GlassMan's 17 Nano Countertop Reef

glassmanbo

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Today is the day, the LFS guy is on his way to help get this all put in quickly. They were drilling the tank and getting all the goodies ordered in for me and now it is time.

Equipment:
17 gal Mr Aqua rimless drilled
20 gal long for sump
Neptune Apex - w/ breakout
ReefLink
Ecotech XR15w
Reef Octupus 110
Waveline 6000 DC pump
200w Heater
RO/DI system with ATO

Will get to coral and fish in time.

Since he is not here yet no pics of the tanks so far but I will get some up tonight even though it will be a little empty in the tank I can still show you my sump ;)
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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Welcome and thanks for posting~

that is a super clean setup you are describing there

Whats your cycling approach that one of the most impactful things to plan for

options exist to not wait months as common cycling practices advise and the web has thousands of threads on fast cycling, which is just taking live rock they cured out of the pet store underwater, home in paint buckets of water, and into your tank which doesn't kill anything

a benefit of importing only dry rock and then cycling it yourself is control over some invaders, which more are you thinking on running
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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yep thats what I did, i skipped the cycle altogether. im not into breaking rules just to cause havoc, its to use predictive biology and test it

if you select live rock that is covered in coralline and has been underwater for a while at the lfs, not covered in sponges, you can just xfer it to your tank. Ive done it many many many times. i bring it home in a bucket of water. easy
 
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glassmanbo

glassmanbo

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Its up and running, a little bit of live rock and sand to start it off. Still need to get the Apex and Reef Link connected to the interwebz but its pumping water and skimming :)
IMG_6574.jpg
IMG_6577.jpg
IMG_6575.jpg
IMG_6578.jpg


Love how the tank pops on the counter when you look through the front window as you approach my front door!

IMG_6579.jpg
 
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glassmanbo

glassmanbo

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Thanks bud, going to try and get some updates put up today. I switched up the aquascaping and got the water level and skimmer dialed in so should have a pretty skimmer pic soon and hopefully start adding live stock next week after the holidays. For now I am watching the cycle and waiting for the rest of my test kits and supplies to show in the mail.

Loving the tank so far...only thing is I need a new return pump this one is way to loud, (didn't get the Waveline, ended up with a cheaper option and regret it now)

And in exciting events I have only overflowed the tank twice since it was setup hahaha. But I found out that when it over flows it goes into my sink and my sump haha WINNING!

Thanks for reading guys and keep it salty!
 
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glassmanbo

glassmanbo

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Well, I got a hand full of new pics to upload last night and ran into a error trying to upload them, going to see if I can re-size and re-save them this afternoon and get them up here.

Positive side: the Copepods have come to play, noticed yesterday when taking pictures that the tank has a fair number of them on the glass and swimming around. Very excited, the tank has only been running for 6 days and it is right on track as far as I can tell lol. If you have any advise throw it out I am still super new and just using my freshwater knowledge mixed with forums and google.

From what I have seen so far my turn over is extremely high, I have a 900gph return pump which only has to pump the water up 3 feet to the display (not sure the loss on that). The display is 17 and the sump is half full at 10 gallons so around 26 gallons total. That puts my turn over around 30-40 times an hour for the whole system and the display is in the high 45+ range. Is this ok? should I turn it down, I do like the amount of flow I am getting in the display, but when I start adding coral I could see flow rate becoming a concern? Thoughts?
 

Vanessa O.

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I totally love that rock in the middle! I want it!


Its up and running, a little bit of live rock and sand to start it off. Still need to get the Apex and Reef Link connected to the interwebz but its pumping water and skimming :)
IMG_6574.jpg IMG_6577.jpg IMG_6575.jpg IMG_6578.jpg

Love how the tank pops on the counter when you look through the front window as you approach my front door!

IMG_6579.jpg
 
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glassmanbo

glassmanbo

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Thank you both, I am vary happy with how it is coming together.
sounds nice! Remember to keep us updated! I bet it will be beautiful after the coral grow out! :)
I still love the rock! Would make me a great late Christmas present! Seriously, your tank is beautiful.
and Maybe the LFS it came from will have some more rock like it, depending on how close you are to me we could maybe work something out...

Update on tank:
So far it's going smooth hoping to get some live stock in it end of this week beginning of next week...as long as the cycling has completed.
Besides that not much to report, the coralline in the tank is really popping a deep burgundy color and I am starting to see some coloration on the sand/rock - browns,greens,oranges - I guess thats good haha

..still looking through live stock, I wanted to do a CUC but every kit I have found contains inverts I do not want, lol, so yeah..
I know I want a Yellow Watchman Goby and a shrimp to go with him/her... outside of that idk yet?
I was looking to do mostly softies like Zoas and LPS like Acans and Euphyllia.
and that's where all the studying begins haha, so yep back to reading more and waiting, if you have any input please share it :)
 
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glassmanbo

glassmanbo

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Thanks, I am looking into getting a tower and small island in the open end for some more aggressive corals and one in the back corner for something that likes low light / medium flow. With my DT turn over in the 45+ range I don't have really any low flow other then right in-between the rocks and in the back 2 corners it is slower lol
Really like the aquascape you set up! Looking good!

Updates:
Well I got my first little buddies picked out yesterday, the LFS is going to hold them till later in the week so the tank can have a few extra days..and I really lucked out here its just perfect for my tank and me.
- I was able to get a juvenile High Fin Red Banded Goby and it's paired juvenile Candy Stripe pistol Shrimp :wink:, silly excited about these being my first salt water live stock I am just enthralled with their interactions and the whole juvenile/nano tank thing is great!
- along with these guys I grabbed a Bi-color blenny, I have always been fond of their colors and the whole color changing thing

Thats it for now, going to get them in the tank end of the week probably and then start adding corals over the next couple weeks.
Looking at so Red cap, a little Frog spawn or Hammer as well as some Zoas to start it off, and the shop has maxima clams that are right at 2" I am not 100% on going down that path but I do love those little trippy buggers.

Also have ATO in the works and a glass top for the tank along with finally building the enclosed stand / bench to cover the sump.
 

Mastering the art of locking and unlocking water pathways: What type of valves do you have on your aquarium plumbing?

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