iMi
Well-Known Member
It's hopefully a beginning of something good. I'll keep this intro brief, so we can focus on the tank itself. It's a 10 gallon Lifeguard Aquatics, rimless. Absolutely beautiful, impeccable craftsmanship. It's expensive for a 10 gallon, but I believe it's worth every penny. Ultra clear glass, incredibly well built. Very well executed rear compartment. Only negative is the outlet setup. It's nice quality components, just not designed as well as I would have liked.
Standard equipment here.
- Eheim Jagger 50W heater
- Upgraded pump (210GPH). Connected to a smart switch to work with Alexa, so I can easily turn it off and on as needed for feeding and maintenance. Hoping to avoid additional pump/wave makers.
- Inkbird smart thermometer with data-logger
- Fluval Sea/Marine 3.0 Nano (Bright Reef preset, violet nightlight)
- 20lb live sand
- Rock sufficient to create a sweet aquascape
Non-coral livestock will be limited to two clown fish and clean up crew. Plus a few crustaceans, like the sexy shrimp which is awesome.
The plan.
So, I was initially going to have a zoa garden but then I saw a beautiful hammer. Why limit myself, I asked. So, I promptly ignored plenty of good reasons and decided to make it a mixed reef.
Here's the general idea of what I'd like to do. I welcome all feedback and suggestions. The depth scale may seem way off, but it's due to the angle of the camera when the photo was taken. Par values are as stated by Fluval with some guesstimates for in-between depths.
It's hard to see in the photo, but there are areas of shadow where there is almost no direct light. This was intentional. That piece of rock was originally upside down. I flipped it to create more light levels and some shadow areas for low-light corals.
Filtration is another issue on which I would welcome your advice.
Here's the plan for the back chamber. I am concerned that the chemipure will strip too much nutrients as the stony corals grow. Is that a thing? I know they need phosphates and nitrates. I am pretty sure we're okay early on (maybe the first year) but in the future, it might be an issue. Does this seem right or should this be addressed now?
The factory sponge is pretty large. I am not a fan of sponges to be honest. I don't have any data to back this up, but have this feeling that they just become nutrient factories. They really are more of a biological filter that is also expected to act as a particle filter which doesn't make sense. Unless you clean them very frequently. When you do eventually rinse them out, I think it messes up the biology and impacts stability of the tank. I decided to keep it for now and added a polishing pad that covers it, so little to no debris gets into it.
What are your thoughts on this?
Anyway... here's the plan
Looking forward to your feedback!
Standard equipment here.
- Eheim Jagger 50W heater
- Upgraded pump (210GPH). Connected to a smart switch to work with Alexa, so I can easily turn it off and on as needed for feeding and maintenance. Hoping to avoid additional pump/wave makers.
- Inkbird smart thermometer with data-logger
- Fluval Sea/Marine 3.0 Nano (Bright Reef preset, violet nightlight)
- 20lb live sand
- Rock sufficient to create a sweet aquascape
Non-coral livestock will be limited to two clown fish and clean up crew. Plus a few crustaceans, like the sexy shrimp which is awesome.
The plan.
So, I was initially going to have a zoa garden but then I saw a beautiful hammer. Why limit myself, I asked. So, I promptly ignored plenty of good reasons and decided to make it a mixed reef.
Here's the general idea of what I'd like to do. I welcome all feedback and suggestions. The depth scale may seem way off, but it's due to the angle of the camera when the photo was taken. Par values are as stated by Fluval with some guesstimates for in-between depths.
It's hard to see in the photo, but there are areas of shadow where there is almost no direct light. This was intentional. That piece of rock was originally upside down. I flipped it to create more light levels and some shadow areas for low-light corals.
Filtration is another issue on which I would welcome your advice.
Here's the plan for the back chamber. I am concerned that the chemipure will strip too much nutrients as the stony corals grow. Is that a thing? I know they need phosphates and nitrates. I am pretty sure we're okay early on (maybe the first year) but in the future, it might be an issue. Does this seem right or should this be addressed now?
The factory sponge is pretty large. I am not a fan of sponges to be honest. I don't have any data to back this up, but have this feeling that they just become nutrient factories. They really are more of a biological filter that is also expected to act as a particle filter which doesn't make sense. Unless you clean them very frequently. When you do eventually rinse them out, I think it messes up the biology and impacts stability of the tank. I decided to keep it for now and added a polishing pad that covers it, so little to no debris gets into it.
What are your thoughts on this?
Anyway... here's the plan
Looking forward to your feedback!
