A Clown's Reef, Waterbox AIO 35.2g

[Clo]

Worked night shift this week, so it means 1 AM water change and water chemistry check while I try to maintain my sanity.

I did a 10% water change before checking my values using the Red Sea Marine Care Multi Test Kit and Foundation Pro Multi Test Kit.

My water parameters were:

Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 77.3
pH: 8.0
Alk: 8.5
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 2ppm

Cal: 480
Mag: 1340

Aside from that, I've been naughty and added some more inverts to my tank. Most notably:

x1 Blood Red Fire Shrimp
x1 Scarlet Skunk Cleaner Shrimp
x1 Tiger Conch
x2 Porcelain Anemone Crab
Astraea Snails
Dwarf Ceriths

I also picked up two other fish foods. One is ROE (Real Oceanic Eggs) and frozen mysis shrimp to supplement my flakes.

So far everyone is happy and having a good time.

I ordered the inverts through reefcleaners.org and the packaging was pretty good. I also dumped in a bag of Pods+ to prepare for a ruby dragonet down the line. Unfortunately, somehow the scarlet cleaner I ordered through them had the bag rupture in transit and it was DOA. But, John was very responsive and immediately refunded me.

After which I went to my local LFS and picked a cleaner shrimp up through them. I almost think I could've left with two. My LFS also had received shipment that day and they also had pom pom crabs, I really wanted to get them but decided to hold off for now and wait until I have an actual anemone and more corals in my tank.

I did add two corals though. A hammer and a zoa, no names

It's quiet exciting to see my tank's diversity increase.

 

[Clo]

A photo of the poor cleaner who didn’t make it in transit The bag was pretty much dry like that when I opened the box.

But it worked out anyways, because I was able to get this happy healthy guy at my local LFS.

And lastly, here’s a video of my conch climbing a freaking rock! https://youtube.com/shorts/39Z5yJmYYsE

The conch has been both my husband and I’s favorite after the clownfish because of how goofy yet lively it is.

Also I apologize for the really blue video. I don’t have any filters for reef photos yet, and I’m trying to do some research before I buy one because a lot of them have weird cut outs for the camera that I’m not sure will work with my iPhone 12’s triangular camera placement.

 

[Clo]

Woke up this morning to find that my Nero 3 wasn’t running. It’s not even opening in the app either, saying no Bluetooth device detected/connected.

I opened it up using the video on the website, but it looks clean on the inside to me. Kinda disappointed. Wondering if I need to get a new power head ASAP or if I might be ok waiting a couple days.

 

[Clo]

Aside from that, here's a video of how the tank looked today.

 

[Clo]

Tried plugging the Nero 3 back in today, and it works! And, I didn't even have to delete it from the app and re-pair it with my phone. Not sure what the issue was, but it's working now so I'll continue to run it. But the next time it stalls and fails to connect to my phone, I will definitely send it off to AI for repair.

Given that my head had an issue at <1 month, I did take the time to go head and order a second powerhead, AND a "backup" return pump.

After a lot of consideration, I ordered the Nero 5 because cost & the app is easy to manage. I wanted the MP10, but I decided against it because I would only have the option of hanging it from the sides, and I wanted at least one of my power heads to hang from the back wall between the display and AIO sump portion. Also, price was another big factor. While I think the MP10 with the option of the ecotech battery is a great redundancy for protection against power outages, especially in Louisiana where we just started hurricane season, I didn't like the total price of the package justified the means, and reviews on the ecotech battery where not very good with most saying it failed within 1-1.5 years. So, given that, I felt that the Nero was my best option, and I wanted to give Aqua Illumination another chance because I actually quite like the Nero 3 and AI prime.

Instead, I will wait for the Cobalt Aquatics Rescue Air DC automatic air pump for emergencies. I have emailed them, and they said they plan to stock up there were just delays from Covid.

For my "backup" return pump, I ordered the MightyJet 538g DC. I will actually replace the Nyos Viper with the Mighty Jet, and keep the Nyos as my backup. The Nyos I found out is actually a pain in the butt to adjust using the coin turn mechanism in the front, and I've actually damaged the turn slot with a coin already. I found it required more force than expected to turn it. And, adjusting the flow of the Nyos to provide adequate flow that worked with the overflow return of my cups was more challenging than I wanted it to be. Also, I think the dimensions of the MightyJet will work better in my return chamber given all the stuff I have in there.

A few posts back, I was also asking for feedback on the arrangement/layout of equipment in my AIO compartments, and this is ultimately what I settled on.

1 - filter floss cup, bag carbon, bagged biomedia balls
2 - empty
3 - return pump + ATO sensor, top off, light mount, inkbird dual sensor & 2 cobalt neotherm heaters
4 - tunze skimmer
5 - filter floss cup, bag carbon, bagged biomedia balls

In my 2 compartment which is currently empty, I plan to add the Midsize MiniMax AIO media reactor with carbon. I personally think that bagged carbon isn't doing much right now with passive flow.

Lastly, I also ordered the Tunze 3181 Algae Media reactor. I plan to have the pump sitting in the 2nd compartment with the MinMax reactor.

Why?

Because I want to.

I decided even with the tank being an AIO, since it is the only tank I will have for the next 6-10 years, I am ok with going crazy with the equipment I have. A sump set up would've been better because I would've had more space, but really I was more afraid of flooding my apartment with (user related) issues to plumbing. That said, the AIO compartment space is working really well for me despite it being "economical."

Secondly, my work can get very busy and water changes may not always be possible on a weekly scale (which is one of the major benefits of owning a nano tank). I'm hoping between the skimmer and the chaeto reactor, my tank will be able to withstand a little neglect from time to time without becoming too ugly and wild.

Overall, I'm very proud of how far my tank has come even in 3 weeks, and I cannot wait to see how much it grows moving forward.

Lastly, I decided I wanted to add a clown goby at some point. I saw one at my LFS and the color with the teeny size made it capture my heart.

I think that is all for now. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend.

 

[yanni]

Awesome thread! I'm getting ready to set up my own nano tank, a Red Sea Max Nano! Your tank looks fantastic, can't wait to see it develop and mature!

 

[Clo]

Awesome thread! I'm getting ready to set up my own nano tank, a Red Sea Max Nano! Your tank looks fantastic, can't wait to see it develop and mature!

I really wanted a Red Sea! But, I couldn't afford the larger sizes at the time I was ordering, and I wanted something bigger than 20gal~ish. I cannot wait to see your tank when it's up!

 

[diabolical_clownfish]

I heard that biomedia balls will trap detritus and will end up being nitrate factories, so I skipped them. Instead of a algae reactor, I bought a Santa Monica Algae Turf Scrubber (the Drop).

I feel like we must have very similar tastes. I also was considering a clown goby, but have heard that it's a picky eater (frozen only) and might not get along with my two existing clowns.

 

[Clo]

I heard that biomedia balls will trap detritus and will end up being nitrate factories, so I skipped them. Instead of a algae reactor, I bought a Santa Monica Algae Turf Scrubber (the Drop).

I feel like we must have very similar tastes. I also was considering a clown goby, but have heard that it's a picky eater (frozen only) and might not get along with my two existing clowns.

I added bioballs, because I wasn't sure I had enough rock work in my tank. But, I also see a lot of people have media blocks in their sump, so I figured bioballs wouldn't be bad. And I just need to rinse them once every couple months or so. I have not heard of that, but I will definitely be looking it up!

And quite possibly. I haven't read anything about it being picky with clowns. Hm, I have some frozen food already so it won't be an issue. And, I have ROE too, and I don't think it'll be so picky that it won't even eat that. But, I'm waiting to buy more fish until I really know what I want. Haha. Plus, I feel like the final list of corals I consider will also affect my fish stocking choices. Apparently, clown gobys will chomp on SPS?!

 

[Clo]

BRS had the cobalt aquatics rescue air USB in stock, so I finally ordered it. Nice little safety net in case power goes out or there's a hurricane.

 

[Clo]

Shrimp molted overnight. Must be a sign that he’s happy, and he looks fine as well.

My lens for filtering actinic lighting comes sometime next week so hopefully better photos on the horizon!

 

[Clo]

Less than 12 hours after the scarlet cleaner molted, after coming home from my anniversary dinner, I found out my blood red fire shrimp also molted. Now, I'm wondering if both molts were triggered by stress? Because apparently that can be a thing for crustaceans.

Making some RO water now, and planning to do a water change first thing tomorrow when the Nero 5 delivers, so that I can install the new return pump & set up the Nero as well without disturbing the tank too much.

Also got my new Minimax reactor set up with some ROX 0,8 carbon. It was getting past the double black sponge tops, so I topped it off with some filter floss and that definitely fixed the problem.

Aside from that, went to LFS to look at some fish. They had rock anemones for 15 dollars, so I got 2 and they threw in a free pompom crab. One is a beautiful green and the other has orange streaks, I'm excited to see them grow a bit larger. All three adjusting now, and I plan to add a few more pom-pom crabs in the future.

 

[Clo]

Installed the MightyJet pump “upgrade” yesterday. And, I was actually quite disappointed to see that my MightyJet on max has weaker flow/return than my Nyos Viper. And, the feed button seems to register presses intermittently.

I went ahead and emailed BRS on how to trouble shoot the MightyJet, but definitely bummed on a purchase I was excited about.

Aside from that, the Nero 5 and Tunze 3181 arrived after a slight delay from Fedex this morning. I was not able to set it up before leaving to see my mom for her birthday. :,)

I am adding a midas blenny to the tank sometime this week. And, next fish goal is probably a possum wrasse. Might forego the ruby dragonet since the wrasse also eats pods, and I don’t think a 35 gallon can support 2 pod eaters.

Personally, I think the wrasse looks better than a ruby dragonet. Now, I need to decide what to replace the Ruby Dragonet with. So many decisions.

 

[Clo]

I'm like 3/3 of equipment duds.

The Nero 5 I ordered is rattling like crazy. I just want my stuff to work guys.

I also seem to have a bacterial bloom, I'm about to do another water change as soon as I get some salt water made. I think maybe one of the porcelain crabs died, I can see one of them on its back with the legs up in the rock at its usual spot. Not sure how I'll get it out with how deep it is in the rock, or figure out why it died. It was fine before I left for the weekend which is the worst part. And every other critter in my tank didn't have any issues while I was gone.

 

[Clo]

Photo dump, just testing out a reef lens

 

[diabolical_clownfish]

I also have the MightyJet but never use the buttons - I have it hooked up to a $20 smart plug (poor man's Apex I guess) to tie it into the rest of my home automation setup so I can use my phone or voice to turn it on/off.

 

[Clo]

I also have the MightyJet but never use the buttons - I have it hooked up to a $20 smart plug (poor man's Apex I guess) to tie it into the rest of my home automation setup so I can use my phone or voice to turn it on/off.

I have a couple Kasa plugs I use for on/offing my ATO and skimmer as well. They make the water changes more convenient.

The mightyjet I’m iffy on only because the gph turnover seems lower than my old one. I mean it’s quiet but that’s it so far I don’t know, I had better expectations based on how many people recommended them.

 

[Clo]

Water still cloudy AF today.

Did a 24% water change like 3 days ago. Thinking of doing another 20% water change. I'm learning I really need to get a RODI booster pump, and that I need an actual mixing bucket. I knew my psi was low for my RODI, but I didn't realize how much of a problem it was until I needed water and it takes a while to make water. I've been using 1 gallon jugs and just shaking the mix and letting it sit for a hour or so to make sure it's fully mixed, but it's taking too long to make water for situations like this. Thought about going to the LFS to buy some salt water BUT we're about to get a tropical storm (raining hard) and I don't have containers to lug water in so catch 22 .

I did finally come in contact with a shop in FL who had an Innovative Marine Auqashield 10w UV sterilizer with the intake pump attached at the bottom in stock, so ordered that and hopefully it'll be here over the weekend or early next week so I can get it set up. I chose that over the AQUA HOB UV because I have carpet only floors and didn't want to risk equipment that would increase my risk of a possible leak and related water damage.

On the bright side, hammer and rock nems seem to be very happy still, and I actually think my hammer is in the process of developing a new head?!

Midas blenny came in Wednesday, he was very shy, but he found himself a nice little cave, so he's been kicking up sand everywhere and has finally started coming out to swim from time to time. He's also eaten today which is a REALLY good sign.

Goals going forward are:

1. More stable water params
2. Get my water making situation figured out.
3. GHL controller set up for redundancy, monitoring consistency, and more control
4. Mature the tank, get coralline growth before adding any other fish

And lastly, tank officially hit 30 days old today so we hit our first time based milepost which is kinda nice.

 

[Clo]

My cloudy water situation is pretty bad right now. Lol. Can’t even see through to the other side of the tank right now.

 

[Clo]

Ordered the smart Buddie RODI Booster pump yesterday. Should arrive sometime this coming week.
I also ordered ChaetoGro and ORA Chaeto for my Tunze 3181. I plan to get it get set up as soon as I can, see if it helps me going forward with maintaining stable parameters in the tank.
Aside from that, my hammer fell off my rock overnight, so now I just have it buried in the sand. With it being in the sand, I did have to adjust the flow from the powerhead so that it wasn't blasting the poor hammer.

No other updates. At this point, just waiting for UV to arrive because I can't seem to do enough water changes to clear up the cloudiness.

I did however attach some photos showing how I have my back compartments set up for people who might be curious on how crammed they are.

L to R, cup w/ black sponge on top (filter big then little, also helps maintain higher water level in DT), next is carbon reactor and 1 inkbird probe, middle ATO line & sensor, 2 heaters, return pump, after is 1 temp probe and tunze skimmer, last is just filter cup.

I solved the issue of my loud reactor by dropping it closer to the water by hanging it on the baffle wall instead of the sump wall. Adjusting the intake rate also fixes water noise problem, but not as much as dropping it closer to water line.

Nasty skimmate I've been pulling out.