Tm's Lil Ocean

[p.tm]

Hi guys. Finally decided to jump in the bandwagon and start my own nano tank thread. I started a 2x1x1 tank about 7mths ago after I was seduced by this porcupine pufferfish. He was like a puppy in a fish tank, who could resist that cutiepie. Someone told me a 2feet tank was sufficient so I jumped headfirst into this sticky saltwater hobby and started a fowlr.

Sadly, my puffer died in a freak accident last december and my tank ran literally empty for a few weeks. Then I saw these lime green/turqoise staghorn and blue montipora sps corals, and heck I was poisoned again. Therefore restarted this tank in January, with keeping thriving sps as my long term goal. I only wished I joined this forum much earlier, it would've saved me so much money and time. But then again, if I did I don't think I'll start a tank at all haha.

My tank specs:

Main tank 2.1.1ft

DiY sump tank 1ft sq

DIY overflow pvc pipes

Lighting: 2x 36w Par38 Full Spectrum w/o lens on diy lightstand

Skimmer: Bubble Magus NAC3.5 running with biopellets

Chiller: Resun CL280

Wavemaker: Jebao wp10 + a small Boyu

Water Parameters:

Ammonia: 0ppm

Nitrite: 0ppm

Nitrate: 10ppm

Phosphate: <0.03ppm

pH: 8.2

Salinity: 1.025

This was my tank a month ago. Everything here except the maroon clown, goby and damsel, is dead. I was overseas for 2 weeks, during which my royal gramma died(I believe because it wasn't able to compete for food from the hungry clown and damsel), and caused the overflow to choke and fail. And the timer for my lights fused. Then mayhem! Nitrate spike, temp spike, clam died = ammonia spike, melting coral, algae bloom, cyano bloom . My beloved lyretail anthias who was feeding on TDO pellets died the day I touched down, along with the hidden fire shrimp. :cry2:

Had been battling with cyanobacteria for a really long time even before my trip, they could take over my entire tank in a single night. Siphoning the sand and scrubbing rocks could possibly be the worst job. Found out from Mr. Henry from marinelife that phosphates and low flow was the problem. So I got the Goodbye!PO4 and started dosing that. The cyano receded for a while before coming back in full force during the 2week catastrophe.

But thankfully, everything's back to normal now. And I've only begun adding corals this week. Mainly zoas and mushrooms, a GSP frag, and a gonio. Feeding rotifers and phytoplankton on alternate days. My nitrate was finally brought down to 10ppm, my API reads 20+ppm but the salifert says 10. I'd put my bet on the salifert. Latest phospates read 0ppm on the salifert test kit but I'm not so optimistic.

I diyed most of the things that could be diyed(due to my budget constraints), including the lightstand. Which is actually a mix of the ikea lightstand and some clip-on e27 bulb holder. Quite ugly, with the pvc overflow as well, but gotta live with it since I'm still studying.

Latest tank shot:

Some nice zoa frags from Evolutionz. A very friendly guy. The blue abyss is my absolute favourite . Hope the pink cauliflower coral will grow and become like a tree in the background of my tank. Added this frag rack and the jebao wp10 just yesterday. Must say the wp10 is really worth it, really very powerful and undervalued for the price. Set the max speed at 50% still can create whirlpool in this tank. Going to remove the boyu soon.

I intend to keep zoas and mushrooms on the left, and eventually sps on the top and right, in a few months' time. On the hunt for nice and cheap zoas right now. Also eyeing this teardrop clam in aquarist chamber but don't want to risk it yet.

Will appreciate any advice on my equipment or scape! Thank you for reading!! :ThanxSmiley:

[dragoncube]

Love the zoos. Remember to share them when they grow.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[flo_reeftank]

Nice zoas garden Cheers

[Admiraltian]

Keep working on your tank, u succeed one day and turn your tank into a successful Sps reef!!

[sherman]

Your NO3 is still high . If you are going for SPS you will need a better test kit to measure you Phosphate

[ASHWIN]

Nice Zoas!..Welcome to Zoa Virus.."H1ZOA1" The can really poison!

[p.tm]

Love the zoos. Remember to share them when they grow.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Definitely will! Read your thread about coming back to reefing too, all the best to you!

Nice zoas garden Cheers

Thanks cheers!

[p.tm]

Keep working on your tank, u succeed one day and turn your tank into a successful Sps reef!!

Thank you for the kind words Admiral! Haha certainly hope one day I'll have a headache over overgrowing spses

[p.tm]

Your NO3 is still high . If you are going for SPS you will need a better test kit to measure you Phosphate

Thanks for the advice. My latest nitrate reading is 5ppm, is that still too high for sps? What's a good level to maintain? And I'm currently using salifert to test for phosphate, is salifert inaccurate? What's a better test kit?

[p.tm]

Nice Zoas!..Welcome to Zoa Virus.."H1ZOA1" The can really poison!

Thanks bro for your contact! I will look for him when I decided to get more zoas!! And very true, zoas are really so beautiful and poisonous(literally) haha.

[sherman]

For SPS try to be near 0 and for pO4 less then.03. PO4 use Hanna test more accurate

Sent from my LG-D958 using Tapatalk

[tofubox]

Salifert will suffice, as long as u getting that nice clear transparent result. A tinge of blue means there is trace of phosphates. Salifert is significantly reliable, unless you really want pinpoint accuracy, than hanna will be useful, else don't waste the money, spend it on more important things, like phos remover to keep up with scheduled changes.

If i really want a hanna test kit, personally, i did rather buy a nitrate hanna test kit over a phosphate one. Once u get phosphate low, and u keep up with the maintenance for phos remover. You can worry much lesser. Nitrate spikes happen more often. i.e Something died, overfeeding etc etc

[sherman]

Hanna has no nitrate tester. Please take note

[tofubox]

Hanna has no nitrate tester. Please take note

Thanks for the heads up.

This was posted in 2010, i remembered reading it. So if there is no nitrate tester, their 2 months seems more like 4yrs

https://reefbuilders.com/2010/08/10/hanna-checkers-ammonia-nitrate-ready-2-months/

[p.tm]

For SPS try to be near 0 and for pO4 less then.03. PO4 use Hanna test more accurate

Sent from my LG-D958 using Tapatalk

Noted, looks like I'll switch after my sailfert finishes

Salifert will suffice, as long as u getting that nice clear transparent result. A tinge of blue means there is trace of phosphates. Salifert is significantly reliable, unless you really want pinpoint accuracy, than hanna will be useful, else don't waste the money, spend it on more important things, like phos remover to keep up with scheduled changes.

If i really want a hanna test kit, personally, i did rather buy a nitrate hanna test kit over a phosphate one. Once u get phosphate low, and u keep up with the maintenance for phos remover. You can worry much lesser. Nitrate spikes happen more often. i.e Something died, overfeeding etc etc

Thanks for the info I just tested for phosphates and got a really slight tinge of blue, it's almost transparent.. Can't capture the colour with my phone. I guess that's pretty safe if I continue with my po4 remover?

[p.tm]

A little update: I got a salifert Ca and Mg test kit yesterday. It's the titration type, kinda fun to do this out of my chem practical sessions. Will get a kh kit when the stock comes.

Ca: 480ppm

Mg: 1230ppm

From what I gather on the internet, my calcium is too high and mg is too low. I'm currently not dosing anything but I've got some Reefmax ca, mg and kh additives. Any advice bros?

[tofubox]

Noted, looks like I'll switch after my sailfert finishes

Thanks for the info I just tested for phosphates and got a really slight tinge of blue, it's almost transparent.. Can't capture the colour with my phone. I guess that's pretty safe if I continue with my po4 remover?

Yup, your phosphate is golden, just continue using the po4 remover, and change it as appropriate. I tend to change mine once a month.

Dont have to dose CA, up your MG to 1350 and above.

[Evolutionz]

5ppm is perfect for SPS. my nitrate range from 5 - 10ppm, i get lesser color when my nitrate drop to 2.

tank's looking great!!

[Admiraltian]

5ppm is perfect for SPS. my nitrate range from 5 - 10ppm, i get lesser color when my nitrate drop to 2. tank's looking great!!

Agreed with bro Evo, sps need a wee bit of nutrients to strive as well.

[p.tm]

Yup, your phosphate is golden, just continue using the po4 remover, and change it as appropriate. I tend to change mine once a month. 

 

Dont have to dose CA, up your MG to 1350 and above.

Thanks for the tip! Dosed the mg last night, will check parameters tonight and update again!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[p.tm]

5ppm is perfect for SPS. my nitrate range from 5 - 10ppm, i get lesser color when my nitrate drop to 2.

 

tank's looking great!!

Thanks bro! Will try to maintain the nitrates at 5-10ppm. Doesn't look as good as your shallow reef man, love your mini school of dispars

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[p.tm]

Agreed with bro Evo, sps need a wee bit of nutrients to strive as well.

Thanks, noted!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[p.tm]

Another tiny update:

Mg: 1170ppm

Already added the magnesium additive last night, didn't really expect a drop. This hobby is full of surprises. Just added magnesium again, will check again tomorrow night.

[Planted]

Indeed man needs a lot to replicate nature! I'm seeing all the knowledge in this thread alone.

Enough to keep me "wahhhhh, $$$$ ".

That's a nice clean tank! diy skill also very high.

Believe the effort will bring forth a nice tank in near future to come.

[p.tm]

Indeed man needs a lot to replicate nature! I'm seeing all the knowledge in this thread alone.

 

Enough to keep me "wahhhhh,  $$$$ ".

 

That's a nice clean tank! diy skill also very high.  

Believe the effort will bring forth a nice tank in near future to come.

I don't dare to say I'm replicating nature, more like taking a piece of it for my personal sadistic viewing pleasure.

Thanks for the nice words though! Yes a lot of $$$$ spent, quite gek sim when I think about it haha