My first ever reef

[WhitePanther93]

I kinda wish I started a progression post from the beginning back in April but oh well.

it’s a 20 gallon nano with a 10 gallon diy sump underneath

So probably in the ballpark of 25 to 27 gallons of total water volume.

equipment:
-an eshopps hob nano overflow ( max200 gps)
-hydor seltz d500 return pump
-ecotech voretech mp10qd
-fluval nano protein skimmer
- kessil h80
- kessil a360x

live stock(fish/inverts):
-2 davinci clown fish
- a fire fish
- a high fin red barred goby
- a tailspot blenny
- a cleaner shrimp
- a curly-cue pistol shrimp
- 3 nassarius snails
- 4 trochus snails
-1 unknown black snail that hitched a ride with one of my corals (wwc says it’s a good snail but didn’t say what kind it was)

coral(mostly lps):
-4 assorted zoanthids
- a red war coral
- 2 different micromussa lords
- a branching hammer
- a candy cane coral (not looking too hot right now)
-daisy clover polyps
- purple plume gorgonia

So far things seem to be going well.
my only real issue at the moment are that one of my zoanthid colonies doesn’t want open up any more. (It did when I first got them) I don’t see anything on them pest wise. Also my candy cane coral has looked like bart from the Simpsons head since I got it. Though recently I think it was starting to bleach so I moved it to the bottom right of the tank.

so what are your thoughts on my tank so far?

 

[ScottR]

Not a bad start. It can be rocky at first. Just keep an eye on parameters and keep them stable.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Not a bad start. It can be rocky at first. Just keep an eye on parameters and keep them stable.

Yeah, I’m mostly keeping an eye on my nitrates, alkalinity,and calcium.
I’ve been doing Alkalinity daily or every other day so far and every time it’s come up 7.9. I’ve been using brs’ calculator to try to keep it at 8. I’m hoping that the consistent result mean I’m doing a decent job.

 

[ScottR]

Phosphates are extremely important to keep track of as well. Not only will high phosphates cause algae growth, they are a silent coral killer when they get too high. And if too low, they also kill corals.

 

[WhitePanther93]

Phosphates are extremely important to keep track of as well. Not only will high phosphates cause algae growth, they are a silent coral killer when they get too high. And if too low, they also kill corals.

Ah, noted. I do have some chaeto in my sump. I forgot to mention that in the original post.I’m hoping that keeps nitrates and phosphates under control. Can’t really tell at the moment

 

[revhtree]

Congrats on the new tank!

 

[WhitePanther93]

Pretty big update here. Due to an accident I cracked my tank. Yesterday was ordeal and was spent getting a new tank, getting a hole drilled in it, replumbing it, and rebuilding the scape.(using all of the original water and sand and rock) So far I think the only casualty was a trochus snail and a colony of dragon ball z zoas and some fire ice zoas have gone missing. My 20 gallon reef is now a 29 gallon reef.

So far all but a couple groups of zoanthids have opened back up and look pretty happy. (Even the two I ordered before the accident.

the tank is now plumbed herbie style ( I think)

On a different note I finally got a par meter. I got the usb one from brs.

I also discovered I got the wrong kind of pistol shrimp. So no goby shrimp pair.

mug I forgot anything I’ll post another update.