My Little Reef

[Seren]

Hello all, its been some time since I've posted to this forum and then it was on the freshwater side, but I've spent the last twelve months, going salty, with my Orca TL450 and am just about to start up a River reef (have plenty of rooms, but no space!) Its currently in the spare bedroom as I gather the bits!
One thing I have learnt is that modding should take place BEFORE you start, much easier to fiddle in the dry!
Hopefully my piccie has uploaded.

Have picked up lots of tips on this and other forums and have been fortunate that despite the small tank, I've managed to keep things pretty stable (am touching wood as I speak!)
Am thinking of making the next setup a Red Sea Biotope, so that I can keep the salinity slightly higher and pick the optimum animals for the reef rather than my current suck it and see! Anyone have any thoughts or experience with this? Have been doing some research but any practical experience would be welcomed.
TTFN
Seren

 

[seffieuk]

Hi Seren - to the salty side of TFF

So you are thinking of a Red Sea biotope, which fish are you planning?

Seffie x

 

[CoMan]

hi there and...

love your tank. looks busy!

 

[Seren]

Thanks for the welcome, glad to be here! Yes Coman it is a busy little tank, I love it,but want another one now as I can't seem to say no to new things as I see them (just as well I live so far from a marine lfs! lol
Have had to give away loads of frags, especially the mushrooms as they don't half spread! Luckily my Xenia, although its been there for over 6 months, has never gone beserk, in fact its probably the least 'productive' of anything in the tank!
Hi Seffie, I've not really thought too much about the fish yet,most of the well known RS fish are way too big for a nano, but there are plenty of Shrimp Gobies, Blennies and small Wrasse I could chose from I suppose. Again any suggestions would be welcome.
Thanks
Seren

 

[simonas]

that looks ace

what are the dimensionsof the tank?

 

[Seren]

Thanks Simonas , its only a little thing, 403x484x460mm, 58l, but so far so good (fingers crossed) In fact I find keeping the water quality constant is far easier than any freshwater setup I ever had-I suppose its because you test for more as well, but I'm also v aware that smaller tanks are harder to keep stable so I rely quite a bit on live food, cultivate cocopods/rotifiers and use brine shrimp eggs, the excess of which hatch and provide food on the hoof!
Thanks
Seren

 

[ben1987]

Hey

nice looking tank, are you on UR too? sure i recognise the name!

 

[Seren]

Hi, I am on UR, but the name Seren had already been taken! Seren is Welsh for Star, lots of us about obviously! lol

 

[steelhealr]

Hi and nice to have you aboard

Just curious...what is UR?

Anyway, nice tank. We look forward to having you with us. SH

PS..that plate coral is EXTREMELY close to the softie and ? frogspawn? . It looks skeletal. May be tentacle wars. It's hard to tell from the pic but they DO look close. SH

 

[Seren]

Hi SR, UR is Ultimate Reef Forums, FYI.
The Plate is very boring when the lights are on,unless I'm feeding brineshrimp, once the lights go off, day or night it pumps up, always been the same. The Toadstool does look close in the piccie but I think its the perspective.
As for the Torch, it was down on the substrate because it was sulking I think because my Alkalinity had dropped and I understand that this can be the first coral to be affected-early warning system! sorted it over a week or so and its now back up in the higher levels of the tank, lost one head, but it seems to be fine now.
Cheers
S

 

[CoMan]

Hi Seren

just wondered how your tank is getting on? How's the torch. I'd love one! They hard to keep?

 

[Seren]

Hi Co Man, the tank is fine ta, just done a water change and had a fiddle! The Torch was the one coral that caused me the most grief!
When it first went in the tank it thrived for about a week and then started falling apart!
They do seem to be very sensitive critters which can be difficult to introduce (so I gather from my trawls of various reef forums!)They are also very sensitive to changes in Alkalinity, but supposedly, once established are pretty hardy.
I ended up having to frag three heads, but it has been thriving ever since.
It can also very fussy about too much flow, although I've found that in my little tank, keeping it a medium flow, stops the tentacles getting too big! When I get my a**e in gear and set up my River Reef (currently in box in spare bedroom!) I may move it into that!
Cheers
S

 

[Harry1996]

i love your tank i think small tanks are so cute. so did you upgrade the tanks lighting? i love plate corals

 

[Seren]

Hi harry, no I have not upgraded the lights, if you knew how bad I was at DIY you would understand!lolThe only thing I've done with the lights is add a Blue LED strip as the inbuilt ones switch gave up the ghost within a month of setting up the tank!
The Plate has been there for about 8 months, its pretty nocturnal-I've only ever seen the tentacles out in the wee small hours although it does puff itself up when the lights go out.
I suppose as its such a small tank tank and shallow, the light intensity has not (as yet) been an issue for me or the corals I keep.
Cheers
S

 

[Harry1996]

i was thinking of getting a plate coral but i have heard that they move around the sand and if a snail or hermit gets in its way it will eat it!!!!!! i think i will still get one tho they are so cool