Pico 20G from North Carolina.

[Berlibee]

Hello guys,

My name is Alexey and I'm from Raleigh, NC. Last Christmas I've started my first reef tank. Pico 20g. I would like to share it here, I'm pretty sure I'll have more questions about and this place looks great. Here is my current setup.

Setup:

Tank: PicO 20G
Skimmer and air pump: PicO SkiM 2.0 with Tetra Whisper 40.
Stand: PicO 20G stand
Light: Kessil 360WE
Controller: Kessil Controller
Pump: P10 Vortech
ATO: Tunze 3152 Automatic Top off Nano

Start: December, 2014
Last Update: November 2, 2015

Livestock:

x1 Fire Shrimp
x1 Pistol Candy Shrimp paired with (*)
x1 Yellow Gobby (*)
x1 Clownfish
x1 Christmas Wrasse
x1 Anthias
x1 Sand Sifting Starfish

Dosing:

Twice a week x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Sponge Power
Daily x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Coral Vitalizer Coral Food

Daily - E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium Buffer 2.5 ml. of each.

CUC:

x12 Small Hermits
x12 Black Foot Trochus Snails
And more more from reefcleaners.org

Corals:

First SPS:

Live Rocks from Tampa Bay:

After 10 months from the start I've decided to "upgrade" my rocks. I've started my system with BRS Pukani Dry Live Rock and I've decided to change 75% of the rocks to Tbsaltwater live rocks. Here is few shots of how they looks like and what you can found on them.

 

[Berlibee]

Now is the question that I'm really looking for help from you guys. I'd like to upgrade to an CAD Lights Artisan II 70g tank in like 10 months or so and I'm looking to buy some upgrades for the current setup for Christmas. I've decided to go with Apex + New Skimmer ( PLS-50 Elite Professional Nano skimmer ) + Reactor ( Innovative Marine MiniMax All-In-One Media Reactor ) + Neptune Systems DOS - Dosing and Fluid Metering System. But then I've realised that if I'm thinking about an upgrade to a larger tank with sump I will just lose money with nano skimmer and nano reactor, I will not use them as soon as I'll upgrade. So my question is how would you do it, maybe I can upgrade the light to a T5 something like ATI 24 Inch 6x24W Dimmable SunPower T5 High-Output Fixture w/ Controller and sell my Kessil 360WE, also sell the MP10 and get MP40. So something that I will use right now but I will use after on the larger tank as well, to not just lose money during the upgrade later with things that I'll need to change anyway. So any plans are super welcome and suggestions about the equipment. Thank you very much!

 

[Berlibee]

A little bit more info about the tank that I would like to have, so what is the goal:

Tank: 70-gallon Artisan II aquarium (35.5” x 23.5” x 18”)
Light: EcoTech Marine Radion XR30w Gen3 LED Light Fixtures
One XR30 provides coverage for 30x30 inches to a depth of 36 inches when hung 9 inches above the water. So I think one light is enough for Artisan II 70g.
Skimmer: Not sure yet, Reef Octopus ?
Pump: EcoTech Marine VorTech MP40wQD Propeller Pump w/ Wireless QuietDrive Driver do I need two for a perfect pulse sync?
Reactor: Vertex RX-Z 1.5 Zeolith Media Reactor
ATO: Tunze 3152 Automatic Top off Nano up to 55g ... hmmmm why it's not going to work with 70g .... do I need to change it too?
Controller: Apex Controller with Lab-Grade pH Probe - Neptune Systems

I think something like this. Thank you again for helping.

 

[Berlibee]

Got today some cool new frags from the LFS. I'm just starting to add sps corals to the system, I hope so much that they'll be fine !

Will glue them tomorrow on the rocks, this night they're sleeping on the sand hehehe ....

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

Tank looks awsome! By the way what camera you using to take your pics?

 

[Berlibee]

Thank you! I'm using Canon 5D MIII + CanonEF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM

 

[Berlibee]

Today I've started dosing: Red Sea NO3 : PO4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer
Everyone looks very happy with that product. I hope I'll be too.

 

[Berlibee]

Most impressive growth rate of zoas in my tank, from 3 + 3 polyps to this in 11 months:

Rastas and Peaches from Legendary Corals.

 

[Berlibee]

Placed my order for the upgrade ! Early Christmas !

 

[Anirban]

Your tank looks great man....you got some very nice shots too

 

[NanoReefer16]

How often are you doing water changes? I have a jbj 28g nano modified with vortech mp-10qd and AI prime lights, I do once weekly water changes and do not dose anything. Started adding 2x weekly purple up to replace calcium but it drove my Alk from 8 to 11 and some of the zoas are not happy about that. What are some tips seeing how you look like you're having great success!

 

[Berlibee]

@Anirban Thanks!

 

[Berlibee]

First 11 months I was just doing one 10% water change weekly, nothing else. Changing filter floss every 3 days.
Then started to dose, at this moment It's like this:

Daily x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Sponge Power
Twice a week x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Coral Vitalizer Coral Food

Daily - E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium Buffer 2.5 ml. of each.

Several days ago started also dosing: Red Sea NO3 : PO4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer

I don't do anything special at this point I think standard plan.

 

[Anirban]

Why you dose Red sea NO3 : PO4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer? Doesn't look you have any algal problem

 

[Berlibee]

It's about nitrates. My level is around 10-15. I want it around 2-5.

 

[NanoReefer16]

First 11 months I was just doing one 10% water change weekly, nothing else. Changing filter floss every 3 days.
Then started to dose, at this moment It's like this:

Daily x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Sponge Power
Twice a week x1 Drop - Korallen-Zucht ZEOvit Coral Vitalizer Coral Food

Daily - E.S.V. B-Ionic 2-Part Calcium Buffer 2.5 ml. of each.

Several days ago started also dosing: Red Sea NO3 : PO4-X Nitrate & Phosphate Reducer

I don't do anything special at this point I think standard plan.

My tank has been up about 8 months now and am starting to get some unwanted algal growth so I think I'm in need of NO3 : NO4-X nitrate and phosphate reducer, although my phosphates are always at 0. I do believe I had a mini bloodshot anemone die in the tank a few weeks ago, it's been quite awhile since I've seen it.

 

[Berlibee]

I've got algae at 4 months, 6 months and 8 months. Always brown diatoms on the sand and some dust on rocks. But after switching to live rocks from Richard I've not problem with algae. Maybe it's rocks or just time ...

 

[NanoReefer16]

Yea that's about the timeline I've been on. All the same, just diatoms that are unsightly. My live rock was purchased as dry rock that was well cured and established at a local reef store where I was located at the time, very clean rock that had no apstasia's or sponges on them, the guy had real quality rock! The Tbliverock you have is really good looking! I live about 30 minutes from Tampa so I may go check them out.

 

[Berlibee]

Oh you need to check them out man!

 

[rmiles54]

Great looking tank! What LFS are you using in Raleigh? I may be visiting some friends that way in a few weeks and would love to browse their inventory.