Build and Progress of my RSM Nano Tank

[mikellini]

The ricordeas are looking great. You should frag some of your zoas and send them to me!!! lol I love the ones on the left with the orange skirts

[LaurentSeattle]

Thanks mikellini... But I do not how to frag yet... Originally that rock was 50-50 orange and green zoas. The green ones are slowly disappearing, overwhelmed by the orange ones. Strange... I thought zoas were able to cohabitate peacefully.

[martinphillip03]

bmp

[jraducha]

Hey all..Long time reader first time poster in this thread. I just bought a RSM and I wanted to find out who runs carbon in the back of theirs...It goes under the power heads.and I was thinking how much of a pain that must be to change it out cause I think you would have to take out the heads to get that big bag out of there? Is that true? Also, on my protein skimmer The 1st day is was bubbling good. Really small bubbles..and I emptied the cup,about 1/2 full... put it back on there and now the bubbles dont come all the way up in to the cup..is that normal? Thanks for the help all...

[TexasTodd]

Have you tried a small amount of Kalkwasser in your top off water?

I didn't read all the thread, but haven't seen it referenced in the posts I did look at.

Use a SMALL amount in the top off water. This will: bind some phosphates and lower your CA at the same time.

Todd

[mikellini]

fragging zoas is really quite easy... i will save the explanation and let you find a good tutorial with pictures, there are many out the if you google. Good luck!

[pbukow]

jraducha,

Protein skimmers usually take about a week or so for them to "break in". This is a period where i believe (don't quote me on this) a bio-film is being established in the reaction chamber or all of the oils and junk that comes on the pump is running out of your system. I'm not a hundred percent sure thats the only reason why your skimmer isn't working though. As long as all of the parts are working, the venturi intake is clear of salt creep, everything should be fine in a couple of days.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 5 - Week 23 - Day 155 - Friday November 28th - Around 6pm

- Done a 3g water change. (because I probably wont be able to do it again until next Friday or even maybe Saturday)

- Cleant the filters.

---

First beta release of the Hydro Planning software! Check it out here:

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1242372

---

jraducha:
I second pbukow and on top of that: If your RSM is brand new and your rocks nicely cured, there is probably very little or even nothing to skim...

I run ChemiPure Elite instead of plain carbon. It is actually high quality carbon plus some GFO against phosphates. So far, so good.

mikellini:

I will first learn to grow my zoas before trying to frag them..

TexasTodd:

My "Nano Handbook" by Chris Brightwell strongly advises against Kalkwasser... Therefore, as a n00b, I will not risk that...


Thanks all for visiting!

[martinphillip03]

Nice thread. It will be very helpful. Thanks for being so consistent on your reports.

Marty

[pbukow]

What does the book say about Kalk and why do they advise against it?

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 5 - Week 23 - Day 157 - Sunday December 2nd - Around 6pm

After posting here: http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...readid=1259605 , to get advice about a new coral species to add to the reef, I finally opted for this green and brown Candy Cane Coral (Caulastrea furcata) colony from my LFS. Colorful, easy and peaceful...



It seems like the rock is carrying one Aipstasia anemone. I hope the Peppermint Shrimp will "take care" of it during the night.

I am a bit concerned with the proximity of the Xenia. I will trim the Xenia if they try to get close to the Candy Cane rock.

The coral came with two hitchhikers:

- A small Astrea snail,
- And a little Emerald Crab (Mithrax sculptus)

Hopefully, they will help in cleaning and getting rid of these annoying pockets of resistance of pest algae.

Also got 5 more Nassarius snails to help with the sand bed.

---

My book strongly advises against Kalk in Nano Tanks and medium sized system mostly because the smallest error in dosing could have disastrous consequences. They recommend Kalk only in large aquaria.

[Reefmack]

Nice candy cane Laurent! I'm not sure I agree with the comment on the Yellow Fiji leather though - my Fiji adds a lot of color to the tank, and never takes a "nap" for a few days like my other leathers. They look great up on top of the rock. Mine has grown so quickly in about a month that it's shading my clam too much.

By the way, I see what I'm pretty sure is a brown majano anemone - to the right of the middle of your new picture. I have some of the same, plus green ones in my tank. I don't think aiptasia have those bubble tips.

[reefman13]

You have a book????? Where? When? How?

Nice tank. It has really come a long way from when it started
Everything looks happy and healthy. Could we get a new FTS sometime in the near future?

[LaurentSeattle]

martinphillip03: Thanks!

reefman13: I actually have three books:
- the Nano Hanbook (already mentionned) by Brightwell
- the "Conscientous Marine Aquarist" by Fenner
- The "new marine aquarium" by Paletta

All bought before I got the tank, all read in full before starting the tank, but still... I made a number of mistakes...

I will snap a FTS tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a close-up of my new Emerald Crab.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 5 - Week 23 - Day 160 - Wednesday December 5th - Around 9pm

- Tested Ca: 460ppm, slowly going down to more normal levels.

- The Candy Cane is doing quite well, expanding nicely and showing its short sweeping tentacles. I need to snap a close-up...

- The Emerald crab is very discreet now, only showing up under the moonlights.

- Did the regular stuff, cleaning mechanical filters and glass...

- Bryopsis receding a bit. I am now feeding significantly less, no more need to encourage my gramma to eat...

- Besides that nothing special to report, except that the sea star is still nowhere to be found. I will have to admit that it is dead now.

I just started a new job and that's why there has not been so many updates recently: I am switching from video games to medical applications and I am quite busy learning a number of new "things"... Almost unbelievable but true, video games experience is indeed very useful in medical apps. Allright, back to "Mass Effect"...

[conorwynne]

"unbelievable but true, video games experience is indeed very useful in medical apps."

Indeed, "you have been terminated...." will come in useful :-)

Q: What do you consider good Ca levels then? 460 not OK?
Mine is currently around that...

Regadrs
Conor

[martinphillip03]

Your thoughts on the crab. I believe you have resisted putting any in your tank.
Nice photo.

Marty

reefman13: I actually have three books:
- the Nano Hanbook (already mentionned) by Brightwell
- the "Conscientous Marine Aquarist" by Fenner
- The "new marine aquarium" by Paletta

All bought before I got the tank, all read in full before starting the tank, but still... I made a number of mistakes...

I will snap a FTS tomorrow. In the meantime, here is a close-up of my new Emerald Crab.

[/B][/QUOTE]

[martinphillip03]

Would you read all three books again? Have you read any others, can you recommend any others?

Marty


reefman13: I actually have three books:
- the Nano Hanbook (already mentionned) by Brightwell
- the "Conscientous Marine Aquarist" by Fenner
- The "new marine aquarium" by Paletta

[LaurentSeattle]

martinphillip03:

No, I have not read any other books. I picked those from recommendations and reviews found on Amazon.com.

The nano handbook focuses on the nano-reef and is very good.
Both others are more FOWLR-oriented but do contain a lot of precious info.

I still want to avoid hermit crabs because they are well-known snail-killers. The Emerald is supposed to be herbivore but I have read it can attack corals when it grows bigger. I will keep an eye on this guy.

[LaurentSeattle]

Month 6 - Week 24 - Day 162 - Friday December 7th - Around 8pm

Finally, I took a few shots...

First the FPS:



Still quite a lot of pest algae. I will do a cleaning this weekend.

The Candy Cane is doing well:



The white sweeper tentacles expand much more during the day (typically from 11am to 4pm). They glow beautifully under the moonlights!

[conorwynne]

Have you tried increasing the magnesium over 1350pm?

I have HA issues and that killed it off for me, along with low nutrients and phosban.

Regards
Conor

[LaurentSeattle]

conorwynne:

Yes, I did try to rise Mg. I did proceed with caution, I added in one week what ReefMack was adding at some point in a day, but...

The effect was a crazy rise in Ca, shooting up in the 500 beyond the range of the test. I lost one fish in the process and my zoas were showing signs of distress.

After a number of water change, the tank is back to more normal Ca levels, but still quite high. The zoas are doing much better now.

[pbukow]

You show that your Ca levels are at 460? What do you consider normal levels, I have run levels at 480 (tested with Salifert) and Alk running at 11-12DKH (same brand test kit) with no adverse affects on my corals, anemone, or fish. I have also seen tanks running with similar levels with again, no adverse effects. Maybe something else caused your inhabitants to react so poorly? Just wondering.

[LaurentSeattle]

pbukow:

Considering that natural sea water Ca level is around 415ppm, I would consider normal as 400 to 430 and 430 to 450 a bit high and above 450 high. 460 is the limit of my test...

[Reefmack]

When I was dosing high amounts of Mg my GSP went to "sleep" for a few days but returned to normal after - no other negative effects seen. The only thing I've ever read or heard on high calcium is that if levels get too high it will "snow" in the tank if the Ca solubility is exceeded - but I've read of no negative effect of high Ca on livestock. I'm thinking something else coincidentally had a negative effect on your critters, but that's just an opinion. But, low Ca is known to have a negative effect on corals.