TMC 600 Nano - UK

[Rosie]

A Long Overdue Tank Update!​

I didn’t realise how long it’s been since I posted an update on my tank, I’m not sure where to start!

I’m actually really happy with it at the moment! :D I came across a full tank photo from February and it really made me smile when I looked at my tank and how far it’s come. I’m seeing some great SPS growth as well after switching my LEDs to T5s, I think the only thing I miss about LEDs is the colour pop. I was actually contemplating putting a reefbrite strip on the ATI fixture but I cant really justify the cost at the moment. However, I have come across some T5 LED bulbs which I’m keen to try as a combination with my current T5 bulbs.

I’m also managing to keep on top of the algae which is a relief! I used Vibrant for a couple of months and along with my CUC it’s worked wonders!! I stopped using it after two months and the CUC have managed to keep on top of it since then.

I removed the Kenya tree last month as it started self fragging and the frags quickly latched on to my rock work and started rapidly growing, i’m still plucking frags of it out of my tank.... I was a bit unsure about how to remove it, I’d read a few stories that it released toxins into tanks when removed. Luckily I managed to pull (well more like twist) the root of it off the rock and it came away nicely. :)

I’m still finding the odd aiptasia but I’m taking them out one by one with Kalk paste when they pop up.

Lastly, these are my most recent parameters:

Nitrate: 1 ppm
Phosphate: 0.015 ppm
Alkalinity: 7.7 DKH
Calcium: 440 ppm
Magnesium: 1425 ppm

My Nitrates and Phosphates are lower than I’d like, they were both running at 0 for a while so I’ve increased my feeding (which the fish are greatly appreciating!) and managed to get a reading on both parameters. My Mag is a little higher than recommend but I’m not too worried about that, i’m just letting it drop naturally.

I think thats about it for the update, I’ll try not to leave it as long for the next update! :D

 

[StacyW]

Hi Stacy!

Thank you :)

I’m sorry I haven’t got back to you sooner! I tried the mud trays and cheato floating in the sump but I never had any luck with it, looking back I think the sump lighting was my problem. I ended up buying a TMC Reef Bio Grow when my Nitrates and Phosphates started increasing and it worked really well, the cheato growth was fantastic! If anything though, it worked too well.... I had to take it offline after a while as it stripped my tank of both Nitrates and Phosphates and i’m now trying to increase them again.... I’m sorry if this hasn’t helped.

I took a picture of my sump for you (it’s a bit of a mess). The Bio Grow was squeezed into the same compartment as my skimmer but i’ve Just lifted it out the way for now. :)

Hi Rosie, thanks for the reply which has helped to decide the course of action to take. I have decided to replace the sump with a new custom sump in Acrylic from Atomic Reactor. So I could save some space in the sump to have a proper refugium.

Replacing the sump was nessessary to avoid me wasting room in the sump and spending more money on reactors to deal with the excess nutrients. As you mentioned, light is a nessessatity for a refugium so im using an ai prime and hope this will work.

 

[StacyW]

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[SPR1968]

Beautiful Nano tank Rosie, very nice indeed!

And the progress shots are great as well

 

[Rosie]

Beautiful Nano tank Rosie, very nice indeed!

And the progress shots are great as well
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Thank you!! I was looking through (drooling over) your amazing build thread the other day, so your comment means a lot! :-)