J-Ranko's 15 Gallon Rimless Nano

[DonW]

It fairly well known that they dont do much for gas exchange. This is nothing new and has been an issue since their release. Dont get me wrong they are nice but gas exchange does need to be addressed on many tanks running vortecs. Your tank is tiny so it really not an issue. With deeper larger tanks it can be a serious issue.

Don

 

[J-Ranko]

It fairly well known that they dont do much for gas exchange. This is nothing new and has been an issue since their release. Dont get me wrong they are nice but gas exchange does need to be addressed on many tanks running vortecs. Your tank is tiny so it really not an issue. With deeper larger tanks it can be a serious issue.

Don

I'll take your word for it, but now I'm not sure what you mean. What kind of surface agitation is necessary for good gas exchange? Crashing waves? I was pretty sure my second video showed enough surface movement for gas exchange (and my corals certainly haven't suffered from it).

I haven't seen many tanks with far more violent surface movement than what a vortech can do to tanks under 40 gallons.

In any case, I'm pretty sure the flow from my return line and my skimmer also contribute significantly to gas exchange.

 

[Krish]

Yea, as Don suggested it is more about quality not quantity, but in my case the quantity provided me with the quality flow I needed. I use bare bottom tanks so I don't have to worry about sand storms and can direct my flow anywhere in the tank. Your main concerns with flow are for one, good surface aggitation for gas exchange to take place as Don suggested. Then you want to have total coverage of your tank to prevent any deadspots from forming where detritus/waste can settle and degrade water quality. In addition to that, good circulation to keep waste/detritus in suspension to either be filtered out or taken to the corals to be used up as a food source. A good way to see if more flow is needed is drop something like fish flakes in the tank and watch where the flow takes it. Just by observing it you can see which areas need addressing. In some cases, additional flow isn't needed , but rather adjustments/change in position of your current flow sources may need altering a bit.
Just a few thoughts.

 

[NanoReefer411]

Wow. That is one nice tank!

 

[J-Ranko]

Wow. That is one nice tank!

Thanks!

The tank is on "standby mode" at the moment while I figure out what direction to take it in. I'm always wanting to upgrade stuff and buy more corals at the same time, but my budget for now allows me to do only one or the other. I'm thinking of ways to automate my calc/alk/mag dosing without spending hundreds on a dosing machine, and I want to get my hands on the real MAME overflow, which is finally available, but that alone is $200 so...

And of course I want a DSLR with a macro lens, but since that's bound to be more than a thousand dollars, there'd be no upgrades and new corals for a while... :lol:

 

[Katchupoy]

J-Ranko. Just one option for your calc,alk,mag. Is to do BulkReefSupply or BRS drip system. And for the drip pump, I use aqualifter, really cheap and effective. I have been doing this for more than a year now and so far so good. They key is a digital timer with 7 day programming. Just another option to consider.

Do you really need the actual MAME? i thought yours works great? or are you for the looks?

 

[J-Ranko]

J-Ranko. Just one option for your calc,alk,mag. Is to do BulkReefSupply or BRS drip system. And for the drip pump, I use aqualifter, really cheap and effective. I have been doing this for more than a year now and so far so good. They key is a digital timer with 7 day programming. Just another option to consider.

Do you really need the actual MAME? i thought yours works great? or are you for the looks?

I bought an aqualifter at barrier reef and decided to try out kalk dosing. Since my evaporation rate is pretty high (2% water volume per day), I'm hoping a saturated solution will be able to keep up.

And while I don't need the MAME, and my pvc imitation works just fine, yes I am very much drawn by its looks. It's a pretty neat piece of glass work/art. I missed out on the limited stock that became available in the last two weeks, so now I'm back to waiting again.

 

[Katchupoy]

This is my two cents. The aqualifter will not last very long when used with KALK. Tried this and failed miserable. But with BRS, Alk and Calk, this is different story. I believe Kalk has many residues or solids that go through the aqualifter. And because of this, it will clog the pump and will fail. I will wish you good luck.

If you can use the canister that came with it and remove the filter and use it to filter solids before it goes to the a-pump then it might be possible for it to last long. Use the canister as a mini sump for the alks solid to be trapped in there since the flow inside it is very very slow. it might work.

or if you have a very tall reactor and make sure that the time pump goes on is opposite to the time the pump mixer is on, then it might also work...

 

[J-Ranko]

This is my two cents. The aqualifter will not last very long when used with KALK. Tried this and failed miserable. But with BRS, Alk and Calk, this is different story. I believe Kalk has many residues or solids that go through the aqualifter. And because of this, it will clog the pump and will fail. I will wish you good luck.

If you can use the canister that came with it and remove the filter and use it to filter solids before it goes to the a-pump then it might be possible for it to last long. Use the canister as a mini sump for the alks solid to be trapped in there since the flow inside it is very very slow. it might work.

or if you have a very tall reactor and make sure that the time pump goes on is opposite to the time the pump mixer is on, then it might also work...

How long did the aqualifter last with your kalk-dosing? I've been monitoring my calc/alk with the kalk dosing and it seems to be keeping up with my tank's demands. So I'm thinking of using kalk for a permanent solution since it appears to be sufficient. Setting up the right system is another matter. Right now I have the aqualifter pulling kalk from a 5 gallon jug. It's run by a timer and a dual float-switch, so it also functions as my ATO. I'm looking at various kalk reactor options/designs if the aqualifter is likely to fail.

 

[J-Ranko]

New coral!

I just bought a sun coral from B.R.A. Here it is about 30 minutes after adding it into the tank (lights were off so this picture was taken with flash):

This is my very first non-photosynthetic coral, and I hope it won't be too difficult to keep it alive. It's already opened up right away, so I'm glad I won't have to struggle just to get it to open up and not starve to death. I plan on feeding it some pellets, mysis and maybe cyclop-eeze.

With some luck on this sun coral, maybe my next big project (long time away of course) will be a NPS-dedicated tank!

 

[Katchupoy]

How long did the aqualifter last with your kalk-dosing? I've been monitoring my calc/alk with the kalk dosing and it seems to be keeping up with my tank's demands. So I'm thinking of using kalk for a permanent solution since it appears to be sufficient. Setting up the right system is another matter. Right now I have the aqualifter pulling kalk from a 5 gallon jug. It's run by a timer and a dual float-switch, so it also functions as my ATO. I'm looking at various kalk reactor options/designs if the aqualifter is likely to fail.

The key is to separate the solids from being sucked in. if you can keep this then you are good. If the pump fails then you are just out of $15 or so. The only comment i can think off about your setup is that, when you use it as your ATO. You need consistency on delivering KALK, and since evap is not consistent, then this "MIGHT" be a problem. Its just a concern and nothing to be alarmed about.

Seems everything is good to go... good job.

I really love your new addition. Maybe when they are all well and growing, you can sell me a frag or two.

 

[J-Ranko]

Here's the sun coral today partially open with the lights on. I just finished feeding it a few pellets when I took these shots:

I accidentally broke off a little piece of my red monti cap feeding it since I have very little room to move my hand above it.

With a feeding dome made and some frozen foods ready I hope I can "train" it to open up fully in daylight.

 

[Brie]

Lookin good! :biggrin1:

 

[J-Ranko]

Lookin good! :biggrin1:

Thanks! The increased feeding is definitely taking a toll on my once pristine sand bed. I think I'll have to expand my clean-up crew.

 

[Scooterman]

Yup, nice looking NANO, maybe one day mine will show up on the front door! :Cry:

Keep it up, your doing excellant!:boxing:

 

[Brie]

Thanks! The increased feeding is definitely taking a toll on my once pristine sand bed. I think I'll have to expand my clean-up crew.

Try a small fighting conch and some ceriths.. They should take care of it. Fighting conchs alone work wonders on keeping your sand free of algae.

 

[J-Ranko]

Try a small fighting conch and some ceriths.. They should take care of it. Fighting conchs alone work wonders on keeping your sand free of algae.

Don't small fighting conch eventually get really big, though? I think I might be better off buying a small scavenger. I have three cerith snails and one turbo snail at the moment, so maybe I'll add one more algae eater (likely cerith) and then I'm thinking of a nassarius snail to capture all those uneaten food particles.

 

[J-Ranko]

This is how much I can get my sun coral to open during the day so far:

It doesn't seem to expand its polyps much more than this at night, though, so I'm not sure how much further it can open up with daytime feeding.

 

[Scooterman]

Looking great!

 

[Brie]

I think you're thinking of the Queen Conchs.. They're the ones that get like 10-12"... Fighting conchs max out around 4", although i've never even seen one that big... And they grow pretty slowly so I think you'd get alot of use out of a little 1" one for quite a while..