Bob's 30 Gallon Nano Reef Build

[bobbravo2]

Howdy RC! Just splashing my way back into the hobby! Super excited to get back into it.

My goals with this tank build:

• Ease of Maintenance
• Low Bio-Load - Thinking ~3 fish max: 1 Small Potter's Angelfish, 2 Clowns (Exact breed TBD)
• Primarily a Reef Tank - I want to be able to care for any corals that catch my eye

The Dry Stock

• JBJ 30 Gallon Rimless
• Radion Gen 1 with TIR lenses & New fans (Thanks LFS!)
• EcoTech MP10w
• InTank Media Holders (1 so far.. may get a 2nd after the trial)
• Filter Floss
• RowaPHOS
• Seachem Purigen
• Tropic Marin Salt
• Salifert tests: CA, alk/dKH, PO4
• API Test Kit: Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Ph
• Saltwater Range Refractometer

Supplements

• Weekly 10% Water changes with 0ppm RO/DI water & Tropic Marin Salt. Heater + Powerhead with aerator.
• Brightwell CA & Alk 8.3
• SeaChem Purifier After Cleaning Sand

View Photo Gallery

[bobbravo2]

Reserved

[bobbravo2]

Ok - So I'm cycling the tank with Brightwell MicroBacter7, and have just added 12 Snails & 12 Hermits.

View current water chemistry

Current questions

What intensity should the radions be on? Currently set to the "colors" preset with a 50% intensity.

Also - have others found that a protein skimmer is necessary for this type of setup?

[G_Sanab922]

Sweet tank. I love the look it has. Also, unique aquascaping.

Some will say yes a protein skimmer is necessary and some no.
I'm going with no. Especially since you said you will be doing 10% weekly water changes.
I would say try it out and if it's getting difficult to maintain everything then purchase one.
I'm sure others will chime on this.

You like the InTank Media Basket?

[bobbravo2]

Originally Posted by G_Sanab922

Sweet tank. I love the look it has. Also, unique aquascaping.

Thanks! I wanted to make sure it looked good all the way around, and leave plenty of room for coral growth.

Originally Posted by G_Sanab922

Some will say yes a protein skimmer is necessary and some no.
I'm going with no. Especially since you said you will be doing 10% weekly water changes.

I would say try it out and if it's getting difficult to maintain everything then purchase one.
I'm sure others will chime on this.

That was my feeling as well. My past experience with reefkeeping is that water changes are a necessary -evil- chore: I tried a 55 with a refugium and a huge deep sand bed, probably over 150 gallons of total capacity. It didn't thrive because I wasn't focused on the water chemistry, and thought that by adding 2 part mix, and pure ro/di water, I had "outgrown" water changes. Translation: lazy youth.

Originally Posted by G_Sanab922

You like the InTank Media Basket?

It's not here yet :-(. UPS says Thursday. I'll share my experience :-)

[SmoothSmoke]

Looking good so far! What type of corals will you be getting mostly?

[bobbravo2]

Originally Posted by SmoothSmoke

Looking good so far! What type of corals will you be getting mostly?

Thinking:

• Montipora
• War Corals
• Zoo's
• A chalice or two
• Candy Canes
• (maybe) Smaller Derasa Clam
• (maybe) A bubble tip anemone to pair with the Clownfish.. Don't know how that'd go with the angelfish...

Edit: We have 12 Snails & 12 Hermits

[bobbravo2]

Just tested the levels. Getting it cycled... not yet :-)

PH 8
Temp: 80.4
Alk: 6.7 dKH
CA: 390 ppm
PO4: 0
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

dKH has dropped since this morning, after I added 5ml of Brightwell dKH 8.3, so I dosed again with 10ml each of calcium, dKH, and MicroBacter.

See the history of the levels here: Bob's Reef Test Levels

[G_Sanab922]

Originally Posted by bobbravo2

Thanks! I wanted to make sure it looked good all the way around, and leave plenty of room for coral growth.


That was my feeling as well. My past experience with reefkeeping is that water changes are a necessary -evil- chore: I tried a 55 with a refugium and a huge deep sand bed, probably over 150 gallons of total capacity. It didn't thrive because I wasn't focused on the water chemistry, and thought that by adding 2 part mix, and pure ro/di water, I had "outgrown" water changes. Translation: lazy youth.

It's not here yet :-(. UPS says Thursday. I'll share my experience :-)

Just remember, even though some might not agree but, there is a million and
one ways to do things. Just figure out what works for you and your system.

I know someone who does no WC, filtration or skimmer. But has a good amount of established LR with just a circulation pump and everything is perfectly fine for many years. Many people would find this hard to believe but it can be done..
Just mix and match, and try different things. There is never one right answer or way to do something.

Btw, how long into your cycle are you?
I'm going on my second week and should be done with my cycle soon on my 20g.

[bobbravo2]

Put the live rock in on May 17 @ midnight. Man, I love being able to have geo-tagged time-stamped pictures! Last time I was in the hobby, my digi shots were from a 1.3 MPx camera!

Added the CUC (12 Astreas & 12 Hermits) on May 19th @ 14:30. Feeding them a few pellets every 3-4 days.

Also, I've been dosing 10+ml of Brightwell's MicroBacter every day.

I'm used to seeing the 3 spikes: Ammonia, Nitrite, then Nitrate. Are they still as apparent with this low of a bio-load & cured rock?

[G_Sanab922]

Nice sounds good.
Btw I was looking at your earlier post about the Potter's Angelfish, you probably knew this already but angelfish tend to not be reefsafe or better said by others "with caution". And that specific angel might need to go into a bigger tank. I know you said small but I'm not really sure how fast they would grow to their full length. So maybe that's something you should research.

[bobbravo2]

Originally Posted by G_Sanab922

Nice sounds good.
Btw I was looking at your earlier post about the Potter's Angelfish, you probably knew this already but angelfish tend to not be reefsafe or better said by others "with caution". And that specific angel might need to go into a bigger tank. I know you said small but I'm not really sure how fast they would grow to their full length. So maybe that's something you should research.

I was thinking the same... LFS said they grow slow, but the reef safe part is what makes me (re)-think the fish.

Updated Fish Candidates (Open to suggestions!)

• Royal/Striped DottyBack
• Sixline Wrasse
• Clown Fish Pair (to be paired with an anemone later)

[G_Sanab922]

Originally Posted by bobbravo2

I was thinking the same... LFS said they grow slow, but the reef safe part is what makes me (re)-think the fish.

Updated Fish Candidates (Open to suggestions!)

• Royal/Striped DottyBack
• Sixline Wrasse
• Clown Fish Pair (to be paired with an anemone later)

To add to that list, a few fish I like is the Blue Spot Jawfish (pricey), and yellowheaded jawfish (reasonable). Never had one but from what I've heard from past experiences, they have plenty personality and are very active. Colorful as well.

Also considered "with caution". but still a very cool looking fish is the Longnose Hawkfish.

[bobbravo2]

Blue Spot looks amazing!

One problem is they recommend 3 inches of mixed substrate for burrowing - I'm not a huge fan of the maintenance of that large of a sand bed. I may go bottomless at some point if my nitrates are out of whack.

[bobbravo2]

Updated tank shots (because I hate scrolling through and clicking attached images, too!)
Pristine Aquascape

Added some inverts



PS - @G_Sanab922 Update on media basket: Scheduled Delivery: Friday, 05/23/2014

[venomcc]

Those are some amazing colors on those rocks

[G_Sanab922]

Originally Posted by bobbravo2

Blue Spot looks amazing!

One problem is they recommend 3 inches of mixed substrate for burrowing - I'm not a huge fan of the maintenance of that large of a sand bed. I may go bottomless at some point if my nitrates are out of whack.

Yea that's a must. Sounds good though. There's plenty of other options. And your rocks look good.
Is your tank glass or acrylic?

And lol I hate when delivery gets pushed back...

[bobbravo2]

It's a JBJ glass 30 gallon. Never had the courage to try acrylic. The way I'm used to glass, I'd scratch in within... eh... 15 minutes of opening the box.

[bobbravo2]

Originally Posted by venomcc

Those are some amazing colors on those rocks

Thanks. Not sure how much of it is real so far. Although the way I've been dosing CA/Alk, it may be real! Levels are steading around 7dKH & 410 ca

[Fishy 1]

hey bob how deep is your sand bed and what is it?

[bobbravo2]

Originally Posted by Fishy 1

hey bob how deep is your sand bed and what is it?

Hehe. Love that emoticon.

It's crushed coarse aragonite on the bottom, topped with fine "live" aragonite on the top. Mainly added it for the reflective color, and I don't have to worry about too much detritus settling with an MP10 to push the water around!

Depth-wise, It varies from about 3/4" to about 1.5"

[Fishy 1]

hahaha yeh i love the emoticon as well
so its quite a shallow bed.

[sebcity]

Looks great. Love the tank.

Am I right in saying you have no skimmer?

I have a cycled 30g ready to be stocked but I am still researching and deciding on the fish! Love the Blue Spot Jawfish but is €200 in my LFS.
A Royal Gramma is another choice I might go with (along with a pair of clowns).
Also the goby/pistol shrimp combo would be very entertaining I'm sure!

I will follow this thread to see what you decide!

[Fishy 1]

Originally Posted by sebcity

Looks great. Love the tank.

Am I right in saying you have no skimmer?

I have a cycled 30g ready to be stocked but I am still researching and deciding on the fish! Love the Blue Spot Jawfish but is €200 in my LFS.
A Royal Gramma is another choice I might go with (along with a pair of clowns).
Also the goby/pistol shrimp combo would be very entertaining I'm sure!

I will follow this thread to see what you decide!

Are you new to the forum mate? if so a warm RC welcome from me

[sebcity]

Originally Posted by Fishy 1

Are you new to the forum mate? if so a warm RC welcome from me

I've been lurking for a while!
Thanks a lot!