My 3rd Reef Tank - Build Thread - Long Nano w/pics

[mathias999us]

Thanks workstoomuch! I'm glad you like it.

[Water Box]

And to think I just hung a picture on my bare wall.....where's my screw gun!!!

[mathias999us]

HAHA, I think the previous owner had a Thomas Kinkade painting there or something very similar. Good spot for that too, or a grandfather clock or something.

[mathias999us]

Quick update: getting diatoms, and have cut the lights back to only actinics for 8 hours per day. Also, I had mentioned previously that a lot of the coraline bleached on the new rock. But, I had put a couple pieces in my 6 gallon nano that has 2x18W PC, and it bleached in there too. In the past when I ran the 6g tank, it had great coraline growth, so I'm not certain if it was just the lights in the long tank that bleached the coraline. Also, the sapphire skimmer has really kicked into high gear, and every morning when I get up, the collection cup is completely full of green/brown tea-colored skimmate.

[gmatta]

really cool tank! may i sugest a firefish or a citron gobie

[gmatta]

oh, are you adding any snails or crabs?

[mathias999us]

gmatta -

Cool, glad you like the tank, and thanks for the suggestions. Yeah, I'll probably add a pretty typical cleanup crew consisting of a few each of ceryth snails, nassasrius snails, astrea/trochus snails, and a few hermits. I'd like to put a star in here too, but haven't given it too much thought yet.

[won digity]

sweet tank, can't wait to see it stocked. Keep up the good work!

[TypeSH]

Looking good Mathias. I love the carpentry work.
Can't wait to see the tank stocked

Sam

[ooja3k]

I think the bleaching effect is really coralline die off...

I had the same thing happen when the coralline that i had growing on the walls of my aquarium died off after being out of the water for about 30 minutes...

It will grow back eventually...

[mathias999us]

won digity - Thanks! I'm glad you like it. This period is certainly a test of my patience after all the work and planning I've put into this.

Hey Sam -
Glad you stopped by. I wish I still had some of your frags left to put into this tank. I got my other tank up and running now with some of the rock you gave me a couple years ago though! Amazingly enough, it has colored up on its own, after sitting in a black trashbag completely dried out for 2 years!

ooja3k - I think you are right. It was about a 50 minute drive from the LFS to my house, and another 30-40 minutes of spreading all the pieces out on towels to see them all at once and decide on their placement. It's just another thing to be patient about in this hobby I guess.

Since I'm responding, brief update:

The LR has been in the tank a week now, and the skimmer is pulling a full cup of green/brown gunk about every 12 hours. I think since this tank has such a large water surface area, and all the flow is going over the overflows, it allows the skimmer to work very efficiently. That big surface area acts like a huge magnet for the pollutants and directs it right into the skimmer.

Ran basic water tests last night, and it's still cycling.... seems like its leaving the ammonia phase and entering the nitrite phase. Here's where I'm at:

Total Ammonia: 0.2
Nitrite: 5-10ppm
Nitrate: 2-3ppm
pH: 8.1-8.2
Alk: 9.1 dKH
SPG: 1.026

This is about what I'd expect at this point, and looks like everything's on track.

Thanks for reading!

[conorwynne]

That's pretty cool Matthias, I did think your tank was setup too quickly, I know mine took a month to fully cycle -- and I used LR from a previous long established tank.

There was another cycle as I had cooked the LR prior to setting up the new tank -- algal issues you see... I was quite amazed any getting a cycle at all! But there you go.

regards
Conor

[mathias999us]

Set up too quickly? I'm still cycling it...

[conorwynne]

Oh sorry Matthias, I must have been thinking of another thread that you are also on... lol

[mathias999us]

HAHA, no prob. I was wondering if I had overlooked something here! I know, it's a lot to keep track of when you dig in here and subscribe to a bunch of threads, they have a tendency to start bleeding together a bit in your mind.

[Fish.Nemo]

nice!

[mathias999us]

Thanks Fish.Nemo.

[mathias999us]

I have TONS of coepods and amphipods in the tank now. Also saw what looked like a centipede crawling around on the rocks like it was hunting (definitely not a bristle worm), probably about 3/4" long. It went behind the rocks, and I haven't seen it yet again. I'll be on the lookout to try to snap a pic of it.

Cutting the lights back really took care of the diatom, most of it is completely gone, and it's on the retreat. However, I have what I believe to be bryopsis popping up all over the place now. Here's a pic:


It's whispy, feathery stuff that sways in the current. I'm getting quite a bit of it all throughout the tank. Should I be concerned about this at this early stage? Should I be considering the elevated Magnesium attack this early? Arg, hate to get things started on a bad foot here...

[ooja3k]

you may want to consider the mag attack option...


Are there no known natural predators of bryopsis?


Do you have any sort of cleanup crew yet? And where are you in your cycle?

[mathias999us]

I think there are some predators, but they aren't very effective, like urchins and slugs?

No cleanup crew yet, I'm in day 10 of my cycle... I've had water in the tank for close to 3 weeks, but rock was added about 10 days ago.

[ooja3k]

I gotcha.

Is your cycle close to done? What are your parameters?

[mathias999us]

Guessing I'm about half way through, there's still a trace of ammonia, like 0.1. Nitrite is around 2ppm, and nitrate is around 5ppm.

[TypeSH]

I would keep an eye on that algae. I had some of that stuff and it completely took over my rocks. It's definitely going to be easier to remove while it hasn't spread everywhere yet.

I can't tell from the pictures. Is that an aqua controller on the side?

Thanks,
Sam

[mathias999us]

Hey Sam,

Thanks, I'm definitely concerned about it at this point - I'd say it's bryopsis-ish at least, which isn't good. Sucks, this new rock too. Arg.

On the side is a ReefKeeper version 1. Version 2 would be great, but I already had this, and it's a good little unit.

[conorwynne]

A sea hare & increased mag will sort it out. Had it in mine, now its gone bye bye's.
Nothing to worry about. My skimmer is rubbish, no sump, not even a fuge. Likely the most basic tank on reefcentral ;-(

I can show you pics if you like. I used to panic when I saw it, coz my last tank was destroyed with it -- I used the same rock in this new one, had bryopisis for a while, and now I cannot find any algae left at all.

Use PO4 remover too. Works a treat.

Regards
Conor