Modified 24g NC in the making

[jervismun]

Chromis? Angels? Gah!

Keep something easy to maintain.

A Royal Gamma works! Pretty and nice colouration!

Or

You can go down to ML this weekend. Henry brought in some marvellous gobies which I personally prefer for a small tank. One goby too asthetic. Try keeping a few like 3 which you can stock over a period of time?

Or

You can keep a lookout for a paired true percular clowns from reputable LFS. They breed quite readily and hey! You have fries as corals' food!

Or

You can try banggai cardinals. They are fishes with spots and only have only two colours on their bodies, which are black and white.

Anyways, for a 24G tank, excluding rocks and your skimmer, try to keep things simple and maintainence free (I dont mean no maintence, I mean lesser) and of course less bio load!

Caulerpa is dangerous when they turn asexual.

Percula is a real attraction... but I'm just afraid they don't do too well in strong current. Banggai too. But again, I might be wrong.

Hehe, actually I already introduced my first LS today. It's a small lil' Green Chromis. He is enjoying the wave so much! And seems extremely healthy.

So will not add anything this week for sure. Let the tank adjust to the new intro. And yes, definitely a Royal Gramma.

The Caulerpa will stay for a while now, until the Nitrates is below 20. Currently still a bit on the high side.

And yes, lesser maintenance for sure, I know me... that's why I spent on the equipments...

Thanks for your thoughts Ancelot! Do call me whenever you need an update

[Ancelot]

Since you are going to spend on equipments?

Ever consider getting a sulphur denitrator?

You may think I am trying to extravagant on this hobby, but to me,

Your tank is small, you have little place to place your corals should those macroalgae tries to take over the 'world'.

Therefore, in order to keep your nitrates low, why not use a denitrator?

It is just another piece of equipment. You will get a better looking tank at the end of the day?

[jervismun]

Since you are going to spend on equipments?

Ever consider getting a sulphur denitrator?

You may think I am trying to extravagant on this hobby, but to me,

Your tank is small, you have little place to place your corals should those macroalgae tries to take over the 'world'.

Therefore, in order to keep your nitrates low, why not use a denitrator?

It is just another piece of equipment. You will get a better looking tank at the end of the day?

Oh dear I was telling myself that I already had too many equipments running for a Nano Cube. Well... my Nitrates is reading 100 and it has maintained that high for the last couple of days. It can be the cycle process (ending) but what is the sulphur denitrator all about?

Do you have a good brand in mind? Do share with me the links.

Are you currently running one?

Yes I am well aware of the problem with Nitrates... the whole biological process sorta stop at Nitrates stage... it's always hard to get rid of them.

[hammy]

aqua-medic nitrate reductor

quality product from germany

HTH

[jervismun]

Thanks bro! You guys really know me so well... "made in germany" lol

Ok I found the product selling for $300 at eaquanature... looks reliable and up to its promises... and I'm the the Aqua Medic brand is not "play-play".

What other bros think? Is it recommended for my kinda setup?

Wow! Does it mean that I can carry more bioload in the future?

[jervismun]

The dilemma now is there are 2 models, 400 and 1000. The 400 model (obviously) is cheaper and less powerful compared to 1000. But the 1000 comes with a automatic dosing blah that costs $245.00 in itself if buy separately. So, what you guys think?

The drip rate for 1000 is only 1g/h (that is 1 cycle of my tank a day). So if I go with 400, it will take 2 1/2 days per cycle. Also gotto think of future upgrading (just like my other Tunze stuff), my next tank will probably be around 50 to 75g (with a sump).

Oh and I suppose these are not hang-on units right? Guys, got photos to share?

What say you?

[jervismun]

Beauty and the beast... well, who's the beauty? Who's the beast? I'll vote the Caulerpa as the beast!

[Firestarz]

Wow bro .. i nvr log in for one day got spo many updates .. good to seee ur chiller so good .. haha .. my cl85 record was at 25.3 degrees when i my room tempt was quite cooling .. n that happened a few days back .. these few days the tempt refusing to go lower then 27 degrees even at nite n without my lights on at all. i think the hot weather had started ..

[jervismun]

Yeah Firestarz, where have you been? Tank temp 27ºC is good. I am planning to maintain at 27ºC too when I start to stock corals.

Did a lot of reading just now... at Kino... u know those wrapped books... haha no need to say la. I spent more than 2 hours there, finished 1 whole book.

[jervismun]

Moved the Caulerpa to a less visible area, I think I will let it grow there for a while and see how. It fits nicely there anyway.

Oh that bunch of Chaeto are there for the cycle only, will find them a new home later. They grow pretty fast and blocking the light.

[jervismun]

Wow only 2 days... they already rooted to my LR. Well, I shall leave it there and see how fast they grow.

p.s.: I am really running out of pix to post, lol.

[jervismun]

Oh this algae is definitely too beautiful to just get rid of... I can't...

[Ancelot]

http://www.sgreefclub.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=40899

The link to the review done by Melvyn Tan on H&S Sulphur/Nitrate Denitrator

Nitrates are easy to remove if you have a deep sandbed which helps to convert your nitrates into nitrogen gas

Or

You can consider a good denitrator.

Personally, I am not using any one, because I do not have that kind of money and I have a DSB which I am contented with. So no denitrators for now

[jervismun]

Thanks for the link Ancelot

That's it! I'm gonna get one for sure... Currently I do not have a DSB as space is precious, can't afford to lose another 5% of the total volume. You know what? I am exploring the idea of getting an external sump... I have way too much equipments/pumps connected to my tiny tank. Looks more like a experiment apparatus than a reef tank...

Will keep u guys updated regarding the custom made sump tank.

[Firestarz]

Haha! .. yea .. kino hav lots of interesting stuff.

Hey! .. ur grape (is it wads its called) .. looks like an anemone from far .. Haha .. esp the way u plced in between ur rocks.

[jervismun]

Haha! .. yea .. kino hav lots of interesting stuff.

Hey! .. ur grape (is it wads its called) .. looks like an anemone from far .. Haha .. esp the way u plced in between ur rocks.

I know... I even do things like this (refer to pix)... how disgraceful, lol! I sometimes think I mistreated Kina as a National Library. But I do buy books from them, sometimes.

Yalor... so pretty right? That's why I can't depart with it. It's way too pretty to be poisonous... well at least the good attribute outweighs the bad one.

[elimmel]

Thanks for the link Ancelot

That's it! I'm gonna get one for sure... Currently I do not have a DSB as space is precious, can't afford to lose another 5% of the total volume. You know what? I am exploring the idea of getting an external sump... I have way too much equipments/pumps connected to my tiny tank. Looks more like a experiment apparatus than a reef tank...

Will keep u guys updated regarding the custom made sump tank.

actually after all my diys, equipments upgrades etc etc... my 24NC is looking anything but the clean lined all in one tank i bought it for.

end of the day, it really makes more sense to just get a custom tank with sump n cabinet for this evil of a hobby

[jervismun]

actually after all my diys, equipments upgrades etc etc... my 24NC is looking anything but the clean lined all in one tank i bought it for.

end of the day, it really makes more sense to just get a custom tank with sump n cabinet for this evil of a hobby

Exactly! Well, if I don't put a stop to it... it will get worse for sure... ok ok, the sump idea is way out of line... I shouldn't, might as well trash the NC and get a 2 feet tank with proper sump. So I will stick with what I have right now and wait 'n' see.

If my tank crash, then do something radical. If not, I should be happy with what I have now... come to think of it... this Mod NC is way beyond my original expectations and way beyond my wildest dreams... it's not grand, but deep down... it is my dream NC.

[jervismun]

Can anyone help me with this? I notice the green veins all over it this morning, checked photos, the veins were not there last night. What's happening? Is my macroalgae dying? If yes, it's real bad news... imagine... a macroalgae died in my tank... must be hell water inside, lol.

Urgent help needed

[nakazoru]

Dun think it is dying. But getting a spread of the new leash of life, it is getting darker green. When it is dying, it bleach, i.e loses the green. Now with constant ample lights requirement, the green will spread to all of them.

Hope I'm right abt it. Just giving a generalized opinion abt algae.

[jervismun]

Someone in another thread suggested the algae is going asexual!!! Look at all the SPIKES that sorta grew within the last 5 hours... kinda sexual looking to me

Oh yeah... my tank is going for a mass orgy, lol.

But colour wise, it does look paler than yesterday, so is it dying? I need expert advise please... or my only Green Chromis will suffer

Picture: Notice those SPIKES, not there a couple of hours before (see previous pix), amazing!

[jervismun]

Revealing my water quality for the first time:

pH – 8.8

Sg – 1.0215

KH – 10.2

Alk – 3.66

NH4 – <0.25

N02 – <0.3

NO3 – 2

PO4 – 0

[jervismun]

Besides pH, do you guys think I should fix anything? Everything else seems quite normal to me. Oh those Chaetomorpha and Caulerpa are really good, my Nitrates 2 days ago was around the 100 region, now down all the way to only 2!!! I did the test twice coz I can't believe my eyes

[jervismun]

Funny... pH this morning (after 8 hours of darkness) is 8.6! Oh dear, my pH fluctuates so much... probably due to the absence of a good sandbed. Will think of a way to better buffer the fluctuation.

Seriously, I'm thinking of adding a sump tank ###### refugerium next to my tank. Probably looking at around 10g of water... and a place to put all my equipments. Then I can have a much larger tank to play with... currently not even enough sand bed area to put some nice pieces of Zoos.

What you guys think?

[jervismun]

Latest news!!! I removed the Caulerpa from my tank to avoid a catastrophe. A bro suggested that my Caulerpa looks like it's dying... so for the sake of my only Green Chromis... I have to act fast... so don't flame me for being so cruel to an algae. I can assure you this will not happen to my corals and fishes.