Hi everyone. Just recently got turned onto this site...love it! Here is my nano...
It is a Red Sea tank and is on a shelf in our apartment.
Tank was established about 3 months ago with live rock, sand, and water from a pre-established reef tank. The algae’s and most of the corals were also taken from our other reef tanks.
This nano has three Red Sea HOB filters on the back of it. In two I run charcoal, PhosBan, and White Diamond ammonia neutralizer in a mesh bag. In the other filter I run typical filter media.
The only circulation is provided by the three filters. One of the reasons I put the second filter on was to provide more circulation and it works out perfectly for a tank this size.
Parameters are good. Nitrites, nitrates, phosphate, ammonia are at 0. Calcium is around 420 and Alk is around 10dkh. Temp stays around 76-78 degrees.
The light is a CurrentUSA hood with an 18watt 50/50 PC bulb and moonlight. PC fan on outside helps keep the temperature stable throughout the day and night.
Maintenance
In the beginning this tank was a ton of work. Just like any other tank it had to go through an algae cycle, so I had to clean it with a toothbrush twice a day and siphon the detritus from the top of the sand bed. I put macro-algae’s in to hopefully starve out the nuisance algae’s but in turn they needed constant pruning. The Leaf and Mexican caulerpas needed trimming daily to keep them from going sexual and destroying my water quality. After I added the PhosBan to my charcoal sock all the algae growth slowed down and now I only have to trim my caulerpa's once a week. I do weekly water changes using water from a 100 gallon reef tank (preferably after dosing so my nano reaps the benefits). I put one pitcher above the tank dripping the new water in and one pitcher below the tank that is catching the water I am emptying from the nano. That way the water level doesn't change and I can do a gradual but huge water change weekly. I have to do fresh water top offs daily with RO/DI water (it usually evaporates 4-6 turkey basters of water a day). I make sure the temperature doesn't swing by using a fan during the day and an under gravel heater with a digital thermostat at night. Both are just a safety precaution not a necessity, but I do think they help maintain a more stable temperature. I clean the filters weekly and change the carbon weekly or every other week. Every now and then I scrub the glass with a toothbrush. I love doing the maintenance on this tank, so it doesn't seem like maintenance (except for the water changes...those are annoying!)
Inhabitants
Coral: Softies: Ricordea (orange/blue, blueberry, green/blue, neon green) Zoos (ice blues, electric orange, and various others) Mushrooms (red, blue dot, maroon, and green) Star polyps SPS: Pink digitada Green Acros Blue milli LPS: Trumpets Blastos Others: Invertebrates: Micro-stars Worms (bristle and peanut that I know of) 2 purple feather dusters Crocea clam Various snails Red and white pistol shrimp 2 porcelain crabs 1 pom pom crab Fish: High-fin goby (paired with the pistol shrimp)
Feeding
I switch between feeding the goby, shrimp, and crabs enriched brine and pellets (daily). Brine is fed with tweezers to make sure every bit gets eaten (I can't afford to have waste in a tank this size). Pellets are dropped in one by one in a clear tube to make sure they land in the right spot to be eaten. Of course they hardly ever hit the ground when the goby is eating. I put in a drop of phyto every couple of days for the filter feeders. The clam gets taken out during the water changes and gets his own bowl of phyto to clean.
Thanks for looking
It is a Red Sea tank and is on a shelf in our apartment.
Tank was established about 3 months ago with live rock, sand, and water from a pre-established reef tank. The algae’s and most of the corals were also taken from our other reef tanks.
This nano has three Red Sea HOB filters on the back of it. In two I run charcoal, PhosBan, and White Diamond ammonia neutralizer in a mesh bag. In the other filter I run typical filter media.
The only circulation is provided by the three filters. One of the reasons I put the second filter on was to provide more circulation and it works out perfectly for a tank this size.
Parameters are good. Nitrites, nitrates, phosphate, ammonia are at 0. Calcium is around 420 and Alk is around 10dkh. Temp stays around 76-78 degrees.
The light is a CurrentUSA hood with an 18watt 50/50 PC bulb and moonlight. PC fan on outside helps keep the temperature stable throughout the day and night.
Maintenance
In the beginning this tank was a ton of work. Just like any other tank it had to go through an algae cycle, so I had to clean it with a toothbrush twice a day and siphon the detritus from the top of the sand bed. I put macro-algae’s in to hopefully starve out the nuisance algae’s but in turn they needed constant pruning. The Leaf and Mexican caulerpas needed trimming daily to keep them from going sexual and destroying my water quality. After I added the PhosBan to my charcoal sock all the algae growth slowed down and now I only have to trim my caulerpa's once a week. I do weekly water changes using water from a 100 gallon reef tank (preferably after dosing so my nano reaps the benefits). I put one pitcher above the tank dripping the new water in and one pitcher below the tank that is catching the water I am emptying from the nano. That way the water level doesn't change and I can do a gradual but huge water change weekly. I have to do fresh water top offs daily with RO/DI water (it usually evaporates 4-6 turkey basters of water a day). I make sure the temperature doesn't swing by using a fan during the day and an under gravel heater with a digital thermostat at night. Both are just a safety precaution not a necessity, but I do think they help maintain a more stable temperature. I clean the filters weekly and change the carbon weekly or every other week. Every now and then I scrub the glass with a toothbrush. I love doing the maintenance on this tank, so it doesn't seem like maintenance (except for the water changes...those are annoying!)
Inhabitants
Coral: Softies: Ricordea (orange/blue, blueberry, green/blue, neon green) Zoos (ice blues, electric orange, and various others) Mushrooms (red, blue dot, maroon, and green) Star polyps SPS: Pink digitada Green Acros Blue milli LPS: Trumpets Blastos Others: Invertebrates: Micro-stars Worms (bristle and peanut that I know of) 2 purple feather dusters Crocea clam Various snails Red and white pistol shrimp 2 porcelain crabs 1 pom pom crab Fish: High-fin goby (paired with the pistol shrimp)
Feeding
I switch between feeding the goby, shrimp, and crabs enriched brine and pellets (daily). Brine is fed with tweezers to make sure every bit gets eaten (I can't afford to have waste in a tank this size). Pellets are dropped in one by one in a clear tube to make sure they land in the right spot to be eaten. Of course they hardly ever hit the ground when the goby is eating. I put in a drop of phyto every couple of days for the filter feeders. The clam gets taken out during the water changes and gets his own bowl of phyto to clean.
Thanks for looking
