Crytone's 10 Gal. Nano [New pics/frags added Mar 6th, pg.3]

[Crytone]

Hello fellow canreefers. Come with me as I build my first 10G nanoreef!

Background:
I've always been in love with SW aquariums but only had FW tanks as a kid. I was always told SW was too expensive, too difficult, and too big to have at home. This probably was the case 15-20 years ago when this interest first started (or else my parents were lying to me as I didn't need more pets). I've always wanted one and when I heard about nanoreefs I was sold- it sounded perfect for me! I also now own my own place, have my own money and have some spare time (between studying/University)! Also, Santa was kind this year and I had extra pocket money to help get the quest started. I also lucked out with all the Boxing Day sales going on this past week.
I was on the fence about what size of tank to get but settled on the 10G since I feel it'd fit my space better, be slighty cheaper and offer a good starting point for this adventure. If I upgrade later I have a 10G frag tank then!

Equipment:
Have:
-10G tank
-Hydor Theo 50W heater
-Koralia Nano powerhead
-Argonite sand (~12lbs used)
-~11lbs LiveRock
-Other odds and ends
-Refractometer
-RO/DI unit
-Coralife 24" 2x18W T5 light (will be replaced most likely but it was cheap)
-AC70 (DIY HOB Fuge time!) & AC20 impeller

Live stock:
1- Emerald Crab
3- Hermit Crab (possibly Zebra Hermit Crab)
2- Turbo Snail
2- Astrae Snails
3- Nassarius Snails
Plan:
May become an invert only setup!
Inverts (I like Sexy Shrimp and would like some of them if at all possible), a clownfish (I will NOT call him Nemo) and anything else that will fit and that I like.

Corals:
Candy Cane
Button Polyps
Pulsing Xenia
Montipora Digitata?

Plans:
First plan is to paint the back and bottom of the tank Satin Black. This will be after it's leak tested. I don't like looking into tanks and seeing all the equipment behind!
During the next week, while I wait on things to come in, I'll be curing the ~10lbs of LiveRock I bought [on Dec 31, 2009]. I found an awesome piece that is rather large (9lbs for that piece alone!) with lots of holes in it which the livestock will like I hope. I really like this piece so I had to have it and the price was right this week. I'll likely buy more rock later but figured this was a great start. It's currently placed in a bucket with my powerhead, heater and (less than ideal) SW mix. I'm hoping it'll be fine but the LFS said it should be OK like that for a week. Thoughts?
My other plan is to wash the sand over the next week or more. This way it'll be ready to put in when the rest comes in next week! Figured it was a good time to do this and good idea too.
Hoping to have the tank setup and be cycling by next weekend- Jan 9th, 2010!

Pictures:
Leak testing the Aquarium. Looking good so far! I'll let it go as long as possible to make sure though (overnight at the least). Also considering going rimless but... Thoughts?


My LR! Can't see it but the bigger piece has lots of big holes through it. Just outside the picture frame is my Koralia Nano and Hydor Theo 50W keeping things flowing and warm. I hope it survives in here for the next week or so...


My partner in crime. I have it on good authority that she likes saltwater fish too...


So please leave your comments, suggestions or anything else here and enjoy watching my journey!

[Crytone]

Well, after 2 nights of testing I think my tank is fairly water tight. This is where a problem (or omen?) occurred. While dumping the water I accidentally lifted on the rim of the aquarium and *POP*, it lifted! With very little effort I removed the entire rim. I've heard horror stories about people using razor blades to cut the rim up or breaking glass trying to remove the rim from some aquariums but this was just too easy! The silicon is a bit rough but that can be fixed if I decide to stay rimless! I kind of dig how it looks rimless but now the lid that came with the tank would be useless (a small lid might be nice to have...). The included lid was kinda crap anyways and didn't close properly. What do you think... rim or rimless?!



Needed to get it inspected.. There's some silicon residue left to be scraped off, I'm told.


Plans for tonight is to keep washing the sand and hopefully get the first coat of satin black on the backside/bottom of the tank.

Another question is how deep should I make my sand bed? LFS said "as deep as you want" but using all 20lbs of sand for this tank seems like an abnormally thick bed. I was thinking like in the 10-15lbs of sand used range.

Comments, suggestions or questions are all welcome!

[365seasons]

Welcome to Canreef, and great start to a tank.


I love the rimless look, and your cat is adorable!

[ElGuappo]

Welcome to canreef.


mixing sexy shrimp and clown fish i think is a big NO. from what i have read anyway. sexy shrimp are anemone shrimp and the clowns may eat them. when i moved i was going to put mine together, then started doing a little research. from what i read they will compete for hosts, leading to the shrimp being eaten due to their small size.

if am am wrong please correct me.

people may be keeping them together successfully, this is just what i read.

[Crytone]

Thanks 365seasons. I like the rimless look also and I think it might stay. I meant to clean up the silicon yesterday but I was out of razor blades so I'll have to go out today to get more. And as for my cat- she just wants to get into everything I'm doing. Annoying at times and I hope she keeps the tank alone when it gets livestock!

And thanks ElGuappo. That's some great info to have and I'll definitely look into it more. I have heard people complain that the Sexy Shrimp bug their corals to the point that they start to die and even may eat the corals- unless you put them on a feeding schedule. I'm still probably a month away from getting any livestock so plenty of time for more research!

[Crytone]

Nothing super to report today and no new pictures either but I did get my refractometer in today and was finally able to test the salt mix I made up for my liverock. I've been doing top-offs by eye and was quite pleased with my 1.027 salinity. A little high but not bad for just mixing to the ratios specified on the bag. Hopefully the rock is happy. I really need to get my RO/DI unit in though so I can get things rolling.

I also cleaned all the silicone off the aquarium rim. Rimless definitely looks good! I was a bit worried since I used GooGone so I made sure I cleaned it well (with water only), and when I thought it was cleaned and I was done, I sprayed it down some more. That hopefully did the trick. It'll hopefully be dry and ready for paint tomorrow after school! I don't really have anywhere to paint it though...

I'm also planning to design my own controller in the future. I figure my education (Elec. Eng.) better be useful for something! Most controllers don't do nearly enough IMO, or at least not everything I want them to do. I'm probably a long ways to starting or finishing any kind of controller but it is brewing in my head already. I think I first need to finish this setup and live with it a while first so I can get concrete plans on what I require from a controller.

[Crytone]

Well, my parameters are STILL holding at Ammonia- 0, Nitrite- 0, and Nitrates ~5-10ppm so I feel the tank is done cycling. My coraline algae is growing more too and the bigger rock is looking more and more red everyday. I also did some slight re-arranging of the rock too (the rock between them now sits higher cheating a larger arch). I'm getting more and more anxious to start adding a CUC! Possibly have a few additions before the weekend is over...

I'm kind of wanting to add more rock but I think to keep costs down and to minimize a chance of any cycle happening at this stage, I'm going to use dry rock and let my LR seed it while the tank matures. I figure I want about 5-10lbs of LR or that's be about 5lbs of dry rock which would be about ¼ the cost of buying LR I figure. Another option is to buy rock from someone shutting down their tank. Any thoughts on this?

Also on the agenda is modding one of my AC70s into a fuge. I've literally scoured the internet for hours and hours trying to find the most info I can about this mod. I also ordered a 5w submersible light for my fuge which should be here tomorrow. It was in Canada too which saved me on shipping (the company everyone seems to buy these from in the states wanted $25usd just for shipping to Canada!).

A few questions:

1- I want the option to run carbon (Chemi-Pure Elite likely) in my AC70, does it need to be placed directly in the path of the water flow to be effective? I was thinking of placing it near where the intake tube enters. I've seen this done a few times before but really question the placement. I'll also likely run filter floss too.

2- I'm wanting to place my heater in my modded AC70. I notice that some people create a separate baffled area for a heater. I'm concerned as this would 'cut into' my fuge area for my chaeto. Would I be fine running it in the same compartment as the chaeto (and possibly touching the chaeto when it grows too large)?

[Crytone]

Well, a few new updates. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow.

First thing.. I got mad at my big rock since it was too hard to clean around. Took it out and with a quick hit with my trusty hammer, it wasn't so big anymore. Ended up getting 2 still rather large (but much more manageable) pieces and some rubble for my fuge when it's done. I still want to aquascape better so looking at getting a bit more rock (probably dry rock or cheap LR from someone) and curing it in another bucket.

In other news I went out today and got the start to my CUC (thanks to BWA). I didn't want to get too big too fast so I only got 3 Hermits, an Emerald Crab, a Turbo Snail, 2 Astrae snails and 3 Nassarius snails. The Sexy Shrimp were VERY tempting but I held back... Someday though! The Emerald crab is a little power house! He's been working non-stop since I finished acclimating him and placed him in the tank (really hoping he rids my tank of the green bubble algae)! I'm actually considering making this an invert tank now- I just love watching invert work! Do you think I'm off to a good start on my CUC? Did I make good choices? Should I add more? Suggestions?

Now a few concerns/questions:

1 (EDIT: SOLVED, see my next post below)- One of my Nassarius hasn't moved since I got home (was a 10minute drive and I came straight home). While acclimating he was in his shell and after I placed him in the tank and he's still exactly where I placed him (same with another guy but he has his feeler out and checking stuff out at least). The 3rd one burrowed immediately into my sandbed. Should I be concerned? I'm hoping I wake up tomorrow and he's fine but I'm a big worrywart that something is wrong!

2- I asked for Blue-legged hermits since they were out of Scarlet Reef Hermits (and apparently they are hard to get atm) but the ones I got, after getting them in the tank, do NOT appear to be Blue-legged hermits either.. I took a picture of one chilling on my rock below. After some quick research I believe it to be a Zebra Hermit (or Left-Handed hermit). It's left claw is bigger than the right. Am I correct in my ID of these guys? Is this good or bad? Should I try to take them back and get what I originally wanted or stay with these?



Thanks for any of the help and post any comments or suggestions you may have!

[Chase31]

i think it looks good, cant wait to get my cuc

[Crytone]

Thanks Chase21, I hope you'll get your CUC soon!

Solved concern #1. Turned on the lights after about 4 hours of them being off (for acclimation purposes) and the 2 Nass snails that hadn't burrowed yet (and 1 which I thought might be dead) burrowed almost immediately. I get the feeling I won't be seeing these guys much.

The emerald is so fun to watch! He's working so hard that I feel bad for paying him nothing for all this work.. He's a tough guy too, if I go near the tank he puts his pincers out to intimidate me!

I think the hermits may be slightly mentally challenged too.. I placed a few shells in the tank and 2 of them decided to move nearly instantly but the smaller guy moved to a shell that are likely WAY too big. He's struggling a bit to move but he seems happy. The other guy is currently testing his 3rd shell... They're fun to watch though.

I'm extremely happy how things are going!

EDIT: I finally identified the things pictures before that others thought was Aiptasia. It is, in fact, hydroids! Not exactly a good thing but everything I've read says they are relatively harmless filter feeders. Better than Aiptasia at least.