JoshO's Nano Reef

[JoshO]

Few quick pictures of the tank with the light on today, been using it on the quarantine until now but bought a small light for that today so stuck the proper light on the display. I've put some strips of lighting gel across half of the whites to try and blue it up a bit and I have to say it looks really good, it'll no doubt be okay for the lower demand corals but anything requiring higher PAR will have to wait until I get a different light

 

[najer]

Ok, I have to ask lol, why do you have the tank that way around and not back to the wall so you get the peninsular views?

 

[JoshO]

Ok, I have to ask lol, why do you have the tank that way around and not back to the wall so you get the peninsular views?

As much as I want it as a peninsula, my other half isn't keen on the cabinet sticking out into the room, and I'm not keen on it overhanging the edge haha. When the opportunity arises it will be peninsula though

 

[JoshO]

Quick update. Tested ammonia tonight and it was barely registering on the test kit, down from 1.5 just 4 days ago! Nitrates are starting to register, but only very low numbers, another 2 days and we should be ready for another dose of ammonia! Once complete the clown will be getting transferred!
Next fish I'm wanting is a tiger Watchman Goby. Anyone have experience of these? Are they good sandbed cleaners??

 

[JoshO]

From now the first post on this thread will have an overview of the entire set up and up to date pictures of the reef! I'll always be posting full updates as normal but will edit the first post continuously as things change!

 

[JoshO]

So ammonia zeroed out on the display today, so I've dosed it back to 2ppm, hopefully this will be zero within 48 hours. Starting to see what looks like white hair algae despite the lights not being on and it having no direct sunlight so in scrubbing the patches away as soon as I see them to keep it at bay.
I'll be adding carbon to the QT tank tomorrow afternoon to start removing the Cupramine, I'll probably do a 25% water change beforehand to get some out that way too.
Clown should be in the DT by next weekend!

 

[JoshO]

Couple of pictures of the algae I'm getting, I've seen a fair few threads saying it's related to carbon, but I'm not running any so I can only assume it's from ambient light!
Ammonia hasn't dropped as quickly as I'd have liked, only down to about 1.2ppm in 24 hours. Will re-test again tomorrow!
25% water change on the QT today, and carbon added, will give it 2 or 3 days and check where the carbon is at. If it's very low I'll leave it to do its work, if not I'll do another 25% water change

 

[JoshO]

PLEASE CRITIQUE!
So I've been spending the days of lockdown debating what corals and where I want to put them.
My basic idea is the left hand 50% as sps and the right as lps and softies.
The pictures show where I'm thinking of placing things so please critique the plan if you think I'm going to have issues!
RED is going to be different zoa colonies
GREEN is going to be a few acan/lordhowensis/symphillia (undecided which yet, will only be one)
ORANGE is going to be millipora (i want these in here somehow!)
PINK is going to be playing Monti
CREAM will be GSP (want the movement)
BLUE im thinking a torch
There is still plenty of space on that top 50% for other sps frags, and once I move the tank to change the orientation I'll have the whole backside of the scape to add more to!

 

[JoshO]

The day I've been waiting for! The clown finally made the journey from the QT to the display today! Seems to have settled okay, had fed well and has taken up residence in a corner for now, has the odd explore every now and then.

I've changed the aquascape just slightly before the fish was added, I removed the rock and cut a piece off the larger structures base be able to tilt it forward to allow for better coral placement, they've been joined with epoxy to ensure they are stable, really pleased with it.

It's the first time I've actually had food in the display so I was intrigued to know how well the wavemaker would clear any deadpsots...it worked like a dream! Next test...poop!
Unsure whether to run the lights for a short period each night just for viewing purposes as I don't want a huge algae breakout!

Few pics of the clown feeding on mysis

 

[Chrisfish]

Tanks looking good! Congratulations on your new addition

 

[JoshO]

Tanks looking good! Congratulations on your new addition

Thank you, it's been hardly any time at all in reality but it's seemed to take so long to get here!

 

[JoshO]

Decided to jump on the video bandwagon, gives much better perspective to the tank. The video isn't the best as my phone decides to turn everything blue at the slightest hint! When it flickers to purple rock and a white sandbed, that's the accurate colour!! Hope you enjoy

 

[JoshO]

Few pictures from today

 

[JoshO]

Did a 25% water change today.
Tested my parameters and was happy with where they were. Just wanted to bring the nitrates down!
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 10
Salinity - 35ppt
Temp - 25c
pH - 8.3
I've been feeding hikari and Vitalis Platinum pellets pretty heavily in an effort to boost colouration. The clown tends to ignore them if it's had mysis in the days previous so I was trying to make sure it was feeding! Thankfully it's back to normal on the pellets so nitrates won't spike anywhere near as much this week!
I've been toying with the idea of an ATO but as it stands it's still not a reality so I've used a spare suction cup to mark the water line in the return chamber, that way I'll top up every evening when I feed to keep salinity rock steady!
Finally...do people think this is an ocellaris or a Percula??



 

[JoshO]

Quick clip of the clown feeding on the Hikari pellets

 

[JoshO]

Test and maintenance day today. I noticed yesterday that any haziness had completely cleared from the water which got me wondering if the tank is starting to stabilise well. After checking my nitrates today they're holding at 3 despite the clown being fed heavily twice a day for the past 8 days. I know the bioload is low but to see nitrates not increase at all is promising!
Adding the d-d temp controller today to keep temperature more stable, the heater I'm using still only fluctuates by about 1.5 degrees but over time in expecting that to increase.

 

[JoshO]

So the d-d temp controller is in finally! Quite a few recommendations, namely @Wee Mad Arthur so thank you all for the advice!

 

[Dr. Phil]

Nice looking tank! I have enjoyed reading through your thread and seeing your progress. I will be following.

 

[JoshO]

Nice looking tank! I have enjoyed reading through your thread and seeing your progress. I will be following.

Thank you! If I can help or inspire at least 1 person then that's a success!

 

[JoshO]

I've been trying to get a new clown to go along with the current, but unfortunately that's still not happening. I'm primarily after a black snowflake, but a black ice or even a normal black and white would be cool. My lfs managed to get the black snowflakes in but they're too big unfortunately!
The good news is they've managed to get a Hector's Goby, which I will hopefully be picking up on Thursday, along with a Trochus and Nassarius snail. The lights will be going up to 5 hours this week so they'll be on standby to pick any algae off that may try to rear it's head (got some vibrant on standby too)
Few pictures from this week below
Have a good weekend, stay safe!