Nano noob build

[aztoza]

It’s a great day in the tank today! Ammonia has hit 0 Nitrites are still way high, will keep tabs another week.

The jump net and feeding station have come in. I think it actually looks really nice, and it’s great not to check the floor for my fish whenever I don’t see him right away…plus it’s keeping my hands out of the tank, figuratively and literally

 

[aztoza]

All right, I’ve successfully taken a 2-day vacation and the tank and fish are still here! Of course right before leaving I noticed white dots on his tail…>=( but they appear to be staying the same, so fingers crossed it is not disease. Not a spot of algae or diatoms yet…I’m not running the reef light, but still surprised and wondering if anything is wrong.

Parameters are leveling out, but wouldn’t quite proclaim the tank cycled yet. I feed frozen every day and am wondering why phosphate would be 0 still…could the skimmer really be taking it all out? Or is it disappearing into the rock?

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .07
Nitrate: 5
Phosphate: 0

I’ve got my eye on a cleaner shrimp next, to get all the stuck food the goby can’t reach. Also a tailspot blenny OR a neon goby pair. Pods and photo later this week hopefully.

Here’s a bunch of mongooses just because.

 

[aztoza]

Almost there…
Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
NO2: .05
NO3: 8
Phosphate: undetectable
PH: 8.3

Turned on the reef light today: 100% blue 50% white, 8 hours full light with sunrise/sunset/moonlight. Picked up some copepods and phytoplankton too. The pods came with a nice clump of macroalgae! I’m so happy to have found something besides chaeto to try in the display and control those nutrients! (Low phos still making me nervous). Turned off the powerheads so it can attach.

Noob mistake, dosed pods in the daytime and Squirtle thinks they’re a great snack lol.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

I’ve made the daytime pod mistake too, haha. Oops!

Macroalgae has been a BOON for my tank, they’re pretty and they do a killer job sucking up nitrates and phosphates. I’m looking forward to when they’re grown in enough to support copepod breeding!

 

[aztoza]

I’ve made the daytime pod mistake too, haha. Oops!

Macroalgae has been a BOON for my tank, they’re pretty and they do a killer job sucking up nitrates and phosphates. I’m looking forward to when they’re grown in enough to support copepod breeding!

How long did it take yours to attach to rock? I’ve tied it onto the rock now but doesn’t look promising for eventually attaching…

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

How long did it take yours to attach to rock? I’ve tied it onto the rock now but doesn’t look promising for eventually attaching…

I tied mine to small bits of rock using fishing line and then either placed the rock in the substrate or attached that to my main rock structure with putty. I haven’t directly observed any holdfasts yet, but I’m gonna guess every type has its own schedule for growing that.

 

[aztoza]

GUYS I HAVE A DIATOM!
2 to be exact, lol. Could be the phyto settling in, but it’s brownish/yellowish so I’m guessing diatom or nuisance algae. The new macro algae died in 24hrs flat, so honestly I’m just ecstatic SOMETHING can live in the tank!

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Huzzah for ‘Toms, but Squirtle would like a word with you about “I’m just ecstatic SOMETHING can live in the tank!”

 

[AlyciaMarie]

Nice! What's your next move with your tank?

 

[aztoza]

Nice! What's your next move with your tank?

Hmm well you never know what magical surprise shipment the LFS might get in haha…but right now I think maybe a cleaner shrimp. 3 snails if the uglies get going. Maybe another try with the macro or Xenia just to see if it dies instantly again. We need to handle some boring equipment stuff before more fish haha.

 

[aztoza]

Huzzah for ‘Toms, but Squirtle would like a word with you about “I’m just ecstatic SOMETHING can live in the tank!”

Touché! Something planty, that is XD

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

By the way, since you asked- I pulled up my string of pearls to brush off some algae and relocate it, and observed a little holdfast forming on the rock I tied it to 2-3 weeks ago! Cool to see.

 

[aztoza]

By the way, since you asked- I pulled up my string of pearls to brush off some algae and relocate it, and observed a little holdfast forming on the rock I tied it to 2-3 weeks ago! Cool to see.

Ok cool, thanks! I’ll give the macro another try next time I get pods.

 

[aztoza]

Well that escalated quickly…diatoms are now a brown film. Yuck! I know they should resolve on their own though.

See my first 2 cleanup crew? No you don’t, because they’re nessarius snails and we’ll probably never see them again. Hope they eventually discover that the rocks are tasty.

Love that my husband and I can do this together. Here he is handling the boring equipment stuff so I can handle the parameter and livestock stuff <3 plugged in a second heater and tiny controller, and have an upgraded ATO coming so we can ditch the gangster ATO and put it on the QT tank. Last thing for now is to figure out a backup power supply for when the power goes out $$$$$$$$ =( lol

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

My nassarius snail is a total do-nothing! The real champions when I was going through the diatom phase was the strawberry conch in the sand and the Trochus snail on the rock. Overnight, they’d demolish every single diatom that popped up while the lights were on.

Extra strong recommend on the strawberry conch because it looks like a Pokémon and your daughter will love it.

 

[aztoza]

My nassarius snail is a total do-nothing! The real champions when I was going through the diatom phase was the strawberry conch in the sand and the Trochus snail on the rock. Overnight, they’d demolish every single diatom that popped up while the lights were on.

Extra strong recommend on the strawberry conch because it looks like a Pokémon and your daughter will love it.

Haha! Conches are cool, but I do want an urchin later on and was afraid they would both keep it too clean, but maybe the tank is big enough. Trochus may be what we needed instead…maybe next time.

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

The easy solution to too clean, I’ve discovered, is over feeding ;-)

 

[aztoza]

Another week and everyone is still alive!

Since getting the snails Squirtle has been amassing all the sand and sealing himself in the tunnel at night. Got to fortify his position against the onslaught of…snails XD One of them has moved in anyway and he can’t do anything about it, so now it’s named Bulbasaur.

Today we put in 2 trochus snails, a skunk cleaner shrimp, and a second macroalgae. The rocks are growing some phytoplankton, and a big die-off of diatoms made some gnarly black spots. Rinse your rock better than I did y’all!

Will take some better pics of these guys soon.

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .05
Nitrate: 20
Phosphate: .03
Ph: 8.3
Alkalinity: 7.7

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Another week and everyone is still alive!

Since getting the snails Squirtle has been amassing all the sand and sealing himself in the tunnel at night. Got to fortify his position against the onslaught of…snails XD One of them has moved in anyway and he can’t do anything about it, so now it’s named Bulbasaur.

Today we put in 2 trochus snails, a skunk cleaner shrimp, and a second macroalgae. The rocks are growing some phytoplankton, and a big die-off of diatoms made some gnarly black spots. Rinse your rock better than I did y’all!

Will take some better pics of these guys soon.

Salinity: 1.026
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .05
Nitrate: 20
Phosphate: .03
Ph: 8.3
Alkalinity: 7.7

Sealing himself in!?? Mine has little dens, but he keeps the entrances open. That’s so crazy!

 

[aztoza]

Sealing himself in!?? Mine has little dens, but he keeps the entrances open. That’s so crazy!

Yeah he only started doing it once the snails came, it’s very silly. Just leaves a peep hole, in the morning levels it and in the evening builds it again. You do you dude. Lol.