Attempting A Nano Reef

[goBolts858]

After spending much of April and May on the couch, unable to do much with a broken leg, I decided to research nano reefs on the web. My research has lead me to this site among many others. This forum has been the best place to gather much of the information I need and Steelhealr's diary has been the best step-by-step set-up guide to follow. Much of what I am attempting to do comes from what I have read in Steelhealr's post. It's now July and I can finally walk without the use of cruthches, but with a noticeable limp, so I've decided that it is time to start my nano reef. This will be my first attempt at a reef tank, so any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated.

Here is what I have:
- 24 Gallon JBJ Nano Cube Deluxe (2006 version with MSS skimmer)
- Rio Plus 1400 Pump
- Jager 100W Heater
- Coralife Digital Thermometer
- JBJ Auto Top-Off
- Refractometer
- Galaxy Light II (for the refugium)

I've already started (July 26, 2006) the cycling process, filling my tank with RO/DI water and Oceanic salt mix to attain 1.025 s.g., 24 lbs. of live rock, and 20 lbs. of live sand.

Left-side Chamber:
- One sponge and Jager 100W Heater
Middle Chamber:
- One sponge, activated charcoal, ceramic rings, thermometer temperature probe
Right-side Chamber:
- Rio Plus 1400 Pump connected to 1/2" Y-connect Loc-Lines, auto top-off float sensor and outflow tube from reservoir

Front View with Flash

- The smaller live rock rubbles at front will be used for the middle chamber refugium.

Left View

Right View

Top View

Again, any suggestions or advice will be greatly appreciated. I will try to post updates as often as possible. Thank you!

 

[SkiFletch]

Looks great man. If you're following SH's reccomendatinos, you're on your way to a great setup. What kind of livestock are you planning to keep, and what lighting comes in that tank (not familiar with it)? Lookin great so far

And btw, to the forums.

 

[goBolts858]

Looks great man. If you're following SH's reccomendatinos, you're on your way to a great setup. What kind of livestock are you planning to keep, and what lighting comes in that tank (not familiar with it)? Lookin great so far

And btw, to the forums.

Thank you!

As far as livestock, I currently have up-and-running a 30 gallon FOWLR, which I will be taking down once my nano cube is set-up, containing a clownfish I adopted from a friend who took down his set-up (I did have a pair for over two years until the other found a small hole on my hood and jumped out. That was a real bummer!) and a pink-and-blue spotted watchman goby that I was thinking about transferring. Other than the two fish I have, clean-up crew and acceptable corals I plan on adding, I'm not sure what other fish I will add.

The lighting is stock, but I may consider an upgrade later. Here is the description from JBJ: (2) 36 watt CF lamps, 50/50 10k white daylight and 7100k blue actinic. Plus, (2) Nite-vu LED moonlights. From reading Steelhealr's thread, I will be limited to the types of corals I add. One problem I also have is that the daylights and moonlights operate from the same ballast, so I can't set it on a timer. Nanocustoms.com has a DIY kit that I will purchase to allow me to run the lights separately and set each on a timer.

If anyone has/knows about any mods that work real well for a nano cube, I would like to know about it.

 

[goBolts858]

Last night, after turning on the moonlights, my wife convinced me to turn on the daylights. She wanted to find the hitchhiking crab she noticed while I was acquascaping that has since hidden and has not been seen. Hopefully it comes out of whatever hole it has hidden in, so I can take a picture of it and maybe identify it. I hope it's a good hitchhiker. Upon turning on the daylights, we also spotted what looks like a brittle starfish about the size of a dime (see picture below). We also spotted a bristle worm, but I was unable to photograph it as it crawled into a hole. Will these hitchhikers be okay in my tank?

I've also included pictures of other things I found on my live rock, maybe you can help me identify them and let me know if they are anything to be concerned about. (Pictures may not be the best, still learning how to use macro/magnify setting on camera)

Brittle Starfish (the size of a dime). Good or Bad?

Is this some sort of macro algae?

Polyp?

Are these sponges?

Is this some sort of bivalve (center of picture)? It comes in-and-out, opens-and-closes every once in a while.

 

[SkiFletch]

Brittle Star good
Macro good
Polyp (probably a zooanthid) good
Not sure what those "sponges" are
Bivalve good

 

[steelhealr]

HI...welcome aboard and thanks for the comments. You're on your way. You may want to consider getting that sponge and the ceramics out of the back of your chambers. The one main modification on my system that has made all the difference in the world is the refugium with chaeto. Really keeps the nitrates down. Otherwise, setup looks good. WTG. SH

 

[goBolts858]

It's been a long time since I was on here. Since then my tank has gone through several changes. I have added and traded/sold corals from my tank. I guess I should update and share some pictures:

Here's another set of pictures. I have also rearranged and added/subtracted corals since these pictures were taken. Thanks for looking.

 

[demonmagus]

wow that's lovely

what are the two corals in the bottom picture?

 

[Mr Miagi]

wow that's lovely

what are the two corals in the bottom picture?

The last two corals are species of Alveopora and Gonipora. Caution must be taken when buying these species, and they should be avoided in all honesty. Only large amounts of feeding have been said to contribute to some of these species surviving long term in aquaria, but other than that, survival is extremely poor. As you can see, goBolts Goniopora sp. already looks as though its bleaching at the bottum.

Good to see updated shots goBolts! Nice tank!

 

[maidenfan]

what a great looking tank get it posted on members tanks

 

[demonmagus]

anyone know the name of all the corals in that tank?

 

[planter]

anyone know the name of all the corals in that tank?

Hows this ?

feel free to correct me!

Nice tank by the way , dont think the wife will let me have another!!

 

[demonmagus]

awesome ty

but what's that coral poking out from the soft toadstool?

 

[Siamese Fighter05]

Tank looks great!

 

[Mr Miagi]

but what's that coral poking out from the soft toadstool?

Organ Pipe Coral AKA Tubipora musica