City's 15 gallon Column NANO reef build

[Dj City]

Question...

Do pods eat this stuff or do I have to get creative with keeping them alive and thriving?

 

[NY_Caveman]

Question...

Do pods eat this stuff or do I have to get creative with keeping them alive and thriving?

I dose AlgaeBarn live Phytoplankton and pods go wild. Pods are like CUC. They will also pick through detritus and other waste. Not sure this Seachem Phytoplankton is the same exact thing as I have not used it.

 

[Dj City]

Done some testing...

Salinity................ 1.026
Temp................... 77°
Dkh....................... 8
Calcium............... 460
Magnesium........ 1485
Nitrate................. 5.0
Phosphate.......... > 0.25
PH @8:30pm..... 7.7

 

[Dj City]

Life​

Midas Blenny and Clown Goby

Snowflakes

 

[Dj City]

Cleaner shrimp

Peppermint shrimp

 

[Dj City]

Clown Goby

Black Snowflake

I have a Golden Coral Banded Shrimp but he's hiding in a small cave.

View attachment Golden coral banded hiding.jpg

 

[Dj City]

Success!!!

The AWC changed the water automatically.
I was pretty sure I had it figured out but I needed to wait 24 hours to confirm.
Here we are, 24 hours later and I am happy to report that it worked flawlessly.

If you do water changes on your tank, you need one of these in your life!

 

[Dj City]

I can't take it anymore!

I have enough flow in the tank but not enough turnover through the fuge.
Im using the fuge as my main filtration. It's where my skimmer is.
I have a purigen bag in it as well as coarse sponge for mechanical filtration.

Im just not getting enough turnover with the Rio 200+ pump rated at 138gph.

I ordered the Rio 800+ that is rated for 211gph.

That should help (I hope).

 

[NY_Caveman]

I will be interested to see how your Midas Blenny and Clown Goby get along and which, if any, shows any aggression to the other.

 

[Dj City]

I will be interested to see how your Midas Blenny and Clown Goby get along and which, if any, shows any aggression to the other.

I'm curious about this myself.
So far, so good. No aggression. Not even the slightest hint of aggression.
The midas blenny is minding his own business and the clown goby is happy perched up on a coral. (So far)
The clown goby is tiny! If there is any aggression, it would be the blenny demonstrating it.

 

[NY_Caveman]

I'm curious about this myself.
So far, so good. No aggression. Not even the slightest hint of aggression.
The midas blenny is minding his own business and the clown goby is happy perched up on a coral. (So far)
The clown goby is tiny! If there is any aggression, it would be the blenny demonstrating it.

I agree. Mine is pretty good, although I only have one other fish (Pink Streaked Wrasse. as you know). The Midas will occasionally make a sudden move toward the Wrasse, but they are generally fine with each other in close proximity. Never an attack more like the Wrasse is just in his way and it appears worse than it is because Pink Streaked are so jittery anyway.

 

[Dj City]

I'm kinda happy with how this is turning out so far.
I know it's still EXTREMELY EARLY in the life of this tank but everything is looking good so far.

The real cool part of all this for me is that I went from
This...

To this...

To this...

Knowing I am not nearly done with corals or fish or inverts.
This has been a fast ride that was supposed to be slow. I'm going at the pace the tank has been on. I hope it's not setting me up for a big pitfall.

 

[JBKReef]

Awesome progress!

 

[Dj City]

I'm still trying to figure out where i'm going to place the existing corals once the lighting has finished it's acclimation period.

Decisions, decisions.

I am open to suggestions.

 

[Dj City]

Awesome progress!

Thank you.
I'm just trying not to crash the tank.

 

[Dj City]

@NY_Caveman

My reefing mathematical fellow New Yorker friend... Can you help me out with some simple calculations?

If I change 1.5 quarts of water everyday from an app. 15 gal total water volume, What percent have I changed in a weeks time?

How long should 20gal fresh saltwater mix last at a rate of 1.5 quarts a day?

I like to think I'm smart but math and I have never been the best of friends. Especially fractions and percents.

 

[NY_Caveman]

1.5 quarts is 0.375 gallons, so

7 days x 0.375 gallons
= 2.625 gallons / week

2.625 gallons / 15 gallon display
= 17.5% water change

20 gallons / 0.375 gallons
= 53.33 changes

But, if this setup has a pump submerged in the reservoir, it will run dry before it hits the end. You will have to be careful at the end so the pump or water line stay submerged.

EDIT: BTW, you are doing a daily 2.5% water change

 

[Dj City]

1.5 quarts is 0.375 gallons, so

7 days x 0.375 gallons
= 2.625 gallons / week

2.625 gallons / 15 gallon display
= 17.5% water change

20 gallons / 0.375 gallons
= 53.33 changes

But, if this setup has a pump submerged in the reservoir, it will run dry before it hits the end. You will have to be careful at the end so the pump or water line stay submerged.

EDIT: BTW, you are doing a daily 2.5% water change

You are the man!
Thank you so much.

I figure that will be enough of a water change on a constant basis to keep things good.

I will be monitoring the change water to never run dry.
I just needed to know how much water I was changing weekly.

Close to two months before I have to replenish the fresh saltwater is good. Even if I have to up the water change to 2 quarts a day, I will still be good.

 

[Dj City]

Here's my little Golden Coral Banded Shrimp.

When he gets more comfortable and starts coming out into the open more, I will take a better pic.

 

[Dj City]

Better pics...

They are all tiny!
Besides the Midas blenny and the female clown, everything else is well under an inch.
If they are even a 1/2 inch I would honestly be surprised.