Mark, I've got some scrap acrylic if you need some to build your probe holder.

Cheers,

Kevin

Thanks Kevin,

I went to IPP in Kelowna and got a "pile" of acrylic for $10. They have pre-wrapped piles available in all kinds of thicknesses and it was a great deal. I also got the right stuff for putting it together and the right jigsaw blade for cutting it.

If you are worried about the hermits starving due to lack of algae, just throw in a small wafer so that they have something to chew on. Algae wafers are pretty cheap at the petstores. Nice tank, by the way.

Thanks...I ended up putting in a coral that wasn't doing great in my main tank and it has a little algae on it's plug...so their feasting on it.

Wish I knew exactly what the "brown" algae that's forming on everything was and if there was a need to do something about it.

So today, the local LFS brought in some really nice specimens for nanos so I couldn't help myself and got my first fish for the tank...a yellow clown goby. It's only about 3/4 of an inch long. I will post pictures tomorrow but after the initial fright, he seems happy.

Yes pics please. Clown gobies is sooo cute.

So today I added the Pistol Shrimp / goby pair that I had sitting at the LFS for the last 45 days. Needless to say, it was quite the job catching them in the display tank at the store.

Here's a short video of my pistol making himself a new home:

http://s485.photobucket.com/albums/r...stolShrimp.flv

Glad I put the rock in first and then the sand so I shouldn't be having any cave-ins.

Everyone else seems pretty happy in the tank. Here's the new little Clown Goby I added last week:

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1222127957

I am having a pretty good time with this little nano already.

So I added my firs corals to the nano today. Been checking all the Params and they seem fine.

Heres a little too close FTS:http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1222380629

And here are the different frags:
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1222380709
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1222380726
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1222380739

I didn't get the picture but within 15 minutes we had decent polyp extension on the frags already, so that's a good sign.

I know that they look a little worn, but I got these from another local reefer and they had a bit of a rough intro to my main tank.

If anyone could tell me the type of algae on frag#3 that would be great. It's not regular hair algae because there was a little of that on a rock and my hermits cleaned it up within one day...while they won't touch this stuff at all.

Hey Mark, I have no idea what the algae is but if you don't want to have it spread I'd take it off your nice clean rocks ASAP. Especially if the algae eaters won't eat it. I'd hate to see you have to battle any algae on your rocks like I have too...

Yeah...I was hoping that with new water...and phosguard I would just see it shrivel and die....but that hasn't happened. I should probably use the new Phos that I got from BRS in this tank but I was hoping to use up the crappy Seachem stuff I still had left.

Looks great!! Can you scrub that algae off the plug with a toothbrush or something? I'm not sure what it is either. I don't recognise it.

Well I took the plug out of the water and scraped it off with a blade. It didn't work as well as I liked but hopefully it got rid of most of it.

There was a tiny bit of hair algae on one of the other plugs but before I could get to it, one of the hermits was busy mowing it down and as of last night, there is none left.

For some reason, this tank greens up the glass really really fast...in one day. I have been checking PO4 and it's not high...almost not detectable on my Salifert test kit. My main tank which only gets cleaned once per week reads 4 times higher. I added some more phos in a different spot in the sump. I think my reactor isn't working right because I don't have enough flow in it. I've got a new pump on it's way from OA that will bump that up and get better flow soon.

Well you don't have much for bio filtration in the nano, which is the likely contributor to the algae.

Bio filtration meaning the Liverock? I know that the Ecorox are going to take a little while to seed...so that's probably it.

Any recommendations for now? I change about 15-20% of the water per week right now.

Yep bio filtration = live rock. Aside from cooking the EcoRox before hand...there's not much to do other than wait it out.

Well, I've been a little busy with my year end at work lately and so I've been remiss on getting updates for this thread.

Over the last week or so, I've been moving some coral frags over from my main tank to the nano.

Here are some pics:
FTS
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1223067895

Closeups
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1223067926
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1223067960
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1223067974

I've been pretty religious on checking this water and here's my current readings using Salifert kits
Cal: 450
Alk: 7.7
Mag: 1300
PH: 8.1
Temp: 79.5
PO4: .25
Nitrate: <10

The MH/T5HO combo has been putting out some pretty serious heat on me...but my DIY FAN bank has been maintaining things at about 80.5 at their worst.

Lookin good! :) Are you seeing any coralline growth yet?

Do you got pics of the DIY fans?

I might have missed the post if you did...

I'm gone for 5 weeks, and there are NO updates to read?!?! I'm a little miffed!! :lol:

Well, Myka pointed out that I had not done any updates on here in waaay too long. So here are few new pics.

Full tank shot...as you can see, we've got Coraline growth and some pest algae too.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1227117235

Here's my little clown Goby...still doesn't trust me when I get close to the tank.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1227117288
You can see the pest algae just below his nose and just above him to the left. Not sure what it is yet. Anyone willing to identify?

Here's an Acro I got from Red Coral in Calgary...pretty new so it hasn't colored up yet.
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1227117339

Lastly, here's a little movie of my Goby/shrimp pair hard at work moving sand. It's really cool having these guys.

[IMG]http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...h_CIMG4228.jpg[/IMG]

Looking good, I love the silly little face of clown gobies!

I'm no expert, but that looks like the start of bubble algae!

Awesome!!! Not sure on that "pest algae"...looks kinda bubbly or fluffy or something? Excellent coralline growth coming in though!

It's fluffy...and comes off easy enough, just grab it with tweezers and the whole clump comes away. Problem is that it grows back in a few days.

Coraline is coming on nicely. Just put in some Zoa frags this week so those pieces are a little whiter than the rest.

Weird algae. Are there many clumps? What if you chip the rock out where it is attached? PITA I know, but it might work.

I love the Goby/shrimp pair. :D

I thought it was going to be an SPS tank? Are you planning to remove the Zoas?

Tanks looking good mseep! Love the YCB, mine is quite entertaining.

Myka, I just don't think I could bring myself to try to chip the rock as there are about 20 spots with that algae now. I will continue to try to pull the algae out until I can identify it a little more and come up with a better solution.

As for the stocking...it was going to be strictly SPS, but as yet, the tank isn't really mature enough to push the SPS stocking levels with more frags, so I've been adding some zoas for color. I think that the zoas can live peacefully with the SPS if they had to...unless someone knows differently. I have some more frags for the tank once I feel confident with the tanks maturity.

Well I added the 3rd and what I thought was the final fish to my tank last week. A really nice little perc that I picked up a the LFS. Unfortunately, after only 4 days he decided to go carpet surfing during the night. I haven't had a lot of clowns jump on me before so I wasn't expecting that.

I guess it's time to come up with some type of "false eurobrace" that will prevent future attempts once I replace this little guy. Any suggestions on how to do this out there?

Bummer about the algae. I've learned the hard way to rip out any plants that I don't know what it is. Chances are if I don't know what it is, it's bad!!! Haha!

Zoas tend to take over the rock work, and sting the SPS causing flesh loss/death. Also, zoas release more toxins into the water than most other corals which irritates SPS. If you can figure out a way around that by maybe trimming back zoas that encroach the SPS and running carbon, then maybe you won't have any problems?

Got any new pics?

I redid my aquascape and did a major cleaning on my tank before I left. I hope it's ok!!!

I think I have some of that stuff too.

I might be investing in a sea hare soon. If it does it's job maybe you and others in the Okanagan would like a time share?

Well, I thought it was time to update this thread with a FTS and another pic of my problem algae (hoping that someone can identify and tell me how to eliminate it)

Here's a shot of the tank (note that I have a cheap camera and my picture skills leave a lot to be desired)
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1235005482

And here's a close-up of my problem algae (top left corner)...Any ideas....anyone???? This stuff is taking over. I boil some of it off once per week but this is hard on the tank's inhabitants and my salinity level.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1235005523

Your rock is coloring up nicely. Tank looks great. :)

The little yellow goby looks embarrased with his/her red checks. Really neat color on your
rock. Love the pictures.

Thanks...I'm really enjoying having this little tank in my office when I work all day. I have a new sump to put into this tank to replace my little 5 gallon DIY job. I got one made of Acrylic at IPP in Kelowna...about 8G, a lot taller and with a built in PH probe holder. It will allow me to put the new Bubble Magus skimmer in which should make a water quality difference for me right away. I hate the Prizm that is on there now.

Awesome! What did the sump end up costing you if you don't mind my asking?

Well I thought I should update this thread with a few new pics. I'm really enjoying having the tank in my office as it's a great distraction when my work day has me pulling out my hair and cursing at the phone.

Note that I'm trying to improve, but my picture skills suck terribly.

Here's a FTS...
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579066

A few pics of some of my palys...
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579102

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579125

One of my inhabitants...so far I haven't caught him nipping the sps:smile:

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579231


And lastly, my continuing battle with this algae that no-one can identify.

http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579311
http://i485.photobucket.com/albums/r...g?t=1237579330

Lookin good!!! The rock is really looking great now! I would try adding various different inverts (shrimp, hermits, snails) to see if you can find one that will munch on that algae. Prob won't find one, but it's a shot in the dark anyway.

Hey Mark, try Peyssonnelia for that algae. There is at least one species that looks like your algae.

It sort of reminds me of Botrycladia algae (spelling?).

Thanks to both of you, but I"m pretty sure it's not either of those

Myka, your pics look more like that plating algae that was bothering that one acro.

I'll try to take some more pics to see if anyone else has ideas. It's taking over...probably 20-25% coverage of my rocks now. It comes out when I pic at it in big clumps as if you chopped off a piece of sponge material. It's spongey actually.

One possibility might be Fauchea sp? http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-0...s/image025.jpg

No hot-linking to that pic....grr

That plating algae was Lobophora wasn't it? I can't remember what it looked like... :o