dailydriven911
sps addict
Great looking nano! By far one of the cleanest setups I've seen in awhile. Get's me motivated to start another tank...
J-Ranko's 15 Gallon Rimless Nano
- Thread starter J-Ranko
- Start date
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iroll253
Well-known member
Would you mind breaking down your maintenance schedule and amount of flow? Just curious for the sps care in a small mixed reef like that.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
I'm using only a Vortech mp10es for flow. I have it set to reef crest mode at 75%, so the flow varies randomly from 200 gph up to 1,100 gallons per hour.
As for maintenance, I do the following:
1. 3 gallon water change every week (or two weeks when I'm lazy)
2. Carbon change ever two weeks (I have about 100ml in a phosban reactor)
3. Kalkwasser jug (5 gallon) refill every twelve days. I use kalkwasser for top-off.
Feeding:
1. Feed the fish pellets every day, mysis shrimp 2 to 3 times a week.
2. Feed the sps oyster feast every other day (sometimes I target feed my acros).
3. Target feed the LPS some mysis shrimp 2 to 3 times a week.
4. Target feed the sun coral mysis shrimp every other day.
5. Dose 1.0ml of Vodka/Vinegar mix daily.
I blanket feed the tank with a pinch of cyclop-eeze 2 to 3 times a week, so everyone gets a bite. The LPS and sun coral also occasionally catch the pellets I give to the fish.
Overall I've been feeding a little heavy lately, especially after I bought the sun coral. But coloration has actually improved a bit and my clean up crew--with the addition of a small fighting conch--has been able to keep up with any algae growth.
SPS in a small mixed reef isn't really that hard these days. Fine control of temperature, salinity and pH are easily achieved in a nano with rather simple technology available to hobbyists. Maintaining the levels and balance of alkalinity, calcium and magnesium has also gotten easier, especially with many high quality salt mixes and additives that are now available. Not to mention lighting and filtration equipment has come a long way.
I hope more advances come in the way of feeding equipment and products. With the rise of NPS tanks I think we'll see the development of food reactors. This has the potential to benefit more than just NPS corals. Imagine automatic feeding of high quality foods to your fish, inverts and corals.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Some new shots of my lps:
Orange Plate coral
[top-down shot]
If only I had actinics--this plate would glow orange.
Green/Purple acan:
Orange Plate coral
[top-down shot]
If only I had actinics--this plate would glow orange.
Green/Purple acan:
conduit7
Well-known member
Thanks for taking the time to post pictures great looking setup.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Cwazy Clown
Koi
Now, I was wondering, has feeding oyster feast made a significant difference in your sps growth? I'm currently only maintaining high high CA and ALK levels for sps growth and would like to boost that growth.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
I started feeding oyster feast (and other types of food) mainly to get better coloration, and in that regard I have definitely observed significant improvement. However, I would say that I have not observed any acceleration in growth rates since I started feeding oyster feast. I must admit I don't measure my sps growth rate, so it's not really conclusive either way. My sps frags--apart from my blue Oregon tort--have shown rapid growth from the start even before I fed oyster feast.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
I haven't updated in a while, but here's a new addition.
Bought a new acro from Barrier Reef--a pink jade acro:
Top-Down Shot (you can see the wave distortion in the reflection of the light fixture)
This is one of those times I really wish I had a DSLR--this acropora has a very subtle color, very beautiful to behold up close but it doesn't "scream" with colors like others.
You can see my other acros in the picture--a blue-tip tenuis and the blue oregon tort, which is hardly any bigger than when I bought it.
Bought a new acro from Barrier Reef--a pink jade acro:
Top-Down Shot (you can see the wave distortion in the reflection of the light fixture)
This is one of those times I really wish I had a DSLR--this acropora has a very subtle color, very beautiful to behold up close but it doesn't "scream" with colors like others.
You can see my other acros in the picture--a blue-tip tenuis and the blue oregon tort, which is hardly any bigger than when I bought it.
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J-Ranko
Well-known member
I got three new frags yesterday. Here are some shots I took this morning:
Blue Mille (overhead view)
It's still on the frag plug, but pretty close to its final position. I'll glue it in place in a few days.
Red Blasto (overhead view)
Just a single head/polyp, but it's a nice one. Hopefully it'll grow into multiple polyps pretty quickly.
Blue Mille (another angle)
The mille frag is pretty small, but they're supposed to be fast growing so in a few months it should be a nice mini colony.
The third frag (a chalice) isn't in a good spot for photos, so I'll have to find a better place for it and then I'll post a pic.
Blue Mille (overhead view)
It's still on the frag plug, but pretty close to its final position. I'll glue it in place in a few days.
Red Blasto (overhead view)
Just a single head/polyp, but it's a nice one. Hopefully it'll grow into multiple polyps pretty quickly.
Blue Mille (another angle)
The mille frag is pretty small, but they're supposed to be fast growing so in a few months it should be a nice mini colony.
The third frag (a chalice) isn't in a good spot for photos, so I'll have to find a better place for it and then I'll post a pic.
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Here are some shots of my aussie duncan. It looked really bright and colorful this morning partially closed-up, so I took some shots. It's grown into a pretty big colony since I got it last year. It's now quite the multi-headed monster.
Here's a top-down view with some really cool fluorescence:
And here's a view from the front:
Here's a top-down view with some really cool fluorescence:
And here's a view from the front:
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Finally got a decent shot of the third frag I got yesterday. It's a chalice (forgot the name):
Krish
RF STAFF
Looks like you got some really nice frags!! The aussie duncans you already had I like a lot!
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Thanks, krish!
Here's some more shots, no new additions but interesting angles:
Overhead shot - right side:
Overhead shot - left side:
Getting an overhead shot of the middle section is nearly impossible because of the glare and reflection from the halide bulb.
Here's some more shots, no new additions but interesting angles:
Overhead shot - right side:
Overhead shot - left side:
Getting an overhead shot of the middle section is nearly impossible because of the glare and reflection from the halide bulb.
Luckedout
Active member
That blasto is pretty sweet. Very clean, good looking setup!
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Thanks, Luckedout! I hear blastos grow fast so I'm hoping to see lots of new heads in a few months!
J-Ranko
Well-known member
My sun coral after feeding yesterday:
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Huge skimmer upgrade:
With my bioload getting bigger and my feedings getting heavy, this baby should be a big help. It's rated for up to 100 gallons but my display is only 15 gallons. Hopefully it won't be too oversized for the tank.
I probably won't put it in my sump until tomorrow night, though. Gotta give it a bath and then run it in a vinegar/water mix first.
With my bioload getting bigger and my feedings getting heavy, this baby should be a big help. It's rated for up to 100 gallons but my display is only 15 gallons. Hopefully it won't be too oversized for the tank.
I probably won't put it in my sump until tomorrow night, though. Gotta give it a bath and then run it in a vinegar/water mix first.
Krish
RF STAFF
Nice!!! Should do wonders! I see more and more people running these skimmers everday! Looking forward to seeing this thing in action!
J-Ranko
Well-known member
Nice!!! Should do wonders! I see more and more people running these skimmers everday! Looking forward to seeing this thing in action!
Thanks, krish! It's still breaking-in, hopefully it'll be skimming in a couple of days.
Anyways, here are some pics of my new fish! I added this male orange throat pike blenny on Friday night.
Here's a shot taken with flash at night (lights were off) just hours after it was released into the display:
Here's a shot taken this morning. It's eating fine now and found a nice cozy tunnel to hide. Unfortunately it selected a "home" BEHIND my scape, right by the base of my purple gorgonian:
You can see its head just peaking out. He's very shy at the moment and only comes out to catch mysis shrimp floating by. Hopefully over the next few days it ventures out a bit more.
