Cammy

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Hiya again,

Figured that as I begin to close my Reefer nano down in its current form (majority sps) that I’d begin this thread. I’ll *hopefully* be running this tank as a slightly cooler NPS majority but still mixed reef featuring some deep water species… This isn’t my first NPS tank, my previous one was a 200L mainly focusing on gorgonians.

The tank will run around 74F (still to decide exact temp based on stocking but between 72F and 76F for sure), and I’m also hoping that by starting this thread I can get as much input as possible from all of you to make it as successful as possible.

General Equipment
Tank : Red Sea Reefer Nano G1 (Sumped Version) - total volume 105L / 28G(US)
Lighting : TMC Reef Photon
Flow : Jebao SLW-20 (x2)
Skimmer : Deltec 400i
Return : TMC Reef Pump 2000
Heating/Cooling : D-D Temperature Controller + D-D 100W Heater + Aquarium Cooling Fan
Dosing Pump, Dosing Product, Containers : D-D P1 (x2), Tropic Marin All for Reef + Red Sea NO3 : PO4X, TBC on the containers

Feeding Equipment
- Fridge : Some kind of mini-fridge TBC
- Dosing Pump : Peralistic Dosing Pump (with extra large 6.4mm internal diameter tubing to hopefully prevent clogging and allow for easily passing frozen food)
- Timer Plug : Digital Plug Timer that has a function for seconds and able to turn on every 4hrs

Foods
Cultured by me
  1. Icochrysis
  2. Nanochloropsis
  3. Tetraselmis
Frozen
  1. Rotifers
  2. Red Plankton
  3. Brine
  4. Mysis
  5. Lobster Eggs
Dry/Fridge
  1. Reef Roids
  2. Reef Myst
  3. TMC Nori Sheets w/ Garlic
  4. TMC Nori Sheets w/ Added Omegao-3
  5. Red Sea AB+
Supplementation
  1. TMC Ammino and Vitamin spray
These are all the foods that I am used to using and would appreciate any further suggestions to try :)

Rockscape
I plan on scaping the rocks into a “dumbell-shaped” pillar with a larger flat section at either end. I’ll be doing this using three main acrylic rods and drilling small pieces of liverock to create the pillar with lots of gaps/holes for fish and water flow. To allow for easy coral placement and cleaning I’ll be building the column in two pieces 1) the bottom flatter piece, and 3 vertical acrylic rods that create the column; and 2) the larger flatter piece that will sit approx 10cm below the water surface. This will allow me to remove the top piece easily for better access.

Livestock
I have a list of corals and inverts already, but as for fish I’m not incredibly set on anything. I have had a LOT of helpful suggestions, and am leaving my thoughts on each one here…prepare for an ADHD fueled list. I want this thread to allow me to look back at my thought processes as well as the tank itself, and love to learn along the way too. Anyway, this is where I’d appreciate YOUR input…:beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

Dwarf Angelfish
Golden Angel (Centropyge aurantia), Colin’s Angel (Paracentropyge colini), Multicolor Angel (Centropyge multicolor), etc.​
I have had these suggested by a number of people. The price of these fish is not an issue, and they are absolutely stunning. My only issues will be coral-eating, and secondly tank size. I’ve had people say that they will be fine and only get around 3” in captivity, but I’m still not 100% sure that a reefer nano is big enough in my opinion.​

Jawfish
Blue Spot Jawfish (Opistognathus rosenblatti)​
I do intend to have quite a deep sand bed with rock rubble along the floor, the only question would be whether or not 3”-4” is sufficient and if 74/75F is too warm. I’ve seen many different quotes for temperature across the forums. Other Jawfish would also be considered since they may be better at 74/75F.​

Cardinalfish
Yellow Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus luteus), Ghost/Blue Streak Cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus), Black Cardinalfish (Apogonichthyoides melas), Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma)​
Smaller, more peaceful cardinal species that could form a nice small shoal in the tank and enjoy the overhangs.​
Red Spot Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus parvulus)​
Lovely little fish, great shoaling behaviour but due to size are easily bullied and it is often hard to get them imported healthy. Hopefully the regular feedings and scape would help keep them healthy and comfortable though.​
Bangaii Cardinalfish (Pterapogon kauderni)​
Have had a pair of these in the past and raised the fry. Enjoyable experience and only concern would be aggression if they started to breed in a small(ish) tank.​

Gobies
Shrimp Gobies (Stonogobiops sp., Amblyeleotris sp.)​
Lovely gobies, plenty of personality, and the symbiotic relationship with pistol shrimp is always interesting, but sadly I‘d have to choose between them and a jawfish due to floor space.​
Trimma Gobies (Trimma sp.)​
Amazing colours, brilliant nano fish but easily bullied and in some cases even preyed upon.​
Neon Gobies (Elacatinus sp.)​
Similar to the trimma species but thankfully slightly bigge​
Cave Gobies (Priolops cincta)​
Large enough to not be eaten by something like a basslet, and their upside-down behaviour would be cool to view given the plan for the rockscape.​

Basslets/Wrasse/Misc.
Dartfish (Nemateleotris sp.)​
Ideal in size, beautiful in colour, and would benefit from the regular feedings of small foods.​
Gudgeons (Ptereleotris sp.)​
Same as the dartfish, the smaller species would also be ideal in this tank such as the Chinese Zebra Dartfish. Also have loved the colours and fin shape of P. Grammica for a long time but the species is hard to come by.​
Yellow Brotulid (Dinematichthys sp.)​
We’ve had one of these cryptic beauties in the store a few years ago, and I can imagine this tank being a lovely little setup for one that will allow it to both be comfortable and actually be seen.​
Blue Stripe Pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus)​
Already have a pair of these that spawn for me regularly, one of my favourite fish and would enjoy this setup. Plus can handle the flow unlike some other pipes.​
Deepwater Basslets (Liopropoma sp.)​
Have absolutely adored a variety of the Liopropoma sp. for a while and would really like one (or more) for this tank. They aren’t always the easiest to come by, and I have wondered if anyone has experience of keeping different Liopropoma sp. in the same tank?​
Geometric Pygmy Hawkfish (Plectranthias inermis)​
Love these fish and think one of these little predators would be great, adding some real personality to the tank. Would only really need top watch for aggression with the smallest of fish and inverts.​
Tilefish (Hoplolatilus sp.)​
Incredibly cool fish, and perhaps one for an upgrade tank down the line as they’d benefit from the regular feedings, but feel that 6” is too big for this tank.​
Anthias (Luzonichthys sp., Pseudanthias pulcherrimus)​
These smaller, slender and more peaceful anthias species are beautiful. Again they would definitely benefit from the regular feedings but I worry that they may struggle with space due to their swimming nature even though they max out at 3”.​
Flasher/Fairy Wrasses (Cirrhilabrus sp., Paracheilinus sp.)
There are some very nice deeper water fairy/flasher wrasses and I’ve fallen in love with a male blue throat in at work. My only concern is similar to that for the Anthias where they won‘t have enough swimming space.​
Pink Streaked Wrasse (Pseudocheilinops ataenia)
One of the few lined wrasses with a peaceful personality, they’re a beautiful nano species to watch as they hunt for small inverts over the liverock all day. They’re also good for pest control.​
That’s the shortest ramble that my brain could give for now, and I hope it all makes more sense to you, than it does to me looking back on it. Depending on the success of this tank, I may upgrade this nano into my old Reefer 250 after a year or two as that tank gets upgraded to a Reefer 525…​
Lastly, its a pleasure to join R2R, hopefully get to enjoy speaking with more of you soon.​
Cammy :grinning-face-with-smiling-eyes:
 
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Daniel@R2R

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Cool! Following!
 
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Cammy

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Not to add to the theme of my ADHD too quickly, but I may have a slightly different idea for the scape already… I had forgotten about this old ~15” pillar of wild collected liverock that I had left from an old tank which ran from 2012-2016. It has a realtively flat back so I am now thinking that I could use it as the centre piece with some rocks between it and the weir to create some caves on the back, alongside some other rockss around the thin part which I’d choose to be the base. I’ll still get my desired accessible overhang and some caves this way, while getting some use out of this dang cool rock :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

IMG_0423.jpeg
IMG_0424.jpeg
 

7of9

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Not to add to the theme of my ADHD too quickly, but I may have a slightly different idea for the scape already… I had forgotten about this old ~15” pillar of wild collected liverock that I had left from an old tank which ran from 2012-2016. It has a realtively flat back so I am now thinking that I could use it as the centre piece with some rocks between it and the weir to create some caves on the back, alongside some other rockss around the thin part which I’d choose to be the base. I’ll still get my desired accessible overhang and some caves this way, while getting some use out of this dang cool rock :beaming-face-with-smiling-eyes:

IMG_0423.jpeg
IMG_0424.jpeg
That is a great piece of rock with that texture.
 
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Cammy

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Starting to narrow things down now for the livestock… I’ve decided on the following and they’ll be arriving over the next few weeks for QT or coming from one of my established tanks.

Fish
  1. Collette’s Basslet (Liopropoma collettei) - x1
  2. Swales’ Basslet (Liopropoma swalesi) - x1
  3. Cave Basslet (Liopropoma mowbrayi) - x1
  4. Yasha Goby (Stonogobiops yasha) x 2
  5. Blue Stripe Pipefish (Doryrhamphus excisus) x2
  6. Ghost Cardinfish (Zoramia leptacantha) x5
  7. Cave Goby (Priolepis cincta) x1
Beautiful (and slightly less common over here) Liopropoma sp., will be getting them rather small and hoping that adding them together with 3 seperate sets of caves will allow them to live in harmony. Already have backup tanks in the case of too much aggression.​
The Yasha Goby pair I’ve had for a few years now with their pair of pistols and want to give them a good home for the remainder of their life. Therefore no Blue Spotted Jawfish (for now).​
Got two breeding pairs of Bluestripe Pipes and think that fully grown these guys will be able to hold their own in this tank, and will benefit from the regular small foods.​
Ghost cardinalfish are more different in body shape to some of the other cardinals on the list (I feel like the striped cardinals for example look too similar to the Liopropoma sp.) and hopefully that limits aggression. They’ve been in the store I work at for almost a year and no one has shown them much love, but I think they’re a cool fish and deserve a better tank.​
We recently had a shipment in and got some cave gobies as a replacement for some other species. Again they haven’t been getting much love, and I think their upside down behaviour will be very cool in this tank.​
Obviously will be QT’ing these and stocking slowly over the next couple of months.​
Invertebrates
  1. Randall’s Pistol Shrimp (Alpheus randalli) - x2
  2. Blue Coral Banded Shrimp (Stenopus tenuirostris) - x2
  3. Porcelain Crab (Petrolisthes australiensis) - x1-2
  4. Anemona Crab (Neopetrolisthes sp.) - x1-2
  5. Feather Dusters
  6. Electric Flame Scallop (Ctenoides sp.) - x3
  7. Sea Squirt (Polycarpa aurata) - x1
1-4 are all from tanks that I currently own and will be shutting down as time progresses. 5-7 on the other hand are all available in the shop I work at and are not best suited for most reef tanks. 6 & 7 are incredibly interesting, and I think their best chance of survival may be a tank like this one.​
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend :D

Cammy
 

Gaufl

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Following! I have the exact same tank set up as a NPS reef. So I am happy to help.

Greetings,
Flo
 
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Cammy

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Following! I have the exact same tank set up as a NPS reef. So I am happy to help.

Greetings,
Flo
Thats great to hear, do you have a tank thread for it?

Außerdem kommt meine Freundin aus Deutschland, daher spreche ich etwas Deutsch. Ich werde diesen Winter in Bayern sein. Gibt es Geschäfte, die ich besuchen sollte?
 

Gaufl

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I dont have a thread for this tank. You can check Instagram @darksidereefing for pics and the development of the tank.
//
Ich wohne auch in Bayern! Ich kann Transmarine in Nürnberg sehr empfehlen. Außerdem KölleZoo in Nürnberg (da gibt es sogar ein Video von Coralfish12g).

Liebe Grüße,
Flo
 
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Cammy

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I dont have a thread for this tank. You can check Instagram @darksidereefing for pics and the development of the tank.
//
Ich wohne auch in Bayern! Ich kann Transmarine in Nürnberg sehr empfehlen. Außerdem KölleZoo in Nürnberg (da gibt es sogar ein Video von Coralfish12g).

Liebe Grüße,
Flo

Ich werde diese besuchen. Ich werde auch „Whitecorals“ besuchen. Danke schön!
 
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Cammy

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Well, a year on and I’m finally brushing the dust off this project. Gonna use the same rock and some of the equipment as planned with a few added extras and some changes to the feeding system. Writing all this down for a wee bit of input on wavemaker choice, and also as a note of my thoughts to look back on.

Main equipment is now as follows…

General Equipment
Tank : Red Sea Reefer Nano G1 (Sumped Version) - total volume 105L / 28G(US)
Lighting : AI Prime 16HD
Flow : Nero 3 OR Nero 5 OR Orbit 2? (X2)
Roller Filter : Wavereef Drop In Roller Filter D4
Skimmer : Deltec 400i
Return : AI Axis 90?
Heating/Cooling : D-D Temperature Controller + D-D 100W Heater + Aquarium Cooling Fan
Dosing Pump, Dosing Product, Containers : Aqua Medic Reef Evo 4 + Slave, Tropic Marin All for Reef + Red Sea NO3 : PO4X + 2 x Brine Shrimp Hatcheries + Phyto + Frozen Lobster Eggs/Red Plankton, Dosed from Bottles + DIY Hatchery Containers + DIY Containers

Only thing I really need help with here is deciding on the correct wavemakers and return pump.

I want to keep the tank running off one app including the lighting, and create a wall to wall flow around the central liverock column. All 3 models of wavemaker have the same programme abilities and I intend to run them on the “pulse” mode within the app, using long pulsation times of 10-15s with the pumps running at “180 degrees” to each other time wise to allow for food to travel around the central column along the 3 viewing panes of the tank, before being shot back again. Any input on which model of wavemaker to use would be greatly appreciated.

As far as the return goes, I was leaning towards the largest Axis model, solely for head height and extra flow for the ability to run a “nutrient export mode”-style scene in the flow programme at least once a day to ensure uneaten food heads down into the filter roller and doesn’t foul the tank. Rest of the day I’ll be running a low turnover through the sump to allow the food to circulate in the display.
 
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