albert_dao's 2012 Nano Contest Entry

[nanoreefnewbie]

wow this tank is moving alone nicely

[reefwars]

a post has been made in all the contest forumns regarding contest rules via the timeline, everyone should read this post as there seems to be some confusion.

[albert_dao]

Today's update:

Did a test this morning. NH4 was at 0ppm, NO3 was barely detectable and PO4's were barely detectable. Go Zeostart3!

I also moved the Club Tipped Anemones under a rock shelter since they weren't expanding as big as was use to seeing them. That seems to have improved their condition.

Full tank shots (I changed the white balance on my camera while taking pictures of other subjects and forgot to reset it, hence the crazy blueness - sorry about that):










Here's a side view where you can see where I put the anemones:




You may have also noticed that I added another rock to the tank. Staring at the set up for a while, I felt that the balance between negative space, hardscape and animals was off balance. In my initial posts, I was hoping to address this by adding a gorgonian to the center. However, that would not be at least for another month or so and this was something that was irking me NOW.

Later on, I will be going back to my original plan and throwing in a few feather dusters to fill in any "odd" looking gaps. That should get rid of all the odd looking and clearly artificial gaps in the placement of the rocks.

Lastly, I have access to a couple of Mini Carpets. What say all y'all? Should I try them out? Or do you think it would dilute the composition? Right now, I'm leaning towards the latter, but apparently, there are points to be awarded for "diversity", lol.

Thanks for looking!

[nanoreefnewbie]

Wow that is a quick cycle tank is looking great

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by nanoreefnewbie

Wow that is a quick cycle tank is looking great

Heh, thanks!

Cycling a tank is easy if you skip all of the uncured liverock/refugium BS

[nanoreefnewbie]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Heh, thanks!

Cycling a tank is easy if you skip all of the uncured liverock/refugium BS

Yea hey I'm on day 13 cycling and almost done I'm taking the patient route lol...starting too get the ugly brown gunna add clean up crew here next day or two..

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by nanoreefnewbie

Yea hey I'm on day 13 cycling and almost done I'm taking the patient route lol...starting too get the ugly brown gunna add clean up crew here next day or two..

Oh, yah, lol. I hated that. I use to cycle tanks by letting them sit and was subject to "ugly algae tank" syndrome like everyone else. Now I just rely on turbocharged bacteria and ceramic medias to insta-cycle the tank and keep algae from ever gaining a foothold.

The trade off is that I can't used uncured liverock, which I am okay with. I have a pretty good selection of reef rock which I scrub and dry out in between tank switch-ups.

That said, I am really warming up to this "mud flats" look with the river-worn, volcanic substrate and rocks.



**** Livestock addition: I almost forgot to mention this! Last night, I seeded the tank with roughly 20 large bristleworms and 15ish micro brittlestars. I also threw in a cube of chopped mysis to keep everyone happy. I am constantly surprised at how much food a tank with good bacterial ecology can handle. My previous tanks each received a cube of mysis every night with zero climb in nutrients or algae issues. I'd be hard pressed to run a tank using any other method.

[nanoreefnewbie]

Originally Posted by albert_dao

Oh, yah, lol. I hated that. I use to cycle tanks by letting them sit and was subject to "ugly algae tank" syndrome like everyone else. Now I just rely on turbocharged bacteria and ceramic medias to insta-cycle the tank and keep algae from ever gaining a foothold.

The trade off is that I can't used uncured liverock, which I am okay with. I have a pretty good selection of reef rock which I scrub and dry out in between tank switch-ups.

That said, I am really warming up to this "mud flats" look with the river-worn, volcanic substrate and rocks.



**** Livestock addition: I almost forgot to mention this! Last night, I seeded the tank with roughly 20 large bristleworms and 15ish micro brittlestars. I also threw in a cube of chopped mysis to keep everyone happy. I am constantly surprised at how much food a tank with good bacterial ecology can handle. My previous tanks each received a cube of mysis every night with zero climb in nutrients or algae issues. I'd be hard pressed to run a tank using any other method.

I'm reply relying on my clean up crew too take care of the algea with that name proper on time water changes I'll control the algea..almost forgot tonite should be a good night for water change and add my diy skimmer

[Boxboy]

" Now I just rely on turbocharged bacteria and ceramic medias to insta-cycle the tank and keep algae from ever gaining a foothold.*"

Would really like to learn more about this, care to share?

[albert_dao]

Originally Posted by nanoreefnewbie

I'm reply relying on my clean up crew too take care of the algea with that name proper on time water changes I'll control the algea..almost forgot tonite should be a good night for water change and add my diy skimmer

Ahh, I suppose my only argument against relying on a cleanup crew in a smaller tank is that you're not actually addressing the base causes of the problem. In a smaller tank, this can spiral out of control in short order.

It's sort of like coming home to your house, having it look like a dump, then cleaning it sparking clean each and every night. Sure, it gets the job done, but the real issue here is that you have a roommate who is a total slob, lol.

Water changes never a bad thing though