V A R I A N T
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Any updates? How is this tank doing?
Shallow Long Nano Build
- Nano Build
- Thread starter Clownfishy
- Start date
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OP
OP
Clownfishy
Well-Known Member
Well it has been just over a year since starting this long shallow nano reef aquarium so I thought I would provide another update -
For someone like myself who has been in this hobby for decades, I am surprised this reef has been such a challenge for the first 12 months. I put this down to two key issues. Firstly the rock I used was loaded with phosphate so as I kept trying different methods to resolve this, I caused stability issues. Secondly, I had some kind of bacterial infestation which affected a lot of my corals and caused Slow Tissue Necrosis (STN).
First Issue - Phosphate
I tried all the usual phosphate reduction methods and the only thing that kept them under some kind of control was NOPOX. In my previous reef aquarium, I overdosed NOPOX and caused Dino’s. This was not the fault of the product, it was my stupidity. This time I slowly increased the dose and found that at the start, I had to dose 3-5ml a day just to keep my phosphate 0.1ppm - 0.2ppm. Although this worked, that much NOPOX dosing in a 75 litre reef aquarium caused other issues. Firstly, the massive increase in bacteria created a lot of white stringy bacteria growth on everything to the point where it impacted the effectiveness of pumps, skimmers and probes. Secondly, the pH dropped adding this much NOPOX. I tried to ignore the bacteria growth and focused on boosting the pH in an attempt to increase coral growth so the corals would take up more nutrients. I will not go into the detail on what I did in this post unless someone is interested but just to say that my water chemistry became unbalanced so I have ended up back where I started and now focus on stability and living with slightly higher NItrates and Phosphates. As I have added more corals, my phosphate has lowered slightly but I think I have come to a point where this aquarium will always have higher phosphate levels than most feel is acceptable.
Second Issue - Bacterial Infection
To this day I am not 100% what I had but I feel it was the 24 hour power cut that was the start of all my problems. During the powercut, the pH and temperature plummeted and although my battery backed up Tunzes kept the water moving, I believe this was enough to destabilise the ecosystem. I did not notice anything in the first week after the powercut but very soon afterwards, the corals started to lose their flesh and die over a long time. It was not until I started to dip the remaining corals in Red Sea’s DipX that I managed to save some of them. In some cases, it took several dips over several weeks to stop the die off. In addition to this, I started to dose Dr Tims eco balance. I cannot say for sure the Dr Timms dosing helped but I felt like it did some good and have continued dosing it. It also has a notable impact on the reduction of phosphate a day after dosing. I continue to be vigilant and I hope I do not go through this again and the last few corals I have purchased are not showing any signs of stress.
Well that is it for another year and if I make any further changes, I will update this thread again.
Many thanks
For someone like myself who has been in this hobby for decades, I am surprised this reef has been such a challenge for the first 12 months. I put this down to two key issues. Firstly the rock I used was loaded with phosphate so as I kept trying different methods to resolve this, I caused stability issues. Secondly, I had some kind of bacterial infestation which affected a lot of my corals and caused Slow Tissue Necrosis (STN).
First Issue - Phosphate
I tried all the usual phosphate reduction methods and the only thing that kept them under some kind of control was NOPOX. In my previous reef aquarium, I overdosed NOPOX and caused Dino’s. This was not the fault of the product, it was my stupidity. This time I slowly increased the dose and found that at the start, I had to dose 3-5ml a day just to keep my phosphate 0.1ppm - 0.2ppm. Although this worked, that much NOPOX dosing in a 75 litre reef aquarium caused other issues. Firstly, the massive increase in bacteria created a lot of white stringy bacteria growth on everything to the point where it impacted the effectiveness of pumps, skimmers and probes. Secondly, the pH dropped adding this much NOPOX. I tried to ignore the bacteria growth and focused on boosting the pH in an attempt to increase coral growth so the corals would take up more nutrients. I will not go into the detail on what I did in this post unless someone is interested but just to say that my water chemistry became unbalanced so I have ended up back where I started and now focus on stability and living with slightly higher NItrates and Phosphates. As I have added more corals, my phosphate has lowered slightly but I think I have come to a point where this aquarium will always have higher phosphate levels than most feel is acceptable.
Second Issue - Bacterial Infection
To this day I am not 100% what I had but I feel it was the 24 hour power cut that was the start of all my problems. During the powercut, the pH and temperature plummeted and although my battery backed up Tunzes kept the water moving, I believe this was enough to destabilise the ecosystem. I did not notice anything in the first week after the powercut but very soon afterwards, the corals started to lose their flesh and die over a long time. It was not until I started to dip the remaining corals in Red Sea’s DipX that I managed to save some of them. In some cases, it took several dips over several weeks to stop the die off. In addition to this, I started to dose Dr Tims eco balance. I cannot say for sure the Dr Timms dosing helped but I felt like it did some good and have continued dosing it. It also has a notable impact on the reduction of phosphate a day after dosing. I continue to be vigilant and I hope I do not go through this again and the last few corals I have purchased are not showing any signs of stress.
Aquarium Equipment
Most of the equipment I used to setup the aquarium has worked out well and I have only made a couple of changes. My PowerWalker UPS which I used to power 1 heater in the event of a power cut failed so I have just purchased a X-Dragon lithium power station to run the a 100watt heater. This will hopefully buy me some time (approx 1.5 hours) and either the power would be restored or I will fire up the generator. I have only just ordered this so cannot comment yet how effective this will be. I have also added an Apex DOS for kalkwasser and NOPOX dosing and are now just using the Coralbox doser for Calcium, Alkalinity and Mineral dosing.| Lighting | 2 x TMC Reef-Photon 84w |
| Pumps | 2 x Tunze 9040 |
| Pump Battery Backup | 2 x Tunze Safety Connecter 2 x Lucas LSLA20-12 12V 20AH Sealed Rechargeable Battery 2 x Maypole 12v 7423A Battery Charger |
| Skimmer | Tunze 9004 DC (connected to a C02 scrubber) |
| Heater | 2 x Aquael Ultra Heater 100w (I think these are branded Cobalt in the US) |
| Heater Battery Backup | X-DRAGON Portable Power Station 200Wh/54000mAh PowerWalker UPS |
| Dosers | Coralbox (Alkalinity, Calcium Minerals) Apex DOS (Kalkwasser, NOPOX) |
| Computer Controller | Neptune Apex 2016 2 x EB6 (UK energy bar) |
| Aqara Hub | Water sensor (detect if doser leaks) |
Water Chemistry
Water chemistry is far more balanced now and I dose equal amounts of Calcium, Alkalinity and Mineral dosing. I have also switched to Red Sea blue bucket salt. As I have added more corals, increased the lighting intensity and lowered my NOPOX dosing, I have seen a slight bump in my pH. With 3 people and two dogs in a relatively small house, I don't think I will see much more of an increase due to the C02 levels in the house.| Salt | Red Sea Blue Bucket Fritz Reef Pro Mix (blue box) |
| Temperature | 25c (77f) |
| pH | 7.95 - 8.15 (increased from 7.8 - 8.1) |
| Alkalinity | 8.5 (increase from 8) |
| Calcium | 450-460 |
| Magnesium | 1320 (decrease from1450) |
| Potassium | 430 |
| Nitrate | 15 (increase from 5 - 10) |
| Phosphate | 0.1 - 0.2 (now dosing NOPOX) |
| Water Changes | 20% per week |
| Carbon | Replace 1 tablespoon weekly (placed in passive flow) |
| Rowaphos | Replace 3 teaspoons weekly (placed in passive flow) |
Dosing
Now I have resolved my water chemistry instability, I am now able to dos equal parts of Alkalinity, Calcium and Minerals. I have also added NOPOX and bacteria to my dosing schedule. If my phosphate ever comes down, I am hoping I can reduce or stop both of these but that seems some way off yet.| Alkalinity | Soda ash (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe) | 10ml over 24 hours |
| Calcium | Calcium Chloride (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe) | 10ml over 24 hours |
| Trace | Aquaforest Reef Mineral Salt | 10ml over 24 hours |
| Kalkwasser | Calcium hydroxide | 160ml when lights are off. |
| NOPOX | Red Sea NOPOX | 1.5ml during the peak lighting |
| Bacteria | Dr Tims Eco Balance Brightwell Microbacter Clean | 2 capfuls twice a week 1 capful a week |
Fish
| Azure Damselfish x 2 | Chrysiptera hemicyanea |
| Six Line Wrasse x 1 | Pseudocheilinus hexataenia |
| Common Clownfish x 2 | Amphiprion ocellaris |
| Green Reef Chromis x 4 | Chromis viridis |
Summary
On the whole, I have been happy with the setup and love the low maintenance that comes with a Nano. I love the Tunze equipment, especially the 9004 DC skimmer as it is easy to control and skims the surface of the water perfectly so I never suffer from that layer of oil film you see in nano tanks that do not have a back filter chamber. I will keep the battery backups and fully recommend everyone to have at least their pumps on some kind of backup. One of the next changes I am considering is moving the Tunze skimmer onto its own battery to provide skimming during a power outage and to ensure my pH is maintained.Well that is it for another year and if I make any further changes, I will update this thread again.
Many thanks
Last edited:
OP
OP
Clownfishy
Well-Known Member
Some minor changes to the shallow long nano reef -
I have now connected the Tunze 9004DC to an 18ah lithium battery which should keep the skimmer powered for a few hours in the event of a power cut. Although my 2 Tunze pumps have been on battery backup, I noticed my pH really dropped quite a bit during power cuts . I appreciate the lights not being on would be the main cause but I would like a bit more oxygen during power cuts and with the Tunze kit, it is very easy adding battery backups.
The second change has been to take out my CoralBox doser and replace it with another Apex DOS. I have a love hate relationship with the Apex DOS but overall, there accuracy, maintaining calibration and control ability through the Apex won me over. The noise from them is very load so I sound proofed the cabinet to resolve this. Their biggest issue is they cannot work independent of Apex so if the Apex dies, all dosing stops. For this, I will be buying a second hand Apex as a spare once I see a good deal.
I am slowly adding corals and just sent away for another ICP test so will provide some more updates soon.
I have now connected the Tunze 9004DC to an 18ah lithium battery which should keep the skimmer powered for a few hours in the event of a power cut. Although my 2 Tunze pumps have been on battery backup, I noticed my pH really dropped quite a bit during power cuts . I appreciate the lights not being on would be the main cause but I would like a bit more oxygen during power cuts and with the Tunze kit, it is very easy adding battery backups.
The second change has been to take out my CoralBox doser and replace it with another Apex DOS. I have a love hate relationship with the Apex DOS but overall, there accuracy, maintaining calibration and control ability through the Apex won me over. The noise from them is very load so I sound proofed the cabinet to resolve this. Their biggest issue is they cannot work independent of Apex so if the Apex dies, all dosing stops. For this, I will be buying a second hand Apex as a spare once I see a good deal.
I am slowly adding corals and just sent away for another ICP test so will provide some more updates soon.
Gumbies R Us
Another Fish in the Sea
Tank looks great!!Well it has been just over a year since starting this long shallow nano reef aquarium so I thought I would provide another update -
For someone like myself who has been in this hobby for decades, I am surprised this reef has been such a challenge for the first 12 months. I put this down to two key issues. Firstly the rock I used was loaded with phosphate so as I kept trying different methods to resolve this, I caused stability issues. Secondly, I had some kind of bacterial infestation which affected a lot of my corals and caused Slow Tissue Necrosis (STN).
First Issue - Phosphate
I tried all the usual phosphate reduction methods and the only thing that kept them under some kind of control was NOPOX. In my previous reef aquarium, I overdosed NOPOX and caused Dino’s. This was not the fault of the product, it was my stupidity. This time I slowly increased the dose and found that at the start, I had to dose 3-5ml a day just to keep my phosphate 0.1ppm - 0.2ppm. Although this worked, that much NOPOX dosing in a 75 litre reef aquarium caused other issues. Firstly, the massive increase in bacteria created a lot of white stringy bacteria growth on everything to the point where it impacted the effectiveness of pumps, skimmers and probes. Secondly, the pH dropped adding this much NOPOX. I tried to ignore the bacteria growth and focused on boosting the pH in an attempt to increase coral growth so the corals would take up more nutrients. I will not go into the detail on what I did in this post unless someone is interested but just to say that my water chemistry became unbalanced so I have ended up back where I started and now focus on stability and living with slightly higher NItrates and Phosphates. As I have added more corals, my phosphate has lowered slightly but I think I have come to a point where this aquarium will always have higher phosphate levels than most feel is acceptable.
Second Issue - Bacterial Infection
To this day I am not 100% what I had but I feel it was the 24 hour power cut that was the start of all my problems. During the powercut, the pH and temperature plummeted and although my battery backed up Tunzes kept the water moving, I believe this was enough to destabilise the ecosystem. I did not notice anything in the first week after the powercut but very soon afterwards, the corals started to lose their flesh and die over a long time. It was not until I started to dip the remaining corals in Red Sea’s DipX that I managed to save some of them. In some cases, it took several dips over several weeks to stop the die off. In addition to this, I started to dose Dr Tims eco balance. I cannot say for sure the Dr Timms dosing helped but I felt like it did some good and have continued dosing it. It also has a notable impact on the reduction of phosphate a day after dosing. I continue to be vigilant and I hope I do not go through this again and the last few corals I have purchased are not showing any signs of stress.
Aquarium Equipment
Most of the equipment I used to setup the aquarium has worked out well and I have only made a couple of changes. My PowerWalker UPS which I used to power 1 heater in the event of a power cut failed so I have just purchased a X-Dragon lithium power station to run the a 100watt heater. This will hopefully buy me some time (approx 1.5 hours) and either the power would be restored or I will fire up the generator. I have only just ordered this so cannot comment yet how effective this will be. I have also added an Apex DOS for kalkwasser and NOPOX dosing and are now just using the Coralbox doser for Calcium, Alkalinity and Mineral dosing.
Lighting 2 x TMC Reef-Photon 84w Pumps 2 x Tunze 9040 Pump Battery Backup 2 x Tunze Safety Connecter
2 x Lucas LSLA20-12 12V 20AH Sealed Rechargeable Battery
2 x Maypole 12v 7423A Battery ChargerSkimmer Tunze 9004 DC
(connected to a C02 scrubber)Heater 2 x Aquael Ultra Heater 100w (I think these are branded Cobalt in the US) Heater Battery Backup X-DRAGON Portable Power Station 200Wh/54000mAh
PowerWalker UPSDosers Coralbox (Alkalinity, Calcium Minerals)
Apex DOS (Kalkwasser, NOPOX)Computer Controller Neptune Apex 2016
2 x EB6 (UK energy bar)Aqara Hub Water sensor (detect if doser leaks)
Water Chemistry
Water chemistry is far more balanced now and I dose equal amounts of Calcium, Alkalinity and Mineral dosing. I have also switched to Red Sea blue bucket salt. As I have added more corals, increased the lighting intensity and lowered my NOPOX dosing, I have seen a slight bump in my pH. With 3 people and two dogs in a relatively small house, I don't think I will see much more of an increase due to the C02 levels in the house.
Salt Red Sea Blue Bucket
Fritz Reef Pro Mix (blue box)Temperature 25c (77f) pH 7.95 - 8.15 (increased from 7.8 - 8.1) Alkalinity 8.5 (increase from 8) Calcium 450-460 Magnesium 1320 (decrease from1450) Potassium 430 Nitrate 15 (increase from 5 - 10) Phosphate 0.1 - 0.2 (now dosing NOPOX) Water Changes 20% per week Carbon Replace 1 tablespoon weekly (placed in passive flow) Rowaphos Replace 3 teaspoons weekly (placed in passive flow)
Dosing
Now I have resolved my water chemistry instability, I am now able to dos equal parts of Alkalinity, Calcium and Minerals. I have also added NOPOX and bacteria to my dosing schedule. If my phosphate ever comes down, I am hoping I can reduce or stop both of these but that seems some way off yet.
Alkalinity Soda ash (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe) 10ml over 24 hours Calcium Calcium Chloride (Randy Holmes-Farley recipe) 10ml over 24 hours Trace Aquaforest Reef Mineral Salt 10ml over 24 hours Kalkwasser Calcium hydroxide 160ml when lights are off. NOPOX Red Sea NOPOX 1.5ml during the peak lighting Bacteria Dr Tims Eco Balance
Brightwell Microbacter Clean2 capfuls twice a week
1 capful a week
Fish
Azure Damselfish x 2 Chrysiptera hemicyanea Six Line Wrasse x 1 Pseudocheilinus hexataenia Common Clownfish x 2 Amphiprion ocellaris Green Reef Chromis x 4 Chromis viridis
Summary
On the whole, I have been happy with the setup and love the low maintenance that comes with a Nano. I love the Tunze equipment, especially the 9004 DC skimmer as it is easy to control and skims the surface of the water perfectly so I never suffer from that layer of oil film you see in nano tanks that do not have a back filter chamber. I will keep the battery backups and fully recommend everyone to have at least their pumps on some kind of backup. One of the next changes I am considering is moving the Tunze skimmer onto its own battery to provide skimming during a power outage and to ensure my pH is maintained.
Well that is it for another year and if I make any further changes, I will update this thread again.
Many thanks
OP
OP
Clownfishy
Well-Known Member
A small improvement on the way I dose Kalkwasser. I felt I needed to ensure the Kalk was well mixed everyday before dosing and had considered purchasing a Kalk Stirrer. However, I decided to make my own by purchasing a second hand acrylic container and ordering a cheap magnetic stirrer I place the the acrylic container onto of the magnetic stirrer and every morning at 9am after the dosing has finished, the magnetic stirrer mixes the Kalk that has previously settled out for 15 minutes. This then has the rest of the day to settle ready for when the dosing starts again at 7:30pm. You will notice in one of the pictures that I have a water leak detector at the base of the magnetic stirrer just in case the acrylic cylinder leaks.
Magnetic Stirrer Schedule
Magnetic Stirrer
Acrylic Container
Kalkwasser (after stirring)
Magnetic Stirrer Schedule
Magnetic Stirrer
Acrylic Container
Kalkwasser (after stirring)
Simply beautiful tank congratulations!
Any chance you can take some pics of equipment in back especially
Tunze 9004 DC
(connected to a C02 scrubber)
Wanting to start a nano and not sure if it will be AIO, sump, or like yours with all equipment, filtration in the display.
Any chance you can take some pics of equipment in back especially
Tunze 9004 DC
(connected to a C02 scrubber)
Wanting to start a nano and not sure if it will be AIO, sump, or like yours with all equipment, filtration in the display.
OP
OP
Clownfishy
Well-Known Member
Hi, here is a picture of the skimmer connected to the C02 scrubber. I simple bypass the air silencer on the skimmer and connect the air intake directly into an on DI canister from an old RO unit. I fill the canister up with Soda lime which I brought from a dive shop. I change the soda lime every 2 weeks.
I love the Tunze 9004 DC, it skims all the film off the surface of the water and as you can see from the third picture, it is hardly noticeable behind the corals.
Hope that helps but if you want to see anything else, just let me know.
Good luck on with your nano.
Skimmer Connection To C02 Scrubber
Soda Lime
In Tank Skimmer
I love the Tunze 9004 DC, it skims all the film off the surface of the water and as you can see from the third picture, it is hardly noticeable behind the corals.
Hope that helps but if you want to see anything else, just let me know.
Good luck on with your nano.
Skimmer Connection To C02 Scrubber
Soda Lime
In Tank Skimmer
kevgib67
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I don’t think that you thought out this build, ha. Great looking tank, you IT guys make your systems hands off!
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