Nano reef tank update after 5.5 months
Gill Passman
Well, sorry for the lack of pics….I’ll get some in a day or so but my new Cleaner shrimp is still getting used to life in the tank (put him in at lunchtime) and I don’t want to stress him by sticking my hand in the tank to do the clean up….and the clean up still has to be a daily thing – that is cleaning the front of the glass and scooping out any red slime algae from the bottom of the tank….one of the perils of a small tank I guess….the phosphate still gives a trace reading and it is this that is causing the algae as far as I can tell…..next step is to find out what is causing the trace of phosphate – Green X treats the symptom but not the cause…..
Anyway, I eventually bit the bullet after my Cleaner shrimp losses and a couple of weeks ago, with water testing out to perfection, went and bought just one more…..he was very quiet for a few days but is now out and about and competing with the Clownfish for the flakes…..today I decided to try another…..he got a very slow and careful acclimitization and seems to be doing well right now…..well, no shrimps could have done any worse than when I added the two who dipped into my tank and immediately went belly up…..
My existing stock seems to be doing OK…although I do suspect that the hermits are picking off some of the snails….kind of suspicious when one turns up in a shiny new shell that looks just like one a live snail was wearing a day or so ago……I had a mithrax crab at one point…..don’t have a clue if I still do….he was quite cool as he actually looked like how we imagine a crab to look…..haven’t seen it in months but there is a lot of dead area at the back of the tank…….
Barry has now become a “double crown” which is quite spectacular to see….he actually has two mouths…..he’s quite amazing……I was after getting a couple more…to be fair to Barry he isn’t just a plain feather duster but a coco worm…..problem was that all of the FDs were in hiding and no way do you buy one that you don’t see……I’ll go back in a day or so and see if they are less shy before making any decisions…..
Having mixed times with my Star Polyps……the pinks are a carpet of colour again….the greens seem a bit more temperamental being a bit reclusive again at the moment…..the one thing that I have learnt is that they are very reactive to water conditions…..and not just the phosphates that do seem to freak them….but other factors that can’t be measured such as toxins from the corals……but I have also learnt to be optimistic and realise that once things are right these little creatures come out and put on a brilliant display……
Well the “Nemos” still bite…and I am getting more and more of a wimp when it comes to “hands in tank”……my glass scraping becomes almost like a military exercise….and there is some flapping of the sponge if they look to intent on doing me harm – lol – as time goes on their confidence in attacking becomes greater…..toe rags…..
The xenia is attempting a takeover bid……they have already colonised one piece of “dead rock” and are forever growing and spreading…..the green buttons are spreading all over the substrate…..the green mushrooms are moving from rock to rock….the pink frilly shrooms just look great and their star polyp hitchhikers are just taking over as well……the capnella is getting bigger and bigger….if he carries on growing at this rate he will be out of the water before too much more time passes….my new mushroom colony is already reaching out to other rocks……
My one disaster was the purchase of an orange tree coral…..(which in fact was a Sclernonephthya) – it wasn’t really happy when I bought it…..but just self-destructed when I got it home – I did a google once I got it back to see what it needed and almost immediately realised it was nothing that I, or most hobbyists, could give it…….it was very beautiful….just wish it had been left to be beautiful in it’s natural environment or if not taken from the wild it had been left in a tank with the specific conditions it needed to survive…..the poor thing didn’t stand a chance…..it was already a gonner by the time I got it home….I’m still quite upset about it…..I couldn’t even take the dead coral back to the LFS…..it is just gone completely although there are the odd orange stains on the LR…..the LFS gave me full credit for it’s loss but somehow this doesn’t make up for the death of such a magnificent creature…….I know that I shouldn’t have even considered taking it home when it wasn’t fully inflated at the LFS – but I guess we live and learn…..
My Sea Urchins are a great success….I have two pincushion urchins….you just wouldn’t believe what they end up with stuck to their spines…..I’ve noticed some hermits and cowrie snails hitching a ride…..they end up looking real scruffy from time to time covered in algae, debris and crabs/snalils….the other fascination is trying to detect them move….generally I look at the tank and see them one place and then 5 mins later they are somewhere else….they don’t just trundle across the substrate…they are up/down/right/left/centre…..I love the pair of them to bits…..
Well after 5 ½ months on I vote that the tank has been a success even though there are the issues inherent with trying to maintain such an environment in a 15gall tank……not easy but not impossible….the factor has really been time to keep it looking good and needing to be on top of it daily if not more often…..it certainly was a cheaper way of deciding if I liked keeping marine/reef than going full blown to start with……the 350L reef tank will be arriving within the next few weeks and I’m very excited by it all…..I haven’t decided whether or not to move the livestock from the Nano to the new tank yet but with future plans for our house in the offing the tank will need to be moved in the next 12-18 months so maybe I should bite the bullet….but it is soooo pretty….another factor is the trauma that my fish sitters have with the tank……the protein skimmer is very basic and OK for me but not fair on others…..
If you fancy trying reef but are not convinced that you have the interest then my little experiment might be just the thing for you…….but I am not pretending that it is easy (maintenance is more demanding with a marine tank this size if keeping fish) or indeed cheap (the main cost being the livestock rather than the set up)…….
I think this is the sign off for the Nano tank…….next month comes the big reef tank…..keep watching for progress….
Gill
default
Thanks for the update, Gill. Vicariuosly through you I have now
experienced starting and maintaining a nano reef. It's helped me
decide that I probably don't have the time to devote to learning a new
knowledge set and the daily (or more) maintainence routine. I have my
hands full as it is now with the cacatouadies I want to breed and the
big tank in the family room that is to soon display discus. That and
I'm going to dig a pond in the back yard for goldfish and/or koi.
Yeah, nano reef is still on the list, but quite a ways out to the
right.
steve
Tommy Butler
PS- I watched the movie version of 101 dalmatians with my 2 year old last night. I couldn't stop thinking about you as word after word of the british-accented storyline unfolded. It made the whole movie so much more interesting!
--
Tommy Butler
Well, sorry for the lack of pics….I'll get some in a day or so
<snip ginormous narrative>
Gill Passman
On Feb 17, 5:20 pm, "default" <halfarock2...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> Thanks for the update, Gill. Vicariuosly through you I have now
> experienced starting and maintaining a nano reef. It's helped me
> decide that I probably don't have the time to devote to learning a new
> knowledge set and the daily (or more) maintainence routine.
Well actually I think that the Nano reef set up is far more demanding
than anything I could set up on a larger scale.....the only difference
being the cost in stocking the thing.....I'm ready to move on to the
bigger tank and I'm sure it will be a different experience and will
post about it here....
Nano reefs....pretty much like Nano freshwater tanks....need a lot
more care because they lack the tolerance for mistakes.....
Watch this space - he, he
Gill
Gill Passman
On Feb 17, 5:36 pm, "Tommy Butler" <t...@atrixnet.com> wrote:
> PS- I watched the movie version of 101 dalmatians with my 2 year old last
> night. I couldn't stop thinking about you as word after word of the
> british-accented storyline unfolded. It made the whole movie so much more
> interesting!
Are you suggesting I might be Cruella De vil.....lol or maybe this
should be
Moo-ha-ha-ha-hah - got any spotty dogs lying around?
Tommy Butler
Are you suggesting I might be Cruella De vil.....lol or maybe this
should be Moo-ha-ha-ha-hah - got any spotty dogs lying around?
--
Tommy Butler
Mellie
Really love reading your posts and hope we get some pics soon. I know
we will get news on the new tank but would still like to hear updates
on Barry et al.
I would love to do a nano tank more than anything but need a few more
eons experience before I get around to that. I am about to order the
'reef tanks' or something similar, for idiots. Even though I now I'm
not ready I just love your updates and enjoy learning about it so
much.
Thanks for sharing your experiences
Mellie
On Feb 17, 6:41 pm, "Tommy Butler" <t...@atrixnet.com> wrote:
Gill Passman
Oh boy…you are challenging me here…..bought the DVD for the sprog for christmas but haven’t sat and watched it yet……do you realise that you have now condemned me to an afternoon of Disney tomorrow, just to get what you are meaning – shame on you Tommy :-P
Marco Schwarz
> Well, sorry for the lack of pics....I'll get some in a day or so but my new
> Cleaner shrimp is still getting used to life in the tank (put him in at
> lunchtime)
What's it's scientific name..?
> and I don't want to stress him by sticking my hand in the tank to
> do the clean up....and the clean up still has to be a daily thing - that is
> cleaning the front of the glass and scooping out any red slime algae from
> the bottom of the tank....one of the perils of a small tank I guess....the
> phosphate still gives a trace reading and it is this that is causing the
> algae as far as I can tell.....next step is to find out what is causing the
> trace of phosphate - Green X treats the symptom but not the cause.....
Hmm..., how does Green X works..?
> Barry has now become a "double crown" which is quite spectacular to see....he
> actually has two mouths.....he's quite amazing......
:-)
> I was after getting a couple
> more...to be fair to Barry he isn't just a plain feather duster but a coco
> worm.....
Please tell us what's the difference..
> I think this is the sign off for the Nano tank.......next month comes the big
> reef tank.....keep watching for progress....
I'm ready to read all your latest news..
BTW: Hope Batter is in a better world..!
cu
Marco
Tommy Butler
name is roger, pongo is the dog, and purdy is the female dalmatian.
--
Tommy Butler
On 2/17/07, Gill Passman <gi...@taylorpassman.co.uk> wrote:
> Oh boy.you are challenging me here...bought the DVD for the sprog for
> christmas but haven't sat and watched it yet..do you realise that you have
> now condemned me to an afternoon of Disney tomorrow, just to get what you
> are meaning - shame on you Tommy :-P
>
>
>
>
Gill Passman
On 18 Feb, 21:07, "Marco Schwarz" <marc...@t-online.de> wrote:
> Hi..
>
> > Well, sorry for the lack of pics....I'll get some in a day or so but my new
> > Cleaner shrimp is still getting used to life in the tank (put him in at
> > lunchtime)
>
> What's it's scientific name..?
Lysmata amboinensis - another common name for it is the Skunk shrimp
> Hmm..., how does Green X works..?
I'm not sure....my guess would be that it absorbs the phosphates in
some way
>
> > Barry has now become a "double crown" which is quite spectacular to see....he
> > actually has two mouths.....he's quite amazing......
>
> :-)
>
> > I was after getting a couple
> > more...to be fair to Barry he isn't just a plain feather duster but a coco
> > worm.....
>
> Please tell us what's the difference..
Coco worms are Protula bispiralis whereas Feather Dusters are
Sabellidae sp.....having just researched that I think Barry is a
Feather Duster again....
>
> > I think this is the sign off for the Nano tank.......next month comes the big
> > reef tank.....keep watching for progress....
>
> I'm ready to read all your latest news..
>
> BTW: Hope Batter is in a better world..!
Thx
Gill