My tank at six months (better pics)

Here are some recent pictures of my Neo Nano aquarium. I started this tank around the end of last February. These first six months were filled with your typical ups, downs, algae ugly phases and mistakes. But I learned and kept at it - learning the particular alchemy needed for this tank as every one seems to be different. Lately both the tank and I are settling in and it has been great to watch the corals grow.



This aquarium is a 2'x2' cube that is about 12" from water surface to sand and lit by a single 150w 14k halide pendant. A big adjustment for me was finding the sweet spot with lighting height as the usual 8-10" rule for halides had to be thrown out on such a shallow tank due to crazy algae growth. Surprisingly the tank is currently humming with the lamp at 17" above water height with good SPS growth. That certainly seems high to me but it appears to be working very nice, balancing the coral and algae growth. Now that the tank is dialed in, I am working up the courage to lower it more and see what happens. The main concern is algae growth and I don't want it to grow too fast for my algae eaters. I cannot over-emphasize what a halide on a shallow tank like this can produce, even with my refugium which is packed with macro-algae.

I must apologize for some of the window glare in these photos and my photography skills. I need a better lens on my camera that will allow me to take close-ups. I hope to get one in the future.

AUG 24th UPDATE - BETTER PICS HERE:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-of...ix-months-better-pics-94381-3.html#post961986


[click to enlarge]














AUG 24th UPDATE - BETTER PICS HERE:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-of...ix-months-better-pics-94381-3.html#post961986


One of the things that settled this tank in was using ESV two-part alkalinity and calcium supplements. Initially when I got serious about water testing, I noticed my calcium was down to around 350ppm and I was able to bring it up nicely using the 3reef aquarium additive calculator and a kent-marine IV doser. I simply calculated how much I need to add and dripped it in. I grimaced paying $20 for an IV doser but it has milliliter measurements on the side that makes it easy to determine how much to add. Now it is pretty dialed in at around 4 meq/L alk and 425ppm calcium and holds well with a cup (30ml) of each additive daily. I try to test the water at least once a week to not let things swing too much. Keeping the magnesium up at 1400 levels has helped.

The daily dosing is a bit of a pain and sometimes I miss my old PM calcium reactor. But I don't miss the probe calibration and the co2 tank, the pump and all the hoses. I am trying to keep things clean on this little tank. If I had a separate filter room this would probably be a different story but for now I am fine with this routine.

I also dose kalk via my Tunze kalk reactor connected to my ATO.

Another big deal for this tank happened when I added the Diamond Goby. I have always loved these fish for sand maintenance and have had them on previous aquariums but was really worried on this one as it is open top. Well so far so good. He hasn't even threatened to jump in the couple months I have had him. I am keeping my fingers crossed. He turned this tank around. Even with assorted snails and crabs, stuff still grew on the sand and gas built up requiring me to play with the siphon during water changes. Now I can stretch out my water changes a bit (around 5-10 gallons a month). I make sure the goby gets food when I feed the other fish as I don't feel this sandbed could support him indefinitely.

As for corals, I quickly found out that this shallow Neo Nano is designed for SPS. In fact the beginner LPS corals I started this tank with seem a bit shocked from the light intensity and I plan on moving my bubble coral to my new desktop tank. The SPS love it. My Montipora digitata is growing like weeds covering rocks along the back. The bird's nest is really fuzzy, branching and growing taller fast. My assorted acros are starting to shoot this way and that. There is a stylo, valida, tort, red planet and some others - I have had a bit of a frag frenzy over the summer, but I put a cap on that recently and now I am happy to let it all grow and fill out. It has been fun to watch.

And that is my report at 6 months. I hope you enjoyed it!

matt

PS - you can see my whole build thread here with more pics and details:
http://www.3reef.com/forums/show-off-your-fish-tanks/matt-rogers-neo-nano-aquarium-84665.html

 

Thanks! Coraline started kicking in a month ago, spreading all over the overflows and now moving to the glass(ugh). Great growth on the rocks.

 

Wow looking real nice matt.coming along nicely for 6mos..can't wait to see it in another 6..congrats..

 

Are you kidding? I wish some 3Reefers could take pics half as good as yours.
BTW, nice tank.

 

Yah it does look good!

 

Everything looks great Matt! +k for the update!

I cant wait to see what it looks like in another 6 months down the road. Hopefully some pretty sweet growth from your SPS!

 

Tank looks great Matt! I thought you were making it all up there at first. Glad you weren't!

Ivan

 

I'm impressed Matt! Looks like you've got yourself a nice collection of sps corals! Can't wait to see them all growed up!

 

Looks like a cool tank...I like the 2x2 cube look with no rim.

Those SPS should grow nice in there now...

Nice Job!!!