my little ocean - nano reef

[swamprad]

Cool!!

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

Baking soda is OK...the only problem is balancing the carbonates with CaCl, making sure you have the right amount of each. There is info online about how to make your own 2 part supplements, and in fact there is a company that sells "make your own" 2 part kits, with Na bicarbonate, carbonate, and CaCl, and instructions on how much to use of each...sorry, I forget the name. However, its worth it for me to buy B-ionic gallons 3 times a year, for the simplicity alone. and for you, 2 gal (1 of each) would probably last well over a year. Meanwhile, you can add the CaCl shortly after adding the baking soda...once it has fully dissolved into the tank. A few minutes should be fine. Take care, Eric

 

[smartie2000]

Thanks

 

[streetmorrisart]

Amazing. I'm familiar with the Nano concept, but such a small saltwater tank is still blowing my mind. With close water quality monitoring, anything is possible though. Very lovely.

 

[smartie2000]

Yes this nano concept blew my mind too when I first saw it on the internet.
Then I saw one at the fish shop and I had to try it myself, having longing to do saltwater for so long. Hopefully it stays up for years to come. The one at the shop has been up for years

 

[Elena]

I miss my 200 gal. salt tank, but I don't miss the work! I had a small tank set-up also, very similar to yours where I had seahorses.

Oooh, I was just telling OH this evening how I'd love to keep seahorses one day. They are just so cool.

 

[Eric Muehlbauer]

I would love to keep seahorses too, and my kids have begged me to set up a seahorse tank....they have even bred seahorses that will eat frozen mysis shrimp (normally they only eat something alive and moving)...but they still need to be fed several...yes, several...times a day. Too much commitment for me...

 

[smartie2000]

tank moved

I decided I had to do a tank move because it was getting close to 86oF, which was the maximum I was willing to go. The 94W lighting really is the culprit for the high temps. Its freaky moving the tank but it was successful, (other than the acan that got brown rot later, but it is growing back). It also gave me an idea of how much water I actually have with all the livestock, rock and sand in there, I have suprisingly very little water. Hopefully it will not get too hot in July. For temp, ideally it should be in the basement but no one would admire it down there, so I chose the front of the house that remains cool b/c of the lack of windows.
Here's what it looked like this morning after feeding. (ok I need to clean the glass )

I corals grew quite a lot and soon I will have to frag and list them online for locals who wants a head of torch or frogspawn corals. Hopefully I can get more coraline algae, or soft coral to grow on the glass of the backgrounds. The tiny brittle star population has gone up very high now too.

My 2.5 gallon desktop pico-tank is also doing great running on 9W and whatever sunlight it gets in the orchid filled room. The pulsing xenia soft coral is taking over! Also my firefish goby is less shy now. I notice all my fish are more active, perhaps because of increased metabolism because of higher temps.

 

[Yoyo_Jo]

Fren, it's so beautiful. Like another world. :clap:

Joanne

 

[Jorch]

Very beautiful and serene! Love it!

 

[cwt]

It is amazing. Wish I could do something like that. But I will enjoy yours!

 

[smartie2000]

thanks guys

 

[Marco]

that looks awesome

 

[Jon in SW Ohio]

Cool a fellow nano-reefer

I've kept a 12g AquaPod for a couple years now, and have it modded with a 150w Metal Halide and big skimmer. I've gotten into expensive Limited Edition corals and so it kinda took funds away from the orchid collecting the last year or two.

I've got an old thread on here about it, I'll update it in a few minutes for ya (and anyone else who's interested)

Jon

 

[Corbin]

:drool::drool::drool: I wish I wish I wish I had one. All my life I have admired the salt water set ups but when you move around in construction it is not the thing to have. So I just drool a lot.:drool:

 

[fbrem]

wow, unfrickin'believable, so much life in such a small space.

 

[smartie2000]

update:

Its been exactly 11 months now and I bought nemo a new buddy. As soon as I opened the door the new clown darted at the front of the glass. Now that Nemo has a new buddy they are way more active. Sorry about the poor video quality, my camera takes good orchid photos but poor videos. I tried taking photos but he is just too hyper.

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKpNFWTgPpE

He was sold as a 'black percula' but after some reseach at home I think it is rather a A. ocellaris. (my need to name things correctly) Percula do not exist in full black but its darkest morphs still have red fins. As well my new black ocellaris clown is way more curious than my older percula(Nemo), since this is the character of ocellaris clowns. My percula rather stays inside of its host more often. Black ocellaris clowns are not often seen at the shops here. Its a colour morph naturally found in Northern Australia only. Its regular morph is orange similiar to Nemo. Both of my fish are captive raised increasing lifespan and conserving wild populations. So now I have both species and I wonder if they will hybridize when they are more mature.

I think my bioload is as high as it can be now. no more fishes

 

[JeanLux]

nice active pair Fren!!! Jean

 

[Hera]

Nice setup. The video was cool to watch. They seem happy together. We have a freshwater tank and I can't imagine the work involved in keeping a saltwater tank going. Good job and thanks for the look.

 

[Heather]

They're so cute! I love clownfish. Nemo looks like she's dancing around your black one - all excited-like. She reminds me of our puppy!