10 Gallon Frag Tank

zoaprince

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Hi everyone! This is my first build thread so please be patient with me.

I am in the process of setting up a little 10 Gallon frag tank. The tank will be mostly, if not all, zoas. It will be bare bottom, with no rocks; only Seachem Matrix in the back chamber.


I decided to go with a UNS 45A, all in one tank. I was really disappointed by the lack of surface skimming it provided. It hardly skims anything. I had to buy a stand-alone Aquatop surface skimmer. The return pump was also quite crappy so I replaced it. Overall, I would not recommend this tank. The only reason I got it is I really like the width compared to the IM 10. Oh and it fit a stand I had from my freshwater days.

20210512_120343.jpg

For equipment I went with:

AI Prime 16HD
Aqamai KPS
Auto Aqua Smart ATO Lite
Eheim Jager 50W
Aquatop Surface Skimmer
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I set it up almost a month ago and has been cycling.

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My very sad and unorganized cabinet. For ATO container I just bought a food storage container from walmart. It's 1 gallon and lasts me a week before refilling. Got it for like $10 bucks.
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This is only my second marine tank so I'm eager to see how it turns out. Wish me luck!
 
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zoaprince

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cycle.jpg


Looks like it's cycled! I know API tests aren't great but I find them to be good enough for cycling.

I started with Fritz 9 Bacteria and the ammonia dropped rapidly, however nitrite was stuck for 2 weeks (I know nitrite toxicity isn't high in marine tanks, but still). At that point I wanted to see if ammonia would still be removed so I dosed 2ppm and waited 2 days. Tested it and the ammonia was still there! I decided to buy another bottle, and just like the first time the ammonia dropped rapidly but there was still nitrite a week later. I called it quits with Fritz and bought a bottle of Instance Ocean Bio-Spira and boom the nitrite dropped in just a day. I dosed ammonia every day for a week and every time the ammonia would drop to zero with no traces of nitrites.

In conclusion I will not be using Fritiz 9 in the future.
 
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zoaprince

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My girlfriend 3D printed me out this top enclosure type thingy for the "sump" area, inspired by Red Sea Nano.
As you can see it didn't print out perfectly but it's good enough for me. My main concern was once I have the light on, I feared algae would start growing in the back chamber, which I really would prefer to keep clean.

20210618_111813.jpg
 
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zoaprince

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I have added the light, the frag rack, and a few soft coral!

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I noticed my snails do not make their way onto the frag rack, assumably, because there isn't much for them to grip onto.

I'm worried about how to keep the plugs/disks algae free.

People who have these kind of racks, what do you do to keep your plugs clean?
 

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

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