# 8g Reef Islands



## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

*Latest FTS (October 12, 2014)*









=================Original Posting below==============​
Very excited to document my newest tank, a 8g reef.








I started off with this really nice looking bare bent glass aquarium. I love the rounded curved edges without any seams at the front that these tanks have.








I added a silver stripe around the bottom edge of the tank. It gives the tank a nicer look and covers the unsightly silicon seam along the bottom edge. Who wants to see that when looking at your filled tank. I used some silver gaffer tape, but you could also use marine striping tape for boats.

I wanted a nice contemporary design for this tank so in addition to the silver stripe on the tank itself, I built a nice looking cantilever stand for the tank. Used a piece of white replacement bookshelf from Home Depot that I cut and painted flat black with some Tremclad outdoor paint and I got the square base from the local Ikea's 'As Is' section. I love how it turned out.

Added enough CaribSea sand just to cover the bare bottom of the tank. I always avoid deeper sand bottoms in small reef tanks as they become a trap for waste matter. The biology of deep sand beds only work on large reef tanks.

It took me a couple of months to find the right coral base rockwork for this tank which will be two islands.








One is a really nice layered plate like piece with really nice curves and it has tons of shelves on it. This is going to be perfect for various acans that I have planned for this piece.








The other piece which I call 'mushroom island', because it looks like a mushroom cloud from an atomic explosion I created by gluing two pieces of rock together. I wanted a narrow vertical base with a top that looked interesting and could support a variety of different corals on it. It's got three nice sections on top including a large flat piece in the right, a walled middle section and a lower tiered shelf on the left.








As it was just a bare tank, it did not have any top. I never run small tanks without a top because it really helps control salinity changes from evaporation. I got these really nice tank cover clips on ebay for $8 for the set and I got my local glass and mirror shop to cut me a top and they rounded the edges on their grinder for me as well.








The design philosophy that I use with my reef tanks is the balance of positive space with negative space to make the tank look a lot bigger than it is and a sense of perspective. This also makes the tank more interesting to look at than the typical philosophy of a continuous rock wall with a tank jam packed with corals from end to end.

Flow and filtration will be from a AC50 running foam and carbon.








Just filled and ready to go. I used about 30% water from my 50g reef and I use Seachem Stability for my new tanks which helps minimize any cycle.








Lighting for now is a old ecoxotic PAR38 12,000K LED bulb (3-6500K White 2-455nm Blue) that I had lying around in a $22 Staples desk lamp with the reflector removed. I love these staples lamp arms for their versatility and I much prefer them over goosenecks as when I'm working on the tank, I can just swing the lamp out of the way without effecting its precise alignment. The bulb had narrow 40 degree optics so I had to remove the entire faceplate and optics and am running the bulb with exposed bare leds in order to get proper coverage over the tank. I'll eventually get a full spectrum Par38 bulb with 90 degree or 120 degree optics.

Excited to see where this tank goes over time as it follows in the footstep of my current 5.5g Reef Islands. Now I have both tanks at each corner of my desk to enjoy when I'm working on my laptop.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

This is a amazing start to a beautiful tank. I love how you have really thought it out and the rock work is awesome. I can't wait to see what goes inside of this


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

For a small tank, it's perfect! +1 on the rock work. Way too often the importance of this aspect is overlooked.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

Omg!!! Soo following this! We should totally go to your place as a field trip :]


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

wow! nice mushroom rock!


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## des (Jul 30, 2011)

Nice start. Would you consider hiding the heater behind the mushroom rock?


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## explor3r (Mar 14, 2010)

That's going to look great perfect rock for the tank.


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## kamal (Apr 21, 2009)

must say seen two of your tanks now and they all look pretty awesome!


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Picked up this beautiful dendros for the new tank.








Being a non-photosynthetic coral it does not need any light and in the wild is found in caves, including walls and ceilings. I'm going to simulate that kind of environment by gluing it vertically to the mushroom cloud islands vertical base. For now its chilling and getting fat being spot fed twice a week in my 5.5g Reef Islands tank while this tank cycles.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm pretty sure those Dendro's are the ones being sold as the "firecracker" corals right?
Nice coloring on them


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

Gotta say, dendros are still one of my favourite corals of all time :>

Cant wait until your tank is cycled!


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Yes the dendros is being sold locally by a LFS as 'fire cracker coral'.

You hardly see them here, so grab them while you can. Just hope that folks understand the special requirements of nps coral and how critical it is to spot feed every head. Definitely not a beginner coral.

Mega slow growing, unlike sun coral. I've had one for about 5 years now which has never developed any new heads.

I love dendros 10x better than their cousins the sun coral in my opinion. Dendros are voracious and easy to spot feed and stay open most of the time. It would be pretty impossible to keep a sun coral in such a small tank because they are a pretty messy eater with a lack-luster feeding response. With their sticky tentacles and instant feeding response its a lot easier to spot feed dendros without polluting your tank with uneaten food all over the place or having to use the upside down bowl method.


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## aln (Jan 26, 2010)

I feed mine every second day with mysis and they are opening most of the time. I think since dendros grows at a slower rate, it makes them perfect for nanos  love the colours and reactions on them for sure!


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Time for my first tank update!

Now that the cycle is well done, tank is doing well, here is a FTS








Moved my dendros to its new home on Mushroom Island. I was originally going to glue him to the vertical base of the island about half way up, but my daughter likes this placement in a crevice on top better.








Have some worthy acan candidates for Acan Island. I removed them from the frag disks and they are just chilling in the tank getting used to the water chemistry and lighting for awhile before placement on Acan Island which is behind them.








Moved a couple of my micro-elegance into the tank as well. Their long tentacle extensions, mean that they are very happy. Notice the smaller one, it is really tiny, less than 10mm across and not even a mouth or full disk has developed yet.








Current inhabitants include a Banded Trochus snail, two Nassarius Snails (the larger Tonga variety) and two tiny blue-legged hermits (the only crabs I trust). The Banded Trochus is the ideal reef algea snail as they are able to upright themselves, do not die in the warm temperature of reef tanks unlike most of the cold water snails being unethically sold in the hobby and they love to graze on algea. The nassarius snails handle waste matter and leftover food particles. The blue-legged hermits are the only crabs that I have found which will not steal food from your corals or munch on them.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

Dendros are NPS and do better in lower light


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Being a nps coral I did not think placement near or far from a light source mattered to the dendros, but I will try placing him further down and observe his reaction.



altcharacter said:


> Dendros are NPS and do better in lower light


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## TankCla (Dec 31, 2010)

I placed mine under the huge monti, and they are open than never. Put them on the right side of the right side rock, in the shade, and they will love it.


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Things are coming along nicely with the tank and the two reef islands as you can see.


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

firecracker dendros!!!! Love em!!
Much better placement for them there, although you need to feed them. They're looking a bit hungry! I feed mine 3-4 times a week
I like the acan island as well, but it might fill up quick with little acans


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

nice tank! 

I don't know too much about nanos, but im curious as to why you aren't making use of a sump. That is, to hide your equipment. In smaller tanks as compared to larger ones, the gaudy appearance of equipment is that much more apparent, don't you think?

I also doubt you have enough flow with that filter you've got.....unless that is modded? firecrackers looooove flow (random, not laminar)

you nano guys are a different breed, though....always pushing the limits 

a buddy of mine (i think he's on here - corpusse) has a three year old 3g pico and it's just intense....always blown away when he posts pics of it

z


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## Norco (Jan 25, 2014)

Patwa said:


> nice tank!
> 
> I don't know too much about nanos, but im curious as to why you aren't making use of a sump. That is, to hide your equipment. In smaller tanks as compared to larger ones, the gaudy appearance of equipment is that much more apparent, don't you think?
> 
> I also doubt you have enough flow with that filter you've got.....unless that is modded? firecrackers looooove flow (random, not laminar)


A sump takes space, adds cost and complication, which means more things to go wrong. It defeats the purpose of nano and specially pico tanks. Every time I think about adding a sump to my nano, I end up with plans to upgrade the display tank to something many times bigger. 

There are ways to hide unsightly equipment if one really wishes to. As far as flow goes, I'm sure that AC50 is more than enough for that tank and for the corals he is keeping. Believe it or not, an AC20 destroyed my hammer in less than 2 days in a nano because it was to close to it and I was too busy with other stuff to notice it. Without a powerhead detritus will settle down on the sandbed, but it's so easy to siphon it out when you're doing your water changes, and the less sand you have the easier it is, which is exactly what Sandeep had done.

Sandeep, is this an AI tank or something else? if not, what are the dimensions? Thanks


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

sumps are complications? never heard of them described like that before. maybe i've been mislead, but ive read numerous times that nanos/picos are very demanding systems to maintain (ie. having them thrive rather then keeping things alive) ...they're to the reef hobby like what flying a jet is to throwing a paper plane. giving yourself that extra breathing room shd be well worth the extra 'cost' and 'space' imo

But i do see the desire to run sumpless. like I said, you nano guys do it different....im always in awe of these smaller tanks....keep on keepin' on.

no idea what an AC20 is, but it looks similar to a freshwater filter i used on my betta tank when i was a teen. Shd be enough flow for acans and zoas...but I dunno about a dendro....just feed it plenty, i guess and hope for the best.


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## Norco (Jan 25, 2014)

No, sumps are great and you have not been mislead, but you're taking things out of context and also oversimplifying it. Sumps make a lot of sense for bigger systems and even for overstocked nanos, but having a sump let's say under your computer desk is complicated and undesirable, if that's the desk you want your tank to be on. There are many factors to consider and everyone should do their homework to figure out the pros and cons of a sump for their specific system and environment. It is not black and white!

Nano and pico tanks are not necessarily that much harder than bigger reef tanks. I believe they are as complicated as you make them to be. You just have to know the limitation of smaller tanks and respect that, and also not skip the care and maintenance part of the equation and you'll be successful. It is certainly not for everyone, but the beauty is in their size and the small footprint. There is just something very sexy about a well done nano or pico.


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Just to build on Norco's comments which I completely agree with, looking at the bigger picture it really comes down to your experience, approach and philosophy regarding maintaining successful reef ecosystems.

My approach is a 'less technology' and more biology one in maintaining a small reef ecosystem in biological harmony using the least amount of equipment I can.

I personally prefer having a heater and filter intake visible compared to the aesthetics and complexity of pipes, plumbing, tubes, pumps, tanks, etc. associated with a sump. No interest in that, I would rather have a neat, clean self contained tank sitting on my desk as my two tiny tanks do without the complexities of looking like a laboratory. 

My 50g reef which has been thriving and running for almost 5 years now has nothing more than one AC70 (unmodded) HOB and one hydor pump. No skimmers, sumps, etc. Again it's just my approach and philosophy and it works wonderfully for my reef.

My 5.5g pico reef and my 8g nano reef run on nothing more than a unmodded AC HOB like you would indeed find on a freshwater goldfish tank for example. I have no need to turn my small tanks into tornado alley with hurricane force flow, as all reefs and corals are thriving and growing just from the flow provided by the small HOB filters.

In fact my previous 5.5g pico reef that I ran for 3 years (and have resurrected now after shutting down for a few years) had nothing more than a small HOB, yet it thrived, was awarded Nano Reef Tank of the Month at nano-reef.com and even featured on the cover of a European reefing magazine.

For me, the keys to successful reefing are simplicity, vigilance and discipline and so far that approach is working wonderfully for me.

Concerning the dendros, I love them as they are one of my favorite corals, they are just a pain as being a nps each head has to be fed be hand because they cannot share food like an acan or most lps with multiple mouths do. Yes they are quite voracious eaters, but I typically feed my dendros once or twice a week. I've had a thriving dendros in my 50g for about 5 years now, so I'm quite familiar with their needs and behaviour. Just a wonderful coral, but you really have to be dedicated and know what kind of commitment you are getting into for their long-term survival and growth.


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

no worries dude...don't need your whole reef CV  you grow indo catalaphyllia successfully, whereas 95% of us kill it within months....that's all i need to know 

is there a thread for that 50gal reef with the HOB filter? would love to see it. I agree you can run an atypical system successfully.....my frag tank (85gal) has been skimmerless and barebottom for about 5 years now and doing swell.


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## swissgaurd (Sep 28, 2011)

ive had a look at these nanos 
there thriving and one of them ive never seen clearer water,simply amazing.

the 50 looks very healthy as well but I would prefer a sump for the 50.
I used to use undergravel filters and grow sps things were healthy.
personally I wouldn't run a tank without a sump now

I can imagine a weekly waterchange with a 60ml syringe how cool would that be 

vic


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

vic, you're here on GTAA as well!?! like old times, man.

yeah, im all about sumps for piece of mind re: water volume, more than anything else ...but these nano guys, like a said, do it differently


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Pic of my low tech 50g as requested, one AC70 filter and one Hydor pump. Tanks been running and thriving for more than 4 years now. 
I follow the same type of low tech approach on my nano and pico reef tanks.


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## Patwa (Jan 30, 2014)

cool....sorta like a species tank with those catalaphyllias and euphyllias


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Latest updated photos of the tank. I have a new inhabitant, a Crocea clam!

The crocea is the most challenging of the decorative clams, but it's a real beauty and among the smallest of the giant clams, rarely exceeding 5" in captivity. It has the highest light requirements of any clam. Mine is about 2" which is near the transition of it being able to sustain itself through photosynthesis vs needing constant feeding. I'll feed it twice a week, hopefully that will be enough.


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Time for an update, here are the latest photos of the tank.


























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