Tofu's 2.5 IOS Nano tank

[tofubox]

Hey guys,

I think its about time i start a new tank thread! I recently decommed my 3ft FOWLR and had some left over fishes from the sales, which i decided to hold in my 2.5 IOS tank (plan was to use this as a qt tank, but nvr got around starting it up). After a about a week, i decided that i shall just keep a nano tank since i had the equipments on hand. I did however upgraded the lightset to the maxspect razor.

The tank has been up for about 2 months now, and parameters have stabilized.

Salinity : 1.026

PH: 8.33

KH: 10

Cal: 450

Po4: 0.03

Nh3: 3ppm

MG: 1500

Currently only dosing Grotech ABC at really really small amounts via a marine magic dosing pump, I also manually add KH to maintain kH at ard 9.5-10.

Equipments:

57cm x 44cm x 38cm (actualy tank excluding IOS), vol of about 30gallons

BM nac3.5 cone skimmer

Maxspect razor 10k

DD reactor running rowaphos

In tank netting with cheato + light

Hailea chiller H300, overpowered! But cools fast, and its on standby 90% of the time

2000l Return pump

Foam + coral chips as filter media in first chamber

Marine Magic Dosing pump

Jebao wp25 wavemaker

Livestock:

2 x True percula clowns

1x Diamond Goby

2 x Clearner shrimps

2x Red firefish

1x 6line wrasse

Recently purchased couple of coral frags from other reefers. If you notice some of the pics, some of the sps have lost their colour( Mainly the bigger colonies, got it from someone on the forum who had to decomm, and couldnt maintain the colour conditions, otherwise v healthy colonies ), Hoping they will do well in my tank and gain back the colouration.

Comments will be well received! Thanks!

Shots were taken just as the light came on, middle colony looks super whitish due to over light exposure

1st Photo was before a rescape of the right structure, 2nd photo on is after the rescape, had to stop the anemone from crossing over to the left!! Will start adding sps to the right once the anemone is happy with its spot =D Still moving every week!!

[ASHWIN]

Wow nice tank bro! Swee frags

[Admiraltian]

Nice setup, keep the pics coming...

[erikokelf]

Nice tank with only nano sized fish

[tofubox]

Thanks alot for the comments guys! Currently battling a fight with my nitrates. My skimmer decided to fail couple of days ago and i didnt realise this soon enough, it was producing small bubbles, but no foam to push the crap out. Also, i recently got a sunburst anthias and have been trying to get it to feed on frozen, so Ive been spamming 1 cube a day. Well the good news is its eating now, and very healthy. But my nitrates went up to 25ppm. My corals seem to have taken a toll.

Any idea whats the best way to bring it down? I just changed out 30% water today, did a vinegar bath for my skimmer, seems to be back on track with foam at the top. Still clear foam though, will see how it goes. Also running cheato. Anyone can advise whats good to add?

[hammy]

Thanks alot for the comments guys! Currently battling a fight with my nitrates. My skimmer decided to fail couple of days ago and i didnt realise this soon enough, it was producing small bubbles, but no foam to push the crap out. Also, i recently got a sunburst anthias and have been trying to get it to feed on frozen, so Ive been spamming 1 cube a day. Well the good news is its eating now, and very healthy. But my nitrates went up to 25ppm. My corals seem to have taken a toll.

Any idea whats the best way to bring it down? I just changed out 30% water today, did a vinegar bath for my skimmer, seems to be back on track with foam at the top. Still clear foam though, will see how it goes. Also running cheato. Anyone can advise whats good to add?

water change will be the fastest way dont really need to add anything. Let it run and enjoy your tank .

[tofubox]

Cheers Hammy for the quick reply. Yeah i reckon water change would be the best. Forgot to add i am also dosing Biofuel "alternative to vodka". Hopefully tmr the lvls will drop. Some of the corals still have good PE. But some not extending. Hopefully it will be back to normal soon.

[ASHWIN]

Water Changes The Best! Nice Anthias..I Have A Few Sunburst..Always gobble pellet..but started With 2Cubes daily....Now Just NLS 3x A Day..

Cheers!

Hows the PE?

[tofubox]

Thanks ashwin, yeah did another small water change this morning. Nitrates are still rather high. Skimmer is working now, but not getting dark thick skim mate. Just tea colour. But probably cos I had it completely cleaned out, so might take awhile before it gets back on track. I love the sunburst, it's one of my favourite fish, so I just had to get it. Haha. As for pe, all corals seem to have good pe right now . hopefully the nitrates don't hit them too hardly. Will upload some photos in the evening when I get back.

[tofubox]

Anyone tried using np biopellets xl? The ones which don't require a reactor. Thinking of giving it a shot. But since it's relatively new, not much reviews on them

[MarcoVan]

Anyone tried using np biopellets xl? The ones which don't require a reactor. Thinking of giving it a shot. But since it's relatively new, not much reviews on them

im using them. No comments yet haha

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

[tofubox]

Np marcovan. Keep me updated if u do see any significant changes! Thanks bro. I might just try them out myself if it's still availble at am.

[tofubox]

Some updates on my tank!

Skimmer is working fine again, pulling out tea colour gank, hopefully i can get it fine tuned, considering buying a new pump for it, afterall, the skimmer been with me for 3 yrs now. Anyone has any idea the lifespan of a typical skimmer pump? i.e when will it start losing its power?

Water Parameters: My nitrates are still relatively high, its going down slowly, but surely. I have sold off 3 livestock to assist in the process.

I have decided to start using Polyp Lab Reef-Resh. Bought a brand new set today, will update on its progress and maybe do a review in couple of weeks. Seems very promising with good reviews. Was a toss up between the following: 1. Zeovit full system, 2. Brightwell microbacter 7+ Bio fuel, 3. Adding a bio pellet reactor, 4. Prodibio biodigest and bioptim, 5. using NP pellets XL in the overflow compartment. Came to the conclusion that the polyp lab reef-resh was more straightforward and had better reviews. Also, didnt have much space for another reactor to run bio pellets.

Any idea if ULNS system will be able to support my anemone?

Sorry for the bad quality of the images, I am using my phone to take the pics, not an expert in photography at all!

Top Down view of my sps corals. Seems like the walt smith stylo isnt really enjoying the lighting, I have moved it down. It has not bleached yet, still able to observe good PE. Hope it will get its pink back slowly.

My pink bird nest really took a beating from the nitrate spike if u notice. Still has nice PE in the day now since i got my skimmer back up n running. Sigh, one mistake and u can easily wipe n sps colony out.

My newest member! Sunburst Anthias, finally got it feeding on frozen, next is pellets!!

This anemone is the longest member in my tank, about 3 yrs, bought it when i started. Had its ups n downs, but since moving to this tank, its colour is getting better each day.

Some of my zoas, Somehow my fruitloops doesn't open up much. It opens every now and than, been inspecting it closely for any diseases, seems fine to me.

[jket88]

Nice coral

[ASHWIN]

Hi bro,Any Updates On Nitrates?

Swee Sunburst..Once They Accept Pellet Feed Them Dainchi..Get Some Barllets too

Cheers!

[tofubox]

Hey Ash, Nitrates are currently at 20. Its day 3 now of dosing Polyplab Reef-resh. No visible changes, but i think its starting to build up in the system. Will continue to monitor. BUT! Since i started the dosing, my fruitloops are all opening up nicely!! Premium really premium. Haha.

I'm also gonna do a water change tomorrow to aid the process abit. Bought a new pump for my bm nac 3.5 skimmer yesterday, not much a difference from the one i washed completely, but has a bit more foam now at the neck.

And i made another shocking discovery yesterday. My good old TDS meter was giving me false readings all along. It read 002 with my crystal pro DI unit water. But when i used another TDS meter, 102!!!!! Replaced all the media, now back to normal at 003 with new tds meter! So bloody mad.

Maybe thats why my sps are all taking a toll. dame.

[tofubox]

So heres some updates on the tank with Polyplab reef resh. Overall no noticeable changes.

Zoas are doing great, Anemone is opening really huge, LPS are all doing well. SPS has started to pale in colour, and PE is not as good as before. Currently still doing well are my true optic and couple of birdnest frags.

Cal: 450 (Salifert)

Alk: 8.5 (Salifert)

Po4: 0.03 (Salifert)

N03: 30ppm (Salifert)

Mg: 1450 (Salifert)

PH: 8.4 (American pinpoint controller)

Sal: 1.025

So my sps are barely hanging in there at the moment. From the looks of it, it seems the main issue with the parameters is my nitrates. The reef resh has not made a noticeable difference, or maybe its still too early to determine if its working. Its only been a week plus. No3 went from 20ppm to 30ppm despite me changing out 30% water twice over the week.

So i got a question guys, Is there a lifespan to livesand? I'm basically using livesand from my previous tank, so its about 4 yrs old now. Can this be the cause of my nitrates? Visually the sand looks really clean, no obvious detritus, no algae, my goby does a good job cleaning it too. Thinking of switching to barebottom, but if given the choice would rather not. I know i shouldnt have used back the sand, but i didnt think i would continue with the nano after decom of my old tank, was just a temp home while i had my other fishes being sold off.

Feeding half a cube of mysis daily for 5 fishes since my sunburst still not feeding on pellets. Is this the main cause of my nitrates? Was thinking of reducing my feeding, but don't want to starve the anthias at the same time.

Update of my fish stock: 2 x True perc, 1x 6line wrasse, 1x Diamond goby, 1x Sunburst Anthias, 2x Cleaner shrimps. (sold off my damsel and firefishes in effort to reduce bioload)

[james72]

I go bare bottom for almost a year till I notice not much detritus accumulation then I add in the shallow sand. Works well for me. The bare bottom allow me to keep my nutrients low through siphoning the detritus.

[BC82]

Sand got life span meh?

[tofubox]

In terms of life span, i did a search and still didn't get a satisfactory answer.

But heres what i concluded : Reason why we switch out old sand or choose to go barebottom is because over the years, the sand traps detritus, which continues to accumulate. Besides that, u don't want your new cured base rocks to be absorbing all the phosphate from the sand. I read many stories of people accidentally stiring up their established 1 or 2 + year old sand bed, and killing everything overnight.

Anyway, did some changes to the tank since my nitrates would not move.

1. Sold some sps to cater to the new changes in the tank. Didn't wanna cause any casualty, let others enjoy the coral instead.

2. I removed all the sand and went bare bottom!

3. Removed all the fishes to a new cycled qt tank

4. Removed all the old live rocks and replaced them with new cured and bacteria seeded live rocks

5. Removed coral chips in filter chamber and replaced with Bacteria King media

6. Brand new pump for skimmer

7. Increased the flow rate of the wp25

8. Still dosing Polyplab Reef-Resh as per instructions

NO3 now sitting at 20ppm, but i am expecting it to drop further over the week with the new changes. Else all my effort will be in vain!

Will post some new pics soon!

[tofubox]

Hey guys, just some pics of the temporary qt tank, and rockscape i been working on.

Just completed this rockscape over 2 days any comments?

Main concern was to have little contact at the base with the glass as i will be running bare bottom. Only 4 very small points at the base touch the tank bottom.

Current qt tank. With the old rocks, anemone, fishes. Will be considering selling this tank away eventually.

And finally some zoas i recently got from a nice reefer. A small portion of my current collection.

[ASHWIN]

awesome bro! Keep The Updates Flowing in!..

[Admiraltian]

R u using dead rocks to epoxy together for your rockscape?

[tofubox]

R u using dead rocks to epoxy together for your rockscape?

Yeah its actually cured rocks i got from coral farm that i epoxy together. I like the choices and how porous the rocks are. Its slightly expensive but since i only needed a few, it was alright

After scaping left it outdoor under the sun, now gonna cure it one more time for 2-3weeks before adding to tank.

[tofubox]

Quick update of my tanks with pictures to share!

Lost a few corals + sold a couple corals during the nitrate spike period, remaining corals recovering well from all the drama the past month. Colours are returning nicely, STN corals slowly recovering as well. New rockscape with the Barebottom. Nitrate now 0.5

My clownfish now hosting on to the hammer corals after selling my GBTA.

Some Frags i got recently from a kind reefer!

Update with the reef resh by polyplab. Honestly, i feel it works well. I dont dose anything else at the moment. Colours returning on coral looks very good. Nitrates have gone down by insane amounts, but there are other attributing factors. Overall please with this product, will continue dosing and monitor the overall health n colour.

Thanks for viewing.