70l Nano Journal

[JaminRat]

Not Arcadia, it's made by Silver Sun and I bought it on ebay. It was a real bargain.

Got mine a little cheaper as it had a few scuffs on it but well impressed with the quality.

 

[SkiFletch]

Looks fantastic, I love that cascade look

 

[voo]

Looks like a good start! I'd be tempted to put the heater much lower down for 2 reason:

1. hide it behind the rock so it's less unsightly.
2. it wont get damaged during water changes

 

[JaminRat]

I did have the heater hiden dehind the rockwork but it wasn't holding a stable temp so moved it I may have a play with it later but at the moment it trying to find a compromise between maintaining a stable temp and being hidden.

By the way what temps are people running? Currently I'm pretty stable @ 78°F/25°C rising above but not dropping below if you know what I mean.

 

[JaminRat]

Update time again. Well Christmas has struck in my house and I got home from work to find that my tank had been decorated.

On the plus side though looks like the cycle has started stats as below.
Temp 79°F
SG 1.025
PH 8.0
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0.25ppm
Nitrate 0 - 12.5ppm (need to get a better test kit)

Also I'm starting to think about clean up crew so any suggestions welcomed. Final stock will include a pair of true clowns and a pistol shrimp goby pair.

 

[stang1]

Love the tank! Nothing is safe when it comes to women and decorations!

 

[maidenfan]

looks very nice
hope it doesnt give my lot ideas thou
we could av a bit of fun though why not have a best decorated tank for xmas thread

 

[JaminRat]

looks very nice
hope it doesnt give my lot ideas thou
we could av a bit of fun though why not have a best decorated tank for xmas thread

Sounds like a plan. My entry as above

Could someone refresh my memory on quantities but I'm thinking of the following critters for clean up crew. Red leg hermit, peppermint shrimp, cleaner shrimp, cerith snail, mithrax crab and possibly a sea star/ brittle star of some kind but not sure if they would be suitable for a nano.

 

[Chac]

Cleaner Chrimp arent really clean up crew as really they dont do a lot of cleaning, IMO a starfish wouldnt be suitable for a nano

Usual rule of thumb is 1 cleaner per gallon

 

[JaminRat]

Thanks for the quick response Chac.

So the cleaner shrimp would be better added further down the line after fish have been added. do any of the above need to be in groups. I was thinking 2-3 Red leg hermits, 1 Mithrax crab, 2-3 peppermint shrimp and the rest of the crew made up of snails. Is there anything else I should consider adding or would the above take of the task?

 

[SkiFletch]

Cerith and Nassarius snails should be in every crew IMO . Youv'e got some good carrion eaters and scavengers listed above but you need some more algae and detritus eating snails

 

[JaminRat]

Great stuff so final choice being:
3 x Red leg hermits
1 x Mithrax crab
2 x Peppermint shrimp
5 x Cerith snails
5 x Nassarius snails

I'll pay a visit to my friendly LFS tomorrow and find out the lead time on them. Thanks again Ski

OK update time again. I'm finding these readings a little odd but I don't know if that is because of my FW knowledge.
Ammonia 0.25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm
PH 8.2
SG 1.025
Temp 79F

I have moved the Seio to give more surface agitation which has raised my PH so now I'm happy with that and I've moved the heater behind the LR to hide it and after some playing have it all working and maintaining a stable temp. All good so far.

Now the problem I have noticed the substrate and LR turning brown over the past 2 days. I assume this is Diatom but am unsure so have included a few pictures. Will my clean up crew take care of this obviously I'm not putting them in with the levels as are.

My cycle seems to be going backward if you get my meaning can anyone explain.?

Thanks
Ben

 

[SkiFletch]

New tank, brown algae? 99% of the time its Diatoms

 

[JaminRat]

Quick update time again.

I've moved the heater behind the rock pile and now just the top inch of so is visible which looks much better. The flow direction has been changed a little to give more surface agitation which opened a whole can of worms. First few days was great with PH raising from 8.0 to 8.2 with no buffer added but then I noticed that the Seio was sucking in air from the surface but only once every hour or so. Then began the problems to lower the pump in the water I had to take down some of the rock pile no probs so far moved the pump to a position I was happy with and though 'while I'm here I'll lower the pile so that it doesn't break the surface on WC's' but then the problem. I just can't get the rock pile as it was or how I like it. Prior to this I was 95% happy with it now it's more like 60% and I keep getting the urge to try moving it around again.

Now for the good news. I've ordered my clean up crew and they'll be here on Thursday. Getting excited and been re-reading acclimatisation guides to get ready. Nearly brought home the hermits and shrimps yesterday but managed to resist the temptation.

More pictures later.

 

[mrjames]

good thread! good luck mate