First Tank, New to Forums

[Mashtun]

Hello everyone,

I wanted to say thanks and post some pictures of my first tank. I've never posted before, but I have been lurking and learning from this forum for a while now. Anyway like I said, this is my first experience with saltwater so any comments would be welcome. The tank has been going for about 4 or 5 months now.

What I've got:

Mr. Aqua 11.4 gallon frameless tank
korilia nano power head
aquaclear 70 HOB filter w/ surface skimmer attachment
jager 50 watt heater
AI sol 12" lighting
Red Sea Coral Pro salt


I've only had the lighting for a few days now. Before that I have a PAR 38 bulb from rapid LED but due to an unfortunate accident I was with out a light for about a week and decided to just upgrade to the AI sol.

I decided to go with TBS for my live rock and CUC and I was very impressed.

I'm stocked with:

blue legged hermit crabs (about 10)
astrea snails (2)
smaller snails whose names I can't remember but have cool shell markings (2)
serpent start (1)
sea cukes (2)
cleaner shrimp (1)
various hitchhiker crabs and snails, including a large hermit, and a small pistol shrimp
2 A. Ocellaris clownfish (added about 2 weeks ago)

I don't plan on stocking anything other than the two fish because I'm sure I'm maxed out. I do however hope to get more corals...

for corals I have:
(I think)

2 green and 1 red mushroom
some orange/green ZOAs
a struggling green star polyp
an unidentified SPS
another unidentified polyp looking thing (last picture)

I don't think anybody but the mushrooms were doing well under the PAR38, and then they went a week without an actual aquarium light, so I'm curious to see how things change under the new AI lighting. I bought the SPS and unidentified bush looking coral at the same time I bought the lights which I'm running at:

T1 9AM 240M - W005 B013 R018
T2 1PM 60M - W023 B017 R025
T3 9PM 60M - W005 B013 R018
T4 10:50PM 10M - W000 B000 R004
T5 2AM - Off

(I plan to ramp this up by about 5% or so every week)

I do a 3 gallon water change every week and top off with fresh water as necessary. I feed the fish about a quarter of a cube every day of "marine fusion" but I'm not sure if that is enough or not.

Sorry for the long post, here are some pictures, any advise welcome.

 

[ange062]

Welcome to RC! The tank looks really nice and the equipment list is solid. The SPS on the white plug looks like a birdsnest, though hard to tell what type.

 

[fpv930]

Awesome setup.
I just started a 10g nano. I built it with an Aquaclear 20 as I did not know the flow was adjustable.
I see many nano tanks use the 70. How do you think the surface skimmer is? Does it work well?

 

[ange062]

Awesome setup.
I just started a 10g nano. I built it with an Aquaclear 20 as I did not know the flow was adjustable.
I see many nano tanks use the 70. How do you think the surface skimmer is? Does it work well?

Does Hagen actually make a surface skimmer for their HOB filters? If so that's pretty neat. I use a custom made one by Bonsai Reefs on my pico in conjunction with an AC70, it literally made a huge difference on the tank.

Without a surface skimmer you will notice tons of "film" on the surface, it's very well known that protein and DOC stick to the water surface. If you look around, a lot of custom build tanks have overflows that skim a significant portion of the surface of the tank (2/3 or more on the back of the tank) in order to maximize nutrient export from the water column into the sump where it can be removed by the skimmer.

 

[Mashtun]

thanks!

the surface skimmer made a HUGE difference. After a few weeks I started seeing the oily residue/scum on the top of the water and once I put on that attachment it never came back. It was only about 10 bucks on amazon. I think there is one specifically for the aquaclear filter, but I bought a different brand thinking it would be the same and it didnt quite fit, but I made do with some electrical tape. I recommend getting one for sure.

 

[Ehudd]

let me be the first honest person here, looking at that tank depresses me.

 

[Mashtun]

your lack of valuable input depresses me... the least you could do is say why, that's why I posted it after all.

 

[Jadams]

let me be the first honest person here, looking at that tank depresses me.

Epic fail :furious:

First off, he's here for information and to get input/help as needed. He's not posting his tank pics here for you to make statements like this: "the first honest person" :lol:

To the OP, your tank looks great and is off to a good start. Looks 10x's better than my first tank. Infact the equipment list you have is also about 10x's better than my first tank hahaha

Just continue to purchase corals when you can and do what you've been doing with the waterchanges and toping off. I would suggest getting and ATO soon though. Its TOTALLY worth it :thumbsup:

 

[Mashtun]

Ah thanks Jeremy, I'll look in to an ATO one of these days... I'm running out of room for things on the back of the tank though... I guess I'll have to upgrade to a bigger tank... but then I'll need a sump... and a new stand... and... well we all know how that goes.

also you bet I plan to purchase more corals "when I can"... but man those things are expensive! I've got to find a shop that sells decent looking corals for a decent price...

 

[calistyle]

welcome to the forums! Tank looks like it's off to a great start!