June 2010 Nano Tank Of The Month - FishLibrary's 20 Gallon Mixed Reef

[fishlibrary]

June 2010 Nano Tank Of The Month - FishLibrary's 20 Gallon Mixed Reef​

I am very proud my nano reef win the June 2010 NTOTM and thank you all for your votes.
This is a late gift to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of my local reef aquarium web site "FishLibrary@Org" at Hong Kong on 29th May,2010.

Introduction
My first reef tank start-up on 2003 with size 24"L x 11"W x 14"H DSB single tank, the current reef tank replaced on 2007 so as to fully utilize cabinet surface area. However the reef crash every year on 2008 & 2009 without any reason after the upgrade, SPS, LPS & soft corals totally loss each year. Because crash reason still unknown, so I introduce RO/DI on 2009 to improve water source.
Now, my reef re-develop since August 2009, most of the corals sitting there at least half a year. Most of the corals are not growth from small frag, and my system is not running ZEOvit system.

Tank Profile
"¢ Display tank: 15-gallon (21"L x 14"W x 13"H).
"¢ Sump tank: 5-gallon side refugium on the left side (6"L x 14"W x 13"H).
"¢ Lighting: DIY 4 x 24W T5HO with Philips Ballast.
"¢ Water circulation: 1 x Vortech MP10.
"¢ Skimmer: RedSea Prizm.
"¢ Calcium reactor: DIY Part A/B.
"¢ Return pump: MaxiJet 400.
"¢ Chiller: Resun CL-280.
"¢ Heater: 100w
"¢ Salt: Tropic Marin PRO-REEF
"¢ Others: 4 stage 100G RO/DI

Filtration System
The filtration consists of 40lbs live rock(15lbs in the display and 25lbs in the refugium). Water passing through GAC and Zeolite then go into the refugium without any filter sock, RedSea Prizm protein skimmer hanging on the other side of the refugium. A MaxiJet 400 return pump pumping water through a Resun CL-280 chiller first before return to display tank, a 100W heater also placed inside the sump for water temperature control.

Lighting System
DIY 4 X 24W T5HO powered by Philips electronic ballast, tube arrangement from front to back and lighting period stated as below.
AquaMedic ReefBlue @ 14:00-22:00
Sylvania CoralStar @ 15:00-23:00
UVL AquaSun @ 15:00-23:00
Sylvania CoralStar @ 14:00-22:00

Water Parameter
Specific gravity: 1.026(Refractometer)
pH: 8.2 - 8.4(API)
Calcium: 420 - 460 ppm(API)
Alkalinity: 7 - 9 dKH(API)
Magnesium: 1400 ppm(Salifert)
No2: 0 ppm(API)
NO3: 0 ppm(API)
PO4: 0ppm(API)
Temperature: 24 - 27°C

Live Stock
Soft corals with mushroom, buttons, leather, green star polyp & xenia sitting at the tank bottom.
SPS dominant reef with Acropora sp., Montipora sp. & Seriatopora sp. and a small group of LPS.
No fish at this moment.

Maintenance, Feeding & Supplements
I change out the GAC and Zeolites bi-weekly, 1st & 3rd week replace GAC and 2nd & 4th week replace all 150g granular size Zeolites. I perform a 5L water change (~10% net water volume) once a week with Tropic Marin PRO-REEF salt.
My T5HO tube is changed out every 10 to 12 months. I do not feed fish and corals all the time.
The supplement used in my tank is Kent Tech-M magnesium, Bright-well Aquatics Lugol's & AminoAcid. Calcium & alkalinity is maintain by calcium chloride & sodium bicarbonate respectively.

Future Plan
"¢ Strengthen the lighting system from 4 tubes to 6 tubes T5HO.
"¢ Upgrade return pump to improve circulation between display tank & refugium.

 

[Agu]

Congrats :thumbsup:

 

[dalston]

Congrats indeed, simply beautiful. It takes a real skill level to be able to create such a diverse reef with a small tank and you have done just that.

Great write up and well done again, Fishlibrary!

 

[grabthereef]

HK tanks always have sick colonies!!

 

[powder blue boi]

Wow!!!!

 

[mike_cmu04]

very nice!!!! congrats

 

[JarekS]

Very nice tank. Congatulations!

 

[swissbutcher]

Awesome tank)) Congrats!!!

 

[nauticac4]

Very Nice!!!
What are you thinking of adding for fish?

 

[Timeless1483]

wow congrats, amazing tank.

 

[changm]

Beautiful tank and an inspiration for me! Congrats!

PS: I'm originally from HK too.

 

[fishlibrary]

Thanks all.

Very Nice!!!
What are you thinking of adding for fish?

As you can see from the first photo, a tang hide on the left of xenia but she leave the world on May!! So bad!!
I don't know why I cannot keep tang longer than two month and tang is my first choice to remove alage automatically. Furthermore, I would like to introduce a 4-6 small size cardinal in my tank.

 

[Fishboy9227]

The tank would look good with a couple of cardinals! Great looking tank!!!

 

[GhostCon1]

Beautiful tank, grats! I have a reason that you can't keep a tang longer than two months, but I'm sure someone else will say it... actually, I will PM you. So, no one else needs to say anything about that, ok?

Next up, do you have a Clean Up Crew for your tank? Snails and such to eat algae and all.

 

[fishlibrary]

Only two snail help to clean-up rare brown & green algae on rock & glass surface, but macro algae they do not!

 

[uhuru]

Beautiful tank, grats! I have a reason that you can't keep a tang longer than two months, but I'm sure someone else will say it... actually, I will PM you. So, no one else needs to say anything about that, ok?

Next up, do you have a Clean Up Crew for your tank? Snails and such to eat algae and all.

Good call Ghostcon :thumbsup:

Congrats again fishlibrary love your tank!

 

[GhostCon1]

I can't think of anything off the top of my head that eats macro algae =/

Thanks uhuru

Also, the bit of caulerpa (sp?) that I have had, I pulled it out and it hasn't grown back, but I may just be very lucky. I googled it and it seems the only way to take care of it in a nano is to pull it out manually, all the fish that like to eat it need large tanks

 

[Roadtoad]

Nice tank! Congrats on the NTOM.
you could try lettuce nudibranchs or emerald crabs to take care of the macro.

 

[sahin]

I voted for this tank this month because it represents an overall success that can be seen and measured in the corals growth and colour.

Can I ask what brand of Zeolites you use and how you run it in the system? I.e. in a reactor or in a mesh bag? Do you dose any bacteria?

Many thanks for the answers. Well done with this tank.

 

[fishlibrary]

GhostCon1, sorry to my poor English.

Three types of algae as photo below can not be control, two types of red algae and the green one.

My lovely tang only eat those red algae, but she gone because she eat faster than algae growth! Now, I need to remove those algae every month regularly.