bennerkla's 5.5 AGA Nano Reef Diary (Lots of PICS!!!)

[AttackDonut]

I did a 5.5 AGA some years ago, you might find pics on here from it. Easy to care for, surprisingly, just used a CPR bakpak for everything and it really did quite well.

Squamosa clams, Rainfords goby, lemon goby, all kinds of good stuff.

Of course, the 130 watt PC lights helped too.

 

[bennerkla]

Yeah, I would love to have a skimmer too but just no room. I don't want to do a sump since I'm taking this to college. And if my college won't let me, I'll put this up for sale. 130 watts? Wow, that is a lot. Did you get a lot of algae with that amount of lighting?

Update 7-12-05

Here are some updated shots of my tank. I added carbon to my AC mini, and scraped the glass. My hermit seems to be eating the algae verrrry slooowly, any comments on the tank?

W/ flash.......

Thanks guys, I'll check back later tonight too.

Cya,

Ben

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Time to add some snails Ben. 2 nassarius snails, 1 cerith and two astreas ought to start taking care of that alge for you. Nass snails are detrivores, so they'll clean up the sandbed of dead organisms from the cycle. Ceriths and astreas are herbivores.

 

[bennerkla]

Awesome, I'll get those once I get my water tested. Should I reach in there and grab some of it out?

 

[agarza]

If you do that it will only grow back, it's better to allow nature to do itÃ"šÃ‚´s work, helped by a well trained cleanup crew

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Should I reach in there and grab some of it out?

Absolutely. Better yet, pull the offending rocks. I know you don't want to do this, but it really is the best way. To put it into perspective, when iIhave to yank rocks out of my 30 for whatever reason, it's much more painful that pulling the ones from the 2.5. Speaking of which, I need to do that in the next few days to rid myself of those darn hydroids.

If you pull it off in the tank, be sure to syphon out the gunk. Good luck!

 

[bennerkla]

Here's what I'll do. I'll pull some of it out tomorrow, water change 2 gallons, and if it comes back I'll scrub. You win, sugar

I was thinking of adding a small cleaner shrimp to my 5.5, and then dumping him in my 75 when he matures, is this okay to do?

I still have no idea what I'm going to feed my sexy shrimp and porceline anenome crab, and possibly cleaner shrimp. Any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Brooks_McClary]

I dont know about feeding the shrimp but adding a few snails and such does the trick for me. I have 1 mithrax, 1 hermit (the most useless of the bunch), 1 nass, 1 margarita snail, 1 little conch, and one turbo snail. They keep my 5 gal CLEEEEEEEEN. I would recommend diversity in such a small tank. If one little critter doesn't eat something, someone else will. And, I can always threaten them with adding a mantis (like the mighty TIM) if they fall down on the job. I'd never do it but it keeps them on their toes.

 

[bennerkla]

I'd rather not put a turbo in there; if he dies my water perameters are going to go crazy. What kind of conch do you have? Any pics?

 

[bennerkla]

Update 7-13-05

Hey guys, I'm about ready to pull out some of that hair algae and do a water change right after, hopefully this'll work. I bought 2 nassarius snails today, and they immediately completely buried themselves in the sand. I can't even see one of them anymore. Here is a pic....

My LFS didn't have any Ceriths, Margaritas, or Astreas, so I'll need to venture outside my safe zone for those. Also, my LFS might be going out of business he said everyone is just buying online now-a-days. I felt bad for him.

I'll probably post more pics tonight. Should I fed these Nassarius anything extra?

Cya,

Ben

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Until you have a handle on those nuisance algaes, I wouldn't feed it anything extra. Any food you drop in the tank will just add fuel to the fire.

I see some cyano, you might do well to add a small PH in there for a while to help get rid of that. Cyano hates high flow areas. Suck out any visible cyano with a turkey a baster. I know when I was battling a major cyano outbreak a few years back, I was sucking it out twice a day. I swear you can actually sit and watch that stuff regrow. So frustrating.

 

[bennerkla]

Yeah, I guess I was so lucky. My first tank was my 75 gallon in my basement, and I have never had any algae outbreak, and I've done maybe 3 water changes in 2 years. I have been starting them though, because I just added a piece of coral. I have a powerhead that I was going to originally put in the nano, but it is so damn loud that I can't sleep with it going. Maybe I'll just run it during the day. I might have to drive an hour to get snails, and with gas prices nowadays, that might not be possible soon, so I'm going to look around for fellow reefers and see if they have any to spare.

I'll try turkey basting and pulling out the algae tomorrow, followed by a water change. I'm hoping this will help, very badley, because I really want to start adding life to this thing (good life.)

Thanks sugar, I'll upload more pics tomorrow.

Cya,

Ben

 

[bennerkla]

Update 7-14-05

Wow this month has gone by fast. Anyways, work was cancelled this morning, so I had a chance to clean my tank a bit. Here is what I did...

-My top off water was disgusting. There were a lot of random specks and particles in there because the jug didn't have a top to it. I threw that water away, filled with more RO water, and cut a place in the lid for the water tubing and electric cord to pass through.

-I hand picked some hair algae out of my tank. I stopped after half, though, because it might have done more harm than good. Some algae escaped my hand and floated around, and I'm worried it will just root somewhere else. Sugar Mag's method is fast approaching if this stuff keeps growing.

-I turkey basted some cyno off of the sand bed.

-Performed a one gallon water change,

-Added a 89 GPH pump, pointed directly at my main rock. I read that hair algae and cyno don't like flow, so I'm goign to leave this pump on all day, until I go to bed, then I'll turn it off because it is obnoxiously loud. We'll see how it works out.

-I am thinking about removing the circled rock to allow more room for sand. I love the look of sand, and it would allow more room for frags since they will all come on a piece of LR already. Any thoughts?

I'll do yet another 1 gallon water change soon. Let me know what's up guys.

Cya,

Ben

 

[clown fanatic]

you werent just blowing the cyano off the sand bed with the turkey bastor were you? if so that will most likely make matter worse by helping the cyano spread. that stuff is really tough to get off your sand bed, once your get some sand sifting snails like nas snails ceriths you should see improvement (worked for me). i like the new bucket lid it should cut back on evaporation of the RO water too. about the circled rock i say it looks better with it in there but when it comes down to it, its your tank if you like the look of sand better it really doesnt matter what other people on here think about it. when do you plan on adding that clean up crew? howse your water params the last time you checked?

 

[bennerkla]

Hey clown. I didn't blow the cyano, I sucked it out of the tank and put it in another cup. I'm adding a cerith snail today too.

I like the rock right now, the only problem is that is doesn't allow much room for coral placement. I can't put a coral on the top of it because the AC mini is right there. I dont know, when I take it out to scrub I'll snap 2 shots, one with and one without. Then we can decide.

Water perams....

Ammonia- 0-.25
Trite-0
Trate-10-20
pH- Can't read, anywhere between 8.0 and 8.3, I need a pH meter

That is all I test for, I would test for phosphate but I don't feed, I might test for calcium later on.

 

[AttackDonut]

The only time I had heavy algae, is when I neglected the tank for ~6 months. It had growth on the front glass, otherwise, no problems.

I had ~5 pounds of live rock, soft corals, a few plates, trio of clams, all kinds of good stuff. I'll see if I can scare up pics for you.

Used Ro water for makeup, skimmer and a powerhead for water circulation, that was it.

 

[bennerkla]

Cool, I'd like to see some pics. I think its funny how some people have success while others don't, yet the same methods are used.

For example, in my 75 gallon, I have a SeaClone skimmer and a AC 300 running carbon, that's it. I never do water changes. I have never had any algae and all my livestock is very happy.

In my 5.5 gallon, I have a refugium full of chaeto, and I do water changes about twice a week. I also run carbon, and this tank is full of hair algae. I'm optimistic, though; it'll go away soon.

I was thinking about adding a coral, I'm not sure waht it is called, but it sits on the sand bed and looks like a sand dollar shape, plate coral or clay coral maybe? Any thoughts? My LFS has them.

I only have my lights on for 6-7 hours a day now, hopefully this stuff will do the trick.

Cya,

Ben

 

[Brooks_McClary]

Get a Super Tongan snail. They are super sand movers. Mine fixed my Cyano sand issue in less than a week in my 5 gal. It has the added advantage of being the MOST personality filled gastropod in the world. If you put some frozen food next to where he is hiding in the sand he will leap out and attack it. (OK, leap might be overstating it a bit but he is VERY quick for a snail)

 

[bennerkla]

Thanks for the idea.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

A super Tongan is just a larger species of nassarius snail and they are strictly carnivorus snails. They will do absolutely nothing to get rid of the hair algae or cyano. http://64.73.41.105/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=1763

Ben, I know you don't want to put a turbo in there, but at this tage in the game, since you have no livestick to speak of and the rocks really need a good herbivore, it might not be a bad idea to put one in there. Let him do his thing for a couple of weeks,and once the tank is cleaned up, return him to the LFS. Also look into margarita snails, or checkered nerites, both are excellent grazers.