The "Little" Tank

[fdonophan]

My roommate has decided she would like a tank in her living room, and so employed me to set one up for her. She really knows zip about the hobby, but enjoys the look of the "blue and purple" tank in my room but not the "green and brown" tank (I have a 70g reef and a 30g fresh already.)

I've had my first SW tank, a 29g BioCube and stand in the garage collecting dust for some time because I was unwilling to part with it, so now it has officially been moved back into use!

I wouldn't call this a build thread - I'm not really "building" anything special, but I wanted a place to post pics in order as they come.

I intend to only keep softies, LPS and other low/mid light - low/mid maintenance corals. The fish need to be small but colorful - I havent started a genuine stock list. She loves my zoa garden rocks, so there will probably be lots of different zoanthids as I come across interesting frags.

Here's a shot showing placement in the room:

 

[fdonophan]

I ran the tank for a few days last week with a vinegar/freshwater solution to remove old residues, then 2 nights ago rinsed it out filled it with new saltwater, added 20lbs of new packaged live sand, 2 pieces of dry rock I've had around, and a sizable piece of LR from my 70g to seed.

The guts of the cube have long since been ripped out and discarded. I filled the main chamber in the back 3/4 full with LR rubble from my sump and put a new floss/carbon filter in the first chamber. I also put a screen of sorts over the LR rubble and put a bag of Chemi-Pure directly under the water flow. At this point I don't plan to run a skimmer - I tried to use the oceanic skimmer when I used this tank before and it was a POS. If I need to I will add it later.

I didn't have room to use fancy tricks when I added my sand, so it was pretty cloudy. Here's a typical day 1 shot

 

[fdonophan]

Yesterday I added 2 ecoxotic stunner strips I had around - 1 actinic blue, and one 50/50 to the stock lighting. I don't intend to actually upgrade the lights. I tried that before and it didnt end well. The strips add a nice burst of color though.

I did a quick water change this morning because my sg was too low and I needed to bring it up. I'll do my first round of actual tests later this evening.

Here's where we are this morning. Looking good so far, now it's time to wait for the "ugly box of rocks" phase of the cycle to begin:

*Sorry for the big pics - I'll bring them down a little next time :lol:

 

[Butchhe]

That's looking real good so far. I like the piece of rock on the front left. it has some good character to it.

 

[fdonophan]

Thanks! I purchased that rock almost a year ago along with a couple others very similar. I love them because of all the ruffles, natural holes and caves. That piece has been in 3 different salt tanks now, and even spent some time in my turtle tank. Its been out "curing" in the sun for over a month now, and it seems such a waste, so I rinsed it out and put it in as the main rock in the cube.

 

[fdonophan]

Day 5 - Clear as a bell and quite pretty this morning. Last night ammonia was up to .25 - I'll give it another check as well as nitrite this evening to see how it's coming along.

Studying my rocks this morning I saw some pods still running around - hopefully they all survive the cycle and reproduce while there is nothing in the tank to munch on them!

Starting to think of fishes. I want to stay small and lightly stocked, so the ones I choose need to be bright and active. The only thing I am sure I want is a pistol shrimp/goby pair. I have a maroon clown in my 70g so not pressed about adding clowns, though they are good nano fish.

What are some other bright nano fish? How is the helfrichi firefish? Seems very pretty. I'd love a mandarin, but I worry about food supply. I will be stocked pretty heavily with softies and LPS so they need to be reef safe. I don't envision more than 3 fish, 4 max if they are small and compatible.

 

[fdonophan]

Day 6 - Definitely have some greens and browns in there! My roommate is already asking me when we can put critters in - I've explained why we have to wait, but she doesn't understand the process. I may toss in a couple snails tonight so she has something to watch. I'm also going to get the timers set up to keep the photoperiod steady. I expect the one base rock in the back to start leeching po4 anytime now based on the same rock added to my 70g a couple weeks ago. I'll start monitoring that tonight as well.

Parameters haven't shown much of a swing. This morning:

Temp: 79
sg: 1.026
pH: 8.0 (api)
Ammonia: Between 0 and .25 (api)
Nitrite: Undetected (api)
Nitrate: Between 0 and 5ppm (api)

The side with the most green is the side facing the main living room windows, though they are a good 8 feet away. I can see that algae on the panel will probably be an ongoing battle.

 

[fdonophan]

To aleviate the boredom of waiting for the cycle, I set up a little QT and purchased our first fish for the nano!

I chose a firefish - they are bright and cheery, lots of personality, and I knew my roommate would fall in love with his coloration.

I posted this in another thread as well - why have a plain box of water when we want to enjoy our new little buddy while he waits for his new home? The "plant" is plastic (glow in the dark ) and the cave is fired clay - both saltwater aquarium safe.

My fun little nano-QT: