Innovative Marine 15: Project Caribbean

[CD_Scapes]

Update time:

This tank has been crazy stable which is awesome, I was worried it would be crazy with diatoms and cyano from die off but after a quick couple days of a diatom dusting and a single spot of cyano that a sucked up it looks like the tank is crushing it.

I have done 1 gallon water changes every couple days and sometimes I do a 2 gallon but when I do a 2 gallon water change it exposes a lot of the rock to air and I don’t think I’ll keep doing that. So more consistent 1 gallon water changes moving forward.

(2 gallon WC might be too much)

Besides that I’ve noticed the macroalgae and sponges/tunicates are going crazy! I think dosing reefnutrition phyto everyday has been helping.

Extra photos:

A couple equipment upgrades that I want to get in the future:
-InTank media basket
-Mini wavemaker of some kind
-Fluval Nano Sea or Kessil a80

I am thinking about doing a few smaller livestock orders from
FloridaPets;
-Right-handed hermits
-Live key or golden sand or the live mud
-Burrowing brittle stars
MosaicMacros:
-Caulerpa verticillata
Reefcleaners:
-Dwarf planaxis
-Dwarf zig zag periwinkles
-Dwarf ceriths.

Anyone have any other recommendations? Only other thing I was thinking is maybe a single gorgonian and/or a Peterson anemone shrimp.

 

[CD_Scapes]

What’s everyone’s thoughts on a Fluval nano sea vs a Kessil a80? I guess that also depends on if I will be upgrading to a UNS 30a or not. We shall see. In other news I did get an auto top off, the Fzone auto top off from Amazon. I did swap the Fzone tube holder for an old duetto holder we had in the equipment drawer as well as the check valve for an old duetto one we had laying around. Not that the Fzone ones are bad but the duetto holds the tube better and the duetto check valve has an air brake as water drains out as opposed to the Fzone which holds water in the tube. Besides all that it works great and can’t complain for a $50 auto top off, no issues yet.

 

[CD_Scapes]

Welp for the time being I’m misting using a store-brand knock off light that I got for $17 and it’s not bad. Can control the temperature between 6500K and 8500K, adjust intensity as well as a built in timer. Right now it’s on 8 hours plus 2 hours of blue light on either side of the 8 hour time. Nice for corals and such to get some blues and looks cool too. Besides that I guess not much else to share. Weekly 1 gallon water change plus a couple feedings of phyto have done the tank wonders. Next up is adding roti-feast into the mix as well.

Debating on getting a store brand 6 gallon cube for $24 or get a spec V AIO. I love the AIO and hiding all the equipment, plus it’s the old version with the frosted glass not the new hexcomb patterning. What do y’all think?

FTS featuring new light:

Critters and rock pics:

 

[Bx_Reef]

More information on the tank. I was scrolling through marketplace and instantly knew I needed it. The tank is quite literally still new in the box with all the protective wrapping still on the tank and lid. DC pump is huge too, I’ve never had one and I’m so hyped for that. The base “shelf” of the stand has a tiny, tiny, spot where the box got crushed a but oh well it’s literally not noticeable. This tank has been a want for nearly a decade for me and well I just gotta say it feels surreal to own.

I’m going to do this tank the right way with all the equipment I’ve ever wanted and make it my “life’s work”. I’m resisting the urge to upgrade and I’ll keep the IM 10 as long as physically possible. There are only a couple pieces of equipment I want/need as I already own:

-HMA 50W heater w/ Inkbird

-Duetto ATO

-InTank media basket

-Kessil A80



I would want to get:

-Wavemaker of some kind either Nero 3 or Hygger mini gyre

-IM 5 gallon ATO reservoir

-Doser of some kind maybe?

Patch reef/shallow near shore reef is the goal. Gorgonian dominated and inhabited by nano rock dwelling gobies/blennies. Mainly Greenbanded gobies and a Tiger goby or two. Would love the idea of a rusty goby pair or barnacle blennies would be sick too. Holy grail will would be a nineline goby with an urchin for that special symbiotic relationship.

Rocks will be Tampa Bay Saltwater rock as well as sand. So tons of biodiversity which is huge for me. I was also thinking macroalgae but a lot of the ones I’ve been seeing on the reefs are coralline clusters. Feather dusters and sponges too. Some small crabs too and maybe a shrimp. That’s about it I think, time for some pics:

How I got the tank



Tank setup and lit



Lastly some habitat pics

The tank look really cool! I love it.

 

[Oldsman]

Your sand and rock is definitely waking up from its winter slumber

Are you seeing big spikes of ammonia causing you to change water ? Mines been soaking in tank since Monday, and haven't seen any trace of it yet

 

[Gumbies R Us]

Welp for the time being I’m misting using a store-brand knock off light that I got for $17 and it’s not bad. Can control the temperature between 6500K and 8500K, adjust intensity as well as a built in timer. Right now it’s on 8 hours plus 2 hours of blue light on either side of the 8 hour time. Nice for corals and such to get some blues and looks cool too. Besides that I guess not much else to share. Weekly 1 gallon water change plus a couple feedings of phyto have done the tank wonders. Next up is adding roti-feast into the mix as well.

Debating on getting a store brand 6 gallon cube for $24 or get a spec V AIO. I love the AIO and hiding all the equipment, plus it’s the old version with the frosted glass not the new hexcomb patterning. What do y’all think?

FTS featuring new light:

Critters and rock pics:

That light doesn’t look bad for only being $17

 

[mjszos]

Very cool, following along. Love me some nanos

 

[CD_Scapes]

That light doesn’t look bad for only being $17

That’s what I thought too, was worried at first but it’s great for only $17

 

[CD_Scapes]

Your sand and rock is definitely waking up from its winter slumber

Are you seeing big spikes of ammonia causing you to change water ? Mines been soaking in tank since Monday, and haven't seen any trace of it yet

I never noticed anything. I did 2 gallon water changes for a week straight so I think that’s why plus this rock didn’t have like any sponge growth that was dying off.

 

[CD_Scapes]

Very cool, following along. Love me some nanos

It might be a slightly bigger nano soon

 

[mjszos]

It might be a slightly bigger nano soon

I told myself I wouldn't need anything bigger than a 50gal after upgrading from a 13.5gal.. I'm currently running a 100gal (150 total volume) and despite it only being up for a few months I'm already looking at 200gals..

They're still "nanos" in my heart

 

[CD_Scapes]

I told myself I wouldn't need anything bigger than a 50gal after upgrading from a 13.5gal.. I'm currently running a 100gal (150 total volume) and despite it only being up for a few months I'm already looking at 200gals..

They're still "nanos" in my heart

Hehe I got the 13.5 plus the sicce 1.0 and a finnex quartz 100watt heater (all open box) on Saltwateraquarium

 

[CD_Scapes]

More updates!

I got a little mini clean up crew over the past month which include:
-6 dwarf planaxis
-4 dwarf cerith
-3 mini limpets
-2 stomatella snails
-2 collostial snails
-2 dwarf chitons

I think that will max out my clean up crews. The only thing next would be more rocks coming in April/May. Besides that still waiting to get a Fluval 13.5 at some point but we shall see when that is.

Here’s same more critters I’ve seen lately! Macroalgae is going craaaazy!

Anemone of some kind

Gracilaria going wild and hard coral doing great too!

Orange Bryozoa is alive!

Few species of macro/hair algae

Cool little mini green worm of some kind

Sponge species

Fun little algae of some kind

 

[CD_Scapes]

Update time!

The tank officially hit 1 month last Friday so I’ll post a few progression pics to show just how much “dormant” winter Rick changes when given stable parameters.

First off is the day I got the rock (2/14/2025)

2 weeks later and macros started to pop up a bit, some diatoms and a tiny bit of cyano too. I also saw the devoridaes increase as well as a copepods boom. The corals grew more and I lost a couple larger barnacles.

One month after receiving the rock and holy cow it looks totally differnt! Look at all that macroalgae! I have also seen some mumid amphipods, dwarf chitons, dwarf limpets, as well as I added in a small clean up crew of stomatella, collostial, dwarf cerith, and dwarf planaxis. Oh and my stomatellas bred!

Here’s some more pics of some macroalgae growth too:

I want to thank @LiverockRocks again for send over the live sand and rock! I will be teaming up with them again in the next month to get some premium macroalgae rock that should be full of all sorts of life!

I may also be getting a dream nano fish of mine tomorrow! We shall see if the LFS will deliver it to me as they are about an hour away but come down to the town I live in as we have a wholesaler here.


I present Enneanectes altivelis. A Caribbean triple fin blenny, not as colorful as the Mediterranean speices but still an amazing nano species of blenny. Rn they have it on live pods but they are trying to get it on frozen.

Until then I’ll leave you with this as well:

 

[kwjones]

Ok, you just gave me ideas about my Spec III that's sitting empty. Looking at lighting options, I'm not seeing a whole lot that mounts directly to the existing slot for the FW light.

 

[CD_Scapes]

Ok, you just gave me ideas about my Spec III that's sitting empty. Looking at lighting options, I'm not seeing a whole lot that mounts directly to the existing slot for the FW light.

Cut the old mount off with a putty knife and now you can mount anything you want

 

[CD_Scapes]

Behold Enneanectes altivelis

 

[Osprey223]

Behold Enneanectes altivelis

Awesome little tank and awesome little fish! I have a Spec V with a barnacle blenny and tiger goby.

 

[CD_Scapes]

Awesome little tank and awesome little fish! I have a Spec V with a barnacle blenny and tiger goby.

Oh nice. All this is moving over to an 8.3 soon so that’ll be fun

 

[Oldsman]

I can't wait for my 2nd half of the tbs package to ship..only 2 more weeks ! Yours has exploded w macros..very nice. I ran into some real mild gha, but cuc is handling it