with being out of the hobby for a year or two I finally decided to dive back in to give myself something to do in my down time. I began assembling equipment for a 60g cube but gathering everything I wanted for the build was taking to long and the itch was getting to me. When I came across these small AIO tanks from WaterBox I just couldn't resist. The main inspiration for this tank came from seeing a video of Battlebox corals and then when I saw the AutoAqua Smart AWC the idea popped into my head. Build Plan Equipment 4g WaterBox Cube AI Prime HD w/ Gooseneck (Great option for this tank just like the NanoBox Coloring more) NanoBox Mini Tide w/ Storm controller 25w Neo-Therm Heater MP10QD AutoAqua Smart AWC (Hard to implement with the rear chamber size restrictions) Xp Aqua Duetto ATO Livestock: Citron Clown Goby - For some reason had bad luck with these guys, lost two of them to brook. Juvenile Signal Blenny - Really interesting fish (impulse buy lol) CUC - One small blue leg hermit and a couple of snails at max. Macroalgae - Since having a refugium isn't really possible with this build I am going to look at getting some to have in the display. Corals - Various SPS nothing in stone so far. Going to try out a BattleBox and then get what I can from lfs around me. So no telling what I'll end up with at the moment. Rock - Purchased some dry reef saver rock for this build. To get things started with this tank I am going to give Fritz 9 NItrifying Bacteria a shot and maybe find the smallest bottle of pods I can find. Algae Barn will probably be my go-to for the pods and macro once the tank gets water in it. The Automatic Water Changer from AutoAqua is the key to my plan for this tank. The only other filtration will be biological and some Chemi-pure blue. Excited to get this tank set up and running. I'm gonna have to play around with the AWC and find what I will be able to do since the return chamber is so small I will have to either do extremely small amounts or set up a timer to turn shut the return pump off and allow the AWC to run. The goal will be to accomplish 100% water changes every week at the least. This should handle any nutrient issues with such a small bio-load and most likely keep major and minor elements in a decent range. I plan to test this and see how things go and if the water changes alone can't keep up I am considering using Kalkwasser or try Red Sea Coral Pro salt since it has elevated levels, to begin with. If you made it this far. Thanks for reading all my thoughts and rambling. Let me know what you think and if you have any recommendations on adjustments. Also if you have any recommendations on corals or any good livestock ideas I would really appreciate it.
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Upscales Microlados Acro Grow-Out Contest sp. by Cultivated Reef
Nola Bear posted a topic in General Discussion
@Christopher Marks, @Cultivated Reef and I are excited to announce the next official Nano-Reef Community contest... An official Acro Grow-Out contest sponsored by Cultivated Reef, who has agreed to start 20 frags of Upscales Microclados Acropora for contestants interested in buying in! Acro Frag Grow-Out Contest Details Upscales Microclados Frag: $35 (Normally Retails on Cultivated Reef for $70) Shipping: $30 Winner’s Pot: $10 Total Cost: $75 The contest will run for 6 months and only requires a photo of the frag next to a ruler, posted once per month in our contest thread. Christopher Marks, Cultivated Reef and I have agreed to judge. $10 from each contestant will go towards a Winners Pot Gift Card to Cultivated Reef to buy even more coral! Contest Timeline: How To Enter Official Start Date: March 1, 2018 The contest is open to the first 20 Nano-Reef.com community members who complete the following: Purchase your frag through Cultivated Reef "N-R Acro Grow Out" product. It's only accessible by following this link: http://cultivatedreef.com/product/nano-reefs-acro-grow-out-contest-coral/. This way only people interested in the contest will have access to it. Your frag must be delivered any time within the month of March - Allow 1 week after ordering before shipment! Once delivered, you must post a photo of the frag within 3 days of delivery next to a ruler to show the exact size and color of the frag as your official entry into the contest here in this thread. That's it! Contestants are then required to post one "ruler-pic" of the frag each month to the contest thread that clearly shows the size and color of the contest frag to remain eligible. Try to frame your ruler shot similarly each month! At the end of the six month competition, your posted images will be used by the judges to determine a winner. The contest will officially end September 30th. The variability of start and end dates is determined by the delivery of your coral. For instance, if you purchase and post your initial photo on March 20, then your end date is September 20. This means it will be a 6-month contest from start to finish. We wanted to give everyone time to get their corals happy in their tank give ample time to grow before choosing the winners. How To Order Your Frag Follow this link to place your order: http://cultivatedreef.com/product/nano-reefs-acro-grow-out-contest-coral/. When purchasing the frag be sure to select "Store Pickup" as the shipping option. The Acro Grow Out frag purchase price includes your shipping so by selecting "Store Pickup" you will avoid a second shipping charge. Also if you want to add other coral to your order you certainly can do so Frags will be created as ordered and held for 1 week of healing time before shipment. Do not wait too long to order your contest frag, order by March 19th at the very latest! Contest Prize There will be one winner chosen at the end of the contest by a panel vote of three judges (Holly of Cultivated Reef, our very own Nano-Reef Community founder Christopher Marks, and me, Nola Bear). The contestants' frags will be evaluated by considering the following characteristics: Overall Growth (Height, Branching and Encrusting) & Coloration. Prize: Winners Pot Gift Card to Cultivated Reef (Dollar amount dependent on the number of contestants) Thank you to our wonderful sponsor CULTIVATED REEF for their generous support of this contest! Monthly Shots Each contestant is required to post a photo of his/her frag next to a ruler once per month for the duration of the contest in this thread in order to remain eligible. You must submit one "ruler-pic" per month, within a +/- 7 day window of your personal deadline. So, if you post your initial entry photo on March 20, then your next month's photo will need to be posted between April 13-27, and the following May 13-27, June 13-27, etc., etc. in order to not be disqualified. This built-in leeway should help with those people who may have travel or other extenuating circumstances throughout the competition. Frag Grow-Out Contestants List @TheBig053 @micoastreefing @LeoB @pal @Figster @dmw913 @Polarcollision @Cannedfish @Okinawa_Reefer @tanacharison @This guy is extra salty @teenyreef Join us! Your name could be here too! -
I have a biocube 14 with upgraded LEDs and a wave maker which does 144 gph flow. I have 4 coral colonies which are thriving The corals are Red Cap Monti (doubled its size in 4) Recently got an uknown stylophora which was in a low flow tank in Petco and got it for FREE (started growth on a new branch) Duncan coral (is growing 3 more heads) a yellow birds nest coral (also doubled its size) my cuc is 4 hermit crabs and an astrea snail. And centerpiece is a domino damsel I'm looking for 1 more easy to keep coral as I don't want to push the bioload. Any Ideas
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ADVICE NEEDED. New SPS. Will they make it? (with pictures)
HingleMcCringleberry posted a topic in Beginners Discussion
(I posted this same post in the corals forum) Hi. I'M new to the forum and was hoping some experienced reefers could offer some advice on my coral health! I have a 20 gallon DIY mixed reef tank that has been running for about 6 months. I have about 1 year experience running a 75 gallon reef tank that I took down about 6 years ago when I left for college. Everything I have added (soft corals, LPS, fish, inverts, nem) seems healthy and has been a pleasure to watch. Up until now I have never tried any SPS corals. 5 days ago I decided to venture into some "beginner" SPS. I don't have very accurate water testing kits so I am not looking to advance any further with difficult corals until I can at least better monitor my water parameters. I have a very large amount of live rock for the tank size and two hang-off-the-back filters (in case one ever fails). My heater is a decently stable and my digital thermometer always reads 78.4-78.8. My lighting is not very strong: Marineland LEDs rated at about 100 par at 12 inches and 6000K. It is also not diffuse at all and has almost spotlights of higher intensity throughout the tank. (yes, I plan to upgrade my lighting when I have the funds in about a month). I bought two montipora frags 5 days ago, one large orange monti cap and one small sunset monti. Both came from my LFS and were not shipped (at least not any time recently). To compensate for my low lighting I placed them about 5 inches down in the water directly under the "spotlights" from my LEDs. I really don't know enough to tell if they're doing ok or not. given that my situation is atypical bordering on stupid (I know it sounds bad) I want to make sure Im not killing the frags. I have a friend with a very successful SPS tank who will take them if I'm hurting them and I just don't want to see them die! I think they might be doing ok. I'll be watching for long term signs of health but I just wanted to ask if there are any issues visibly indicating immediate shock from new/bad tank conditions. Please don't be too hard on me. I know you'll want to know my water parameters and more details than I can probably measure. I don't want advice on keeping them alive as much as advice on how to tell if they're healthy (although all input is appreciated). If they aren't healthy I will rehome them at the first clear sign they're declining. I have attached pictures. -
Hey Nano Reef community, I'm new here and this is my first post about my custom all in one nano reef tank. The bonsai reef is nearly 9 months old (266 days) and has been mostly running well except for a period of a couple months where dinos took over. My vision for the tank is to allow the corals to grow into each other while maintaining perspective with regular fragging to stunt the colonies (similar to bonsai). All the corals are frags that I have made and traded with other reefers, as will be future additions. Tank: 60cm x 30cm x 35cm with custom side sump built in Flow: Vortech mp10 + Sicce Syncra 0.5 return with RFG nozzle Filtration: Caribsea Shapes Life Rock, marine pure spheres, polyfibre, Aquaforest carbon pellets, chaeto refugium lit by 10W white LED floodlight Skimmer: None Lighting: Ocean Revive t-247b CH1: 31% CH2: 1% (Average 200 PAR, 80% PUR) Dosing: AquaForest Balling + AF Build Water Change: 10% weekly AF Reef Salt Latest Parameters: Salinity (35ppt), pH (8.3), Alkalinity (7.5dkH), Calcium (425ppm), Magnesium (1440ppm), Nitrate (10ppm), Phosphate (0.1ppm) Heating: AquaOne 50W thermosafe (26C) Cooling: None ATO: None Substrate: None (BB) Feeding (Daily): Mysis, brine, red plankton, copepods, invertebrate mix, fish eggs, AF power food, Justin's Goniopower, ON formula 1 flake, ON formula 2 pellets, Vitalis small fish pellets, AF phytoplankton mix Maintenance: Alk test (daily), water test (weekly), water change (weekly), polyfibre change (weekly), carbon change (weekly), Dr Tim's Eco-balance & Waste Away (Weekly), Pumps Cleaned (Monthly) Fish: B/W ocellaris clownfish (F), orange ocellaris clownfish (M), springers damselfish, yellow tang Invertebrates: Cerith snails, turbo snails, stomatella snails, brittle stars, spotted linckia stars, amphipods, copepods Corals: 7 varieties Acropora, 7 varieties Montipora, Leptoseris, 3 varieties Goniopora, Alveopora, 8 varieties Micromussa Lords, 5 varieties Chalice corals, Duncans, 5 varieties Palythoa, 4 varieties Seriatopora, Poccilopora, Fungia I'm looking to update this journal every 1-2 weeks. So keep posted and thanks for following 🐠 I'm looking forward to see what you guys think so please ask questions and give recommendations to help me achieve my vision. Happy Reefing!
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Hello everyone, I want to learn about some ways in which a coral might bleach or die. I am particularly interested in bleaching/death rates for each reason. As an example, I believe bleaching due to low light intensity might take a couple days while excessive light intensity might kill a coral much faster. Does anyone have a refference for all possible death rates of corals? Although I'm interested in sps corals, information on every coral would helpful. This could help use better make an idea on why our corals might br struggling. Thanks!
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I recently got my first SPS frag, a blueish Montipora Digitata. Now, with my other corals, I could get a decent enough idea if they were happy or not concerning flow and lighting for example, because their response was quite obvious and quick (Euphyllia and Rhodactis for example). However, this being my first SPS, I am not so sure, so I figured I'd make a small thread, hoping you guys and girls could help me out. As for my parameters, I measured these this morning and the frag is in my system for about a week; Ammonia: 0ppm Nitrite: 0ppm Nitrate: ~3ppm Phosphate test kit is on its way PH: 8.2 dKH: 11.3 Calcium: 475 Lighting: AI Prime HD on a somewhat customized AB+ schedule and on an acclimation period until February 23 Flow: return nozzle and Aqamai KPS Left side view right side view Close up (crop) where the polyps seem to extend the most I am not entirely sure yet about the placement, because I see a lot of shading/dark sides on the frag, which is a result of the shape as well. I am also wondering if I could accidentally burn it, having it so high up on the rocks, that's why I put the Prime on an acclimation period though. Last but not least, my apologies for the quality of the images. They were made with my phone, yet I am looking to buy a filter and magnifier soon, because I really enjoy taking pictures of the frags and how they're evolving/growing. What do you guys and girls think? Polyp extension alright, or no? Anything I could or should change, any feedback is much appreciated! Bonus question, is it normal to tweak that much in the early stages of having a reef aquarium? I just can't seem to let it be, instead, I am wondering if the light schedule is alright, what about the placement of the frags....Flow, wondering if the return nozzle is aimed alright and the KPS schedule is decent enough....Oooh, how about the turnover rate? 🤦♂️ (I am really enjoying it though, don't get me wrong, haha!)
