New Reefer Here - My 16g Nano Reef Build

[CamKole]

Hello, my name is Cam! I am from Kansas City, Missouri and I am new to the reefer life. I just started my first tank roughly 3 weeks ago and can’t wait to show you guys my progress.

Tank:
- Tall 16 gallon marineland tank and stand

Lighting:
- Kessil a80 tuna blu

Filter:
- Marineland Penguin Pro 125

Water Heater:
- Aquatop submersible Heater (75 watts)

PowerHead Wave Maker:
- Not sure the brand but it's a 500?

Substrate:
- Caribsea arag-alive sand (Fiji Pink)

Rock:
- DryRock

Bacteria and Conditioners:
- Aquavitro seed
- Seachem Stability

Livestock:
- Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
- Acan Coral
- Duncan Coral

Future Livestock (Tentative):
- Bubble tip anemone
- Torch tip anemone
- zoas
- Two Regular Colored Clownfish



When i started the tank I only had rocks and sand. After a week one of my closest friends who has a very well established 200 gallon tank helped me acquire the necessary items to a successful tank.

We met up and went to my LFS and purchased my Kessil light and a Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp. I honestly only ever wanted a pet shrimp so I was quite excited (I know I’m weird lol). We ended up replacing the rock formation I had in there with a much more efficient one.

So far, my tank’s ammonia has been basically zero and I’ve got some diatoms forming on my rock and sand. These are actually starting to fade away as of recently so I assume the tank is cycling properly. Nitrites and nitrates seem low.

On New Years my friend gifted me two corals for my tank and so far they have been quite lovely. My cleaner shrimp is taking a liking to them. He’s even started to actually run around the tank and “clean” it up.

My goal for this next week is to add two regular colored clownfish if my tank parameters allow me.

I have a second tank which is a 65g and a pretty nice fluval water filter that was gifted to me that I plan to start this spring.

I am very excited to meet you guys and would absolutely love to hear your thoughts and opinions on my set up and where to head from here. After lurking for a little bit here it seems you all are quite the helping and generous community.

Here’s to 2020! Cheers!

Progress Pics:

Water and sand Install

original rock formation

second rock formation

Final rock formation

Mini Me (Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp)
“He’s named mini me because my name means shrimp in Spanish (Camarones)”

Mini Melded after one week!

Bacteria Diatoms colonizing

Added Kessil and my coral frags (A Duncan and an Acan)

 

[AllSignsPointToFish]

Welcome! The tank is looking good!

 

[CamKole]

Welcome! The tank is looking good!

Thank you! I’ve been testing the water every day. My LFS is probably tired of seeing me in and out buying misc stuff lol.

 

[CamKole]

I added four new friends to my tank today!
One flurry clown and one black and white clown. I also added two turbo snails to play clean up.

My cleaner shrimp has been pretty shy since adding the new guys but after about 6 hours he’s finally out and about.

the clowns have actually opened up quite a bit. They were not in the same tank at my LFS but seem to actually Enjoy each other. They swim together, they rest together and they even seem to be playing.

I’m super excited about their stay in my tank and i can’t wait to add an anemone for them to host.

 

[Vinh]

How deep is your tank? You may want to consider lowering the A80. I have this light and love it but it really needs to be about 4 inches from the water line to get any decent growth.

 

[Bryce M.]

Welcome! nice scape!

 

[Dragon52]

 

[CamKole]

How deep is your tank? You may want to consider lowering the A80. I have this light and love it but it really needs to be about 4 inches from the water line to get any decent growth.

Not exactly sure, i'll have to measure when i get home.
Thanks for the input on the light distance, i wasn't sure how close to put it. The gooseneck stand is kind of a pain to wiggle around.

 

[CamKole]

Welcome! nice scape!

Thank you! My friend and i spent a good bit of time trying to decide on the right configuration.

 

[Vinh]

Not exactly sure, i'll have to measure when i get home.
Thanks for the input on the light distance, i wasn't sure how close to put it. The gooseneck stand is kind of a pain to wiggle around.

Do not attempt to bend the gooseneck! You will need to DIY something. I anchored something behind my tank that the neck is attached to that gets the light to my desired height. The back of my tank was painted black so none of it can be seen.

 

[CamKole]

Do not attempt to bend the gooseneck! You will need to DIY something. I anchored something behind my tank that the neck is attached to that gets the light to my desired height. The back of my tank was painted black so none of it can be seen.

Thank you for that! I'll see what i can craft. I was thinking of putting some black vynal behind the tank to make the coral pop and to hide the wires, etc.

 

[CamKole]

A little update, my clowns have decided to take shelter from the wave pump in the back corner of my tank. I’ll probably be changing my flow.

I’ve developed some brown looking algae forming on my rocks and sand. I’m assuming this is a good thing and part of a new tank cycle?

Water parameters seem fine, no nitrite or nitrate spikes so far and my ammonia seems non-existent. Good news there I guess! I had some concern about my PH but turns out it’s okay. Salinity could be higher? I’m not sure if 1.022 is okay for clowns or not.
I also bought a WiFi enabled power outlet so I could set a lighting schedule. Doing a 6 on 6 off rotation. So far the corals seem to be happy and the livestock are enjoying it. I may end up biting the bullet and getting the remote that attaches to the kessil.

Anyways, all seems to be moving along just fine!

Happy Reefing!

 

[CamKole]

Just wanted to document the progress i've had over the last year and 5 months.
I've learned quite a lot and have made a few expensive mistakes but all in all i'm very happy with the tank's progress.

I also ended up getting a new tank that i'll be starting up here soon. It's a 60 Gallon rimless cube. Extremely excited to have some more space for larger fish and coral.