Rosseau's 15G foray... (Pictures)

[Rosseau]

I thought it was just about time to share a bit of the tank which is taking up oh so much of my time these days.
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This summer I was living in a remote field camp for several months and had to leave my former nano in the care of another.



Generally, we know our own tanks better than anyone else and as such it was not waiting for me upon my return. Major crash only a few days after I had left...

I was on the verge, do I cut my losses and get out while I can? OR, Do I rebuild?

I chose the latter, here she is!

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I thought I would give black sand a shot. Some days I'm glad I did and others not so much.




I had been cycling the rocks since August
Tank set up in early September
First inhabitants mid-late September

[Rosseau]

Progression to date...









As you can see, I have not really been happy with my rock structure. I think I’ve almost got it, yet the tank still needs a great amount of work in my opinion. I got fed up at one point, bought base rocks, drilled and secured them. I’m very pleased with that.

[Rosseau]

Specs:

Standard 15G AGA Long (12” x 12” x 24”)
10G Sump
DIY false wall, chambers, overflow and drilled/bulkheads

2 x 70W 14,000 K halide
48W 10,000K + Actinic T5 HO

Tunze 9002 Skimmer
DIY ATO (2x float switches)
Current USA 1/15HP Chiller
Flow -> MJ 1200, MJ 400 (soon to be 600, likely)
MJ400 on the Chiller, Quietone 800 return from sump
Random old heater (Hagen brand)

For those of you who are interested, as of today…

NH4, NO3, NO4 = 0 ppm
Phosphate = Undetectable (API Tests)
Ca = 480 ppm
Alk = 11 dKH
Temp = 78-80 F


I built the back wall to hide all of the equipment, I would like to have as little showing as possible.

Also, should I move the tank and remove the sump I am able to keep it contained as an “all-in-one” style unit. I can even grow macroalgae in the back.




I should note that this is take two, I had my tank crack in half on me about 2 weeks ago. I did not have it supported evenly… My house is 110+ years old. Level floors are extremely hard to come by.

Fortunately, I was in my room when this happened. I was able to save just about everything, though I know it was tough on many of the animals.

[Rosseau]

Is this a good time to mention the blue tang? Sure! This fish was a little larger than a quarter when I bought it. It has been eating like a pig and is quite healthy in my opinion. I realized however these are large fish, not nano fish. It is truly a beautiful creature and I don¡¦t feel right having this one in particular in a tank which it will quickly outgrow. Don¡¦t worry ƒº

[Rosseau]

I’ll shut up now.

[OARrocks]

nice tank i really like the way it looks in the pics. it looks a whole lot bigger than 15g's.......then you see the giant ricordea.

[Rosseau]

Originally posted by OARrocks
nice tank i really like the way it looks in the pics. it looks a whole lot bigger than 15g's.......then you see the giant ricordea.

Thanks.

I think it looks bigger by having breaks in the rock. I'm not sure if I can call them "pillars", however that was sort of what I was going for.

The long tanks always seem to feel bigger to me also.




Comments, questions and honest opinions are all welcome.

[Slice of Ocean]

Your tank looks great. I love the black sand.

[3fins]

dude, thats a wicked tank. I realy like it.

[Rosseau]

3fins, Roxy, thanks for the comments.


Does anybody know what these might be? They're pretty neat actually.

[OARrocks]

eek may be colonial hydroids. very unwanted

[Rosseau]

Originally posted by OARrocks
eek may be colonial hydroids. very unwanted

That would be a shame, I like them.

[cp3823]

what are the dimmensions of your tank? and your blue tank looks amazing!

[zack85]

Originally posted by OARrocks
eek may be colonial hydroids. very unwanted

yeah, possibly digitate hydroids - if they are (and not some type of polyp) youll want to manually remove them as they sting and kill corals & reproduce quickly...

[Rosseau]

Originally posted by cp3823
what are the dimmensions of your tank? and your blue tank looks amazing!

12" x 12" x 24" Long.

I like the 24" long part because I'm able to use standard T5 bulbs. This was my main reason for moving up from a 10G.



I do lose a bit of depth in the tank thanks to my rear chambers. I made them just deep enough to fit my skimmer and maxi-jets without problems.






I like this hermit also. He took over an old conch shell.

[reefman13]

Great looking tank!!!

[nietzsche]

those are really great pictures of your tank, which looks good. what kind of camera is that?

how did you secure your rocks? did you use acrylics rods in the holes you drilled?

[Rosseau]

Originally posted by nietzsche
those are really great pictures of your tank, which looks good. what kind of camera is that?

how did you secure your rocks? did you use acrylics rods in the holes you drilled?

Thanks.

I just used good old zip ties. It certainly would be more secure with acrylic rods. If I had more time I would do something like that.

Only the centre grouping of rocks is drilled and attached. The one on the right is a single piece of LR - it's a pretty nice one I think.

I still don't love some of the rock and will likely move it around some more - especially the stuff on the left hand side.





My camera is a Canon Rebel XTi. I don't have a true macro lense, however use Kenko extension tubes with my 70-300mm f4 IS to get close ups. I desperately need a tripod...

Please note the sketchy home made monopod. I have more than enough hockey sticks laying around, I might as well put them to use.




Also, this stick model happens to be named the "XTI" so surely it's a good fit for my XTi.

[Rosseau]

More comments means some more pics...

[Illuminati]

Nice tank, don't be a wuss, enter it in the nTOTM thread

[Rosseau]

Heh, thanks colinadam.... For now I'm going to be a huge wuss.

Once I see some growth and fill it out a little more I'll think about entering, maybe shoot for February!? I'll be able to lose with some dignity then


If I can find a way to get my zoa frags to take off I'll be laughing. You can't really see them in the FTS, but I have about 10 different zoa types ready to go in there.

Strangely I haven't seen a spec of coralline yet....

[Rosseau]

Well yesterday was a sad day...

When I went to feed my fish in the morning only two of them showed up to eat.

One of my clowns and my royal gramma were missing. Strangely, both fish had made their way into a back chamber in the same night.

I'm not sure what happened exactly and whether or not the fact that it was two of them was just a coincidence.

Well, I have one lonely clown now. He's lost his mate - they were still working out the pairing.... I'll be sure to replace the clown before my single one grows too old.

I may consider adding a grate to my overflow.



To console myself I picked up this little guy - very cute. Already eating well as this is apparently a problem with some of them.



After a brief stint in some zoas the goby settled on a patch of SPS.

[Alaska_Phil]

Awsome looking tank! Looking forward to see how it grows out.

How do you like the Tunze 9002? I got mine about 2 weeks ago, so it's still pretty inconsistent and generating micro bubbles.

Phil

[Rosseau]

Thanks Phil.

The Tunze works pretty well though I've never really loved the thing. Certainly it's getting skimmate and removing material from the water. It's never really been super thick however.

Fortunately mine is in the sump right now and so I don't worry about bubbles. It does give some off however in my opinion is a pretty small amount.

How's life at the North Pole ?! Haha.. I was around 80 degrees North this year and will be back again in the near future.

[Alaska_Phil]

Thanks, I'm still fiddling with mine. It does seem to produce very fine dry foam, but then then what collects in the cup is watery. Mine will be going in the sump when I get it built.

80 degrees North! Wow! I saw those Bou and was going to ask if you were on Ellesmere (sp?) Island. I'm actually in the town of North Pole Alaska, only 64 degrees, 45 min.

Phil