A good little tank (IM Nuvo 10 gallon)

[Pbh-reef]

A full tank shot under white light

My joke about this picture is that Emily is thanking me for growing the GSP so she can suck it up like spaghetti (she doesn't actually eat the GSP)

 

[Pbh-reef]

A happy update - the Goniopora is looking much better today than it has been for weeks. Above 50% polyp extension for sure. Seeing it out has reminded me how beautiful this coral is.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Long time no update - so here’s a little one.

All three of my fish died. It was very sad, especially Agnes, my husband and my first fish. Since then I’ve gotten a 3 new fish and have instituted a version of @HotRocks quarantine. One (a shrimp goby) jumped out of a very tiny opening in my qt cover ;Bored). The other two have made it through 30 days of copper as of today and will start on general cure soon. We also got a candy ca e pistol shrimp to pair with the goby, who killed Johnny the cleaner shrimp. I’ve decided not name them or post Pics of them
here until they makemi through qt.

I haven’t added any new corals - I’m a little overwhelmed by all the choices. But my husband and I did fix almost all our old corals to rocks using epoxy and glue, which is nice. The acan has sprouted 3 new heads, the birds nest has small bumps, the lepto was bleaching but has recovered and the Goni is doing better. We have started to target feed the corals and that has definitely helped and is super fun. I’ve also added new pods from @AlgaeBarn to boost the population in preparation for the new fish. Still trying to figure out what corals to add and how/if to qt them. A second tank with a light is really pushing it in my tiny apartment. We’ll see! I’ll post a pic later this weekend if I can get a good one.

 

[Pbh-reef]

An update that will be mostly pics. Got some new corals at a frag swap last month (new zoas, purple monti cap and sunset monti, hammer coral and a pink branching cyphastria). Got 3 new fish but only one, a small royal gramma, made it through Qt. He’s pretty shy and tends to hide in the main cave and dart out for food. In the morning he pretends he’s a caterpillar and swims along the sand/bottom of the tank. I hope the addition of a other fish will help him be braver and more secure. He’s grown a nice amount and seems to have changed sex to make since I got him (more purple and longer ventral fins).

Coral has been mostly doing well and growing, except the Goni which is dying and seems to have cyno growing on it (the only cyano in the tank other than on the powerhead). Scrubbing it during water changes seems to help with polyp extension but I’m prepared for it to die.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Some more pics, you can see how much the birdsnest has grown in one, the other is a nice view of the zoas

 

[Pbh-reef]

One thing I’m wondering about is if I should start dosing a small amount of kalk in my ago, like 1/2 tablespoon per gallon for now. Last week I switched the salt I use to Red Sea blue bucket to raise calcium from what istant oceans levels are. I don’t want to manually dose two part because I’m worried about parameter swings when I go on vacation and I don’t want to buy a dosing pump and have an extra gadget. Any thoughts on kalk dosing in a nano?

 

[btmedic04]

kalk dosing in nanos scares me. if a snail covers the overflow and lowers the level in the back sump, your ato will run for quite some time. that why I dose two part in my nuvo 10 and 20. doing it by hand but im going to have to get a dosing setup when I go to annual training this year

 

[Pbh-reef]

kalk dosing in nanos scares me. if a snail covers the overflow and lowers the level in the back sump, your ato will run for quite some time. that why I dose two part in my nuvo 10 and 20. doing it by hand but im going to have to get a dosing setup when I go to annual training this year

That makes sense to me. I currently only have one large turbo snail so the risk is sort of small and I’m not very excited about buying a dosing pump, which would be necessary with two part of the new one parts since I will inevitably go on vacation. So still leaning toward kalk but I appreciate understanding at least one reason why people don’t do them in nanos often

 

[Pbh-reef]

Here’s a little update on the tank: new FTS with the corals I’ve added from a frag swap in March and a second with the royal gramma this morning. I’m trying to make a zoa garden on the branching rock, we’ll see how it goes.

 

[Pbh-reef]

In terms of how things are going-
I’m happy with the growth of many of the corals, including the birds nest and Orange Monti, acan, toad stool, and the new zoas that have grown since the frag swap. The lepto has more than recovered from getting too much light a few months ago and is back to a beautiful vibrant orange and yellow and growing over the plug.

I also am loving having micro brittle stars in the tank, I feel like they are a great CuC addition and their waving arms in the current during feeding time is cool. In general the tank feels full of tiny life, I saw an amphipod leave an empty Cerith snail shell and then scurry back in.

In less happy news the Goni is dying. It always had a little brown jelly or something like that. I tried cutting it drastically back but even the few polyps left have the brown jelly. If it could’ve been saved before it was probably too late. I wish I’d gotten bone cutters earlier, they are an amazing tool.

I also got an encrusting monti, attached to the same frag rubble as the purple monti cap, at this swap in March. It must have come from a lower light part of the tank because it lost a lot of its red color. I have also noticed it hurting the monti cap where the two meet and decided to remove the encrusting monti and glue it to its own frag plug. I’ve put the plug in a lower light part of the tank and will see if it recovers and grows, with the intention of swapping it away at the next frag swap. I don’t think encrusting montis are a good fit for a small tank like mine.

The other coral not doing as well is the gsp, which has gotten hair algae ever since I moved it to the back wall. We’ll see if I can get rid of that hair algae, the rest of the tank is pretty much free of hair algae but the back wall gets it.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Oh and also ever since I attached the pink cyphestiria to the lip of the main cave the gramma has become a bit bolder, he hangs out just behind the coral, peering out. Here’s a pic of that and second of the gramma and pistol shrimp at feeding time

 

[flchamp89]

Great tank like all the coral choices and colors.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Thanks!

Here’s a shot of the gramma this morning before the tank lights come on. He’s definitely getting bolder these days!

 

[Iván Olalla]

That makes sense to me. I currently only have one large turbo snail so the risk is sort of small and I’m not very excited about buying a dosing pump, which would be necessary with two part of the new one parts since I will inevitably go on vacation. So still leaning toward kalk but I appreciate understanding at least one reason why people don’t do them in nanos often

I do use kalk in my nano, you can dial it in 7-10 days doing your tests, an overdose can be avoided using a controller with ph monitoring or calculate the amount of fresh water and kalk in your ATO container so in case that something happens the salinity, pH, and alk don't spike out of acceptable range. That could mean replenish fresh water and mix kalk a little more often but it will keep your mind in peace!
You can find controllers for cheap like a used Reefkeeper or a single dosing pump will work for your kalk dosing if you don't want to use the ATO with kalk.... Great tank, it's coming along!

 

[Lasse]

Sorry to hear about your loses but I think that the tank seems to function well. For the alk and calcium issue - maybe a change to the red bucket and a WC more often and smaller could help. Which are your Ca and alkalinity figures for the moment? If you chose to use kalk - try to add it an hour or so after the light have shot down. Your pH is lower during the dark period and at its lowest level just the moment before your light turns on. Add it in very small ammounts in a high movement area. It works to have it in the top off tank too - but in a tank as small as yours it could be risky cause the demand of top off often is when the light is on, hence higher pH in the tank.

Sincerely Lasse

 

[btmedic04]

I'm using tropic marin all for reef on my nuvo 10 and 20 and it is keeping my parameters rock stable. For what it's worth, I'm dosing 1.5ml a day in my nuvo 10. Might be something to look into

 

[Pbh-reef]

Thanks @Iván Olalla @Lasse and @btmedic04 for the advice. I recently switched to Red Sea blue bucket and 4 gallon weekly water changes and so far alk seems stable at 8.0. I think before I get into dosing I will see how long this approach keeps the alk stable. I’m going to be leaving the tank for a 3 week vacation in July (I’ll have a tank sitter) so I ideally want to have no changes before that.

And thanks for the condolences @Lasse, when fish die I always find it very sad, one of my earliest memories is crying over the death of a pictus catfish - and part of me will always be so sad when a fish I’m caring for dies.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Visited a local reefer last week a picked up 4 frags: a red goni to replace the pink one that was almost dead, a blue/green lithophyllon, a red/green blasto and a purple stylo. The goni is truly amazing, I love the motion it adds to the tank. It had great PE very quickly after I acclimated it and has beautiful blue centers. I tossed what was left of the pink goni because even though I thought it was actually growing a bit it still had some kind of brown/red film on it and I didn't want to risk it infecting the new goni. Blastomussa is a coral I've wanted to try for awhile now too, so very excited about it!

I also did some slicing and gluing of the zoas and attached more to the branching rock with the other zoas. I may eventually get rid of the zoa frag plugs on the sand to give the tank a more open look. Pics of the new corals:

 

[BestMomEver]

Let me preface by saying I haven’t read this entire thread so I may be repeating something already mentioned. I have a 14 gallon cube. I began with a Kessill A80 but found it to be not quite enough light for hard corals. I upgraded to the A160 and things look better. As time goes on, you may want to consider a more intense light.

 

[Pbh-reef]

Let me preface by saying I haven’t read this entire thread so I may be repeating something already mentioned. I have a 14 gallon cube. I began with a Kessill A80 but found it to be not quite enough light for hard corals. I upgraded to the A160 and things look better. As time goes on, you may want to consider a more intense light.

Interesting... so far I have the a80 at 70% or so, the Setosa and birdsnest were bleaching when it was at 100%. I can see shading being a problem in the (distant?) future as colonies grow though!