NEW YEAR- NEW TANK Reefer Nano SPS Dominant Build

[AvaS]

New year, new tank!!! And this build is finally more than a dream!! So, I guess this is where I do the basic beginning of a tank build intro so here we go:

Tank:
Red Sea reefer nano with black stand (21 display volume with 7 gallon sump)

Equipment:
-Sicce 2.0 return pump
- A360 (possibly sell for an upgrade but we shall see)
-MP 10 ( I need to buy the wet side)
And that’s it so far, to get the tank off the ground and started, along with everything the tank comes with. Let me know if I am missing anything major
- neotherm 75 watt heater and a thermometer

Stocking plans:
- mixed reef ( hopefully SPS dominant)
- a clown pair
- a wrase of some type
And fish with color ( let me know if you have any recommendations, as I need ideas)

So far:

- if you can see in the right corner of the picture I picked up a 20 lb bag of Bimini pink live sand
-I also have a bottle of Fritz 900 saltwater sitting in my fridge
I know this stuff is controversial and I am not going to rush it, but just trying to kick start the cycle and I am planning to take it slow.
- I will be picking up rock that has been cycling since June 2018 from my LFS, making my scape ( or trying to), and getting the tank wet on Saturday.

Any notes or recommendations please let me know . And any tips on the sump ( my first tank with one) or one anything else would be greatly appreciated!
Happy new year and am excited to get this build up and running!
-Ava

 

[UM Aquarium Club]

Picture doesn't seem to appear for me. Looking forward to following along, don't have much experience with small sumps but seems like good equipment choices!

 

[AvaS]

Picture doesn't seem to appear for me. Looking forward to following along, don't have much experience with small sumps but seems like good equipment choices!

So sorry, I think the picture worked now. Let me know if you have any stocking or overall recommendations

 

[UM Aquarium Club]

Well I have a personal aquarium separate from our club that is a 30 gallon with a clown pair and a wrasse so I definitely share some stocking ideas. Maybe some sort of goby/blenny that could utilize the sandbed rather than another fish that would be swimming around. Would maximize the amount of fish in the swimming space. For coral I've always loved euphyllia along with acros/montis in tanks. Given the tank size I'd probably avoid an anemone so you can maximize space for other corals. If you have some large hammers/frogspawns they might also be able to host the clowns with a little bit of luck.

Rambling a bit but I'd also consider some zoas as well as some gorgonians as they both seem to do pretty well in tanks that have a fair bit of flow if you place them right.

 

[AvaS]

Well I have a personal aquarium separate from our club that is a 30 gallon with a clown pair and a wrasse so I definitely share some stocking ideas. Maybe some sort of goby/blenny that could utilize the sandbed rather than another fish that would be swimming around. Would maximize the amount of fish in the swimming space. For coral I've always loved euphyllia along with acros/montis in tanks. Given the tank size I'd probably avoid an anemone so you can maximize space for other corals. If you have some large hammers/frogspawns they might also be able to host the clowns with a little bit of luck.

Rambling a bit but I'd also consider some zoas as well as some gorgonians as they both seem to do pretty well in tanks that have a fair bit of flow if you place them right.

Thanks for the help! I will definitely consider a goby/ blenny or maybe even a blue spot jawfish. I agree with the no andmone and I wasn’t planning on adding one. I will definitely get some flowy euphyllia in the mix. I definitely also plan on a cluster of zoas as well as gorgonians to add some dimension. I appreciate all the help!

 

[AvaS]

Any other tips anyone?

 

[AvaS]

And the tank is wet! Set up the plumbing, sand, rock scape that I am happy with, and of course water! I also put a third of the fritz bottle in. I like the scape as of now for a mixed reef I think. It is a cave with lot so of flat surfaces and two islands in the front. I thought there is nice swimming room as well as lots of places for coral. The sicce 2.0 is in the back part of the sump where the ATO is... is that right? I had to heat up the tube to be able to get it on the sicce but with some work it corn ok there. It seems to have nice water flow, and with the MP 10 we will definitely have some nice water movement. I was planning on testing on Wednesday, and then on Saturday to see how the cycle is going. Anything else I need to do or just let it run? The third picture is of the sump from above, does it look like it’s set up correct? Thanks and let me know if I need to do anything and if u like the scape. I will post a cleared up picture in a little while.
-Ava

 

[AvaS]

So, please let me know if you have any thoughts, tips, or recommendations

 

[AvaS]

The tank is cleared! Do we like the scape for a mixed reef? This is the live rock that has been cycling for a while at my LFS. Seems to be pretty clean and pest free though.

 

[Katrina71]

Very nice!

 

[Lovemyreef2015]

Love your scape! Following along

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Maybe I missed it but you need to add an ammonia source to get the cycle going. A shrimp or some fish food.

Otherwise it looks awesome! Thats a sweet little tank, you are going to have a blast watching it evolve.

 

[NS Mike D]

for a mixed reef nano, think bonsai for stocking corals. SPS will fit the bill since most supplies are small frags that take some time to grow and are easily trimmed (fragged)

I love the look of spherical zoa and favia/acan colonies in nanos,

If you can keep GSP on it's own rock, otherwize skip that.

I have softball sized frogspawn and duncan in my 29 gal. Started as tiny single polyps and exploded. I love the flow but they are taking up space if I were to do an SPS dominant.

I really like my candy cane/trumpets, nice and compact.

I am curious as I have two shelving montis , the purple one is still acclimating and might be a slow grower, but the red one has since doubled. I have a feeling that one could get too big for the nano faster than I want

 

[AvaS]

Very nice!

Love your scape! Following along

Maybe I missed it but you need to add an ammonia source to get the cycle going. A shrimp or some fish food.

Otherwise it looks awesome! Thats a sweet little tank, you are going to have a blast watching it evolve.

Thanks for the reply guys! Happy you like the scape! I added a third of the bottle of the fritz turbo start saltwater 900 to get the cycle going! Does the sump look like it is set up right? Never ran a tank with a sump before. Not going to lie it is pretty loud right now. Maybe just needs to be broken in. I tried to add more water but still noisy. I am not complaining though just saying..

 

[AvaS]

for a mixed reef nano, think bonsai for stocking corals. SPS will fit the bill since most supplies are small frags that take sone time to grow and are easily trimmed (fragged)

I love the kook of spherical zoa and favia/acan colonies in nanos,

If you can keep GSP on it's own rock, othersize skip that.

I have softball sized frogspawn and duncan in my 29 gal. Started as tiny single polyps and exploded. I love the flow but they are taking up space if I were to do an SPS dominant.

I really like my candy cane/trumpets, nice and compact.

I am curios as I have two shelving montis , the purple one is still acclimating and might be a slow grower, but the red one has since doubled. I have a feeling that one could get too big for the nano faster than I want

Thanks for the stocking advice, right now I am thinking lots of acros in the top third/ half of the tank. Then some zoas mushrooms and other corals growing closer to the sandbed. And then an acan island on the bottom right. Don’t know what I want on the second island yet. I will definitely pick up a hammer or torch or something to add some movement to the tank and put it somewhere lol. I was also thinking about possibly growing monti cap on the back overflow on the sides.. could look really cool if it works right. Just ideas really. I am Really excited for this build none the less, as my first big girl real reef tank.

 

[NS Mike D]

Careful on the mushrooms, the discosoma can overrun a nano quickly.

I have my torch by itself on the lower corner (almost facing the side). They send out stingers.

One of my better nano additions was a red can bowerbanki coral. Like a huge lord acan but limited to golf ball size and I understand its a slow grower. It's a good eater so you can feed it while the tank matures

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Thanks for the reply guys! Happy you like the scape! I added a third of the bottle of the fritz turbo start saltwater 900 to get the cycle going! Does the sump look like it is set up right? Never ran a tank with a sump before. Not going to lie it is pretty loud right now. Maybe just needs to be broken in. I tried to add more water but still noisy. I am not complaining though just saying..

Unless i'm mistaken the Fritz tubostart is just nitrifying bacteria. You still need an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive/going.

 

[AvaS]

Unless i'm mistaken the Fritz tubostart is just nitrifying bacteria. You still need an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive/going.

I am actually not sure. Does anyone know if I need to add ammonia? If so what do I add? And has anyone had issues because the tank is now running very loud..

 

[AvaS]

Update!
So I got my water tested and everything is looking ok. Just added some buffer to raise my ph from 8.1 to 8.3. And we have our first inhabitants! The tank needed some nutrients so everyone recommended it’s time for some fish! I picked up a pair of platinum percuelas. They seem to be a bonded male female pair so let’s hope for the best! Sorry for the terrible picture and I will post another better one later today. The tank is still running loud so I am still working on dialing it in. My perams as of right now are:
pH= 8.1 ( I added buffer) now 8.3
NH4= 0.0
NO2= 0.0
NO3= 0.0
Salinity = 1.0255
Please let me know if there is anything I need to do to adjust my perameters other then the buffer I added and the fish to increase nutrients in the system.

Thanks, let me know your thoughts and any other tips!
And I need name recommendations for the happy couple of clowns!

*** The tank looks so blue because I took this at night when my light was running blue.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Cool! its exciting to get a your first fish in there. They look awesome to.

I wouldn't worry about a PH of 8.1! Its well within acceptable range.

Also most people don't recommend Ph buffers. Heres a quote from Randy.

"Buffers alone are not generally a good method for raising pH because they raise pH relatively little, and often result in excessive alkalinity. Unfortunately, the labels on many commercial buffers are written in ways that convince aquarists that their pH will be fine if they just add some buffer. More often than not, the pH is not improved for more than a day, and the alkalinity rises above desired limits."

From his website here.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php

Just a heads up!