Nano Tank Diary...

[parker313]

Thanks for the heads up

He is out of the bag but immediately swam under some rocks. From across the room, I saw that he had come out, but when I went over to look closer, he had dove back under.

I also caught the clownfish in a rare show of swimming all along the front of the tank - he was so active, it was HARD to get an even halfway decent pic!!!

Pics coming as soon as I get them uploaded.

Oh, and while I was moving rocks around, I noticed that the rock my polyps were on was feeling kinda crumbly in a certain spot. So, I was able to break off 2 little pieces w/ 2 brown polyps each and set them apart from the bigger polyp rock

 

[parker313]

Pictures

 

[parker313]

Costs for today:

Firefish: $30

3 lbs LR @ $9.99 = $29.97 (good rock, I guess )

Total to date: $267.31

I'm done with new fish for at least 6 months and I think I'm good on LR too, being at 13.5lbs. So, the only things that I'll have to buy for the next while are snails (maybe 4 more), water ($1.00/gallon) and maybe some more corals, $$ permitting.

 

[Navarre]

Looking good there!

What type of clown is tht? Looks like a tomato but it has a sort of white band in the middle of the body

 

[parker313]

It's supposed to be a true perc. The guy at the lfs said that as he grew, his white bands would grow in (including the one you can see starting at the dorsal fin). I did some research online and found in a couple of different places that the tank bred and raised percs (both true and ocellaris) have been losing some of the trueness of their markings as the generations have come down from their wild ancestors. This kinda makes sense too b/c I know that my lfs only gets tank raised fish, no wild-caught.

Right now, he's only about half an inch, maybe 3/4".

Oh, on one of the new live rocks, there's a fan worm type thing. I had noticed them on a few other rocks in the tank, but those rocks were all too big for my little tank. When I put the rock in my tank, I saw the tubes where there had previously been fans so I was really happy when I saw one out.

It's not a big purple and white one like most of what I've seen, just a little all white one that retracts in and out of its tube really quickly.

Oh, and the firefish has come out of hiding and even ate some of the freeze dried brine shrimp I put in there!! He darts back out of view if I come up on the tank too quickly, but if I come up slowly, I can sit down and watch him!

 

[parker313]

I found this in the Tank Bred Percula Clown description at liveaquaria.com:

The Percula Clownfish, also known as the True Percula, or Clown Anemonefish, is normally found in association with anemones on the reefs of Oceania, the Indo-Pacific, and the Great Barrier Reef. It can be found individually, or more commonly, in pairs or small groups within the same anemone such as Heteractis magnifica or Stichodactyla mertensii. Tank Bred Percula Clownfish are usually mostly orange and white when young. As the fish matures the black sections between the white stripes will darken with age. Tank-Raised specimens differ from their wild-caught counterparts in that their stripes are often irregular. These characteristics add to the uniqueness and appeal of these fish.

The Ocellaris Clownfish is often confused with the Percula Clownfish. Unless you are experienced with both fish, they are difficult to tell apart. The True Percula is a very bright orange, whereas, the Ocellaris tends to be more drably colored. The Percula Clownfish also has a thicker black outline to its white body stripes.

...and this on the tank bred Tomato Clown:

The Tomato Clownfish, also known as the Bridled Clownfish or Red Clownfish, is found throughout the Pacific, almost always in association with an anemone such as Bubbletip Sea Anemone (Entacmaea quadricolor). The Tomato Clownfish has a wider distribution than the Fire Clown, which is usually restricted to the Indo-Pacific reefs. It has also been known to use coral as a host in the absence of an anemone. Tank Bred Tomato clowns are usually darker in coloration to their wild counterparts, but as the fish matures, it will lighten to a nice red/orange coloration. Juveniles have three white bands, and black pectoral fins, that gradually dissapear as the fish matures.

I think I do have a Percula. I looked at the white stripe of the tomato and the percula for comparison. On the tomato, the white stripe is pretty much vertical and straight, but on the perc (and mine), the stripe is curved and rounds up over the eye, making almost a mask out of the orange.

Here's the perc picture:

...and the tomato:

 

[shadow]

I did enjoy reading as soon I am going to turn my 10 gal into a nano tank. I was discouraged as my lfs would not sell me live rock and then assumed I'd be stocking with many many fish so I got the talking to. How do you let them know that you have done your research? It was also wierd since a friend of mine got live rock from the same place for the same size tank.

 

[Navarre]

remember that a 10 gallon nano will only have a volume of roughly 6 gallons when the rock displaces the water! This is a tiny amount and you are going to be pushing it with 1 fish let alone more than this. I think your lfs is to be commended for refusing to sell until you have more knowledge under your belt and if i lived near you then this would prove to me that they really care about they livestock... I would be buying from them on a regualr basis on this alone!

However, you can run a nano of this size as long as you take eaxh step very carefully indeed. A good amount of liverock (about 10lbs) to handle the filtration. I would then let the tank tank run for a week ( i usually tell people to stock right away as the liverock will handle the bioload but in this instrance i suggest you allow the liverock balance out the tiny amount of water you have. When the liverock is in the tank, feed a tiny amount of food (Prefferably cyclopeze or better still live phyto) and then test water perameteres for a week. If there has been no visible spike, or the spike has returned back to normal then put 1 fish in therel.. preferably a goby that doesnt need alot of room. A couple of sexy shrimps woud look great in there and a few hermits and this would be your limit.

I saw a simlar sized tank to this at my LFS yesterday that was setup this way, (well actually they filled it with liverock and left it.. i told them what to put in there and it now looks the business )
The tank looked so good in fact I am even considering setting up one myself!

The best way to prove to your lfs that you are researching your hobby is to print out the answers you have here. show them you have a team of people with alot of experience and knowledge in the marine world from all over the world. perhaps this will allow them to see that you are not running into this completely blind.

I will warn again however, a nano tank is not an easy thing to setup and even with my total experience so far i am still to nervous to try one (although i might do very soon). They are very inforgiving and anyone who owns one will let youknow that you must be far more vigilant on your water perameters and temperature than owners of larger tanks.

If you really feel you can hande this extra workload then perhaps you should try it. But never feel for one moment that you will ever stock a great number of fish in such a tank (or any sized tank for that matter) marine fish just arent designed to do this )

Good luck

 

[parker313]

I did enjoy reading as soon I am going to turn my 10 gal into a nano tank. I was discouraged as my lfs would not sell me live rock and then assumed I'd be stocking with many many fish so I got the talking to. How do you let them know that you have done your research? It was also wierd since a friend of mine got live rock from the same place for the same size tank.

Thanks shadow!

I've been working with my lfs since last March b/c I also have a FW tank and have gotten all of my supplies and fish from them. So, they know that I know what I'm talking about and that I've done the research to do this the right way.

That said, they did try to talk me into getting a 15g just for the extra 50% of water that I'd have to absorb any "errors". I stuck with the 10g b/c I had a spare 10g at home, plus already had the filter and right size thermometer for it. I knew the challenges I was bringing on myself and was ready to accept them.

It definitely helped that one of the guys at the lfs has been doing these mini reefs for a while himself so he knew firsthand that they can be done.

I now have about 13lbs of live rock in my tank and it's going really well!! Other than losing just a few of my polyps, everything is going along without a hitch. The clownfish is doing great - coming out of his corner more and the firefish is just a riot to watch. Even the hermit crabs and snails are doing well.

To me, this nano tank has been easier than my 46g FW, but I've got some unexplained problems in my FW tank that have been plaguing me for a few months now The LFS is working with me on those too.

I don't know *why* this nano tank is going so well for me where others have had so much trouble, but I'd definitely have to credit taking it step by step and a huge THANK YOU to Navarre for giving me such great advice along the way.

 

[shadow]

Thanks for the advice everyone! I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject as my first freshwater tank was a bit hard to handle. The person that I was talking to first said I could not have any live rock in the tank. Then said I could have a few pieces in there. THEN said I should just keep 1-2 fish with a normal filter in the tank.

I had told him I was only planning on having 1 clownfish in the tank--though I am recieving a 29 gallon tank as soon as I can find a stand that will hold it. I would have no problem with the temperature as my room stays a constant 80 degrees both in winter and summer (lucky me). I have my kits for both fresh and saltwater. I have the tank with the right specs for the salinity in it--but I was hoping to get some live rock. Is it alright to use the regular filtration with a fish instead of the live rock?

 

[parker313]

I really don't know... I'm definitely not an expert on filtration!

You might want to post a new topic in the forum instead of just here b/c I don't know how many people read this

I'm kinda bummed. I lost all my nice yellow polyps. The brown ones are doing fine and thriving, but I lost all the nice yellow ones.

The fish are doing great though. The clownfish's little dorsal stripe (dot) is starting to get longer and I can see the start of a stripe at the base of the tail. He's still a very little guy but is noticeably bigger.

 

[katrinel]

I am also doing a nano tank I have a 18 gallon tall with 30 lbs of live rock in it and i still need 10 more lbs, and 10lbs of live sand(very very important) .For the first month and a half I was thinking wow this is going great then all of the

sudden things went downhill I lost two fish and the other two living fish looked on the brink of death for 3 weeks and a very expensive cleaner shrimp died and there was a

brown algae attack that covered everything but luckily I went and got 10 turbo snaila and I swear

in one day it was completely gone. There was also a red slime outbreak. With the red slime outbreak it wass kind of funny because I was looking at it thinking it looked so permenant and
horrible and I actually threw away the rock it was on (stupid me) then I found out its the

easiest thing to remove with strong water current or just wiping it off.

There does seems to be a grace period. I really really wanted to give up a couple of times but I stuck with it and now things seem to be excellent (knock on wood). Right now I have two anemones one atlantic and one other kind that my friend bought me that I really dont want but its stuck on a 12 lb rock

I have a group of daisy polyps and group of star polyps and two diffrent types of mushrooms. lots of different fan worm, a brittle star(very important) and a scooter bleny and a green clown goby.

For hardware i have a 65watt 50/50 compact bulb and a 10,000k 55 watt Day glow compact bulb
A heater and a protein skimmer. Two zoo med power sweep 30 that each put out 190 gph.


I am still having a problem with red slime though But ive just been blowing it of the rocks with the power heads.

I too am always looking for advice and the advice I would give is learn everything you can, stick with it and mistakes are good because you learn from them. I think I have made some pretty stupid mistakes but I never will do them again!

 

[Navarre]

Im not sure that livesand is "important" to be honest. In a small tank the liverock will "seed" the sand quite quickl yon its own.. saves you some money too rather than buying the live stuff. And what colour brittlestar is it? The small white ones are beneficial as they sift the sand.

 

[parker313]

I didn't bother with live sand

My little clownfish is still swimming funny, sideways most of the time. A couple of times I've gone to bed, just convinced he's not going to make it through the night, but he's a real trooper!

Just in the last couple of days, I've really noticed his developing white stripes getting longer and now there's a hint of black develping on the tail fin. It's really fun watching his stripes come in!

I'm feeding the polyps about once a week, maybe twice with frozen brine shrimp through a medicine syringe and they're all doing really well.

Edit: WOW! Looking at that picture I posted with the brown polyps, it's amazing how much they've grown! I'll have to get the camera out again soon!

 

[Navarre]

good to hear the tank is developing well
Dont worry about your clown, if i could post some video footage of my 2 then you would see how strangely they swim at night