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Cultivated Reef

8 gallon cadlights build ( zoas, acropora, bunch of lps) new pics !


Mattdbz29

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Alot of my buddy's are getting into nano reef keeping. I decided after a lot of reading and research to give it a whirl. Really happy with my tank so far, I know alot of guys don't like the cadlights tanks, but so far, I'm pretty satisfied. I've added an aqueoun 500gph powerhead. A bit overkill for the size of the tank I thnk! This is a video I took today on day 6 of cycling. Te shrimp is mostly gone now. I forgot to mention I started with live Fiji rock from a small aquarium shops sump and used 5 gallons of his water as well. Enjoy folks !

 

Edit : added some stock in day 14 ! Sorry for the horrid photos.

 

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http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/mattdbz29/0CAD3351-E365-4B10-850A-19233B5A52AD-184-000000106755A351_zps31e4402e.mp4

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I'm new to this. I did as the guy at the Lfs told me to ? He has gorgeous tanks, seems to know what he's talking about? Everything Ive read says to add a shrimp ??!

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Nano sapiens

Welcome to NR! You have some nice, knobby rock there. I have an earlier 12g Cadlights tank that I've been quite happy with. I use the stock 250gph return pump and it's enough for Acros, so with a 500gph you've got a really blower on there :)

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Thanks very much. Your tank is one that all nano reef keepers should aspire to. I forgot to mention I had an extra piece of live rock I just couldn't make work in my tank. So I broke it up into some smaller pieces and put in the middle chamber for extra biological filtration. Is Anyone doing this ?

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I'm new to this. I did as the guy at the Lfs told me to ? He has gorgeous tanks, seems to know what he's talking about? Everything Ive read says to add a shrimp ??!

There are many different methods but usually when you start with good live rock you dont need to add any more ammonia (the shrimp). If you used good live rock and water from a WC your cycle would have probably skipped the ammonia stage pretty quick and its possible that the shrimp will slow down that stage by6 adding more ammonia. You'll be alright though, just make sure your parameters are stable before you add any stock. Speaking of parameters, what are they looking like?

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I have to borrow my buddies elos test kits. I'll be doing that this evening mOst likely. I'll report back tomorrow with the parameters. I only stuck a piece of a small shrimp. About 1/3rd perhaps.

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Didn't get into town today I live quite a ways. Hopefully tomorrow ! Here's a few shots of the tank since day one.

 

Just clearing up

 

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Taken using a clip on fisheye lense for my iPhone

 

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Lots of feather dusters on the one rock !

 

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Nano sapiens

Thanks very much. Your tank is one that all nano reef keepers should aspire to. I forgot to mention I had an extra piece of live rock I just couldn't make work in my tank. So I broke it up into some smaller pieces and put in the middle chamber for extra biological filtration. Is Anyone doing this ?

 

Thank you, glad you like it the little tank. I would highly recommend against having LR ('live rock') chunks in the chambers (been there, done that). The problem with LR chunks in any of the chambers is that they will trap excess food and other waste (aka 'detritus'). Excess detritus causes all kinds of really nasty issues, so no need to add additional places for it to build up.

 

You have so much live rock and sand that the LR chunks are not necessary for the nitrogen cycle, but if you really want to keep them in there for some reason then I'd place them all in a plastic mesh bag like what you find fruit in in the grocery store. Makes it easy to remove live rock chunks all at once, siphon out the detritus, then easy to put all back again.

 

I use my old dried LR chunks for new frag bases since I don't like frag plugs.

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Tanks looking awesome hopefully gonna get some test kits today or tomorrow. Lots of pods on the glass. Looks like some corralline is starting to multiply slowly. Also what are the orange corralline like things ? Enjoy !

 

 

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Nano sapiens

Always nice to get some new livestock. Hope they all do well for ya.

 

Looks like a small tube worm in your pic and you may have some orangeish coraline algae.

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Update checked my parameters using Elos test kits I must say while its slightly more difficult to perform the tests they are very accurate, And easier to actually read the results. Parameters as follows :

 

Ammonia : 0 ppm

Nitrite : 0 ppm

Nitrate : 3 ppm

Alkalinity 9.5 dkh

Ph : 7.9

Calcium 500ppm

 

What are your thoughts on the calcium ? Some more input on my tank would be awesome !!! *crickets*

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Nano sapiens

Calcium is at the high side of what is typically recommended. I maintain mine at 420-440 ppm which is closer to natural salt water.

 

Nitrate is acceptable for the organisms you have, but keep an eye on it since it tends to rise if exports of detritus are not sufficient. Nitrate is typically much lower on a natural reef (would be undetectable by our test kits).

 

A phosphate test kit is useful to check on the eutrophication level of the system. A high level of phosphate will encourage algae and cyano blooms!

 

pH is on the lower side, but not a problem. Try taking a pH reading a few hours after lights go off and a few hours after the lights go on (you will likely see a higher pH when the lights are on due to photosynthesis effects).

 

Alkalinity is fine, but wouldn't go much higher.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Update on the tank : things are doing incredibly well I think all my corals look very happy and all my parameters are in check apart from my calcium which remains a bit high around 480ppm. Water changes have been performed weekly usually 30-50%. Added a bunch of corals some clown fish a tube nem, acropora, starfish, chalice, two acans, a maze coral. Yup I'm addicted already looking at a new tank! Lol

 

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Thanks ! There mostly 5 and 10 dollar frags. The most I spent was 20$ on the big red An blue acan! My clownfish are hosting my in my blastomussa !! I bought a hammer coral the other day hopefully they will move into that.

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