10g Nano - My first SW tank

[mtfish]

I've noticed during my time in forums that I have learned the most from seeing people document their
own experiences. I hope this gives someone new to the hobby a chance to see what to do
(or what not to do ) and learn more about the hobby.

Read on if you want to start from the begining, or click a date to jump farther into the thread & see a "milestone" post.

4-17-06 : Some hitchhiker & cleanup crew pics
5-01-06 : A Sad Day
5-27-06 : Mushrooms
8-01-06 : ~4 Months Old
10-11-06: The Long Overdue update

March 26th, 2006 --
I've dug through my assorted aquarium boxes and found what should save me a few $$$ setting up. Here's what
I'm going with...

10 gallon AGA
Aquaclear 70(300) HOB Filter
Maxi Jet 600 PH
Penguin 550 PH
50w heater

And today I ordered...
Orbit 20" 2x40w PCF
Hydrometer

And I bought a Water General RO/DI off of ebay a few months ago for $52 after shipping. Works Great, I use it for my Discus tank too.

Well thats all the news for now, Below is a picture of the current waterless state of things. I'll have to wait
about 2 weeks until I get another paycheck and I can get the LR and LS... Until then.
( If I can wait that long...)

[mtfish]

4-05-06

I got my live rock today! Right now there is about 10lbs of fiji rock in the tank, it's pretty cured but as you will be able to see in the picture I'm waiting
a day or two to put in the sand be so I can get rid of some of the ucky deads that fall off. Along with the rock I got a 15lb bag of CaribSea Ultra Pink Aragonite, 2lbs live sand from the store tank, 1lb of sand from the floridia keys, and a bunch of rubble for the aquaclear.

Here it is as it now stands...

[mtfish]

04-07-06

Well last night I took the LR out and scrubbed it down better, it had ALOT of rotten junk on it. I pulled a bunch of stinky dead bi-valves of sometype off and a dead sponge or two. I have also spotted a baby brittle star, a few small worms and some bristle worm. My wife thinks I'm nuts because I keep watching for new "bugs" :P

You may notice I changed the LR a little when I put it back in. The left side is still the big piece but the right has 3 small hunks which make up 3 "mini canyons". I'll have to take a top-down photo at some point.

Anyway, lets get to the good stuff, what we are all here for... Pictures.


Here is the tank as it sits now. I forgot to mention I'm trying a Hydor FLO rotating wavemaker. I like it so far, but my only
complaints are...
#1 It's frickin huge in a 10 gallon tank.
#2 It sticks out pretty far into the tank.
But I think I have enough flow from the powerhead on the other side & the AC to make up for the space behind the hydor flo.
And besides it creates an area of lower flow.


And here is the classic...
What is this?


Well thats it for this update. Enjoy (or don't).

EDIT: This was identified as a sponge of some type, it died and I removed it.

[mtfish]

4/11/2006

Well yesterday I got home from work and looked into my tank and BLAMO Diatom algae. I
was pleasantly surprised. Today I got home and this was the situation...


Nice, I was happy to get that started. Thats about the only time you'll see me happy about an algae bloom

I guess I should mention I have been testing the water since I put the LR in the tank.

• On the 6th, I was all ammonia, and about 1ppm nitrite.
• On the 7th nitrite was up around 3-4ppm
• On the 8th nitrite was right about 3ppm with nitrate sitting @ <10
• on the 9th nitrite was at .5ppm and the nitrate was upto 30ppm
• The 10th (today) nitrite was sitting at < .5ppm (lower than the detection limit ) and nitrate was 10ppm.

I was happy to see it fit the normal "cycle" I have seen in the past, although it was fast. I would attribute the
nitrate drop to the algae growth and some (I hope) nitrogen fixing. But because I am skeptical of the cycle being
this fast I am waiting another day or two then adding some snails & maybe a hermit and we will go from there.

I suppose I should mention my other parameters.
pH 8 - 8.4 (I know it's a big range but thats what the test strip reports and I have yet to borrow a pH meter from
where I work to check it.
SG (target) 1.023 -1.024 although it gets close to 1.025 by topoff time.
KH is around 300, a little less according to the shade of green.
Temp has been steady, between 78-79°F.

The first day of testing the pH and KH were a little low, which had me worried (for no reason) but after a day they
bounced up to and held the current ranges. Presumably because the argonite sand took time to buffer.

[mtfish]

4-12-06
I have crabs... and snails... and a shrimp.

Last night I took a big step and actually put living creatures into my tank. (Not counting hitchhikers mind you.)

I bought:

• 2 Nassarius Snails
• 3 Cerith Snails
• 2 Turbo Snails
• 2 Blue legged hermit
• 1 Emerald Crab
• 1 Peppermint Shrimp

I acclimate them all and added them last night. The hermits got right to the algae, the snails began their feast, but the shrimp
and crab hid instantly. After the lights turned off I went back with my red lensed flashligh and the emerald crab was climbing
around chowing down and the shrimp was out wandering between several rocks. How fun to watch them all!

This morning everyone was still accounted for and looked to be doing well.

From this point I plan on wait, wait, waiting to make make sure everything statys stable and things keeps going well. Maybe next
paycheck I'll add my first coral. Oh Joy But we will see how things go until then.

Sorry no pictures.

[mtfish]

4/17/2006

The brown algae attack is subsiding but it is being replaced with green algae. Thats most of the news. The cleaning crew has been at work but I need to upgrade with some more snails. I may get some Bumblebee snails.

Anyway here is what I am trying to get at... Pictures Forgive me because some have algae on the front glass and focusing is hard.


The Emerald Crab. Which I love. And he loves bubble algae. The Peppermint Shirmp is in the back, slightly out fo focus. Once again forgive me for the focus.


In the middle of this picture you will notice another "hitchhiker". It's some type of Sea Squirt. Also you see some of the coraline algae growth.


And the final picture for the night, one of the blue legged hermits.

Until next time.

4-18-06
Bought 2 Jenner's Cowry (Cowrie? I've seen both spellings), Jenneria pustulata.
Had to use the flashlight to take the picture since it's night in my corner of the ocean

[mtfish]

4-23-06
Just thought it was time for an update...

Well everything has been going great or so it seems. Time will tell My only concern right now is the cyano outbreak in the front left corner of the tank. I adjusted some powerhead angles so we will see how that works. Otherwise the LFS is getting a bunch of Scarlet Hermits in, which I have read and been told will eat the cyano. Onto the update...

First, don't get me wrong the Turbo Snails clean like no other BUT they are like infants who need consant attention. I have had to flip them back over several times. So a word to the wise; keep a eye on your Turbo Snails because they need you to turn them back over.

Ok Friday morning I was doing my daily morning inspection and notice that stuck to the powerhead intake was a shrimp like creature who looked very dead. My heart sank because I loved my Peppermint shrimp, and he appeared to be dead. BUT upon further inspection the shrimp was hiding in his little cave. Oh Joy! He didn't die, he molted! Much better. It was his old exoskeleton stuck to the intake not him, so that made me very happy.

Onto everyones favorite thing... Pictures.

Friday I took off work early and went to may LFS to see what was in. After enjoying a free bagel with one of the owners I picked out a clump of Chaeto which was given to me for free which is awesome. I currently have it in the main tank, but plan to move it to the AC as soon as I get a light for it.


I also picked out my tanks first (and only) fish, a orange firefish Nemateleotris magnifica. Sorry for the bad photo.


I arrived home and I wasn't the only one who was happy about the Chaeto. Note the crab claws extending from behind the LR.


And yet another hitchhiker. It looks like some type of clam/scallop thing, it raises and lowers (for lack of better words) it's 'lid' and small whitish/clear 'tenticles' stick out. It's neat.


I guess a FTS is in order...


And I was so impressed with my turbo snail climbing onto the hydor flo I took a short video (of questionable quality) which can be found here: Snail-go-Round

[mtfish]

5-01-06 : A Sad Day Indeed...

I got home from work today to find my firefish a dried, shriveled, thing on the kitchen floor. Sucks. I knew they were jumpers but figured the lid only left a 1" gap at the rear of the tank. I guess I learned. Forgive me for not taking a picture of the funeral.

In other news; I have been combating the red algae(cyano) and think I am winning. (Or it is letting me win.) I am trying to get a scarlet hermit from the LFS but the shipment was delayed until today and I have to wait for payday. I know you understand.

So when I goto get a scarlet hermit I guess I'll buy a new fish too.

And because today was so sad I took some happy pictures.

Snail Eggs...



Peppermint Shrimp...


adiós

[mtfish]

05-08-06
Well it has been a while since I've updated. The period of morning for the firefish has ended and the wife and I picked out a False Percula for the tank. The Perc is much more active than the firefish was, he's always swimming around and between the live rock. So thats the first change.

Second, in the cyano battle front, I got a phosphate test kit. Good news, phosphate level is <0.05ppm. RO really does work.

Finally in the cyano battle I've notice that the cyano the doesn't get cleaned out has changed from a reddish color to a brownish-red, I hope it's signaling a die off. Anyway I would definatly say I am winning the battle.

The LFS still hasn't got the Scarlet Hermits in so I'm waiting on those, and I still might add some astrea snail.

Also a event of note; the peppermint shrimp molted again, I wasn't freaked out like last time

I haven't had time for pictures.

[mtfish]

05-27-06
Wow, time flys. I've been meaning to update for so long but didn't get to it. Well then here is the long awaited (or not) update

First off I had another death. The emerald crab turned up dead one morning. I was bumed. I checked all the parameters and everything was within acceptable ranges so I figure he must have starved. I feel bad.

But onto better news, sometime around the 10th of the month my LFS finally got Scarlet Hermits in, so I bought two of those, 2 astrea and also a small mushroom rock. The mushroom rock only had 3 shrooms on it but I got a good deal.

Here is a current pic of the mushrooms...


I was so happy to finally have some corals in the tank, my dream was coming true. All was well for about 2 days, then on the afternoon of the 3rd day I noticed the mushrooms were attracting some unwanted attention from the cowrie (ry). They were missing small pieces and balling up all the time. I swear the cowrie didn't leave the rock for 2 days. I finally made up my mind and plucked the cowrie out, put them into some tupperware and drove to the LFS. I informed the owner that I had learned that these cowrie eat mushrooms. Luckily he is awesome. He let me exchange them for this...



Yeah to me! I got Ricordia!

On the Cyano front, I seem to have won the battle. All I did was scrape it up every other day for about 2 weeks, and added the scarlet hermits. The scarlets took off and started on the cyano right away. I did one more major scraping after getting the scarlets then nothing and now I have no cyano. I'm glad I didn't use chemicals, and was able to deal with it naturally.

And on a final note, remember to watch your turbo snails. I had one fall and I found it on it's shell the next morning and it looked terrible. I actually thought it was dead, and as I went to tong it out it kinda slowly contracted. I flipped it and it sat there for about 2 days then took off and has been fine since. Moral of the story. Flip those snails!

Thanks for reading.

[boozeman]

cool nano thread

[mtfish]

08-01-06
~4 Months Old

Well It's been a while since I've updated this as I've been quite busy with a new addition to our family My tank maintanece was a little less than perfect and I am suffering from a dreaded HAIR ALGAE outbreak. I'm trying to win the battle naturally and am cleaning the tank twice a week, doing about 30% waterchanges and blowing my live rock clean with a turkey baster daily. I've cleaned out my AC filter, and both powerheads. I hope the removing and nutrients the hair algae will starve. I'm also manually removing the algae by hand (as much as possible) every other day, and now feed the fish and shrimp every other day. The corals & tube worm get fed every third day.

I know the algea hitchhiked in on a chunk of live rock, and I had been battling it and was winning until my maintenence went to hell. I've tested my RO/DI water and the Phosphates are < 0.05ppm and the nitrate is < 2.5ppm. I also tested the tank itself and it shows <0.05 PO4 and <2.5ppm NO3, but I suspect that is because the hair algae is using it as quick as it's produced.

Enough talk, here is a shot of the tank as it stands, minutes ago...

I'm kinda embarrassed by the algae.

Since my last update, I added a Hawaiian Feather Duster, some Blue Xenia(which is doing nicely) and just today added a Kenya Tree Coral frag.

I had to move my mushrooms because they were getting too much flow and weren't doing good, they are looking better now that I moved them.
I also had to move the ricordia for two reasons, a) it was getting too much direct flow from a powerhead and B) The Turbo snails seemed to think it was a soccer ball and kept knocking it around.

Some random pictures, (excuse the algae, I'm working on that )

Ricordia


Xenia


Kenya Tree


Thanks for looking If you have any suggestions on the hair algae let me know in this thread! Thanks.

[KMP]

nice progress. tank is looking good. i want one of those kenya trees!

[Gina]

Wow!
Excellent documentation!
Looks like things are coming along well!

[mtfish]

10-11-06
~6 months

The Long Overdue Update!

My battle with the dreaded hair algae continues, I think we have reached a stalemate. It doesn't gain ground but I can't get it to go away. I'll have to keep trying.

To make up for my long overdue post, I'll share several photos

I added a "cup coral" Turbinaria peltata

Closer...


and a "green button polyp".

Closer...


Here's my false perc, "Carl" enjoying his Xenia...


And I found this guy hanging out in my AC refugium, he's been identified as a mantis shrimp 'baby'.


And the always popular full tank shot (I'm not real happy with the coral placement).


10-26-06
Just a quick update, I added some purple mushroom a day or two after the last update and didn't get around to pictures. I also did a minor shifting of corals (like usual). Now I just need to be patient for a while and let everything grow a bit.

Purple Mushroom


Full Tank