13 gal Kitchen Counter Nano - UPGRADED TO 20

Jman76

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Greetings from the desert! I've been meaning to start this a long time ago, so here goes! :cool:

A quick background, Im from Arizona...born in the desert and raised in the mountains. For some reason I came back to he desert lol. As seems to be common with many, I come from freshwater background, all South American for me. I briefly started a fish only saltwater tank many years ago, but abandoned the hobby for awhile. Recently, my brother in law has a small reef tank that I couldnt stop staring at, and the addiction was born.

So last December, my family got me a small tank as an early Christmas present. I was told it would be a saltwater tank. OK then! Decided right away it was going to be mixed reef. It fits perfectly on the backsplash/bar on the kitchen island. Plus the RODI tap is right there at the sink;)
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Everything is stock equipment; HOB filter, LED hood, 50w heater. Did add the RW4 wavemaker. I upgraded the heater first. I decided early I wanted black sand in hopes of more contrast. Settled for the Caribsea Hawaiian black, 20 lbs. Probably ended up with 25ish pounds of some nice live rock from LFS. Rinsed with RODI, and added rock and gravel to the tank. Filled up with around 10 gallons of RODI. Also added a bottle of Bio-spira for a boost. Messed with rock scapes a thousand times it seemed like.

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I already cant stand the stock light lol. Time for first upgrade!
 
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Phil D.

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AI Prime would be good for that tank, IMO. Artistic Aquariums in Chandler stocks them. I'm in Gilbert!! Welcome to the hobby!! I have been in it for many years now. AZ Reef Monster in Mesa has great coral selection too.
 
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Jman76

Jman76

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First equipment upgrade had to be the light. The stock one was barely brighter than a night light. After some research and seeing some in person, I opted for the AI Prime HD. The difference is unreal, and the light just rocks. The lightning/weather feature freaked me out at first but very cool. So at 4 weeks from fill up, water testing showed it was ready, I added my CUC. This at the time was 3 turbo snails, 5 blue leg hermits, and 5 weeks put in 2 clowns. Figured 2 clowns in a nano wouldnt be too much.
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Jman76

Jman76

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AI Prime would be good for that tank, IMO. Artistic Aquariums in Chandler stocks them. I'm in Gilbert!! Welcome to the hobby!! I have been in it for many years now. AZ Reef Monster in Mesa has great coral selection too.
Thanks! Im in Anthem, have read nothing but great reviews for that store. I need to get out East!
 
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Jman76

Jman76

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So after 2 months, I picked up my first LPS corals from LFS. Super cheap frags, a 3 polyp acan, 5 polyp paly, and a cool looking Rhodactis. Didnt know anything about glue, so just shoved the plugs into sand and LR. Tacky, I know. They seemed to take well, and realized i needed more. Lots more. In a nano. Barley into it, and already wanting a big tank.
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Dr. Dendrostein

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Greetings from the desert! I've been meaning to start this a long time ago, so here goes! :cool:

A quick background, Im from Arizona...born in the desert and raised in the mountains. For some reason I came back to he desert lol. As seems to be common with many, I come from freshwater background, all South American for me. I briefly started a fish only saltwater tank many years ago, but abandoned the hobby for awhile. Recently, my brother in law has a small reef tank that I couldnt stop staring at, and the addiction was born.

So last December, my family got me a small tank as an early Christmas present. I was told it would be a saltwater tank. OK then! Decided right away it was going to be mixed reef. It fits perfectly on the backsplash/bar on the kitchen island. Plus the RODI tap is right there at the sink;)
Capture.JPG


Everything is stock equipment; HOB filter, LED hood, 50w heater. I upgraded the heater first. I decided early I wanted black sand in hopes of more contrast. Settled for the Caribsea Hawaiian black, 20 lbs. Probably ended up with 25ish pounds of some nice live rock from LFS. Rinsed with RODI, and added rock and gravel to the tank. Filled up with around 10 gallons of RODI. Also added a bottle of Bio-spira for a boost. Messed with rock scapes a thousand times it seemed like.

20190105_153749.jpg
20190105_153807.jpg
20190108_190323.jpg

I already cant stand the stock light lol. Time for first upgrade!

Thanks for sharing, comrade
 

AiKkz

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So after 2 months, I picked up my first LPS corals from LFS. Super cheap frags, a 3 polyp acan, 5 polyp paly, and a cool looking Rhodactis. Didnt know anything about glue, so just shoved the plugs into sand and LR. Tacky, I know. They seemed to take well, and realized i needed more. Lots more. In a nano. Barley into it, and already wanting a big tank.
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And that’s why reefing is more addicting then drugs lol
 
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Jman76

Jman76

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Basically to the point of picking up a frag or 3 weekly since I drive by the LFS everyday to work and back haha. Here are some of them from day 1 so as to track growth. Im becoming bummed that SPS doesnt seem practical for this tank. Perhaps Im wrong? Also, please forgive my cell phone photo quality. It gets much better!
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great job! welcome to reefing the colors are so fun and amazing eh?
tank looks great keep up the good work. keep an eye on the sand might need to vac. it from time to time to get out all the crap.
 
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Jman76

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First challenge coming up...vacation! After some R2R consulting, added an ATO(dont know why took so long to get this, should have been first), and auto feeder and crossed my fingers. Gone for a week, came back to algae on the glass and what seemed like corals on steroids. Maybe it was from being gone a week, but they seemed huge! They also had first signs of new growth. Just over 4 months
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Jman76

Jman76

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great job! welcome to reefing the colors are so fun and amazing eh?
tank looks great keep up the good work. keep an eye on the sand might need to vac. it from time to time to get out all the crap.
Thanks! At first I wasnt sure about vac, a lot of back and forth info. But thankfully I did start vac. Cant imagine letting that stuff accumulate is good. Tricky getting around the rock tho.
 
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Jman76

Jman76

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Quick update: have been battling 2 pests. Found a few aiptasia, and went after them with Aip-X. 2 survived. Tried F-Aip from @Frank's Tanks...wiped out the other 2. So far so good. My other problem is digitate hydroids. They got out of hand fast. For the most part, they are just unsightly. I do have a pair of zoa colonies that are losing color and slowly receding. The hydroids seem to be the culprit as there are a few waving through them in current. No other corals are affected. I have applied some F-Aip to a few, otherwise just been epoxy a few at a time.
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A worm with high fashion and practical utility: Have you ever kept feather dusters in your reef aquarium?

  • I currently have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 64 37.0%
  • Not currently, but I have had feather dusters in my tank in the past.

    Votes: 59 34.1%
  • I have not had feather dusters, but I hope to in the future.

    Votes: 24 13.9%
  • I have no plans to have feather dusters in my tank.

    Votes: 26 15.0%
  • Other.

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