bennerkla's 5.5 AGA Nano Reef Diary (Lots of PICS!!!)
- Thread starter bennerkla
- Start date
clown fanatic
New member
im not too sure on what type of crabs, ive never had hair algae my self 
you could try some blue leg hermits or maybe an emerald crab. ive heard alot about emeralds eating corals but when i did more research i found that the are an opportunistic feeder and will eat what is available to them, so if it doesnt have some sort of meaty or leafy food to chow on it would most likely go for corals. ive never kept one,but i would think your hair algae would keep its hunger satisfied and if it cleans that out i would say try adding nori rubberbanded to a rock,and some meaty food to be certain it doesnt turn to corals.
sounds kinda complicated i guess lol but id rather have a cool emerald crab than a bunch of hair algae. i myself would like to do an emerald crab but the LFS never gets them and im short on $ right now
you could try some blue leg hermits or maybe an emerald crab. ive heard alot about emeralds eating corals but when i did more research i found that the are an opportunistic feeder and will eat what is available to them, so if it doesnt have some sort of meaty or leafy food to chow on it would most likely go for corals. ive never kept one,but i would think your hair algae would keep its hunger satisfied and if it cleans that out i would say try adding nori rubberbanded to a rock,and some meaty food to be certain it doesnt turn to corals.sounds kinda complicated i guess lol but id rather have a cool emerald crab than a bunch of hair algae. i myself would like to do an emerald crab but the LFS never gets them and im short on $ right now
Birdlady
New member
Pretty much....you will notice that now all the chaeto on the bottom is not getting any light...can't grow without light and it will start to die...
Keep it pruned and growing! Also , once it gets to certain size, it needs a minimum amount of food, and your system may not be producing enough nutrients to support such a large ball of chaeto which is a good thing..
Keep it pruned and growing! Also , once it gets to certain size, it needs a minimum amount of food, and your system may not be producing enough nutrients to support such a large ball of chaeto
which is a good thing..
I have been following your thread for a while now and I have to say your tank looks amazing. Every time I take a look there is some thing else I want to do with my tank.
I have a 5.5 also I am going to be building and plumbing in a 10 gallon sump into mine to increase the water volume. I want to have the water volume so that I can keep a small goby with out any problems.
Keep up the pics, and great work.
L
I have a 5.5 also I am going to be building and plumbing in a 10 gallon sump into mine to increase the water volume. I want to have the water volume so that I can keep a small goby with out any problems.
Keep up the pics, and great work.
L
Update 7-11-05
Well, too late for the chaeto, I just tossed about 1/4 of it out the window. Didn't realize how bad that stuff smells. I also rotated the ball of chaeto so the bottom now gets some light.
If people are reading this thread and thinking about starting a 5.5 or any size nano for themselves, one of the most important decisions to make is to dedicate yourself to the maintenance. For this nano, I chose to go with the "super sized" Berlin system, meaning that I bought nice LR for natural filtration, but I have other means as well.
As you can see, I have 2 HOB filters. One is an AC Mini (now called and AC 20, I think) and the other is an AC 300 (now the AC 70.) Both serve different purposes. The AC 20 is the mechanical and biological filtration, I believe, because it has the sponge and carbon inside (I have yet to add the carbon, I will once the tank is done cycling and run it 24/7 replacing monthly.) The AC 70 is modded into a refugium in order to remove deadly nitrates and other nutrients and add more volume. So far it has worked out wonderfully. Remember to use a low K rating for the light above the chaeto. My light is a 6,500 K 13 watt bulb, and the chaeto has grown magnificiently. I also have a poly pad in the AC 70 to remove any "gunk" from the tank. I rinse both mechanical filtration materials weekly with water changes.
Water changes are the most important way to filter, IME and IMO. Not only is dilution the solution to polution, water changes add back trace elements that your corals and livestock need to thrive. If I didn't perform water changes, my tank wouldn't last very long, and if it did, it would not thrive. Below is how I perform a 1 gallon water change; this information is for nano reef beginners who want to get a sense on how much effort this takes.
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Step 1- Buy a 2 gallon bucket and another powerhead, if you already don't have one lying around the house. Salt and water are obviously required as well.
Step 2- Mix your saltwater. Put 1/2 cup of salt / gallon of RO water. Let the powerhead mix this water for 24 hours. Some people think that just stirring until the salt is gone is good enough, but I highly recommend mixing thoroughly. Add a heater if needed. I didn't, because the water mixed up to about 80 degrees anyway.
Step 3- After 24 hours, the water is ready. Remove your hood/canopy and start to either syphin the water out or use a cup. Most people like to syphin the crap off of the sand bed, but I like to leave it for my clean up crew, so I just used a cup and a milk jug. The jug is 1 gallon, and the funnel makes it easy to accurately measure the amount of water I'm adding or taking out. I use this jug for adding a gallon of water into my 2 gallon bucket as well. Remember, turn off any equipment that will not work properly without the water level. For me, I just turned off my auto top off system.
Step 4- Add new water SLOWLY. I dumped mine into my refugium so I wouldn't stir up the sand. In the pic you can see the bucket I used to mix the water and the AC I dumped the water into. Slower is better in the saltwater hobby.
Step 5- At this time, I usually clean the piece of glass that I have in my canopy to protect my lights, and I also rinse my sponges. I also clean the saltcreep off of the black borders of the AGA tanks and on the AC filters. Just do everything slowly and you should be okay. Check out how disgusting the water is that I removed!! Obviously I'm glad I did this water change. It is kind of like realizing what your protein skimmer pulls out; imagine dumping that stuff back into the tank......
You're done. Estimated time 8-15 minutes, depending if you have to rinse your media. Very, very easy to do. On a larger tank, say 75 gallons, water changes are more of a PITA, and it is understandable why people rarely do them. But on a nano, it's painfree. Here is a recent shot of my tank after water change.
I hope that helped some of you out there, and I will test my water sometime this week. I'm taking a sample into the fishstore because my Doc Wellfish testing kit is a piece of crap.
Check out my hermit crab going to town on some algae, he's doing great.
That is about it for today, I might put some snails in later this week. If you have any questions please ask.
Cya guys,
Ben
Well, too late for the chaeto, I just tossed about 1/4 of it out the window. Didn't realize how bad that stuff smells. I also rotated the ball of chaeto so the bottom now gets some light.
If people are reading this thread and thinking about starting a 5.5 or any size nano for themselves, one of the most important decisions to make is to dedicate yourself to the maintenance. For this nano, I chose to go with the "super sized" Berlin system, meaning that I bought nice LR for natural filtration, but I have other means as well.
As you can see, I have 2 HOB filters. One is an AC Mini (now called and AC 20, I think) and the other is an AC 300 (now the AC 70.) Both serve different purposes. The AC 20 is the mechanical and biological filtration, I believe, because it has the sponge and carbon inside (I have yet to add the carbon, I will once the tank is done cycling and run it 24/7 replacing monthly.) The AC 70 is modded into a refugium in order to remove deadly nitrates and other nutrients and add more volume. So far it has worked out wonderfully. Remember to use a low K rating for the light above the chaeto. My light is a 6,500 K 13 watt bulb, and the chaeto has grown magnificiently. I also have a poly pad in the AC 70 to remove any "gunk" from the tank. I rinse both mechanical filtration materials weekly with water changes.
Water changes are the most important way to filter, IME and IMO. Not only is dilution the solution to polution, water changes add back trace elements that your corals and livestock need to thrive. If I didn't perform water changes, my tank wouldn't last very long, and if it did, it would not thrive. Below is how I perform a 1 gallon water change; this information is for nano reef beginners who want to get a sense on how much effort this takes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Step 1- Buy a 2 gallon bucket and another powerhead, if you already don't have one lying around the house. Salt and water are obviously required as well.
Step 2- Mix your saltwater. Put 1/2 cup of salt / gallon of RO water. Let the powerhead mix this water for 24 hours. Some people think that just stirring until the salt is gone is good enough, but I highly recommend mixing thoroughly. Add a heater if needed. I didn't, because the water mixed up to about 80 degrees anyway.
Step 3- After 24 hours, the water is ready. Remove your hood/canopy and start to either syphin the water out or use a cup. Most people like to syphin the crap off of the sand bed, but I like to leave it for my clean up crew, so I just used a cup and a milk jug. The jug is 1 gallon, and the funnel makes it easy to accurately measure the amount of water I'm adding or taking out. I use this jug for adding a gallon of water into my 2 gallon bucket as well. Remember, turn off any equipment that will not work properly without the water level. For me, I just turned off my auto top off system.
Step 4- Add new water SLOWLY. I dumped mine into my refugium so I wouldn't stir up the sand. In the pic you can see the bucket I used to mix the water and the AC I dumped the water into. Slower is better in the saltwater hobby.
Step 5- At this time, I usually clean the piece of glass that I have in my canopy to protect my lights, and I also rinse my sponges. I also clean the saltcreep off of the black borders of the AGA tanks and on the AC filters. Just do everything slowly and you should be okay. Check out how disgusting the water is that I removed!! Obviously I'm glad I did this water change. It is kind of like realizing what your protein skimmer pulls out; imagine dumping that stuff back into the tank......
You're done. Estimated time 8-15 minutes, depending if you have to rinse your media. Very, very easy to do. On a larger tank, say 75 gallons, water changes are more of a PITA, and it is understandable why people rarely do them. But on a nano, it's painfree. Here is a recent shot of my tank after water change.
I hope that helped some of you out there, and I will test my water sometime this week. I'm taking a sample into the fishstore because my Doc Wellfish testing kit is a piece of crap.
Check out my hermit crab going to town on some algae, he's doing great.
That is about it for today, I might put some snails in later this week. If you have any questions please ask.
Cya guys,
Ben
JustFin
New member
bennerkla said:
wow, clearly laid out, nice job
your method is almost exactly how I perform my water changes, except my waste water goes into another 2G bucket instead of the gallon jugs, I'm lucky enough that when the water reaches the tip of my highest piece of LR I know that I've taken exactly 2 gallons out, but refilling the jugs for a guide is a good tip...
after hearing all the stories about aquarists struggling to "dial there skimmers in" and skimmers taking out too much water or not enough skimmate, water changes seem like less of a hassle and is one of the perks of keeping a nano
JustFin- Thanks. I definately think that water changes would be easier that slapping a big skimmer on the back of this tank. There are so many reasons. I was surprised about how easy this water changing is becuase my 75 gallon is a pain. There are definately pro and cons to both, and that is why I have both and not just one
agarza- I was refering to this thread, but I will be adding a clean up crew very shortly, and when I do I'll post a detailed post about exactly why I chose this crew and why I didn't choose others. It should give 5.5 gallon'ers a good start on inverts.
agarza- I was refering to this thread, but I will be adding a clean up crew very shortly, and when I do I'll post a detailed post about exactly why I chose this crew and why I didn't choose others. It should give 5.5 gallon'ers a good start on inverts.
clown fanatic
New member
i notice you changed your avatar! im guessing thats you to my left (obviously) and is that your mom to my right? or should i apologize to your girlfriend lol. you sure dont look your age, are you sure your 17? reminds me of Bad Boys II "**** you at least 30"
on a more serious note the tank looks a lot better after that water change. what all do you plan on having for a clean up crew?
on a more serious note the tank looks a lot better after that water change. what all do you plan on having for a clean up crew?
Great post above Ben. I'm concerened about that hair algae though. It seems to be growing a bit more each day rather than diminishing. It might be time for some manual intervention. Next time you do a water change, save your water in two separate bowls, and pull your rocks one at a time and scrub with a soft toothbrush in one bowl, then rinse in the other before placing the rock back in the tank.
Also, dont forget that about once a month, you need pull that fuge and clean out the inner chamber, pull the impeller and give it a good cleaning. I just rinse the inner chamber with hot water and scrub the impeller housing and impeller with a wire brush. You''ll be surprised at how much funk builds up over a months time.
Great job so far Ben! I certaianly agree with you about the maintenence on these little tanks. I easily spend 4-5 times more time working on my 30 cube as I do on my 2.5.
Also, dont forget that about once a month, you need pull that fuge and clean out the inner chamber, pull the impeller and give it a good cleaning. I just rinse the inner chamber with hot water and scrub the impeller housing and impeller with a wire brush. You''ll be surprised at how much funk builds up over a months time.
Great job so far Ben! I certaianly agree with you about the maintenence on these little tanks. I easily spend 4-5 times more time working on my 30 cube as I do on my 2.5.
clown fanatic- acually that is your mom to the right. (rest of this post is censored)
lol, yeah i decided to post that pic because my girlfriend acually looks happy with me
I will post my clean up crew later on this week, once I get my water tests back. My poor hermit crab was used as a tester, (although my tests came back fine with dc wellfish, i hate that kit) and he is doing fine.
Sugar Magnolia Thanks, and I'm concerned as well. It definately is growing quite a bit. I think I'm going to mix more salt water tomorrow and do another 1 gallon water change on wednesday. Having seen what the water looks like once it comes out, I want to get as much of that ugly water out as possible. I really would like to not have to scrub the rocks, as whenever one takes rock out it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them back to the same position. Could I just put my hand in there and pull that crap out?
Is there any way I can clean my fuge without taking all the water out of it? In order to put the impeller in, I had to unscrew the motor of the AC. Is there a way to clean the impeller without having to do such a thing? I also have sand at the bottom of my fuge....
When should I add the carbon to the AC 20?
Thanks for your compliments on the tank. What happened to your 2.5? Did you loose interest? I saw a recent pic of it; having your experience with your 2.5, which corals would you recommend and not recommend for my 5.5? Not star polyps? lol
Cya guys, I'll post more pics tomorrow. BTW I use Instant Ocean salt becuase it was on sale, but if I could have any salt i would have Red Sea.
Ben
P.S. Sugar- the reason why it is growing rather than diminishing probably is because I haven't done anything about it until today. I'll post a pic tomorrow and hopefully it'll diminish.
lol, yeah i decided to post that pic because my girlfriend acually looks happy with me
I will post my clean up crew later on this week, once I get my water tests back. My poor hermit crab was used as a tester, (although my tests came back fine with dc wellfish, i hate that kit) and he is doing fine.
Sugar Magnolia Thanks, and I'm concerned as well. It definately is growing quite a bit. I think I'm going to mix more salt water tomorrow and do another 1 gallon water change on wednesday. Having seen what the water looks like once it comes out, I want to get as much of that ugly water out as possible. I really would like to not have to scrub the rocks, as whenever one takes rock out it is IMPOSSIBLE to get them back to the same position. Could I just put my hand in there and pull that crap out?
Is there any way I can clean my fuge without taking all the water out of it? In order to put the impeller in, I had to unscrew the motor of the AC. Is there a way to clean the impeller without having to do such a thing? I also have sand at the bottom of my fuge....
When should I add the carbon to the AC 20?
Thanks for your compliments on the tank. What happened to your 2.5? Did you loose interest? I saw a recent pic of it; having your experience with your 2.5, which corals would you recommend and not recommend for my 5.5? Not star polyps? lol
Cya guys, I'll post more pics tomorrow. BTW I use Instant Ocean salt becuase it was on sale, but if I could have any salt i would have Red Sea.
Ben
P.S. Sugar- the reason why it is growing rather than diminishing probably is because I haven't done anything about it until today. I'll post a pic tomorrow and hopefully it'll diminish.
Last edited:
bennerkla said:
You don't have to unscrew the motor. The impeller is accesible through the inside of the intake chamber. Just under where the intake tube sits is a piece of gray plastic, you can pull that up, then use a pair of needle nose pliers to gently pul the impeller out. The gray plastic piece will feel like it isn't supposed to come out, but it does, just a tight fit.
Did you baffle the sand into it's own chamber? If not, you'll have issues with sand getting into the impeller area and the impeller will stop, causing the motor to burn out. (been there, done that.) I skipped the sand with my newer version of the AC fuge, and added a baffle to keep the chaeto/pods and such from getting into that area.
Great, thanks. I was thinking I could do something like that. Yes, the sand has its own baffle. I'll post an updated pic today, mix new saltwater, and water change tomorrow. We'll see if water changing can help diminish this stuff. Are there any snails or things that would take care of this, without being an emerald crab?
