My Nano Reef Set-up/diary (upgraded 45g) Step-by-step

[trace1]

oh 1entra i'm so sorry to hear that
as for covering the tank with something i've read about using netting over the top of the tanks to stop the fish jumping not sure if that will help you, i know thats what i'm going to do when i get a desent light fitting for my tank.

 

[1entra]

Thanks trace,

Ive been thinking about my second loss non-stop coz I feel well disapointed and upset by it. I have already thought up a mod in my head as a way of covering the top of my new tank when it arrives. Hopefully it will work. Need to get my new tank first thou. Really hope I get it by this weekend!

 

[QuotheRaven]

Sorry about your loss

I have not read a tank journal which has had so many bad things happen (leaks, deaths for no reason etc)

Oh and that Crab you have/or had I had one hitch hike on my LR and was told it was far more dangerous the the mantis shrimp I had one the same bit my one was alot bigger than the one you got though...evil but cool

 

[1entra]

Thanks QuotheRaven, I have had quite a bad start to the marine side of things, just hope things start to look up for me when I get my new tank! Suppose it has all been an experience so far and I am defo learining from my mistakes!

As far as my hitchhiker crabs goes, well i've not seen it for a week or so now so God knows where its disapeared to! I know it was a nasty little critter when I tapped on the refugium wall and rather than scurry away as I expected it to, it instead ran at and tried to attack my fingers! It seemed to going well mad! Glad I managed to catch it before it started to attack and kill the livestock in my tank!

 

[1entra]

I got my new tank today! ​

Got ma tank, its 32" x 18" x 18". 6mm glass with a 10mm glass base. Also has got brace support bars at the top.

I painted the back black earlier, going to set it up tommorow. I'm quite excited!

 

[trace1]

nice 1 glad you got your new tank.
i've managed to get another of ebay with the t5 lights skimmer plus some lr, going getting it tomoorow night (monday night)

 

[1entra]

Finally done it, it took me all day, but I managed to transfer everything from my old tank to the new one! I started at about 1 in the afternoon and only just finished, didn't want to rush it so took my time especially when it came to mixing the salt etc.

Tested the water after adding my LR and LS and the params read:

• Temp: 25 Degrees C
• SG: 1.024
• pH: 8.0
• Ammonia: 0ppm
• Nitrite: 0ppm
• Nitrate: 5-10ppm

The water is still very cloudy, was hoping it would clear before adding my livestock but it hasn't fully done so so decided to take the chance and all my coral frags and my clownfish back to the tank, I do not think cloudy water should really affect them (hopefully!). I just placed all the coral frags on the sand bed for the time being.

Will do some aquascaping and move the corals to desired positions after I get home from work tommorow! Hopefully the water will have all settled by then!

So far so good, hopefully everything will survive and I will not have any more deaths!!

PS. Thanks trace1 but you just beat me to adding this post by a minute or so!!

 

[fiskkeeperpro]

nice new tank and good luck

Will

 

[1entra]

Cheers fiskkeeperpro

The tank finally cleared up but not for long as I started aquascaping soon after getting home from work, and stirred everything up again!

I moved few rocks about. I don't know if I'm fully happy with what I've done with it but it will have to do for now. Will take some pics when it all settles again and let you lovely people help me decide if it looks better or worse! I went more for a caves overhangs look so there are plenty of hiding spaces! The tank however is quite a bit bigger than I thought so I will be needin some more LR I think as it ain't as full as I want it to look!

I also used some D&D Aquascape Construction Epoxy to stick down some of my smaller coral frags... and God it ain't half blumin messy! It also contributed to causing my water to go cloudy, but it does say it is totally reef safe so it best not let me down! lol

PS. So far still so good, I fed my clownfish earlier, didnt think it would eat but it did! Also I haven't noticed any losses, can't see many snails or hermits but I'm assumin (hoping) their all hiding in the rockwork!

 

[1entra]

Another Mysterious Fish Disapearance ​

I lost my little nemo today!

I came home from work to find it was nowhere to be seen. I immediately felt my stomach turn and the dread dawned upon me yet again and I was right tp feel that way! It's completely vanished without a trace! I searched everywhere possible in the tank (without completely dismantling it!) and everywhere outside the tank, completely tore my room upside down but still no sign of it!

I am completely assured I have some sort of predatory shrimp or crab present in my tank that has attacked and killed 2 of my clownfish. I think it tried to attack the one that jumped out and the fright caused it to jump!

This theory would explain it all! The crab that I have in my refugium is absolutely lethal, it aint even afraid of me and trys to attack me if I tap on the refugium wall and I'm several thousand times it's size so if there was another like it hiddedn somewhere in the LR then what chance would a poor fish stand from a sudden unexpected ambush in the night when the fish was sleeping!!!!

A mantis shrimp would explain the clicking I've been hearing every so often coming from the tank!

Now does anybody know how to go about setting a trap to capture a predatory shrimp of crab?

The worst thing is I've never seen it so can't really even be sure it exists but how else can i justify and explain the mysterious clownfish disapearances!

I have been sat beside my tank for several hours now ith only my computer screen lighting my room and parts of the tank but have not seen or noticed any odd movement or critters other than a few bristleworms!!!

Tested my tank params:

• Temp: 25 Degrees C
• SG: 1.024
• pH: 7.8 (dropped since than last time)
• Ammonia: 0ppm
• Nitrite: 0ppm
• Nitrate: 5-10ppm

Had no changes in any of my tank params so what ever happend to my clownfish, it sure happend quick and didn't cause a spike in anything!

 

[1entra]

Pictures of New Tank and Aquascaping​

Here are a few pics of my new (improved) tank. Hope you like them. Let me what you think

Brace support bars around the top of the tank. I had to use sealant to attach my "box" containing my chemical media to the top corner of the bars so water from the refugium outlet flows directly into it still. I also had to use some green piping as the outlet nozzle is not long enough to.

My refugium. I had to turn the light upside down, this way it still goes throught the acrylic and onto my chaeto but it has minimised the amount of light entering my tank after the T5's go out, so my corals and livestock can get rest at night!

Some caves and overhangs that I have created.

Side tank view

Full Tank Shots

Do you think I need more Live Rock to fill the tank up? I think I do but let me know your thoughts.

 

[littleme1969]

Oh thats so sad about the other clown RIP little dude. But they are sensertive little critters and chances are is more likely to be stress than anything, as for it dissaperaring, as i mentioned before within minutes of one of my new fish dying just after being added my shrimp and hermits where on it, and it had also blown under some rock work with the current. I have no doubt that a hungry clean up crew could devour a fish overnight with no problems what so ever, even before it decayed enough to float and be found. Its highly ulikley that you have a crab/shrimp in there that would be big enough to ambush anything. I have quite a few pest crabs, one large red mythrax crab 2 small mantis shrimp and nothing has ever gone missing.
Stress is one of the reasons I left my new tank overnight before adding my fish to it. getting the tank stable is the most important thing. Its just bad luck

As for the the new look, I think it looks great!!! lots of colour and shape I wouldnt add anymore live rock it does not need it Also once you get a few macros and corals in there you will soon find there is no spare room, which is the stage I'm at now..lol.
Id let things settle for a few weeks before adding any new fish/corals. Give it all time to settle and the temp/flow and SG to be gotten just right, then when you are 100% happy with everything get more fish

 

[fiskkeeperpro]

nice tank m8, i dont really think that you need anymore live rock, what you have imo is just right as there is swimming room and enough rockwork to place corals in good places. If you look at mine, i really need more live rock or base rock, and yous is fuller than mine lol.

Will

 

[1entra]

Thanks for the comments guys. glad you like the new aquascaping, I've got quite foind of it myself now!

Just need to start stocking it a bit soon I think. Hopefully will make a cover for the tank this weekend so the I can be assured that no fish will be able to jump out!

The new tank been running almost a week now and all params so far are steady. I will have a look at a few more snails or CUC over the weekend. I want to get myself a blood/fire shrimp along with a peppermint shrimp as I am starting to get small aiptasia growing on some of my LR so want to get rid of them before they become a nuisance!

I'm also looking at some 150w MH's on ebay so I can upgrade to a better lighting system because at the minute I do not think 3 x 24w 14k daylight tubes with 1 blue actinic T5 are adequate for my tank!

 

[fishstick]

Your new tank looks wonderfully colourful and the rock placement very natural.
Its horrible when you think you might have a large crab hiding in the rockwork. I know I have one , a hairy grey/black one because I have seen it once. About an inch across, also a smaller one. I have tried to catch them with bait in a bottle, no luck yet but I definitely don't want them.