Crustaceon
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- Feb 15, 2019
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Many of you have seen my 55g tank but this is the first time you get to see my “secret project”. This is my 8.3g nano reef I’ve dubbed “hard-hitting harbor”. Why? Because it’s ruled by a little Wennerea Mantis Shrimp who while very shy, doesn’t hesitate to let his enormous hermit crab neighbors know when they get too close to the burrow entrance.
The tank itself is made by lifeguard aquatics and is designed to be extremely low maintenance for the sake of its inhabitants and my sanity.
The aquascape is a mix of very well established live rock from my 55g and some dry florida reef rock i’ve had in storage for years. I’m using a mix of special grade aragonite and crushed coral for substrate.
The critter roster includes a yellow clown goby, five quarter-sized stripe-legged hermit crabs, some zebra trochus snails that were born in my big tank and a pair or red bubble tip anemones.
Coral stocking is what I accidentally bumped into and broke off while cleaning my 55g, which includes several chunks of Montipora Spongodes, Ora Bird of Paradise, Kenya Tree and some Pink & Gold zoas. Nothing major really.
Maintenance is little more than clearing the panels, doing a one gallon weekly water change, filling up the gravity-fed ato/bottle, washing out a filter sponge and of course, feeding the critters.
I’m using a Lominie P30 light which is working great so far. The color and shimmer is great, my coral and anemones are happy and my newer live rock is turning all shades of “ugly”. So far, so good. The light is hooked up to the most basic light timer imaginable, lol.
Flow is achieved via a Hydor Koralia Nano circulation pump and the Lifeguard Quietone pump that came with the tank.
I’m using an Eheim Jager 150w heater to keep the tank around 79 degrees.
Nutrient control is a sponge in the first chamber, a filter bag loaded with seachem matrix and the weekly water change.
Dosing is nothing more than full-saturation kalkwasser in an evian bottle that’s attached to an “aquarium refill water filler”. Water evaporates and lowers the water level in the chamber with the filler...water from the evian bottle “glugs” in. That’s it.
Parameters? I don’t know and that’s the point. I test nothing on this tank. Alkalinity is likely going to settle between 7-12dkh anyways with the amount of evaporation the tank gets thanks to the kalk/topoff. Calcium should be more than adequate as long as alk is maintained since kalk adds both. Magnesium and trace elements are replenished by the water change. I have to clean my panels weekly, so nitrates & phosphates aren’t too low. I don’t have nuisance algae on my rocks, so they’re not too high either. No worries.
More updates to come!
The tank itself is made by lifeguard aquatics and is designed to be extremely low maintenance for the sake of its inhabitants and my sanity.
The aquascape is a mix of very well established live rock from my 55g and some dry florida reef rock i’ve had in storage for years. I’m using a mix of special grade aragonite and crushed coral for substrate.
The critter roster includes a yellow clown goby, five quarter-sized stripe-legged hermit crabs, some zebra trochus snails that were born in my big tank and a pair or red bubble tip anemones.
Coral stocking is what I accidentally bumped into and broke off while cleaning my 55g, which includes several chunks of Montipora Spongodes, Ora Bird of Paradise, Kenya Tree and some Pink & Gold zoas. Nothing major really.
Maintenance is little more than clearing the panels, doing a one gallon weekly water change, filling up the gravity-fed ato/bottle, washing out a filter sponge and of course, feeding the critters.
I’m using a Lominie P30 light which is working great so far. The color and shimmer is great, my coral and anemones are happy and my newer live rock is turning all shades of “ugly”. So far, so good. The light is hooked up to the most basic light timer imaginable, lol.
Flow is achieved via a Hydor Koralia Nano circulation pump and the Lifeguard Quietone pump that came with the tank.
I’m using an Eheim Jager 150w heater to keep the tank around 79 degrees.
Nutrient control is a sponge in the first chamber, a filter bag loaded with seachem matrix and the weekly water change.
Dosing is nothing more than full-saturation kalkwasser in an evian bottle that’s attached to an “aquarium refill water filler”. Water evaporates and lowers the water level in the chamber with the filler...water from the evian bottle “glugs” in. That’s it.
Parameters? I don’t know and that’s the point. I test nothing on this tank. Alkalinity is likely going to settle between 7-12dkh anyways with the amount of evaporation the tank gets thanks to the kalk/topoff. Calcium should be more than adequate as long as alk is maintained since kalk adds both. Magnesium and trace elements are replenished by the water change. I have to clean my panels weekly, so nitrates & phosphates aren’t too low. I don’t have nuisance algae on my rocks, so they’re not too high either. No worries.
More updates to come!
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