# Recipe for a 10G Nano



## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

Drawing inspiration from Sandeep and DarthVictor here goes my first run.

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*INGREDIENTS:*


10G Spherical Tank
Bright Aquatics Pico Special Spectrum Reef LED Bulb
Supplemental 10K DIY LED (TBD)
Aquatop 75W submersible heater
2x QuietFlow10 pumps
DIY ATO (TBD)

Digital Timer for light
??Refractometer
??SW Test Kit (NH3, NO2, NO3, PO4, Ca, Alkalinity)
pH Meter Pen
Turkey baster


50G Instant Ocean Sea Salt Mix
MaxFlow RO/DI Reef Kit (water output good, but 2:1 waste, and compression fitting bad)
Seachem Stability
Two Little Fishies ReVive Coral Cleaner
Kent Microvert (food for Zoas and filter feeders)




2x Banded Trochus snails

5x Nassarius snails


Pajama Cardinal (Sphaeramia Nematoptera)***
Gulf Signal Blenny (Emblemaria Hypacanthus)***
Royal Gramma (Gramma Loreto)***
Decorated Dartfish (Nemateleotris Decora)***
Green Chromis (Chromis Viridis)***
 ***Any 2 fishes above in order of preferenceGreen Star Polyps

Blue Zoanthids
Pom Pom Xenia
Devil's Hand Coral
Tree Corals

*DIRECTION:*


Install heaters and pumps.
Add water and salt.
Run pumps to circulate water until temperature stabilized at 25°C, and SG at 1.026.
Add and arrange rocks.
Add a piece of shrimp to begin cycle.
Run the tanks with photo period (10hrs ON) for ~4 weeks with weekly maintenance schedule.
Introduce Pajama Cardinal.
Perform Weekly Maintenance for a month ending with a Monthly Maintenance.
Add live rock rubbles to lightly cover tank bottom.
Introduce Snails.

Perform Weekly Maintenance for a month ending with a Monthly Maintenance.
Add first of the corals.
Introduce second fish.
Perform Weekly Maintenance for a month ending with a Monthly Maintenance.
Add second coral to main tank.
Perform Weekly Maintenance for a month ending with a Monthly Maintenance.
Introduce another coral to main tank.
Repeat previous two steps until coral limit reached.

*REGULAR **MAINTENANCE (2-3 times/week):*


Feed fishes

Blow debris off the rocks with a turkey baster
Check for sick, dying, and dead life.

*WEEKLY MAINTENANCE:*


For cycling period, test for NH3 (< 0.1 ppm), NO3 (< 0.2 ppm), Ca (350-400 ppm), Alkalinity (125-200 ppm), S.G. (1.026), and pH (8.3).
Mag scrub the algae off the glass.

Perform 20% water change by vacuuming substrate.
Feeding corals once/week.
Check for salt creep and clean.


*MONTHLY MAINTENANCE:*


Blow debris off the substrate with a turkey baster.
Perform weekly maintenance and the steps below.
Test for NO3 (< 0.2 ppm), Ca (350-400 ppm), Alkalinity (125-200 ppm), PO4 (< 0.03 ppm) SG (1.026), and pH (8.3).
Dose Calcium and Alkalinity if necessary (not likely in a Nano with regular water change).

Clean heater, pumps and media.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

You are way too organized for this hobby, LOL. 

Give the tank two weeks running and all these lists will be torn up/ cursed at, etc... Good luck!

I for one am looking forward to seeing how the spherical tank works out. 

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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

"INGREDIENTS: 10G Spherical Tank "

wrong start and waste of money. Go at least 20gallons"

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## PACMAN (Mar 4, 2010)

sig said:


> "INGREDIENTS: 10G Spherical Tank "
> 
> wrong start and waste of money. Go at least 20gallons"


Let me rephrase what SIG is saying, as I know he really meant:



sig said:


> "INGREDIENTS: 10G Spherical Tank "
> 
> wrong start and waste of money. Go at least *120gallons*"


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Now a 100 gal. spherical tank... That would be something to see.

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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Good to see your list so well organized. Couple of things come to mind:

- the bigger the tank (water volume) the easier it is. If you can, as mentioned a 20g would be a better start. This way small swings in water chemistry are not fatal as they are with smaller tanks like mine.

- The Bright Aquatics, is that a Par38 bulb, not familiar with it? If it is that should be enough for a 10g, for a 20g better to look at a fixture rather than a single bulb.

- You don't need a ATO unless you plan to be away from the tank for days on end and no one is there. With small tanks up to 50g, topping off the water by hand is no big deal

- Don't get carried away with test kits, you wont be using them once the tank is humming along and you are into your routine of regular water changes. Just stick to kits for Calcium, Hardness (dKH), Phosphates & Nitrates

- 2 fishes max for a 10g, 3-4 for a 20g

- No you don't need a quarantine tank, just buy your fishes from reputable dealers and same from corals. Dip all of your corals in Revive or Melafix Marine.

- Zoas can be touchy so invest in one, have it in the tank for about a month and if its doing good add the others

- Keep your sand to a bare minimum for decorative purposes, any more and it becomes a trap for waste matter in small tanks.

- Crabs and shrimp are trouble, they are opportunistic and can munch on corals or take the food out of their mouths or kill snails. Only good crabs are those very tiny blue legged hermits - just get a few so that they can go places where your snails cant. Skunk cleaner or Fire shrimp are pretty, if you keep one, just be sure to feed them first before feeding the corals and be vigilant on your tank that they don't try to steal the food out of the corals mouths.

- the best snails by far are Banded Trochus for algea eating and Nassarius for waste matter & food. Turbos knock over everything especially in small tanks and astreas will die when knocked over (they cant right themselves up) and they are a cool water snail, reef tank temps are too hot for them and prolonged exposure kills them (same with Margarita snails as well as Turbo snails).

- Run the tank for about 3 weeks with Seachem Stability and one of your fish for your cycle

- Snails are super sensitive to water chemistry so don't add them for at least a month, and use the drip method to acclimatize them to your new tank. Make sure they have enough food - so drop in a pellet or two for them as well as seaweed if their is not enough for them to eat in your tank.

- a good food supplement in the water for the zoas and other filter feeders, I use Kent Microvert, very high in protein compared to others

- be religious with your water changes and only dose for Calcium & Hardness/Alkalinity if you see from your test kits that you need to. On my 8g and 5.5g I don't need to dose.

- do weekly water changes, rather than monthly, recommended closer to 20% if you can.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

To start I just want to thank Sandeep for taking his time writing up such detailed suggestions and advices. I will implement them as suggested. Big respect!

Second, thank you to both the nay and yeah Sayers. Your comments are considered and weighed.

I've updated my recipe in the original post to reflect some of the comments made.

Read two more posts today (aln and darthvictor). Both tanks are about half the size of the sphere I am considering. I learned a lot more from both posts.

I am almost positive about going ahead with the sphere. Again, I am drawing inspiration from Sandeep and planning to keep thing simple, move slowly, feed sparingly, and be vigilant with regular maintenance.

I am planning to get two rock spires for this tank. A larger central and a smaller offset to one side. I am not sure if I can find them so I may have to construct them out of dry rocks. The photo below provide a guide line. 









Here is a photo of the tank and the light bulb.

















While reading the other posts, I have some concerns I hope someone can address.

1. Is the surface area a big concern? This is a spherical tank so the surface area is very small.

2. Do I need live rocks or can I use dry rock seed with some LR rubbles. I may have to get dry rock and glue them together to create the two spires in my plan.

3. Cycle the tank dark or regular lighting schedule?

Thanks again everyone and I look forward to your inputs.


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

You are welcome

To answer your questions:

- just don't fill it to near the top so that you can get as much surface area as possible. As long as you have good flow at the surface oxygen and gasses can exchange. I have AC filters, so they churn up the water surface as the water falls into the tank from the filter.

- seeding is the bacteria that needs to grow over the rocks. Dry rock will develop this over time as the tank cycles. The Seachem stability as well as LR will help establish this bacteria population.

- cycle the tank with your regular photo periods

- snail mix, I would have 2 banded Trochus and about 5 Nassarius. I only have one trochus in my 8g and that is all that is needed for that tank. Canada Corals has a few nice ones.

- salinity is a bit low, I run my reefs at 35ppt (1.026 sg), read the bible on tank vs ocean parameters: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/

P.S. I used aquarium tank silicon sealant to glue the rock pieces together to create my 'reef islands'.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

I love the tank! (sorry sig!) and I look forward to seeing that rock spire. I use Home Depot's plumber's epoxy to hold my rocks together when I'm building a rock structure. It sets pretty quick, and it's also reef safe. Use it dry or under water to hold rocks and frags together. $6 a tube.

With the answers that Sandeep provided, you are on the right track.

For your original livestock list however, I'd advise on cutting it in half. Your proposed list will be a bit crowded, and for a small tank with a large bioload, it will be pretty hard to keep water parameters good.

If you're using an AC, it will oxygenate the water fine enough. I wouldn't worry about water surface area.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

Thanks again for your helpful advice. I guess only the two of you give this project the benefit of a doubt. 

I am learning a lot from your comments, and thanks for putting up with my questions. It takes a long time to search and read through others' post to find answer to my questions. Every setup is different, but I hope to continue to update the recipe with details from all of the comments and advice so that other may benefit.

There are so many articles written, but I have not come across one with details steps and parameters. For examples, dipping your corals, or kind of glue for rocks and coral, the number of snail not just kind of snails. No article mentioned anything about long term cares such as fragging. These information I think is an important part of the planning stage.

BTW, the link you posted was super helpful Sandeep. I guess one needs to know where and how to look.

With that said I hope you will continue to answer some of my questions. I beg for your patience.

1. 50seven, just to be clear, I can apply the plumber epoxy to wet rocks and cure them underwater without adverse effect to the nano reef? I assume that silicon sealant has to be done dried?.

Otherwise, I might have to go the route of DIY rock as I am not sure how easy it is to find a rock I am looking for - even one that needs to be reshaped. Perhaps abandon the spires idea altogether.

As for the fishes, I am only introducing two from the list. The big list is just option of fishes that I can go with!

2. Would you please comment if it is feasible to attached coral to a narrow spire, or does the spire have to be reasonably large in diameter? Or the spires idea will not work at all?

3. I haven't read up on fragging yet, but do I need to chip away at my spire when it is time to frag or prune the coral overgrowth? This is the most important question for me as I need to plan how to implement that spires.

Thanks again.


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## sig (Dec 13, 2010)

50seven said:


> I love the tank! (sorry sig!) .


I actually do not like this tank from the maintenance point of view. It will be difficult to maintain especially with Pick (rocks) exactly under opening

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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

LTPGuy said:


> Once blessed, I would love some suggestion of where to get supplies in Mississauga. I hear Canada Coral is a great place.


Tank build looks interesting. You will need to clean your glass a lot more often than once a month. I would say once a week at a minimum; you don't want any coralline to grow on that baby. As for supplies, Canada Corals is excellent, I highly recommend visiting them. When you are ready for corals, send me a pm as I have 2 varieties of GSP, pom pom xenia and blue zoas available.

... and Sig is right, it's only a matter of time before you ditch this tank and go bigger


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## WiseGuyPhil (Jun 15, 2011)

Agree with Greg on the maintenance however to me that is part of the fun.

I have played around with this type of tank when it comes to a reef tank and I was going to enter into the nano contest a while back. Here were my challenges:


1. Flow.... Try attaching a koralia to the side of a round tank... not fun. LOL

2. Light reflecting everywhere! Its made my house look like a disco! Drove my wife nuts especially if you can't dim your bulb.

3. Parameter swings.. Evaporation is very different in these types of tanks. Salinity is always and issue as salt creep catches at the top of the bowl.

4. Heat, I didn't even need a heater in the tank however, I also did not have any fish in the tank.


Still looks like a fun challenge. I am eager to see how it works out and hope it does


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Zoas glued to the vertical walls of a narrow spire will be fine.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

sig said:


> I actually do not like this tank from the maintenance point of view. It will be difficult to maintain especially with Pick (rocks) exactly under opening


I have been given a lot of thought about the maintenance aspect also, and I am definitely concerned.

I would appreciate it if you can be a little more detailed about what is on your mind instead of these one liners that doesn't help me make an informed decision.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

Kooka said:


> Tank build looks interesting. You will need to clean your glass a lot more often than once a month. I would say once a week at a minimum; you don't want any coralline to grow on that baby. As for supplies, Canada Corals is excellent, I highly recommend visiting them. When you are ready for corals, send me a pm as I have 2 varieties of GSP, pom pom xenia and blue zoas available.


I have updated my recipe up top to reflect your helpful inputs, and thank you for the reference for Canada Coral, and your offers. I see you are highly rated with the feedback, and look forward to deal with you someday.



WiseGuyAquatics said:


> Agree with Greg on the maintenance however to me that is part of the fun.
> 
> I have played around with this type of tank when it comes to a reef tank and I was going to enter into the nano contest a while back. Here were my challenges:
> 
> ...


Thank you for sharing your experience and detailing some of the issues that I will likely face.

I have used this tank for a FW setup, and I know that SW and FW are nothing like each other. I am not too concerned with 1, 2, and 4 as I have dealt with them in the FW setup.

With item 3, I don't understand how this is an issue compare to a tank that is more opened. I don't know anything about salt creep so if you can educate me I would appreciate that. Evaporation should be less of an issue which is further remedied by my implementation of a low tech DIY ATO.

I can cover the opening unless this is problematic.

Thank you for your honesty and encouragement. For me, the journey and discoveries along the way is more important than the end result. Of course I seek a successful end, but the fun is always about getting there.

Before the sound barrier was broken, they said it couldn't be done. At one point in time, the earth was the center of the universe. If we don't try, we will never know. The fun for me is always getting there, not so much being there. Which bring to the point of an article I stumbled across and noted below...



Sandeep said:


> Zoas glued to the vertical walls of a narrow spire will be fine.


Thank you Sandeep. Your comments are alway helpful and informing.

Would the other corals be okay on a vertical wall or do they need a horizontal surface to cling on?

Everyone, please help me address the maintenance concern; not just with this setup, but any Nano Tank setup. I have updated my maintenance schedule above with what I have manage to filters from some of the articles and posts on the internet.

My biggest ignorant is on the matter of coral fragging and pruning. My main question is, does this process affect the rock spire in my plan? And how?

One last thing which got me really excite and I hope you can comment on it. In an way, I see some of Sandeep's Pico setup and philosophy reflected in the article noted in the link below.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2010/4/aquarium

Thank you again.


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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

In nature corals grow at all sorts of angles. As long as they can get light and not in the shade, you are good.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

To answer over the epoxy, you are correct in your understanding. 

Zoos will grow up a vertical surface. They for in my tank. Once they fully cover the surface of the rock, they will stop spreading. Some polyps may fall off on to the sand, or you can shave some off the spire with a knife. (Read about palythoa poisoning before attempting this). From there you can glue them to a frag plug. Most forms of Cyanoacrylate adhesive are reef safe as well. Many of us buy our fragging glue from Dollarama 

The number 1 maintenance issue with a nano is fresh water top-ups and frequently doing WC's. As much as I think nanos are cute and cool, I would probably never have one just because I'm too lazy. 

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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

50seven said:


> To answer over the epoxy, you are correct in your understanding.
> 
> Zoos will grow up a vertical surface. They for in my tank. Once they fully cover the surface of the rock, they will stop spreading. Some polyps may fall off on to the sand, or you can shave some off the spire with a knife. (Read about palythoa poisoning before attempting this). From there you can glue them to a frag plug. Most forms of Cyanoacrylate adhesive are reef safe as well. Many of us buy our fragging glue from Dollarama
> 
> ...


Hi 57, is the plumber putty in the picture below the one you were referring to?










I've decided to use dry rock chips and glue them together to form the pillars.

I am debating whether to cycle with fish only, or use small amount of live rock rubbles. I read many articles on LR and the "SURPRISES" you get that I am leaning toward cycling with fish.

I thought I could just use Instant Ocean Salt, but apparently, there is Instant Ocean Regular (cheaper), and then there is Instant Ocean Reef Crystal.

For a nano setup, can someone suggest a salt for me?

Thank you very much.


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## coldmantis (Apr 5, 2010)

How fast do you want to tank to cycle? when I setup my 28g+10sump, i went out and bought about 20lbs of live rock and my tank cycled in about 2-3 days, as for surprises I got small starfish, feather dusters. nothing weird that I seen so far.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

You get surprises from LR if you do not get it from the right source. Get some from someone who knows what is in his/her tank. That way there are no surprises.

I kept a 15G for about a year and indeed, maintenance can be time consuming. You have to keep the water level otherwise all that salt will show up and if not cleaned (especially on a round tank) on time you get those nasty salt lines.

I second your decision to build your rockscape from smaller pieces. Especially if you cannot put the tower as a whole piece in the tank. 

What you can do is get a piece of LR from someone and after a week, return it. You should have enough critters in your rock at that point. 

IIRC, the Instant Ocean Reef Crystal is better suited for SPS as it has a higher content of calcium.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

coldmantis said:


> How fast do you want to tank to cycle? when I setup my 28g+10sump, i went out and bought about 20lbs of live rock and my tank cycled in about 2-3 days, as for surprises I got small starfish, feather dusters. nothing weird that I seen so far.


Thanks coldmantis. Time is not an issue for me. I can wait months if I have to. I am trying to do things right and slow (if I have to)!

As I am a completely SW newbie and really have no direct support except for this forum (mostly), I want to try a different approach from what I'd normal do; that is to plan, and take things slow.

As this is a nano reef setup and everyone had made sure to remind me how fragile it can be, I want to leave as little to chance as possible.

Unless there are other factors beside time, I am planning to go dry with fish. I would love to hear from nano reef keepers about the important/usefulness of these "hitchhikers".

My main interest right now is to keep and propagate corals, not so much an interactive bio-diverse reef.

Thanks again for taking your time to share your thoughts.


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## darthvictor (Aug 16, 2011)

Here is what I learnt from my nano reef experience: 

* Get a RODI filter ( I almost lose my bubble coral because I don't have the filter before), the filter will last very long since we are having nano tank, unless you are using the filter for other things too. Much cheaper than getting water from store + gas to drive around.
* Get a UPS (Backup battery) for your system
* 10% water change weekly (more doesn't mean better)
* Daily top up with RODI water
* Limit yourself with just several coral you love. Especially for LPS if you love them. (you see I have torch, bubble and frogspawn, look nice but you have to be very creative for positing them. You won't want them to touch each other)
* separate blue/moon light (Personal preference: love seeing the color glow at night)


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

george said:


> You get surprises from LR if you do not get it from the right source. Get some from someone who knows what is in his/her tank. That way there are no surprises.
> 
> I kept a 15G for about a year and indeed, maintenance can be time consuming. You have to keep the water level otherwise all that salt will show up and if not cleaned (especially on a round tank) on time you get those nasty salt lines.
> 
> ...


Thank George, I picked up some marco rock chips so I'll be gluing them for the rock scape. Just wondering if $3/lb was a reasonable price for the chips (roughly 1"x1"x2" each)?

If someone in Mississauga around Heartland can seed them in their sump, that could be an option which I would really appreciate. I might pick up some LR rubble otherwise, or just cycle with with the Cardinal.

I haven't read anything on what exactly is beneficial about these critters that are on the LR aside from the bacteria culture.

When you say maintenance is time consuming, what exactly is the time consuming aspect. Top up is not an issue for me as I will have a low tech ATO setup. Would love to hear what kind of maintenance you do on your tank.

The lighting I have won't be able to handle SPS so I'll stick to softies and LPS and will go with the quite a bit cheaper IO salt, not crystal.



darthvictor said:


> Here is what I learnt from my nano reef experience:
> 
> * Get a RODI filter ( I almost lose my bubble coral because I don't have the filter before), the filter will last very long since we are having nano tank, unless you are using the filter for other things too. Much cheaper than getting water from store + gas to drive around.
> * Get a UPS (Backup battery) for your system
> ...


Thanks for the awesome hands-on experience and suggestions Victor! I totally agree about limiting the number of corals.

Is the UPS for the pump only? We were not affected by the recent icestorm, but I agree that UPS is definitely a good investment. The question is how did everyone dealt with the lack of heating?

I will be adding some DIY LED later on so I will design them for separate blue/moon light. Your tank looks awesome btw.

I am getting an RO/DI from Max Flow. Free delivery and it's a little more than $100. Can anyone comment on this unit...
http://www.maxwaterflow.com/6-Stage...Hydroponics-Reverse-Osmosis-System_p_850.html


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## darthvictor (Aug 16, 2011)

> Is the UPS for the pump only? We were not affected by the recent icestorm, but I agree that UPS is definitely a good investment. The question is how did everyone dealt with the lack of heating?


I put mine for the heater and pump. Then you get the UPS get one that is at least 850VA, mine is 850VA it can last about 4 hours with my heater and wavemakers when out of power. I would say heat is > than flow, last ice storm my house lost power for the whole day, it is the low temperature that gets the fish and coral ( i lost a fish and the corals look horrible at the time). I remember one time where I forgot to turn my pump & wavemaker back on after feeding, everything was fine after a day I finally realize it.

Oh one more thing:
* No crab - Hermit Crab, whatever crab type. They are just trouble-maker. keep snails


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Most stores will sell dry Marco for 2.99/lb. When i meant maintenance is time consuming is top up, cleaning the glass (in your case will be even harder as the glass is curves so only the edges of the magfloat will actually do the cleaning), blow the sand from the rock and corals. May not look much but for such a small tank you would expect less work 

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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

I just want to say thank you for everyone inputs and putting up with my questions. 

I also want to say that I am asking a lot of specific questions because I want to learn not just what and how but also why. 

I hope to not offend anyone with my questioning and my desire to know the deeper aspect of salt. 

Thank you again. 

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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

*Rockscape done!*










The rockscape is done! Three separate spires. I am not sure how it going to work out with the corals and hope for your inputs.

Lots of reflections on the tank as noted previously, but that is because the light is coming from the outside. Once setup, that light would be sourcing from the coral and I hope it will look much better.

The "Oatey FIX it STICK" was quick curing and it was not easy or effective on the rock chips. However, I did not clean the rock with water, just vacuum as much dust as I could, and that could be the reason or its effectiveness.

I ended up using GE I Silicone which was ideal as it gives me more time to arrange the rocks, and work it between the cracks using a small screwdriver. I may have to lower the spire by 1-2 inches.

I am looking for for someone near Creditview & Britannia or Kennedy & Sheppard to donate or sell two cups of aragonite (preferably special grade) from their tank.

I am quite apprehensive about this because I don't want things like planaria, and other pest that I may have to deal with. Please educate this newbie.

I was not planning to use any sand as suggested by Sandeep, but the convex tank bottom need something to help level the rockscape. Also, I really like to have a blenny in the tank, and the sand will allow it to form a burrow.

Thanks for your interest and inputs.


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

I like the view of the spires. Maybe a bit too thin but that is my personal perspective.

In regards to the aragonite, I have plenty of it but it is dry. I can get a few scoops from my tank but it is fairly new, it that is ok with you.


That being said, I may be allowed to get a nano tank at work so I'm hooked on your thread now.


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

Looks awesome, dude! I've got sand for you but I don't think you want to come out this far...

The epoxy putty takes a bit of getting used to working with, as the rocks cannot move for about 5 minutes while it hardens, else the bond gets sloppy. I also add a few drops of water while I'm kneading it to make a softer paste, and I find it works best if you moisten your fingers. 

But you made it work out just fine, from what I see!

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## Sandeep (Aug 10, 2009)

Rockscape looks really nice and much bigger than it is.

Just make sure that the glue bonds are rock solid. I found out the other day when my island came apart when it took it out of the water to glue a frag. Apparently the aquarium silicon was not strong enough. Reglued with epoxy and curing for a week before going back in the tank. Bond now looks rock solid with zero movement between pieces.


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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

I hear you about the silicone coming loose so I will give the spires a wash and apply the putty as 57 suggested.

Tips from 57 really made a difference! Thank for offering the sand 57,but you are a bit far. 

Thank you George for your offer also,but I decided to use a shrimp for cycling and use rocks rubble for the substrate. 

I may stop by CC for some LR rubbles if I wish to speed things up a little. BTW, I made my own Mag scrubber for the tank so it's no problem with scrubbing! 

I got a little time as I'm waiting for the ro unit. 



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## LTPGuy (Aug 8, 2012)

*Updates*

Here are todays photo of the setup...



















Added "sump" to house all of the equipments.

Tank has been cycled for 3 weeks with a piece of shrimps.

Added a Pajamas Cardinal for 1 week.

Added aeration tube (to be converted to skimmer later) as there are very little water agitation.

Water circulation appears to be random with the modified nozzle and assisted by the tank spherical shape.

Added another Pajamas and 1lb of scrubbed liverock rubble.

Both fishes are eating happily.

I am letting the tank cycle for a month or two be more making any changes or addition.

I am working on a surge device for this setup to further reduced the dead spot. Carlson is too noisy, and Borgman is not working too well. Trying to hold off from getting a toilet flush valve as it is BIG!

The idea of power head on the timers did not work. As the cheap pumps I got don't work well with "hard" start from the timers.

An interesting stories at Big Als.

I saw a Spanish Dancer Nudibranch and was totally captivated. Made some quick inquiries from the staffs about care and feasibility.

Emotion overtook me and I decide to risk picking one up despite advice that it is not feasible for a new setup. I wasn't sure if I would ever able to have another chance to pick one up.

Well, I got a well deserved scolding from one of the staff, and I am reminded that one should control one emotion in a fish store. Glad to see that some staffs are not about trying to sell you everything and anything.

Thank to this person, I am mindful each time I step into an LFS, and I am reminded of my goofyness each time I see him.

Two things to work on next are:

1. Surge device
2. Live Culture of pod and phyto.
3. Change water return tube to black pex for aesthetic.


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