An Bollenessor Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Hi all, I have recently started a simple nano on my desk at work. It is my first experience with corals. (I currently have a coldwater marine tank at home, see here and have always had freshwater tanks). It is my aim to keep things really simple. The set-up: A 30x30x30 cm optiwhite tank (27 litres but effectively probably 21 liters or 5.5 US gallon) A small Eden 501 pot filter A HYDOR PICO EVO.MAG pump A 50W heater AquaLighter Nano Marine LEDs (6.5 W) I have put in 2 kg of cured rock/coral and have cycled the tank for five weeks or so (I do not intend to test water parameters, as I said I’d like to keep things simple). After a week I added five species of macroalgae: Caulerpa Prolifera Caulerpa Taxifolia Codium sp. Chaetomorpha Gracilaria Curtissae (Caulerpa Racemosa was in bad shape and soon died off) After another two weeks I added three small frags: a blueish mushroom, Daisy polyps (Knopia sp.) and green zoanthids. As expected, I had hair algae appearing during the cycle, but even now after some weeks with the seaweeds, the algae are still growing. I am not feeding (I intend to rely only on photosynthetic soft corals and do not want any inverts (let alone fish) to complicate things), but the rock must be leaching phosphates and nitrates. I have done some water changes but perhaps I need to provide some phosphate/nitrate removers to the filter too (currently only ceramics and a sponge). Of course this measure might actually not be appreciated by the seaweeds…I read that Turbo’s are good at cleaning up hair algae but I fear that snails will soon deplete the algae in this little tank and die (also, they might crawl out). As I am not adding any N or P, I am hoping eventually the water changes will take care of this problem. The mushroom was grumpy for a week but seems to be OKish now. The Knopia and Zoa’s are looking good and each day I am anxiously checking whether they have started to grow. Perhaps in a week or so I’ll get another three frags (3 for £13); I want to add corals slowly so as not to perturb the system. I will only pick species that have the potential to become pests as I do not regard vigorous growth of corals as a problem! Sorry for the small image sizes; any larger than this and I cannot upload them.... Link to comment
Zepo. Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Thats awesome, i wish i could do that but they turn off the AC on the weekends :\. Link to comment
reefernanoman Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Looks nice and simple. Link to comment
EricBee Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 I'd be too worried about spilling water on my computer, but that would be awesome. Off to a good start! Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 thanks guys. What do you reckon, use a phosphate remover or stick with water changes? Not liking the algae very much! The codium is now also covered... There is a lot of evaporation, but luckily my officed is 5 meters from a lab with an infinite supply of RO water. I have a watering can under my desk and top the aquarium up every other day. Next summer I might have a problem with the sun heating the office, hopefully a fan, open windows and blinds will be sufficient for a few months (summers are not very severe where I am!) cheers, Mick Link to comment
metrokat Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 How often do you clean the canister filter? You could add one packet of chemipure blue in it (nano sized packs). That would help with nutrients. Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 6, 2015 Author Share Posted October 6, 2015 Indeed I will have to clean the filter sometime! I'll add some nutrient removers and carbon then too. I have read up on Brandon429 hydrogen peroxide posts and think I am a convert. It will be easy to remove rocks (only have three!) and brush em with some H2O2. I do not feed and have macroalgae growing, so the theory that high levels of N and P cause algae problems is not very well supported I think... Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 15, 2015 Author Share Posted October 15, 2015 A quick update: I decided to nip the hair algae problem in the bud using hydrogen peroxide. I diluted a 9% solution roughly by half and streaked some on the rock with a brush. Worked like a charm! No CUC so the dead algae are not eaten but should be fine. Noticed some interesting Acetabularia algae so brushed around those. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 15, 2015 Share Posted October 15, 2015 Nice setup. I really like it. What is your opinion on the LED light? I was thinking of trying one on my 1.6 gallon pico. Do you think it would work? Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 17, 2015 Author Share Posted October 17, 2015 Hey, I feel that the light is relatively dim compared to other tanks, but for a 1.6 gallon this fixture might be perfect! Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 23, 2015 Author Share Posted October 23, 2015 The tank is going quite OK. Not a lot of algae. I noticed some interesting parasol-shaped Acetabularia algae that I definitely do not want to get rid of. Bought another three frags a couple of weeks ago: two more zoa's and a small Xenia (with a tiny hitchhiking red mushroom). All six frags are doing well, the Knopia has 'fatter' polyps and I reckon it has expanded a bit too, so has the mushroom. I'd like to add a bunch more frags. I have only partially changed water twice and have not cleaned my filter. Bioload is very low so not worried. I will refrain from feeding as I think I can rely on photosynthesis and micronutrients for (very slow) coral growth without having to deal with algae outbreaks (I have opened a topic in the coral forum about that but have not had much feedback, I guess there are very few reefers that have only corals and no fish or inverts AND that refrain from feeding). The macroalgae are doing well (Chaetomorpha and Caulerpa so duh!). Link to comment
Nano sapiens Posted October 23, 2015 Share Posted October 23, 2015 I ran an experiment of sorts a good while back by leaving my 12g fishless and with just one small hermit crab for around 5-6 months...and virtually no feeding (a pellet or two for the hermit once a month). As you surmised, algae vanished from view and coral growth ground to a virtual halt. Most distressing though is that the coral will lighten and just look pale-sickly. Link to comment
NinjaReefer Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I ran an experiment of sorts a good while back by leaving my 12g fishless and with just one small hermit crab for around 5-6 months...and virtually no feeding (a pellet or two for the hermit once a month). As you surmised, algae vanished from view and coral growth ground to a virtual halt. Most distressing though is that the coral will lighten and just look pale-sickly. +1 I tried something similar and got the same results. Most coral have symboitic algae in them, so if you cant grow algae you cant grow coral. Link to comment
Learn It Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 cool little tank - macros are awesome Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 24, 2015 Author Share Posted October 24, 2015 Thanks for your thoughts! I still have some algae growing though so the zooxanthellae might be fine too (I meant that I do not have/ want algae explosions). But yeah, feeding the corals occasionally will be better, and by doing a large water change after and adding some rowaphos to the filter things should remain fine). Any recommendations for zoa/Xenia/mushroom food? Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted October 31, 2015 Author Share Posted October 31, 2015 The tank is looking good! Had a small pod explosion. There is much less algae on the glass and the Codium. To my surprise, I discovered a bunch of small, white Scypha sponges growing from the cured coral. All in all it is looking quite healthy. Have not done any water changes or cleaned the filter as I still have not fed. The Knopia has been growing quite a bit already though, with new polyps and existing polyps being much fatter. I am topping of water with a watering can almost every working day. One or two Zoa polyps have died, but that might happen sometimes? (see pic).I have bought another three frags (a bit larger, 3 for £30): green star polyps, clove polyps and yellow polyps. I now have 9 frags in total and it is probably time to stop and fill the aquarium with growth instead (although I might buy more, it is, as you know, pretty addictive!). Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Tell me more about your coldwater tank....... Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted December 10, 2015 Author Share Posted December 10, 2015 hey aquatic engineer, https://anbollenessor.wordpress.com/ scroll to the bottom and click the "aquarium update" tag Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Time for an update (w pics to follow as internet is really slow at the moment). Three months in or so, things are going quite well. The Knopia has grown quite a bit, a stow-away red mushroom has multiplied and the Xenia is constantly pumping and has grown too. I bought Salifert coral food and spot-fed twice, but all polyps closed up instead of welcoming the food! Before feeding, I siphoned off half of the water: after feeding I remove most of the 'dirty' water and put the other half back in plus add new seawater. So I have only done 2 less-than-half-volume water changes in total (I have done a lot of topping off of course). Not many algae. I have cleaned the pump once but it was not dirty. I added some rowaphos and carbon, the day after the Caulerpa taxifolia was completely gone! Some time later the C. prolifera was also gone (after growing very well before). Ah well. I have a Rust Brown Flatworm explosion, they are everywhere. They do not bother the corals and when brushing them off the glass they end up on the sand and do not really seem to decompose but they do not move either. My Pineapple sponges have disappeared. Some small feather worms have appeared and I have even glimpsed a small brittle star (I did not expect that from cured rock). No rampant coral growth, but they seem to do OK. My lighting is relatively weak and I have hardly been feeding. Chaeto growth, a bit of algae growth and the multplying pods and flatworms indicate that there are nutrients around for the corals though. Even with such a small aquarium, I have quite a lot of diversity of beautiful soft corals and it continues to be a lot of fun! Link to comment
AquaticEngineer Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 hey aquatic engineer, https://anbollenessor.wordpress.com/ scroll to the bottom and click the "aquarium update" tag OMG I totally love your blog! I should have known by your name that it was you here lol Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted December 15, 2015 Author Share Posted December 15, 2015 Hey Stu, I should have known it was you! Btw, planning to do a west coast trip next spring/summer with the family (Vancouver - San Francisco), keen to hear you out at some point for the best rock pooling sites! cheers Mick Link to comment
An Bollenessor Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 As promised, some more recent pictures (and any comments on the salifert feeding and flatworm explosion mentioned above greatly appreciated!) Link to comment
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