Nano Reef Aquapod 24 Gal

NO!!!!!!!!! TOO EARLY!!!!! You're still cycling. YIKES. SH

Looks like it's already dead

It's unlikely to extend with Nitrites present and High Nitrates.

Sorry, that was the introduction picture, about 1 hour after the 2-3 hour acclimation period. Heres a couple of better pics taken today.


Zebra Hermit wanted face time.

Looks like this guy is thriving.

That's not thriving..that's alive for now. Just a cautionary note.....meant as a help..this is NOT the way to start off marine reef keeping let alone NANO reefing. I have seen others add livestock with normal numbers and then realize the cycle was not complete, but NEVER yet seen someone place a coral in a tank with nitrite and high nitrates in there. Corals have no place in a cycling marine tank.

For the sake of your new tank, I STRONGLY advise you to wait for your tank to complete cycling, reduce the nitrate levels to less than dangerous with water changes and THEN start your tank stocking. Corals shouldnt even go near your tank for weeks even until the instability smooths out.
SH

SH, water parameters are: ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 5.0 - this was done by myself and a sample done by LFS. The LFS said it was time for me to add livestock, but I'll take your advice and wait a couple of weeks. I definetly want to do this right. When I tested the nitrites at home it read .25-.50 using the hagen master test kit. The LFS as I witnessed was at 0, they were using the saltwater master liquid test kit. This was done yesterday morning. Thank you SH for the heads up. Lets just hope that the coral added will be okay and that the cycle wont be affected.

Patience is the most valuable thing you can have in this hobby. You cant buy it in any shop, its something you have to learn and work hard at, some gifted people have this gift already and it usually shows in their tanks! Take things very slowly. Its very easy to upset a tank of this size (even with my experience we have had a few losses with my wifes nano over the last few days), things can run ou to fhand very fast and with little or no experience you could have a potential disaster on your hands. )

I can't agree more with Navarre. Akillez....rushing and forcing the tank will be your undoing. These systems just can't handle it. I've read more nano tank crash posts than I'd like to see. We've had at least 2 in this section so far.

Even tho' your numbers may improve, your tank is about to go thru a maturation process that can be turbulent to say the least. Hair algae...cyanobacteria...pH swings...bubble algae. You can't cram a coral in there during cycling. Most of us didn't add corals for WEEKS after the cycling ended.

I understand your impatience and excitement to 'reef out' your tank. It won't work at your accelerated pace. When a large tank takes a hit..a dead fish e.g, if you don't realize it in time, you have water volume to briefly absorb the hit. In YOUR tank, you experience what we call in the biz 'a crash'. The action is called 'nuking' your tank.

Slow it down. Don't add any more corals. The next addition should be your cleanup crew when diatoms appear and your nitrates are below ten. In another week or two your first fish can go in. SLOW MY FRIEND...slow. SH

A few things added recently. - Happy Saint Patricks Day.
Live rock total is about 35-40 lbs.
Added Carribean LR 20 lbs. (Int Marine Fish) 79.95
Kailani Shelf LR 3.5 lbs. (ebay) 27.50
Fiji LR 11 lbs. (LFS) 39.67*
Fiji LR 1 lb. Rubble (LFS) 6.47*
Power Sweep 214 (Aq. Guys) 13.99
Refugium 7w Halogen light (Reptile Supply) 19.79
Via Aqua Pump 306/526 gph max. (Ebay) 22.90
Mix n Match Special/Amphipods, mini brittle stars, macroalgae, bristle worm, live sand, etc. (indo-pac) 99.95
Cleaning Crew/ 6 Hermits, 6 snails and 1 cleaner shrimp (LFS) 30.95*
Catalina real ocean water 5 gal. x 1 (petco) 10.76
total here: $351.93
total prior to this list: $820.15 this itemized list shown on page 1.
[b]grand total to date is $1172.08[/b]
*these item have LV tax applied.
Also heres my water readings for today.
Temp 79* degrees
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ph 8.3
dkh 9
Calcium 500 ppm
Specif. Gravity 1.025
phosphate .05
I will be doing a 10% water change later today. Hopefully on Monday, I can Add my first fish (FireFish).
Heres the latest pic of the tank.




Night shot w/ blue lunar lights.

Heres a couple more pics of the anthelia, these are night shots. Check out the algae growing on the LR.

W/O flash.

W/flash, Anthelia has grown to about twice its size.

Those phosphates may be from your cycle. Keep an eye on them because even that amount is enough to feed an algae bloom. Looks like your back on track....I wouldn't add any corals for now...wait a few weeks...even a month or so. This is when the nasties come to visit. SH

Im thinking of adding a UV sterilizer. In the past Marine Tanks I've had, I've never had a unit installed in any of my tanks. SH or whoever, do you think that the UV Sterilizer is something useful and worth the cost?

I Decided to add a pair of False Percula Clowns. I also added 2 Feather dusters, 1 is the Hawaiian giant and the other a white Dwarf. I did a water change today of 10%, and also replaced my sponge filter. Water parameters are still the same readings accept no phosphates showing. Since adding the stock pump to the main tank as a power head, I've noticed that the water temp was fluctuating 2 degrees in a 24 hour period. So I decided to do away with the powersweep 214 and my heater, I believe the constant movement of the powersweep might be omitting too much heat. My temperature has been constant this past week after taking the items out, at about 78.4 degrees in the day, at night about 77.9 degrees. I found that the heater was starting to move my temp out into the 80's (nothing real drastic the highest 80.7), even with the heater being turned all the way down. For whoever is reading my log, keep in mind if your starting a tank, all those gadgets you add to the tank (powerheads, pumps, heater, uv sterilizer, Skimmers, refugium light, etc) you will see a steady incline in temp. Also the adding of live rock will give you less area of water, that of course will show in the temp rising too.

False Percula Clowns aka "Ocellaris" both approx. 3/4 inch. tank bred.

Whole tank shot.


Heres another tank shot with the percula clowns, Clowning around

Your tank's starting to look really good. I hope mine turns out so nice.

akillez-13 said:

Im thinking of adding a UV sterilizer. In the past Marine Tanks I've had, I've never had a unit installed in any of my tanks. SH or whoever, do you think that the UV Sterilizer is something useful and worth the cost?

Click to expand...

I'd say that they're a great piece of optional equipment to have and just set one up myself. They do wonders against parasitic and algal infestations. To me, saving my fish from Ich is worth the investment

SkiFletch said:

akillez-13 said:

Im thinking of adding a UV sterilizer. In the past Marine Tanks I've had, I've never had a unit installed in any of my tanks. SH or whoever, do you think that the UV Sterilizer is something useful and worth the cost?

Click to expand...

I'd say that they're a great piece of optional equipment to have and just set one up myself. They do wonders against parasitic and algal infestations. To me, saving my fish from Ich is worth the investment

Click to expand...

Can you suggest a brand and what size gph should I get for this 24 gallon tank?