Dave's 15g Oceanic

Dave Harms

Premium Member
Last summer I downsized from my 70 Oceanic to a 15 gallon custom from Oceanic. The 70 was in my snake room and there was just no way to sit in there and enjoy it. The 15 is now in the living room, so I get to see it everyday.

The tank's dimensions are 1'x1'x2'.

Current equipment includes:
Lighting: CurrentUSA 24" Orbit PC 2x65w w/ Lunar L.E.D.s
Skimmer: AquaC Remora
Filtration: Eheim Ecco 2236 (Rated for 80g tank)
Heater: 50w Stealth
Other: Tunze Nano Wavebox 6206

I got the tank set up about a month before Hurricane Gustav crashed into the New Orleans area. We actually didn't lose power, so my cycle didn't get interrupted. :D

The new 15g sat empty except for some (more or less dead) rock from my 70 for a couple of months. The pod growth was insane! As of now the tank has been set up for about 8 months. I started stocking the tank in earnest during December of '08.

Inhabitants as of today:

Fish:
Amphiprion frenatus
Amblyeleotris randalli
2 Chrysiptera oxycephala

Inverts:
Astraea sp.
Cerithium sp.
Nassarius sp.
Calcinus tibicen
Calcinus laevimanus
Clibanarius tricolor
Hymenocera elegans
Entacmaea quadricolor


Coral:
Discosoma spp.
Seriatopora guttatus
Acropora sp.
Montipora sp.
Zoanthus spp.
Palythoa spp.
Pachyclavularia sp.
Clavularia sp.
Rhodactis sp.
Hydnophora sp.


Macroalgae:
Halymenia sp.
Halimeda sp.



I'll start posting some photos of the tank and it's inhabitants next post!
 
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Some photo's from this past December after I had begun stocking the tank:

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In the last two photos you can see the bubbles my Eheim sometimes spits out...

I dunno how to fix this.
 
Some from April 2nd:

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You can see I pinched back the Halimeda and moved the rock with the Halymenia to the other side of the tank.


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A Montipora frag that was 1" when I added it has really been doing well, starting to branch and shape up.


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As you can see, I have a massive bioload in the tank. I'll probably be getting rid of the damsels soon.

I actually tested my water for the first time since setting the tank up today:

SG: 1.024
Ca: 340
dKH: 8
PO4: 0
NO3: 0

Looks like it is time to start thinking about dosing Ca. I'm gonna top off with SW a couple times to get the SG up to 1.026.

I was really expecting worse water parameters to be honest. Hopefully I can get it up to par before long.
 
good looking little tank, those blue mushrooms look really nice, those are on my to get list -
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14762747#post14762747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by NM1975
good looking little tank, those blue mushrooms look really nice, those are on my to get list -

Thanks! Those blue shrooms are some of my favorite corals. I have had them in all three of my tanks. I consider them a "must have". :D
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14764112#post14764112 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Dave Harms
... The board was cheap so even if I decide NOT to do it I'm not out much money...

Now that sentence makes sense. :D
 
Once the board and pump get here I'll make my final decision on the BB thing. Right now I am really leaning toward pulling the trigger and giving it a try.

I am looking at having to get my damsels out of the tank and I will have to tear half of it apart to do so, so I might as well tear it all down and get it how I want it. :D

I am also waiting on the new Vortech mp10 to come out... I may just have to save my pennies!

http://ecotechmarine.com/news/ecotech-marine-introduces-vortech-mp10-for-nano-aquariums/
 
It seems my heater has crapped out. My tank is 73 degrees this morning... time to research a better heater I guess!
 
So, I went and bought a 100w Stealth to get my temps back in line. I was thinking that since my house is pretty cold I might need more wattage. The heater has been plugged in for three hours and the tank is still 73 degrees. Is this possible? Could I have the bad luck to have bought a defective heater?

I thought maybe my Coralife thermometer might be broken, but I went and put it in some warm tap water and the temp reading shot right up.

Is three hours not enough time for a 100w heater to start warming a 15g tank?
 
SOOOO

The problem ended up being the thermometer. I went and bought a new one and there was a 6 degree difference!

SO now I have a spare 100w heater.

The new thermometer is telling me my tank is 82 degrees. The old one, 76.

My "day" lights just shut off, I'll have to see how much the tank cools under the actinics.
 
Thats a really sweet tank! I recently bought a Koralia Nano powerhead for my 10 gallon and it works better than what I expected.

Also what kind of lighting do you use?

I have been thinking about upgrading my lighting and I have some of the same corals you do so I am just wondering.
 
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