Top notch BigC. I have to admit last time i saw this thread it was the part where the siliconing the back wall with biorb media
Well that seems a long, long time ago. And various folks are attempting the same idea and improving upon it.
Can you give me a spec and maintinance of your tank?
Okay!
Tank is a standard self made 24x12x18 all glass tank (with sliding coverglasses to keep critters in) Drilled with 25mm overflow into 20mm drain.
Sump is a small 12x12x18 all glass tank with 3 compartments
1st compartment intake chamber holds Carbon and Rowaphos.
2nd Compartment houses Cheato algae and my Nano Skimmer
3rd Compartment contains small frags and LR and that dreaded Pistol Shrimp.
Return pump is an Eheim Hobby 1250 pump, which sits outside the sump due to space limitations
The sump is lit 24/7. I now culture Rotifers and Copepods in vessels alongside the sump. Next to the brineshrimp hatchery.
The main tank has a aragonite sand bed to a depth of 50mm
Live rock totals around 30kgs maybe a little more.
Lighting is provided via 2x 55w T5 Interpet Power Compacts (1 daylight, 1 daylight/blue) & 1x 36w T5 Internet Power Compact (daylight/blue)
Alongside the Eheim return pump 2x Maxijets complete the circulation job (1x mj600 and 1x mj900)
CUC is pretty extensive for a nano and comprises of the following as of today
2x Cleaner Shrimp
Snails:
4x lrg Trocus
4x Star Astrea
8x Jumbo Cerith
3x Tongan Nassarius
Crabs:
4x Blue legged
3 Red Legged
The fish population numbers four
2x Common Clown (starting to show signs of spawning behav.)
1x Royal Gramma
1x Yellow Watchman Goby
Corals: Gee where do I start. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves probably around 30 varieties.
Maintenance is upped a little of late. Before I was only doing 1x 12 ltr waterchanges whereas now I perform 2x 12ltr waterchanges per week. I find the inhabitants enjoy this much better and seem more vibrant. I draw all water from the sump and dont disturb the main tank unless I really have to.
I add Two Little Fishes C-Balance twice weekly (2x 5ml medicine spoons) again via the sump
I guess I've become a wee bit lazy with the testing side of things of late only really performing a full batch of tests once a month. I sorta can see when things arnt just quite right now with constant observation, then I would get the testing kits out.
I test for Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Alk, Ca, Mg, ph, phosphate. and thats about it.
I have little log sheets copied from Bloozoo aquatics site. (pdf)
Feeding,
As I now have an SPS (would like to add some more) and a Sun Coral I feed the main tank the following food stuffs.
Live BBS, Live Copepods, Live Rotifers, PhyotoFeast Live Photoplankton, Frozen Cyclopeeze, Frozen Brineshrimp, Frozen Mysis Shrimp, Frozen Krill pacifica. Dry marine flake.
I make a point of starving the inhabitants at least one day a week, this makes them hunt for food rather than waiting to be fed a ready meal.
Cleaning:
I used to syphon in and around the wall from time to time but I now refrain from doing this as its alive with copepods and the likes so I now leave well alone. I use a magnet and some filter floss wedged between the plates to clean the front glass.
I think thats it really. It does take up a great deal of my time to keep it in shape but I enjoy doing it and problems are not as frequent now as they were in the beginning.
For the future I'm looking at incorp some reef bones, branching pieces (nice shapes) into the scape (cheap from a german source) perhaps after christmas. LOL and also to up the Copepod and Rotifer production so as I can maybe distribute among friends and forum members.
Thanks for taking the time to view this thread and I hope it helps some folks along the way.
Regards
BigC
