20G Nano Reef

[KeremAltinbasak]

I think the Dotty is the one I’m definitely going to keep; I’ll be rehoming the rest of them. :)
I've decided to prioritize its well-being by reducing the bio-load and removing the more aggressive tank mates. I'll focus on making sure it gets enough food and settles in perfectly. Thanks for helping me clear my head and make this decision.

 

[KeremAltinbasak]

Yes guys, I know it has been a very long time. A lot has happened to us. :)

First of all, the tank is much calmer now. But a few days after I added the last dottyback, I came home from work one day and noticed that, most likely due to a thermostat failure in the aquarium heater, the water temperature had risen all the way up to 33°C — and the heater was still running. Nobody at home had noticed it, and by the time I saw it, it was already too late.

Almost all of my corals died.

I barely managed to save the fish. They were all breathing very fast and staying near the surface, but I was able to rescue them by cooling the tank down slowly, about 1°C per hour, and then stabilizing it at 25°C.

That same evening, although I had a mesh cover on top of the aquarium, there was a small opening near the wave maker area. I had kept postponing fixing it, thinking “I’ll do it later,” and sadly this became one of those moments where I really wished I hadn’t delayed it. Somehow, my yellow wrasse jumped out from that opening, and unfortunately I lost it too.

After that day, the corals in the aquarium started dying. The anemones opened their mouths, shrank, and melted away. The star polyps hardened over, some leathers died, the Kenya tree melted and dissolved into the water, one of my hermits died, and some of the hairy mushrooms survived while others shrank and melted away. I tried to minimize the loss as much as possible, but what happened, happened.

Interestingly, I did not lose any of the invertebrates such as my starfish and nassarius snails; they are still alive.

After all of this, I was very determined to shut the tank down because I had lost my motivation. However, my wife and my child love the tank very much, and they didn’t want me to give up on it. With the motivation I got from them, I decided to make a serious revision.

I changed the protein skimmer to a Tunze 9001. My previous light was a 30W LED, but it was not very powerful, so I replaced it with a local brand called Ikigai. It is a 100W LED fixture with sunrise/sunset simulation and all the necessary features, and it is capable of supporting even SPS corals.

I removed and renewed everything in the sump. I also added quite a lot of biostone for extra bacterial surface area. After that, I completely replaced my RO water system. I also removed the damsel and the dottyback from the tank, and added two cardinalfish instead.

I have now added new anemones, glove polyps, and two different types of leather corals. I am slowly continuing to add new livestock.

My routine has not changed: I still do a regular water change every Saturday. After the water change, I dose 1 cap of MicroBacter7, 1 cap of phytoplankton, and 1 cap of zooplankton.

I have also started dosing around 3–4 ml of All-For-Reef daily.

At the moment, the tank is slowly recovering. :) I just wanted to share this update. I haven’t taken the latest photos yet, but I will take them when I get home.

Also, my clownfish has finally started hosting the anemone, which has been really enjoyable to watch.

 

[KeremAltinbasak]

A small update again :)

I couldn’t take photos yet, but I decided to remove the Banggai cardinals. Even though I tried for 3–4 days, they didn’t accept any food, so I spoke with the store where I bought them and exchanged them.

Instead, I added a flasher wrasse and a yellow watchman goby. I thought they would bring a bit more movement and color to the tank :)

I’ll share some photos once I manage to take good ones.

 

[KeremAltinbasak]

A few new photos from the tank :)
The tank is slowly settling in again after the recent changes. The flasher wrasse is adding a lot of nice movement and color, and the yellow watchman goby is starting to find his own spot around the rockwork and sand.
The anemones and soft corals are looking okay overall. I’m still working on lowering nitrate and cleaning up some detritus buildup in the rear sump section, but I’m trying to do everything slowly and without disturbing the system too much.
Still learning, adjusting, and enjoying the process step by step :)

 

[Project1004]

If you can rehome that blue tang and perhaps get tomini tang, everyone in your tank will tank you. Just my thought. Tomini tang will do more goods as well.